The Nigerian Government must commit to addressing the fundamental issues that continue to plunge the nation into indebtedness and de-emphasize playing to the ‘begging bowl syndrome of Africans.
Jideofor Adibe, a professor of political science at Nassarawa State University and publisher of Adonis & Abbey Publishers, gave this view when he appeared on an AIT special programme on Nigeria’s 64th independence.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu, last month, while addressing world leaders during the General Debate of the ongoing 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, U.S., called for debt forgiveness from creditors and multilateral financial institutions for Nigeria and other developing countries.
The President appealed to Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who represented him at the global forum.
According to the Debt Management Office of Nigeria, initial debt relief efforts by successive leaders in the country yielded fruit on June 29, 2005, when the Paris Club and Nigeria agreed on a US$18 billion debt relief package.
However, official data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that Nigeria’s external debt stood at US$42.12 billion as of the first quarter of 2024 (Q1 2024).
According to Prof. Adibe, seeing the President’s appeal for debt forgiveness at the UNGA session shows a country that is not ready to tackle the key issues leading to incessant borrowing, with the belief that debts can always be forgiven.
Adibe cited the Muhammadu Buhari administration, which he noted was acclaimed for going on a debt rampage because it believed that it could always get relief when it begged.
“I was partly involved because after the structural adjustment programme of the 80s, several African countries got into debt and you couldn’t even reschedule your debts or create new lines of credit, unless you embraced the IMF/ World Bank-supported Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP.
“So, even many countries embraced it because of what we call cross-conditionalities, which means, unless you do this, you don’t get this.
“I remember that there were people who campaigned for debt forgiveness. In fact, Susan Rice wrote a book called ‘A Fate Worse Than Forgiveness’ and many people in Europe had a counter opinion, insisting that if the debts are forgiven, they will come back again, because the reasons why they are indebted are fundamental. That is the problem with Nigeria.
“Someone wrote again that the reason why the Buhari regime went on a borrowing spree was because probably they were hoping that after a while they would go and start asking for debt forgiveness.
“And remember, whatever you call SAP in those days, is what President Tinubu is doing today. So, calling it reform, for me, to mean that it is a new initiative, is not creative. It is simply an uncreative rehash,” he said.
The academic noted that the President’s appeal may convey hope for Nigerians; the problem is that sometimes, the messenger is the message.
According to him, the people he was addressing were looking at him and what his government was doing and would not bulge unless they saw a different approach to issues.
Prof Adibe expressed satisfaction with the Tinubu administration’s claims of reducing the nation’s debt service ratio, which was up to 97% when it came into office, to 68% while also clearing the ways and means a debt of over N30 trillion.
He, however, opined that unless the government solves the problem of nation-building, any solution it throws at any country’s problems will automatically become part of the problem.
“For example, the president talked about the youth confab of 30 days in his independence speech, and I don’t know what the youths will be doing at a confab for 30 days!
“But the issue will be that people will start seeing that the confab is dominated by this ethnic group or that, and that will defeat the purpose of the summit. And that is because the basis of statehood remains contested.
“Apart from Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, progressively, what we have been having are ethnic champions. So, our leaders should lead by example and people will follow. But for now, all I see is disillusionment, the people don’t trust their leaders to do the right thing, they don’t trust the opposition, they don’t trust separatist agitators and what they will do, even when they secure the ambition, and so on,” he said.
https://youtu.be/noZF4hgIQSs?t=5160
