Benefits of millineum development goal
It is with great joy that I address you today on one of the pillars of success of this Administration. I address you on it for several reasons. First, it is important that, as always, I bring to your attention issues of national importance. Second, it has far-reaching implications, in a positive sense, for our reform agenda. Third, we have collectively worked very hard for it and now that the results are evident, we should all savour it and draw bitter lessons from the profligacy of the past. Fourth, it vindicates the steadfastness, sacrifices and tenacity of this government in its struggle to win relief from the global community in order to give us the required breathing space to make more progress.
Six years into the present democratic dispensation, we have definite achievements and dividends of democracy to report. Since April 1999, after my success in the election of February 1999 and pending formal inauguration, I was opportuned to travel to some important countries of the world to meet with their leaders in preparation for assumption of office. As early as that time, I was already asking world leaders for debt relief for Nigeria in addition to wooing investors. What we have now been given assurance to expect by the Paris Club is that Nigeria will clear its arrears of $6 billion of the $30 billion owed, following which there will be a stock reduction on Naples Terms while we will have to buy back the remainder. This will represent, for the first time, a total exit, if you like, total freedom from Paris Club debt.
The package in final terms that we are to expect would yield debt relief of about 60% on our current Paris Club debt. We shall pay off the 40 percent balance through a buy back operation. The total write off is close to $20 billion which compares very favourably with the recent $40 billion write off of debts for the 18 highly indebted and poor countries of the world by the developed nations. This, debt relief offered to us, I am pleased and proud to say is the direct product of our relentless and persistent endeavour over the past six years. The point to bear in mind is that whereas negative things can be done by an individual or a group in a country to mar or diminish the integrity and progress of the country or of a community, it is often a consistent, long, arduous and painful task to bring about reversal or positive change. What we have achieved now is worth celebrating because what we will expect at the end of the exercise will be close to a relief of $20 billion which is well beyond the total revenue of Nigeria for one year.
Fellow Nigerians, how did we get to the point where our debt burden became a challenge to peace, stability, growth and development? Without belabouring the point we can identify political rascality, bad governance, abuse of office and power, criminal corruption, mismanagement and waste, misplaced priorities, fiscal indiscipline, weak control, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, and a community that was openly tolerant of corruption and other underhand and extra legal methods of primitive accumulation.
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