World Trade Organisation Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says a deliberate communication strategy was central to Nigeria securing $30 billion in Paris Club debt relief under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Okonjo-Iweala spoke Wednesday at the public presentation of “The Pain and the Promise,” a new book by communications expert Paul Nwabuikwu.
She was brought in from the World Bank in 2003 to fix Nigeria’s public finances, a mandate that included eliminating the roughly $30 billion the country owed Paris Club creditors. The reform agenda, she said, demanded that Nigerians understand and support painful economic decisions.
“I had been brought in from the World Bank to help straighten up and strengthen Nigeria’s weak finances, including getting rid of the $30 billion of the country’s debt owed to the Paris Club,” she said. “To do this work, I knew Nigeria would have to undertake serious economic reforms of the type that would demand understanding and sacrifices from Nigerians.”
Public communication was one pillar of that reform programme, she said — the reason she recruited Nwabuikwu to the economic team.
“One important component in my mind then was that we would need a crack communications person or team to help us reach Nigerians, to explain all of this in simple language. That is where Paul came in,” she said.
She called Nwabuikwu “smart, articulate, compassionate, a terrific writer and communicator,” and credited his strategy with much of the reform programme’s success.
“I can say without fear of contradiction that we wouldn’t have had as much success with the reform programme if we had not had a masterful steering of communications from Paul,” she said.
Reform in a democracy, she added, takes more than new laws and policies. “It’s about persuading people, explaining trade-offs and building enough trust that governments can keep pushing through obstacles.”
Okonjo-Iweala also pointed to Nigeria’s ethnic, religious and regional divisions as a persistent drag on national development, warning that sustainable prosperity will remain elusive without a national consensus that holds regardless of who is in power.
“Until Nigerians can overcome the ethnic, religious and regional divides embedded in our society to forge a social compact that agrees key directions for the nation, directions that remain steady no matter who is in government, I think Nigeria will find it difficult to move forward at the pace required to create enduring prosperity for our people,” she said.
She urged Nigerians to prioritise competence over ethnic or regional loyalty, insisting talent exists in every part of the country. “I don’t care what part of the country you come from. I just wanted you to do your job and do it professionally.”
Reviewing Nwabuikwu’s book, Okonjo-Iweala called it a compelling account of Nigeria’s political, economic and social evolution over the past 35 years — a 300-page blend of commentary, memoir and history that she described as a portrait of “the most interesting, if the most chaotic, country in the world.” She recommended it especially for young Nigerians seeking to understand the country’s past and present challenges.
Nigeria secured an unprecedented $18 billion debt relief deal from the Paris Club in 2005, wiping out about 60 percent of its roughly $30 billion bilateral debt. The agreement, reached under Obasanjo, was finalised on April 21, 2006.
Former Aviation Minister Osita Chidoka, also speaking at the event, said Nigeria needs critics who understand implementation, officials who respect criticism, and citizens willing to bridge the divide between the two.
“There is pain, and I must say we all know that much of it is self-inflicted and not necessarily prolonged, but there is also promise in our people, in our creativity, and in the possibility of that thoughtful engagement,” he said.
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