Reassessing the Role of Debt in Purposeful Governance: A Response to Obasanjo by Tope Fasua

In a response to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent op-ed, where he argued that debt can be a tool of oppression for governments, economist Tope Fasua offers a counter argument. According to a report by Premium Times Nigeria, Fasua posits that debt has the potential to build generations. He asserts that the Western world has only played with peanuts in Africa, and we are not monkeys. Fasua’s argument is based on the fact that all the countries that matter have borrowed to leverage their cash flows to get to where they are. This perspective challenges the notion that debt is inherently harmful for developing countries like Nigeria. This story matters to Nigerian readers because it offers a nuanced view on the role of debt in national development, and may help inform discussions on economic policy.