Last Friday I posited that one of the reasons why the Naira is freefalling against the Dollar is because

of insufficient external foreign

reserve, which usually serves as a cushion during periods like this.
I ended by saying that the GEJ government, that enjoyed an
extended period of high crude oil prices, had poor monetary
programs and failed fiscal policies. If it had, we would have had
enough reserve to cushion the present fall.
It did not go down well with some ardent supporters of President
Goodluck. Someone even said I was just speaking English. So
today, I would speak in figures, to further prove that the GEJ
government were fiscally irresponsible. Lets analyze our debt
profile and external reserves beginning from President Obasanjos
tenure.
President Olusegun Obasanjo inherited an external debt of about
$30 billion. I am sure we all remember the series of negotiations
entered with the Paris Club during his tenure where $18 billion
was written off after Nigeria coughed out a whopping $12 billion.
When he left in 2007, he left a total external debt of about $3,348
billion. For Foreign reserve, Obasanjo inherited: $3.7 billion and
left$45 billion in 2007
Ill like to add that as at 2003, Oil Price per Barrel averaged at $30
and it was $90 when he left office.
President Musa Yaradua inherited an external debt of $3.5 billion
and left $4billion Dollars. Meanwhile, he grew the external reserve
to about $63 billion, as a result of a windfall in the prices of oil,
and eventually when he died Nigerias external reserve stood at
$48 billion. It is to be noted that there was a crash in the prices of
crude oil in 2008, due to the recession, where oil sold for less than
$35 per barrel. That explains the reduced balance in the external
reserve.

President Goodluck Jonathan. He inherited external debt of $4

billion Dollars. He left the external debt standing at $64 billion as
at May 2015.
He inherited a foreign reserve balance of $48 billion as at
December 2009, as at May 2015 left $29 billion. Now, between
2010 and January 2014, the resistance line (or the average price)
of crude oil stood at $100. This means GEJ had access to more
money than YarAdua and Obasanjo, but he depleted the foreign
reserve and still plunged Nigeria into further external debt.