Nigeria govt sold a ship for $500k, bought same ship for $2m and repaired it with $1.5m-Obasanjo
President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has twice led Nigeria as a military head of state (1976–1979) and later as an elected civilian president (1999–2007), recently gave his opinions on a wide range of issues affecting Nigeria, according to a news article published yesterday by The Cable Online.
The interviewer reminded Obasanjo that he believed in state ownership when he was military head of state but that he had changed his mind after being elected president democratically in 1999.
The construction of 19 new ships for the federal government-owned Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) was begun under my presidency, he stated. We had a goal of expanding NNSL’s fleet from its then-current five ships to a total of twenty-four. While President Shehu Shagari seized possession of the remaining ships, we were able to take delivery of a few of them before leaving office.
Do you know that after I took office again in Nigeria after 20 years, they sold a ship for $500,000, purchased it back for $2,000,000, and spent $1,500,000 on repairs? When I found out, I was disappointed. Upon further investigation, I learned that the shipping company had been completely liquidated. The mismanagement of this ship serves as an example. For only $500,000, it changed hands. They needed a training vessel after establishing the Oron merchant navy academy. To everyone’s surprise, they bought back the same ship they’d sold for $500,000—this time for $2 million. In addition, they spent another $1.5 million making it seaworthy.
He continued, “The ship set sail for the first time not long after I became president in 1999. However, it was shortly impounded for being unseaworthy, and I was told that in order to get it back, we would need to pay a fine of $1 million. After asking for some time to think about it, I decided to tell whoever was responsible for the incarceration that I was giving them the ship as a present. Amazingly, the ship was released the following day with zero costs to Nigeria. What happened next is something your imagination can run with.
Adigunlisky (
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