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Debt Cancellation: Who’s Credit? By Deola Ndanusa deola.ndanusa@gmail.com
It is so easy to forget the sacrifice of so many people, now the prize seems within reach; the prospect of Nigeria becoming debt free seems much brighter. This can be mostly attributed to over a decade old campaign of organizations that fused together under the banner of Jubilee network in 1997, years before president Obasanjo's coming to power. Instead of president Obasanjo acknowledging the efforts of the people who helped promote the campaign, thus setting the stage for policy makers in the West to consider debt forgiveness for poor African countries. He has gone on self congratulation on national TV. It is preposterous for anyone outside these musicians and millions of their fans and supporters around the world to claim credit for the debt cancellation just granted the country in principle. And morally wrong not to let the public know the real people that started the drive for debt forgiveness. Let us also remember people no longer with us like Moshood Abiola, who in his guile for debt relief used the word reparation and worked tirelessly towards its actualization before his foray into politics led to his death in the hands of the military.
If the president, who has the fate of been at the right place at the right time, covets a place in history devoid of controversy, he should look elsewhere. Nigeria's loot, reportedly worth over two hundred billion dollars is sitting pretty in foreign banks. He has the clout to start a campaign towards getting back the country's loot. I think that would be more credit worthy than the peanuts we will be saving in debt service payments – quick access to enormous amount of money is what is needed to develop the country and have the people enjoy democracy dividends that should help channel their creative energies into beneficial pursuits for the country - not a national conference that is populated with some of the people that have our loot stashed away in foreign accounts. It is time past corrupt leaders pay back their "loans". If he is ready to give birth to a new Nigeria, devoid of constant clamour for resource control or marginalization, his government must not only recover looted funds from Musiliu Balogun, Fabian Osuji and Adolphus Wabara, but many past political office holders who ripped the economy and stole public funds. This is the real war against corruption that we are all waiting to see carried out, the stolen wealth of the nation needs to be recovered.
The president should realize what he is celebrating is a tiny fraction of a municipal's annual budget in developed countries; this amount can only translate to gains equivalent to our annual debt service payments, this is small to what we need yearly and minuscule when considered in terms of the size of our population. It is time he looked for ways of speedily recovering the loot past government officials have stashed away in overseas accounts. If he has been praised profusely for the success of his economic reforms and the debt cancellation, he shouldn't take it to heart yet, it is an act of condescension by the West, and praise singing by his sycophants. We all know that it is still business as usual in the country; this is why Balogun, the nations former top cop was able to loot shamelessly under the president's watch, and whatever economic reforms the government claims is taking place is simply window dressing, an ongoing game of musical chairs. Nigerians have become more sophisticated to be easily fooled by these schemes.
Our heroes for debt cancellation are rock musicians; they are our "party" men that love booze, women and gigs. They have shown that it is not what you profess but what you do, they have shown moral courage than many known Koran and Bible thumping military dictators or political leaders, while their dogged pursuit of debt relief for poor countries in Africa has finally succeeded; these foreign musicians with no ties to the country have finally translated an idea into policy. They have been able to translate compassion into debt cancellation that should at least have some measurable economic impact on the poor masses in the affected African countries, they have impacted our lives positively where our so called intellectuals and political leaders have failed miserably and have become our taskmasters.
Bono, Bob Geldof , Richard Curtis, other foreign musicians and organizations in the rich countries created a high level of awareness for the situation in Africa and they deserve their pride of place in our history books than the past Nigerian leaders that have put us in this continuous cycle of poverty and damnation in the first place. The poor and desperate Nigerians that have been made to endure years of madness of these past leaders from the military and our civilian population should also be commended.
