OBASANJO’S FARM WEALTH

BBC
Wednesday, 24 November, 2004,

Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo has for the first time publicly declared
the income from his private farm in the south-west.

A spokesman for the president said he was earning 30 million Naira ($250,000) a
month from his farm in Otta.

Mr Obasanjo had made the public declaration to quell rumours that he was
stealing money from the Nigerian state, the spokesman said.

Africa’s major oil producer is ranked among the world’s most corrupt nations.

Despite the oil wealth, the majority of the population lives on less than $1 a
day.

Mixed feelings

The BBC’s Nigeria editor Bilkisu Labaran Ohyoma says that the farm is massive
and diverse, with various livestock including chickens, ostriches, pigs and
fish, as well as crops.

The grounds also include a conference centre, where Mr Obasanjo recently hosted
a regional summit on the crisis in Ivory Coast.

Mr Obasanjo’s spokesman Femi Fani Kayode said his farm was managed by
professionals and much of the money was reinvested to develop the property.

On the streets of the capital, Abuja, reaction to the declaration was mixed.

Some said Mr Obasanjo had earned the money through hard work but others said it
was not right that he was earning so much money when most Nigerians were living
in poverty.

One Nigerian told the BBC that it could do no harm for public officials to
declare their wealth.

Telegraph.co.uk

President comes clean to fight corruption crackdown
By David Blair, Africa Correspondent
(Filed: 25/11/2004)

Nigeria sought to draw a line under decades of corruption yesterday when
President Olusegun Obasanjo declared his private income, disclosing that he
makes