Obasanjo allays fears over reforms’ future of reforms
From KABIRU YUSUF, Abuja

BARELY, one week after he told the nation that his reform programmes are irreversible, President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday in Abuja said that the worst fears over the sustainability of the reforms of the current administration were now gone.
The president noted that the proper foundation had been laid by his administration that would ensure that the incoming administration remained committed to the reforms.
Speaking on “Nigeria’s Economic Future: What Lies Ahead?” at the Economist Third Business Roundtable with the Government of Nigeria at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, the president cited bills such as those on fiscal responsibility, procurement commission, tax reforms and the Central Bank of Nigeria before the National Assembly designed to “anchor some aspects of the reforms in law.”
He further said that majority of Nigerians had now accepted that the comprehensive “reforms are an imperative and nobody can say to hell with them,” adding that his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), had also embraced the reforms.
The president while admitting that Nigeria was “not there yet” as the reforms still needed to be deepened, however noted that “hope for Nigeria is high and will remain high.”
He stressed that “Nigeria was going the opposite direction of development in the past, but now that we are on the right track, we will not only catch up but also overtake.”