For your reading pleasure.

One Love,
          Madiba.
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GUARDIAN

Tuesday, 21 December 1999

Imperative of an economic kingdom

By Doyin Mahmoud

"SEEK ye first the political kingdom and all other things shall be added
unto you" as blessings. That is a maxim which Ghana's first revolutionary
and pan-Africanist leader took to heart and preached with gusto and
unmistakeable vehemence in the early 60s. Kofi Nwiah Kwame Nkrumah was his
name. There was no doubt that he ran so far after the political kingdom,
even dreaming of a United States of Africa with an African High Command.
When he fell, in ignomy, in February 1966, it had to do with the tardiness
of the added blessings expected from the political kingdom he has built in
Ghana and his legendary charisma that reached all over the nooks and
crannies of Africa. Indeed, the world took notice of the Osagyefo Katamanto.
He was overthrown while he was in Beijing on an official visit. As it was
with the violent putsch of extra-ordinary African leaders of his time,
admirers put his sack at the conspiratorial feet of the ubiquitous Central
Intelligence Agency of the United States. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was an adored
figure in Ghana. For the Young Pioneers which he created as vanguard of what
was perceived to be in pursuit of a communist agenda, the slogan was Nkrumah
never dies. That was an era in Ghana when blasphemy got a benign
recognition. Lt. Col. Emmanuel Kotoka put paid to all that in 1966 when he
led a gang of military adventurists to hound the den when the lion was away.
President Nkrumah settled in Guinea and was even made a co-president with
his fellow revolutionary Guinean leader, Sekou Toure. So much was put in
excoriating Nkrumah and destroying his legacy. In death however, he had
truly reclaimed his place in the pantheon of Ghanaian heroes and Africa's
leading statesmen. He fell largely due to the economic straits which his
political obsession had plunged his beloved country.

Thus for many countries of the world, politics and the economy should be
treated like the issue of the hen and the egg. Which comes first? Those who
know the American President well will tell you that Bill Clinton's three
cardinal programmes are the economy, the economy and the economy. With such
a focus the American economy has been on the upswing since his coming. And
that explains while he is treated as a golden boy, and even with all his
philandering, he is still in the White House. An under-accomplished leader
in economic rating would have since kissed the Presidency of the U.S. bye.

And back home, President Olusegun Obasanjo is having a hell of a time
striding between the two folds. The political kingdom made a re-entry in
Nigeria on May 29, 1999. It was a very costly exercise. In sorrow, tears and
blood. And in stupendous investment of the nation's resources. Calculating
the cost from Babangida's political laboratory, to Abacha's merry-go-round
and Abubakar's resolute handover programme, the amount cannot but be
mind-bending. Babangida's political trapeze was estimated to have consumed
N40 billion. No accurate amount has been put on Abacha's experiment. For
sure, he was not friendly to accounting practices and procedures.

Before he took the oath of office, President Obasanjo went on a whirlwind
tour of some foreign countries to drum support for the sustenance of
democracy and the economic development of Nigeria. Beyond his call for
foreign investment and passionate plea for debt forgiveness, the President
has signposted his crusade for economic recovery with a fervent desire to
recover money stolen from the nation's coffers. And money indeed was looted
from the nation's treasury.

It was stated that about US$2.20 billion was outstanding as part of money
taken from the public treasury by the expired dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha. To
recover this loot, President Obasanjo has reached far and wide. He even got
a written pledge from President Bill Clinton that the United States would
involve all its official agencies in assisting Nigeria in the loot recovery.
Obasanjo also reached out to United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Belgium
 needling them to institute criminal charges against those who spirited $111
million belonging to the Federal Government to private accounts in their
countries. And who are the named culprits. The wife of the late head of
state and her son (Mariam and Mohammed) and a former minister.

The recovery effort was not taken lightly at all. In late September,
Obasanjo took his case to the 54th session of the UN General Assembly where
he called for an international convention for the retrieval of all funds
illegally transferred from Africa and the developing world by their
kleptocratic leaders. The repatriation of this fund was necessary to shore
up the economic fortunes of these nations. Calling for outright debt
cancellation rather than debt service re-scheduling or debt reduction cannot
be the only way out. Obasanjo pointed out that this systematic and
profligate looting had weakened the country's capacity to meet its external
debt and incapacitated its resolution to provide basic amenities and
infrastructure for its people. Nigeria's story, and indeed that of the
continent, according to the president, is that whose "wealth has been
illegally siphoned by corrupt regimes and unpatriotic individuals working in
collaboration with foreign partners."

So far Obasanjo's effort in debt recovery has started yielding dividends.
When the administration was 100 days in office, it had no figure to throw up
as the recovered loot. But while presenting his budget proposal for the
magical year 2000, Obasanjo was able to tell the joint session of the
National Assembly that the sum of about N11.7 billion of the stolen money by
past leaders had been recovered. Hopefully, this money is back to where it
was salted away in the first instance. Emboldened by this stride, the
President has stepped up effort to recover more. Even the IMF, which was at
once critical and had sought to advise the present administration not to
dissipate energy on the exercise as if the nation's survival depended on it,
is now supportive. IMF had then counselled the President to look inward and
evolve new policies since the problem had to do with the mismanagement of
the economy. Like other sources that were sceptical of the debt recovery
effort, the President was further advised to attract funds by creating a
conducive atmosphere for investment and stimulate the economy by an
anti-corruption bill which he has initiated and is before the National
Assembly. In all his travels and even in the appointment of new envoys to
our foreign missions, the President has stressed the importance of
investment and trade.

No doubt, the nation is back in the warm embrace of the international
community. A little over seven months since the new administration came on
board, three high ranking foreign personages have come calling. French
President Jacques Chirac was the first. He was soon followed by the US No.
3, Secretary of State Madeline Albright and of late the Prime Minister of
Canada, Jean Chretien. Nigeria has started reaping some capital for coming
out into the sunshine of democracy. Recently the government of Switzerland
froze $550 million in bank accounts belonging to Gen. Abacha, his family
members. A money-laundering innovations led to this, so said a Geneva Chief
Cantonal Prosecutor, Bernard Bertossa. With persistence and thoroughness,
the probe can see the repatriation of millions of dollars cleaned up by
Abacha and his associates.

So far, Nigerians will be expecting an improvement in their economic
well-being. Not the argument for a further belt-tightening which the
vexatious proposal to raise fuel price has caused. Nigerians must be
wondering if they have no right to take little advantage (if any) of their
God-given natural resources. For now, not much has happened in terms of
economic well-being across the board. The poser is when shall we reap the
economic gains of our new-found political freedom?

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