18 years after, Obasanjo reveals how his govt secured debt relief for Nigeria

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday revealed how his government secured a debt relief for Nigeria in 2006.

Obasanjo, who spoke on News Central TV, also decried the dearth of quality leaders in the country.

The former president said the government successfully negotiated debt forgiveness for the country by convincing the World Bank, Paris Club and other other multilateral lenders that the money saved from the agreement would be used for sustainable development in the country.

Obasanjo recalled that when he assumed office in 1999, Nigeria was servicing its debt with a huge sum of $3.5billion while the debt burden was $36 billion.

According to him, Nigeria had $3.7 billion in its foreign reserve at the time.

Obasanjo said: “When I became elected President of Nigeria, one of the things that worried me and that I wanted to do something about was debt relief.

The quantum of debt that we were carrying, the burden was too heavy. We were spending $3.5 billion to service debt, yet the quantum was not going down and I believed that we should seek debt relief.

“Many people inside and outside Nigeria thought it was a bad dream but I was convinced. I went to the World Bank and I started talking to our creditors.

READ ALSO: From $70bn to bankruptcy: Obasanjo laments Nigeria’s financial mismanagement, mounting debt

“How did we achieve this? When you make your case if they (creditors) find that you are genuinely showing and trying to carry out what they call reforms, and the reforms they are asking us to carry out are reforms we should ordinarily carry out.

“How do you have public service delivered, how do you drastically reduce corruption, how do you manage your finances? And all these are reforms that nobody needs to tell us to do.”

Obasanjo said when the world lenders “believe that you’re doing what they expect of you, they will listen and you may even find the world more sympathetic than you thought. The world does not feel it owes you anything but if you show responsibility.

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