Despite Buhari’s claims, Jonathan gives himself the thumbs up

Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said he was proud of his achievements especially in railways.

This is in sharp contrast with incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari”s claims that he inherited “no light, bad roads and no railway.”

Buhari had told Nigerians in the United States last week, “We got into trouble as a country because we did not save for the rainy day. For example, between 1999 and 2015 when we produced an average of 2.1 million barrels of oil per day, and oil prices stood at an average of $100 per barrel, we did not save, neither did we develop infrastructure. Suddenly, when we came in 2015, oil prices fell to about $30 per barrel.

“I asked where are the savings? There were none. Where are the railways, the roads, the power? None. I further asked, what did we do with billions of dollars that we made over the years? They said we bought food. Food with billions of dollars? I did not believe, and still do not believe.”

But Jonathan, in what appeared an indirect response to Buhari’s claims, said he was proud of his achievements, mainly in the area of railways.

In a Facebook post, the former president made reference to a piece written by Tolu Ogunlesi, who now serves as Special Assistant on Digital/New Media to President Buhari.

Read also: Buhari vows never to allow Referendum for Biafra

Jonathan had said, “I am grateful to God and my team for what we were able to achieve with our railways, among other things.”

Tolu, a columnist, had published on January 12, 2015 Jonathan’s achievements in a piece he entitled, ‘The case for and against President Jonathan.’

Part of that piece as lifted by the former president in his Facebook post read, “Let’s start with infrastructure. On the railways, the Jonathan government scores high marks. The railway line between Lagos and Kano has been revived after about two decades of inactivity.

“The Enugu-Port Harcourt line has just been launched; Abuja-Kaduna is almost finished. There was a determined push to upgrade airports across the country, for which we are grateful.”

By Ebere Ndukwu …

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