The Federal Government, yesterday, reacted angrily to
comments by the former Minister of Education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili alleging
that the governments of Presidents Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan,
squandered $67 billion(about N10.6trn) in foreign reserves, describing the
allegation as “outlandish and clearly fictitious.”

Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku who addressed a
press conference on the allegations by the former Vice President of African
Region of the World Bank said the damning verdict passed on the education
sector by Mrs Ezekwesili was a self indictment, as she presided over the sector
without bringing any positive impact on it.

The Information Minister who was flanked by the Senior
Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe; Economic Adviser, Prof.
Nwanze Okedegbo and Special Adviser on Performance Monitoring, Prof. Sylvester
Monye; said the allegations of Ezekwesili were curious in the light of the fact
that she had been part of governance in the past.

According to Mr Maku, Ezekwesili’s criticism of the
education sector amounts to hypocrisy as she was part of the sector and
contributed to its sorry state, because , despite receiving N458.1billion
between 2006 and 2007 for the sector, there is nothing to show for it, in terms
of achievements.

The Minister said, “If she says education has not worked it
means she is saying she did not work”.

He accused the former Education minister of betraying a
surprisingly limited understanding of government finances in her comments at
Nsukka.

Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku flanked by the Senior
Special Assistant on Public Affairs to the President, Dr. Doyin Okupe and the
Special Adviser to the President, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation, Prof.
Sylvester Monye during the briefing on the nation’s external reserves at the
National Press Centre, Radio House, Abuja.

He noted: “These statements are even more curious in light
of the fact that she has held senior positions in government, and more
recently, a position as a Vice President of the World Bank. However, rather
than speculate about her motives, we would focus on the facts.

“The statement by the former World Bank Vice President that
the governments of Presidents Musa Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan have
squandered $67 billion in reserves (including $45 billion in external reserves
and $22 billion in the Excess Crude Account) left by the Obasanjo
Administration at the end of May 2007 is factually incorrect. At the end of May
2007, Nigeria’s gross reserves stood at $43.13 billion – comprising the CBN’s
external reserves of $31.5 billion, $9.43 billion in the Excess Crude Account,
and $2.18 billion in the Federal Government’s savings. These figures can be
independently verified from the CBN’s records. The figure of $67 billion
alleged in her statement is therefore clearly fictitious.

“However, since President Obasanjo left office, the reserves
have experienced fluctuations, rising from $43.13 billion in May 2007, peaking
at $62 billion in September 2008 during the Yar’adua/Jonathan Administration
when oil prices peaked at $147 per barrel, and falling subsequently to a low of
$31.7 in September 2011. This fall in reserves was a result of the vicissitudes
of the global financial crisis which caused CBN interventions in the currency
market to defend the value of the naira. The Excess Crude savings, a component
of the reserves, was also used to stimulate the economy at the height of the
global financial crisis to the tune of about $1 billion (or 0.5 percent of our
2009 GDP). As a result, Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world that
did not seek assistance from international financial institutions.

He said it should be noted that the fiscal stimulus used to
shore up the economy during that period was shared by all 3-tiers of
government, including commitments of about $5.5 billion made under the Obasanjo
Administration for power projects, he added.

She urged Nigerians, especially the youths, to take their
destiny in their hands by creating a new political context in which citizens
demand for good governance and accountability by compelling their leaders to be
accountable and transparent in the management of the commonwealth of Nigeria.

According to her, ‘endowment of oil resulted in an indulgent
elite class who have made disastrous choices that have trapped the destiny of
Nigeria in oil wells.

The former World Bank Vice President attributed the economic
stagnation in the country for over fifty years to such indulgence on the part
of the emerging ruling class.

‘The fact is that our political elite suffers from delusion
of greatness simply because we sell barrel of crude oil to finance 80% of our
national budget while over 95% of our foreign exchange ad petroleum sector
earning represents a larger portion of industry’s contribution to GDP”, she
lamented.

‘I have known, at least, five cycles of commodity booms that
offered us rare opportunities to use revenues generated from oil to transform
our economy. Sadly, each cycle ended up sliding us farther down the productive
ladder. The present cycle of boom of the 2010s is, however, much more vexing
that the other four that happened in the 70s, 80s 90s and 2000s, she added.

She challenged Nigerian university graduates and
undergraduates to mobilise themselves and work towards pushing public office
holders to prudently manage our national wealth and provide good stewardship
and leadership to the people.

It would be recalled that
the former World Bank Vice President, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili had last Saturday
lashed out at successive federal government since 2007, accusing them of
squandering over $67billion oil windfall.