The church also played an alleviating role in the suffering of the masses, and kudos should be given to the ministers for turning religion into a booming enterprise. They converted our abandoned warehouses to good use, turning them into places of worship that replaced grave yard shifts of the manufacturing industries with revivals and night vigils that catered for the souls of disillusioned youths whom the government had left hungry and unemployed.It is to their credit that half the population are not prostitutes and armed robbers and the country has not been plunged into war like it happened in smaller African countries. Another thing the church achieved was making Nigerians the happiest people on earth. The massive drive for product export that we missed, out of lack of capacity utilization and inadequate investment in industries, the church ingenuously replaced with missionary work and we are now exporting Nigeria's firebrand Christianity.
The debt cancellation did not come easy, the campaign was initially despised, but overtime gained currency amongst public commentators when happenings on the world stage pointed to frustration in some parts of the world, and showed a growing hatred for policies in the West. Finally, the decision makers signed-on when security now became a major concern and this necessitated a shift in policy by creditor nations favouring debt cancellation. This attitude is more out of self interest, to help forestall growing problems of terrorism. Also, failure of economic interventions in poor African countries have made these creditor countries morally obligated to these countries. It might help to apprise oneself of some of the issues.
Firstly, post 9/11 caused a major shift in policy regarding debt forgiveness and made John Maynard Keynes's forceful argument on debt forgiveness after the First World War more relevant today. The odious debts argument by George Bush on Iraq pushed for cancellation to help jumpstart its economic reconstruction. And supporting arguments by economists such as Nobel laureate, Joseph Stiglitz made the issue of debt forgiveness for Iraq more compelling. This opened a floodgate of similar arguments from many heavily indebted countries in sub-Saharan Africa and it over time became a moral imperative for creditor nations to grant debt cancellation for these countries.
Secondly, the security crisis created by the war against terrorists made having strategic partnerships necessary with countries that are known for religious extremism; that had the potential to become a hot bed for terrorist activities. Let's not forget that Nigeria is equally of importance because of its oil supply to America.
Thirdly, Tony Blair has his eyes set on his place in world history, considering the misadventure in Iraq. Also, the problems of illegal immigration from African countries especially Nigeria is a major concern in Britain, Nigerian fraudsters and ritual killers are turning the country into a polluted society. Further compounding this is the social problems created by mass migration from less prosperous EU countries emanating from economic integration. This explains why a moratorium has been placed on Nigerians under thirty years of age.
And lastly, the frustration of IMF and World Bank with their failed economic experiments in the poor countries contributed to a shift in policy for home grown solutions to be monitored by their officials. A typical example is our own Nigeria's NEEDS document.
These issues helped provide a context for Nigeria's debt negotiation with the Paris Club and her creditors with debt buy back becoming an option considering the increasing and enormous revenue already earned from the burgeoning oil demand from countries such as India and China and the uncertainty in the Gulf region.
If debt cancellation and buy back portends good omen for Nigeria and if the country is finally turning a corner, how do we accelerate through this economic bend and how do we take advantage of the benefits from all these breather handed to us by compassionate creditor nations to enable us get our acts right?
That question the president can answer if he exercises leadership on the many issues bedeviling the Nigerian nation. It is glaring that the task of rescuing Nigeria from her demons is onerous, but Peter Drucker's definition of leadership becomes relevant, "Leadership is doing the right thing and Management is doing things right"
The right thing is being honest with ourselves, we know we have retired military officers and politicians in Nigeria that are billionaires, and yet they don't or never owned Fortune 500 companies. They need to explain to Nigerians how they made good. This is hitting at the heart of corruption and the masses won't sign-on unless justice is seen to have been meted out to people that looted the treasury in the past. Nigeria needs a lot of money to get out of the economic mess we are in and things are going to continue to get tougher for the country if there are no quick solutions to some of the problems we currently face. The West going forward would expect us to show good faith and creativity in how we manage our resources. And to quickly tackle the image of corruption currently associated with the country.
If there is something we owe the world it is sending out the right message that the debt cancellation granted us was well worth it. And that we are in hot pursuit of the gangsters that ruined our economy in the first place.
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