Abuja, February 13, 2026 – Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has blamed Nigeria’s ongoing reliance on rice imports on the decision by the 1979 civilian government to lift a ban his administration had imposed.
Obasanjo, who served as military Head of State before handing over to democratically elected President Alhaji Shehu Shagari, made the remarks on Thursday during the International Memorial Lecture and Leadership Conference marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of former Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed.
The former president recalled that his government had been close to achieving self-sufficiency in rice production before the handover.
“By the time we left in July 1979, we wanted to be self-sufficient in rice production. We asked that a report be prepared on what was in the fields. The report showed that we would be self-sufficient that year,” Obasanjo said.
According to him, the administration had consequently banned rice imports prior to leaving office in October 1979.
“When the civilian administration came in, one of the first things they did was to lift the ban on rice importation so they could allocate import licences to their supporters and political associates,” he added.
Obasanjo cited a high-profile example of alleged corruption involving a politically connected rice importer, who he said inflated contract costs to extract kickbacks. He described how the importer ordered rice from the U.S., requested an additional $5 million be added to the contract, and then sought to pocket part of the inflated sum, resulting in an international dispute.
“The ambassador said he felt like digging a hole and sinking into it. That was your country,” Obasanjo recounted.
The former head of state lamented that Nigeria has yet to recover from the policy change. “Since the lifting of the rice import ban in 1979, we have not recovered from it. That is why we are still importing rice today. These are the kinds of things that go wrong, and then we ask whether Africa has come of age. I wonder,” he said.
