Nothing infuriates more than to trivialise a serious issue and nothing ruins a good argument more than exaggeration. In the recent interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, declared 2013 as a game-changer. The Presidency must have been hoping her interview would put a better spin on the Nigerian story and effectively amend for the poor interview of President Goodluck Jonathan with the same Amanpour. So effectively, this is a do-over.
Probably thinking that her antecedent would cut her some slack, Okonjo-Iweala seemed a bit unprepared as the interviewer did not shy from asking the tough questions. And so she was taken up on the assertion that this year would be a game-changer. She was unable to give reasons for the optimism. Hear her:
"Well, it's going to be a game-changer and a turning point; because this is the year we are going to produce results. And we're already producing results within the administration. First, on the economic side, I just want to say that macroeconomic stability has been restored. Now, nobody should minimise that. Remember, there were two lost decades in Africa, in the '80s and '90s, where there was so much macro instability that people could not even focus on sectors that could create jobs. Now, things have gone right. We've got growth that is at 6.5 per cent last year and we're projecting for 2013, also, around the same number compared to average five per cent on the African continent. Now, I just want to say that when you mention GDP growth, people immediately say we can — in my country, they say we can't eat growth; because we have unemployment challenges, we need to create more jobs. We have a challenge of inclusion. We have problems of inequality."
So, how does the above answer the optimism of game-changer or how does it differ from other years? In terms of GDP we have been around the six per cent mark for sometime. So, where is the game-changer? How is this an inflexion point going forward? The latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics shows unemployment is still on the upward trajectory; while corruption has not abated. Moreover, kidnapping continues to grow, while terrorism by Boko Haram is still rife (and the nation would certainly part with substantial amount executing its proposed amnesty for the sect). To worsen it, Nigeria has lost 150,000 barrel daily to pipeline vandals this year alone, while the overhead of the government is still at a sky-high level.
While no one can blame the finance minister for the nation's woes, she has misread and misrepresented the whole issue. Where is the arithmetic to back up this optimism?
When she was asked the dreaded question of corruption with specific reference to the presidential pardon to the President's former boss, Diepreye Alamieyesiegha, she was caught between a rock and a hard place. She must have wondered how to answer the question without indicting the President. It was inevitable that she would defend her boss, but she also made a rod for her own back. She applied diplomacy preferring instead to refer the world to a chapter in her book about corruption. A more robust response should have been the one given by an official recently: "…the former governor has already been jailed and property stolen retrieved by the Nigerian court, and in recent times, he has been extremely helpful in relating with MEND to secure the release of many abducted foreign nationals and ensuring peace in the Niger Delta region. The presidential pardon is just a way to encourage his effort."
Another issue discussed was the issue of power; her answer was that lack of investment before 1999, was the cause of the power deficit. Most people would argue that event has overtaken this point. Even if the country is building from scratch, 15 years is reasonable. The more plausible response should have been to give report of the progress made under this administration and various completion dates of the power projects, with assurance that the power situation will improve as those projects are completed. This would have been reassuring to international investors and Nigerians that there is light at the end of the tunnel (literally!).
- Dele Ayoko is a chartered accountant in Lagos
deleayoko@yahoo.com 08094521029.
