Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has revealed that a deliberate communication strategy played a crucial role in helping Nigeria secure its landmark Paris Club debt relief during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja at the public presentation of The Pain and the Promise, a new book by communications expert and public affairs analyst Paul Nwabuikwu, Okonjo-Iweala said public understanding and support were vital to the economic reforms that paved the way for the historic debt deal.
Before 2005, Nigeria’s external debt stood at $36 billion, much of it accumulated during the military era beginning in 1985.
In October 2005, when Okonjo-Iweala served as Minister of Finance, Nigeria reached a final agreement with the Paris Club that resulted in $18 billion in debt relief after the country paid $12 billion. The deal was completed on April 21, 2006, when Nigeria made its final payment, clearing all Paris Club debt and reducing its external debt to about $3 billion, while domestic debt stood at roughly N1 trillion.
Recalling her return from the World Bank in 2003, Okonjo-Iweala said she was brought in to strengthen Nigeria’s public finances and negotiate the elimination of the country’s estimated $30 billion debt owed to the Paris Club of creditors.
“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.
According to the WTO Director-General, she understood from the outset that the reforms would require difficult economic decisions and public support, making effective communication essential.
“To do this work, I knew Nigeria would have to undertake serious economic reforms that would demand understanding and sacrifices from Nigerians,” she said.
She explained that this informed her decision to recruit Paul Nwabuikwu into the economic management team to communicate the reforms in clear and simple language.
“One important component in my mind then was that we would need a crack communications person or team to help us reach Nigerians and explain all of this in simple language. That is where Paul came in,” she said.
Describing Nwabuikwu as “smart, articulate, compassionate, a terrific writer and communicator,” Okonjo-Iweala credited him with helping Nigerians understand complex economic policies.
“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 added.
She stressed that successful reforms in a democracy require more than sound policies, noting that governments must also earn public trust.
“Reform is not just about writing new laws and enforcing new policies. It’s about persuading people, explaining trade-offs and building enough trust that governments can keep pushing through obstacles,” she said.
Beyond the debt negotiations, Okonjo-Iweala said Nigeria’s ethnic, religious and regional divisions remain a major challenge to sustainable development.
She warned that the country would struggle to achieve lasting prosperity unless Nigerians build a national consensus that rises above sectional interests and remains consistent regardless of who is in government.
“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.
Reviewing The Pain and the Promise, Okonjo-Iweala described the 300-page book as a compelling account of Nigeria’s political, economic and social evolution over the past three and a half decades. She recommended it particularly to young Nigerians seeking a deeper understanding of the country’s history and contemporary challenges.
