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The Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed worry over rates of borrowing in the last four years, saying that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, has taken more loans in the last three years, than it did in the 30-year period preceding 2016.
Atiku who said this was reveal by the former Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Prof. Anya O. Anya, stated that it was worrisome how Nigeria had such a monumental increase in borrowings vis-à-vis an unprecedented reduction in investments in education.
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Atiku spoke while delivering a speech at the 14th Founders day ceremony of the American University of Nigeria in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
He said, “Two weeks ago, a friend of mine, Prof. Anya O. Anya, revealed that Nigeria has taken more loans in the last three years than she has taken in the 30-year period preceding 2016.
“I am a businessman. Perhaps the first lesson one learns in business is that you do not take loans except it is to expand your business. There is no justification for taking out loans to pay salaries; meanwhile, you are not investing in your future generation.
“Nigeria’s greatness is not as tied to her elders as it is tied to her youth. That is where our investments should be focussed on.”
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He stated that for the past four years, “the nation’s education budgets have demonstrated the fact that developing the minds of our people has not been the priority of the nation’s leadership.”
Atiku, who was the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, said the PDP-led Federal Government under former President Goodluck Jonathan invested more in education.
