Recently, a social media firestorm was ignited in the aftermath of the comments made by a former Nigerian minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, and now the director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, after her visit to the president and the minister of finance.
It is obvious that many who were disappointed and angry had expected her to come out with sharp criticisms and wholesale condemnation of Tinubu’s economic policies dressed up as reforms. If simplicity is a virtue, then let’s encourage it. If circumspection is a sign of social intelligence and wisdom, then let’s applaud it. Moreover, it has to be stated here that the stealthy movements of a leopard is not a sign of cowardice. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a seasoned economist, an astute diplomat and well versed global icon who now has less to worry about while stating her views on global issues.
There is a norm in diplomatic circles. If you want to influence certain things, you may not approach them head-on. Chess players will agree with me that certain powerful moves are not revealed at the onset of a game, otherwise you give your game away. You sometimes allow your playmate to “eat” some pawns in order for you to successfully launch your power moves.
First, the understanding of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala should not be diminished based on her comments that were construed as apparently giving undeserved credit to the Tinubu’s government. Navigating diplomatic undulating and convoluted terrain is one of the most difficult jobs anyone can be compelled to do.
From her years in public service internationally, locally and back on the international turf, a woman of her standing is undoubtedly well experienced, enough to dissect economic policies well and to offer credible and useful insights. This same Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was the woman who wrote about the trouble in fighting corruption and how corruption fights back ferociously. Who can imagine her mother’s abduction as a bargaining chip to force her hand to abandon the economic reforms she was leading under the Goodluck Jonathan administration? She is human and a creature with memories, emotions and a rational mind.
It is obvious Dr. Okonjo-Iweala did not forget that she has just met the greatest critic and traducer of her economic policies then, now in the driver’s seat. She could easily have said to his face “that you are getting things wrong sir. You now see how it hurts.” But that would have been petty, vindictive and childish. She wouldn’t have done that for the following reasons.
First, her statement would have been taken globally as a verdict on the current government of Nigeria. She is the woman in charge of global trade. She would easily have closed the door to many foreign direct investment prospects for Nigeria as her words would have become the reference point.
Some international media that are used to seeing only the dark side of Africa would have feasted on her comments, making big headline news about a woman who took her country to the cleaners. It is not an accolade. It is an act of insensitivity. She was not necessarily validating the government or giving it credibility. Rather, she was walking the diplomatic fine line.
Secondly, as a freeborn of Nigeria who is expected to have her own opinion about what’s going on in her country, she stood the risk of being labelled an opposition agent by the ruling party. That could draw a battle line. A barrage of avoidable spats could arise. She could even be labelled as a foreign agent, especially given her dual nationality and might be accused of trying to destabilise Nigeria or derail a government’s programme.
Many Nigerians who are feeling the pangs of the pains felt by Nigerians, that the president himself has acknowledged, were disappointed that Okonjo-Iweala did not come out with details or pointing out clear errors of the government. Those of Igbo extraction among her critics for her statements should understand the tribal interpretation from government defenders to any critical comments from them.
Thus, they should forgive Dr. Okonjo-Iweala for not falling into such a trap, which would have made negative headlines. She would have been branded an ethnic bigot and a divisive global figure. It may not have diminished her global status. But it may have driven a wedge further into the already existing gulf contrived for political capital. Don’t forget that 2027 is both an obsession, a foremost and a central project of the current government. The tribe that must be thoroughly bashed and browbeaten in the frenetic buildup to that defining magic year is one from which Dr. Okonjo-Iweala emanated. It would have been a silly idea for her to give talking points to those who would form an army of critics from that tribe, or – for that matter – from elsewhere. I think every enlightened Igbo man or woman should applaud her for circumventing that dangerous route.
Her comments about “safety nets” appear to have been discountenanced as inconsequential and misconstrued by many critics. It was actually a killer punch. It was an indirect and courteous way of saying a job is not well done. It underscored the failure of the government in many different ways. Or, would you say a mechanic that repaired the engine of a car but forgot to fix the horn, the brakes or the headlights has provided the necessary safeguards for the driver when he said he had completed the job given to him? Let me explain safety-net, first as a medic and then as a policy analyst. Safety net in economic context is like the safeguards provided while handling a surgical patient.
You need to provide anaesthetic agents (pain killers and probably sleep inducers) for use during operations. Operating on a fully conscious patient who will be feeling the pain is cruel and unprofessional. Your surgical site must be as pathogen-free as possible. You need to have a blood bank and other haematinics handy, just in case of haemorrhage or in a patient that has less blood or fluids and needs infusion, to avoid shock, coma and death as in some cases where surgeries were successful but the patients died. You must make provision for post-operative care, especially antibiotics to ward off or suppress infections. This may require extended monitoring to prevent tears, delayed wound healing, need for diet change, avoidance of surgical site contamination and regular outer wound dressing until healing is perfected. Without these, any intervention, no matter how well intentioned, will become an exercise in futility. Your patient may end up with abscess.
Now, from a purely policy standpoint, safety nets are those provisions that help policy interventions to achieve intended purposes. Absence of such provisions would only lead to complications. They can make economic policies to create more hardships instead of mitigating them. To me, these were the unstated statements of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala. In other words, it is not enough to hype up good economic policies. What or where are the provisions that will make the policies truly impactful?
I am not a spokesperson for Dr. Okonjo-Iweala. I write as an objective policy analyst. I therefore think she made her point without condescension. Unlike the IMF or other multilateral lending institutions, or the US mentioned for contrast, that many commentators referred to, Okonjo-Iweala is a direct stakeholder in the commonwealth of Nigeria. These multilateral institutions provide support in ways they deem fit, which – more often than not – are unsuitable for their client countries. Nigeria went down the path of economic doldrums as a result of the IMF loans and conditionalities that Ibrahim Babangida accepted on the country’s behalf in the 1980s. He was unable to manage the safety nets well and the country has had to live with the consequences ever since.
So, without opening her mouth too widely to say it, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has hinted at what matters most – safety nets. Before those in government roll out the drums to celebrate an endorsement, she had only called attention to where the actual field work is. That is what should be taken more seriously after the government has succumbed to policies dictated by multilateral institutional lenders’ terms, conditions and proxy policies for Nigeria.
