Why Okonjo-Iweala Matters

Two days after Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala published a brilliant article in The Guardian of London on 31 January calling for the cancellation of Nigeria’s external debt, I received a call from a journalist from one of New York’s leading dailies. She was researching an article on Halliburton’s financial dealings in Nigeria and wanted a tie-in with corrupt Nigerian government officials who, according to her, ‘are really worse than Halliburton.’

I took the insult calmly, waiting for her to finish. Then she mentioned Okonjo-Iweala’s article in The Guardian. She was effusive with her praise. The article was beautifully written; the arguments were backed up with solid evidence; the logic unassailable. Clearly, she said, there was a powerful moral and economic case for the cancellation of Nigeria’s debt. Then she added: ‘But I’m beginning to wonder. It is an open secret that your finance minister is as corrupt as all the rest of Nigeria’s high officials. Will debt cancellation not simply enable him and his colleagues to siphon more of the oil wealth? I am not even sure he wrote the Guardian article. He probably paid a journalist in London to write it for him –‘

It was at this point that I finally lost my patience and cut her off. I asked her if she had done any background check on Nigeria’s finance minister. She hadn’t. I asked her if she knew that the finance minister was actually a young woman and PhD economist. She replied: ‘Really?’ I asked her if she had ever read a book on Nigeria’s history and political economy. She said she had meant to, but the pressure of work hadn’t allowed her to …yet.

I gave the now flustered journalist two pieces of advice: Do your
research before you frame the questions you want to ask interviewees.
Second, visit amazon.com on the web and buy two books co-written by
Nigeria’s Finance Minister: ‘The Debt Trap in Nigeria’ and ‘Chinua
Achebe: Teacher of Light.’ I told her she should call me after she had
read and digested the contents of two books. That was the last I heard
from my journalist friend.

I do not take Nigeria’s present crop of senior government officials
seriously. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and perhaps one or two others, is the
exception. I have fundamental disagreements with some parts of her
economic vision and strategy as set out in the NEEDS document. Indeed,
I agree with the analysis of the Financial Times of London that it is
‘orthodox structural adjustment…’ I have, however, chosen to withhold
my critique of the NEEDS document, waiting for it to begin to be
implemented so that time and practical experience will make its flaws
clearly evident, and hopefully, urge remedy.

The reason for this wait-and-see attitude is simple. Okonjo-Iweala
deserves our solid support, even when we disagree with the policy
thrust of her economic reform strategy. She deserves our support
because she not only means well for the country, she takes Nigeria
seriously. When Dr Okonjo-Iweala decided to leave her job at the World
Bank in Washington DC and answer her nation’s call to service, I wrote
in this column to thank her.

I have never held her abilities as a technocrat in doubt. Also, knowing
a little about her family background, I was confident she would sail
through the sea of corruption that is public service in our country
presently with her mast untainted. But I was worried that the character
of her boss, President Obasanjo, and his brand of politics would
constitute the insurmountable block that would, in the final analysis
wreck her best efforts.

In the ordinary run of things, the fruits of deep-running economic
reform take a while to bloom. At the heart of Okonjo-Iweala’s reform
strategy has been an effort to steer Nigeria away from a ‘statist’
economy to one in which market forces would determine and allocate
investments and rewards. Privatisation of public enterprises has been
her chief policy instrument. While I am willing to admit that three
years is too short a time to judge the results of her reforms, it is
surely legitimate to use one key project in her reform package
(Sustainable debt strategy) as a case study to hazard a guess of what
the future might hold for the whole.

Okonjo-Iweala’s approach to Nigeria’s debt crisis and how it might be
resolved was meticulously planned. She was the moving spirit behind the
highly successful international conference on a sustainable strategy
for the country convened in Abuja in May 2001. She not only ensured
that representatives of the Paris Club to which Nigeria owe the bulk of
these debts attended, such academic heavyweights as Professor Jeffery
Sachs and Professor Paul Collier presented thought-provoking papers
that helped frame the debate and policy options that Nigerian
government officials might adopt.

When Okonjo-Iwela assumed office as finance minister, she took the next
step in her debt crisis resolution strategy. Now her emphasis shifted
to institution building. The Debt Management Office (DMO) which she
helped establish a few years previously was bolstered with personnel
and material resources. The nation’s debt profile was clearly outlined
and vigorous efforts to reconcile conflicting figures with creditors
were pursued. Obiageli Ezekwesili was charged with the very important
task of bringing sanity and openness to the hitherto murky terrain of
public procurements and expenditures.

The final and most important leg of Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s debt strategy -
campaign for outright cancellation - is now unfolding. The European
segment of the campaign, meshing seamlessly with the Nelson
Mandela/Jubilee 2000 initiative, has been finely orchestrated. I see
the hand of that talented PR strategist, Paul Nwabuiku, in this effort.
Our finance minister’s case for debt cancellation has been made, and
most eloquently too.

But nothing will come out of this campaign until Obasanjo is gracefully
eased out of power. British Minister for Africa Chris Mullin’s position
that the Paris Club will not cancel these debts because there is no
guarantee the money will be spent on healthcare and education flies in
the face of logic. It is like saying it is better to watch little
children starve to death than bring food to the house that their
bullying father could gobble most of.

The debt cancellation campaign will stall for the time being, not
because of such self-serving arguments as Mr. Mullin’s, but simply
because there is no compelling political reason for the United Kingdom
to stop hunting with the fox and running with the hare and join
Okonjo-Iweala to make her project a success.  Whitehall knows that the
Obasanjo government has absolutely no support among ordinary Nigerians.
Worse, a good portion of its leading lights are rogues whose loot is
stashed in UK banks. This rogue’s gallery has a compelling interest to
keep London happy or else.  Whitehall has Nigeria’s ‘leaders’ in a
vice-grip, and that is why British politicians snicker whenever debt
cancellation is raised.

Our finance minister is still soldiering on in spite of these grim
realities. Love of country burns brightly in her heart. This is why I
say Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala matters. The challenge for Nigerians now is to
ensure she is still around after Obasanjo returns to his farm. 

Ike Okonta