Chief Afe Babalola, the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, (ABUAD), has warned that the country has gone bankrupt, citing free fall in dollar to naira exchange rates and the level of external debts as basis for his assertion.
The legal icon stated this in Ado Ekiti yesterday during a media briefing to reiterate his earlier call for postponement of the 2023 elections to pave way for enactment of a new constitution.
He complained that the country has collapsed due, largely, to poor management by leaders thrown up by the 1999 Constitution.
He said: “The naira, which was N199 to $1 in 2015, is now over N570 to a dollar. The external debt, which was $10.7 billion in 2015, is now over $38 billion. The government is borrowing more, spending more, but earning less revenue. The worse thing is that the debt servicing level is also rising.
“In 2020, Nigeria was ranked the poorest country in the world, with over 50 per cent of Nigerians living in extreme poverty, while over 70 million Nigerians are in urgent need of life saving assistance.
“The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics confirms Nigeria’s poverty capital vide The Guardian May15, 2020. The Guardian devoted 78 powerful editorials to the need for Nigeria to have a true people’s (federal) constitution. In addition, many leading traditional rulers, former presidents, governors and lawyers have supported The Guardian editorial and pleaded with government and the National Assembly to convene a national conference for a new people’s constitution.”
He said: “To save Nigeria from nose-diving into irretrievable bankruptcy and poverty, irreparable economic and political damage brought about by the 1999 Constitution and its beneficiaries, a new constitution is imperatively necessary before any election.
“I am of the firm conviction that moneybags now control the lever of power. If we allow the current constitution beyond 2023, what we will be getting is recycling leadership, who will continue the old ways.
“We need a constitution that will throw up young, brilliant, dedicated people to save this country. We can’t get all these under the current constitution.”