Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) has accused Britain of looting the nation’s treasury.
Abdulsalami noted this in his speech to mark Nigeria’s 61st Independence Anniversary in Minna, the Niger State capital.
According to him, growing up under colonial rule afforded him the opportunity to see how Britain plundered Nigeria’s treasury.
He said the rail lines and roads that were constructed by colonial masters were done for selfish interests, to move Nigeria’s resources abroad through the seaports.
“My generation grew up under colonial rule. And we saw how our colonial masters siphoned our treasury and whatever, out of the country. Even the rail and road system they claimed to have created was in order to cart away what they could to the seaport and export it,” he said.
Abdulsalami also lamented the current economic situation of the country, noting that Nigeria went wrong when it abandoned agriculture which was its first source of revenue upon the discovery of oil in the country.
He also lamented the current economic and security challenges in Nigeria, while urging citizens to celebrate the country’s founding fathers for their contribution to the story of Nigeria.