“Obasanjo is a good farmer, but a bad economist” – Lamido Sanusi

An interesting twist has been introduced into the
controversies surrounding the proposed single
N5000 note continue, a new dimension has been
brought into the whole scenario. It will be
recalled that, about a week ago, former
president, Olusegun Obasanjo condemned the
new note, saying that it will kill production
process in the country. In an apparent response
to this move by the former president, the
governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN),
Mallam Lamido Sanusi, has fired back.
In his reply, the CBN governor said he could not
be sure that Obasanjo made the statements
credited to him. Sanusi started by slamming the
former president who he said introduced several
large denominations including N100, N200,
N500 and N1, 000 notes, and this did not affect
Nigerians adversely either through inflation or
other economic indices.
According to him, “This is an interesting country
because my uncle or my father who was our
former Head of State, General Obasanjo, who
we all know is a very successful farmer, is a
very bad economist; especially for saying that
the introduction of higher denomination will
cause inflation and improve hardship…
Obasanjo introduced N20, N100, N200, N500
and N1, 000. He had introduced more higher-
denomination currencies in Nigeria than any
other head of state.”
He continues: “He did N100 note in 1999, he did
N200 in 2000, he did N500 two years later and in
that period, inflation was coming down because
it was accompanied by prudent fiscal and
monetary policy… It is wrong for somebody, like
Obasanjo, who had done this to stand up and
say introducing a higher denomination will
cause inflation… We all know that we cannot
have inflation by printing higher bills if you don’t
increase money supply and this is simple
economics.”:::