He is the quintessential technocrat nations crave for, an accomplished realtor, expert investor and astute manager of resources held in trust to the tune of over N750 billion. Speaking to pressmen at a spontaneous roundtable held in Ikoyi, Lagos recently, Obafemi George (OG) makes a tough call amidst the tough poverty, insecurity, unemployment and low life expectancy that confront tens of millions of Nigerians.
He shares his unwavering belief in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying: “The foundation and blueprint of the exponential growth we all see in Lagos State were laid by President Tinubu when he was Lagos Governor, and despite how tough things have become, not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa and around the world, he is already laying the fiscal and infrastructural foundation of the new Nigeria we all will be proud of.” Find below extracts from the roundtable chat…
*How would you describe yourself?*
My name is Obafemi George, Founder and CEO of Barachel Realty Limited, which manages real estate portfolio for high-net-worth individuals and corporate organisations valued in excess of over N750 billion. I am the co‑founder of L.I.F.E. (Leadership, Inspiration, Family, and Entrepreneurial) Initiative, established in 2001. I am also on the board of several organisations.
*Many Nigerians have criticized Tinubu’s government for wild borrowing while the country is swimming in poverty?*
Here is the thing. When you borrow to build legacy infrastructures, it is highly justifiable. Speedy construction of phenomenal road infrastructure made America and China the world’s largest economies. That is why our government must remain aggressive about road, rail and waterway infrastructure development. The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway has been in the plans since the 70s to open up trade and travel within Nigeria as well as link up with the idea of an African Continental Highway envisioned by the OAU, now African Union. Again, only the APC-led government of Tinubu has taken this on. It is a visionary 50-year project, which every leader before Tinubu had abandoned. It will cut through three economic zones; southwest, southeast and south-south. World Bank figures affirm that for every one billion dollars spent on infrastructure, you create a minimum of 150,000 jobs directly, not to talk of the ripple effect of indirect jobs that would also create. So, if anyone says that poverty has increased, it is only temporary. When these massive infrastructural investments begin to catch up and galvanize our economy, we would all look back, see and benefit from this genius strides. As a nation we either pay now and play later, or play now and pay much more later.
*All of this sounds surreal. But life itself has become almost unbearable for Nigerians. How does this add up for them?*
This reality is painful for every right-thinking Nigerian. But Tinubu didn’t cause it. You see, as of December last year, Nigeria’s economic figures were positive in all ramifications, even at the macro-economic level. Then all of a sudden, we all woke up to the news that Israel had attacked Iraq. The result of that coupled with war escalations between Russia and Ukraine has toppled the global economy and Nigeria doesn’t exist in isolation. That singular crisis crashed Nigeria’s economic projections, and that is beyond anybody’s control. Where we are as a nation is temporary, and we are on the right path to a prosperous nation.
*Some may call you an incurable optimist or party loyalist the way you defend the actions of government, don’t you think so?*
I am a party loyalist, no doubt about that, but I don’t follow people blindly. There are hard decisions that government must take, not just to rescue Nigeria, but to position it for true continental leadership. Tinubu’s predecessors refused to make those tough calls that Nigeria needs. Let me give you an example. When President Tinubu came in, the first thing he did was to remove fuel subsidy. He didn’t allow it for any public debate. In his maiden speech, he declared subsidy was gone forever. For the past 15 years, we have been sinking billions of dollars into foreign refineries all in the name of subsidy and watch our own refineries fail. It is hard on everyone now, but it is a price we must pay for a better tomorrow. I don’t have a second passport neither do I plan to relocate. So we must make Nigeria work for all of us.
*How about constant blackouts and collapse of the power grid; what is the APC government doing about this?*
President Tinubu then Governor Tinubu in 1999/2000 concluded based on visionary foresight that power generation had to leave the exclusive list to the concurrent list and that the only way you can solve power generation in Nigeria is if you allow states to generate, transmit and distribute power which he attempted to do by bringing in Enron badges to Ijora in Lagos but the ruling party of the day openly vowed to frustrate the project and successfully did. That was why the first bill he signed into law was the electricity bill of 2023. That is courageous. As we speak, 15 states have set up their own electricity regulatory commission to enable them to generate, transmit and distribute electricity.
