Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, at the weekend, warned saboteurs of both local and international investors in the country, declaring that woes betide such persons or group of persons.
Obasanjo said the emphasis by the present administration was on making Nigeria self-sustaining in production and consumption, as such he would kick against companies, whether indigenous or expatriates, that want to use unwholesome business practices to sabotage the self-reliance drive of the nation.
The ex-president spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State at an interactive session with the Indian Professionals’ Forum (IPF) in Nigeria.
He condemned a situation where some companies choose to Nigeria a dumping ground for substandard and fake products.
Obasanjo said: “There are Indians who are in partnership with Nigerians and they are doing well, we have some even here in Abeokuta. They are doing very well and it is very encouraging.
“But there are ugly faces, there are Indian companies that have been doing what they will not do in India and that is unfortunate and I hope those of you who are doing the right thing, who really make us proud and our association with India, will make sure that this type of bad things are stopped.
“I had the unfortunate responsibility to deport some Indians (the Vaswani brothers) from the country when they did wrong, my successors brought them back, he too later sent them back again. The one who brought them back, sent them back again because you see, a Leopard never changes its spots and they believe that they can bribe their way in this country.
“But woes betide that person, be it Nigerian, non-Nigerian or Indian who believes that he will live and corrupt this,” he said.
The IPF’s President, Mr. Dinesh Rathi, organized the interactive forum to further identify with Obasanjo and to tap from his wealth of experience.
According to Rathi, “we have found the interaction very useful and we are going back to tap into areas, which he (Obasanjo) had enjoined us to progress for the betterment of our relationship with Nigeria
