Former Minister of Education and former Vice President of the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili has said the government of President Muhammadu Buhari had refused to change its wrong policies.

Ezekwesili in an interview with The Interview Magazine said the present administration was refusing tb change its wrong policies.

When asked if Buhari’s government was timid, she stated, “It’s not timidity; it’s about doing the wrong things and being adamant about them. I feel that the government has not allowed itself to be persuaded by empirical evidence as the backbone for sound economic policy choices.”

According to Ezekwesili, the quality of government’s policies led to the recession and the quality of government’s economic policies and spending can bring the country out of recession.

She stated, “The point is that it is the quality of the government’s economic policies that put us in the turmoil in the first instance, so, it’s the quality of economic policies, accompanied by the quality of spending that will get us out.

“So, that’s already a bad situation. The only thing you can do is to embark on a massive fiscal consolidation programme. The fiscal consolidation programme changes a lot of things, therefore, it requires a complete restructuring of government so that the cost of running government will radically reduce. When it reduces, then it eases the space for you to be able to increase your capital investment.”

She said there are certain things that needed to be changed in the structure of Nigeria’s democracy.

She stated, “My fear is that structurally, we haven’t changed anything. Structurally, the humongous bureaucracy remains intact. So what’s different?”

Ezekwesili noted that Nigeria needs $20bn annually to build infrastructure.

“Our infrastructural need is that much. Where are you going to find the money if your budget is mostly directed towards running bureaucracy?” She asked.

Azeez