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Tag: WTO

  • The fruitlessness of an Okonjo-Iweala leadership of WTO, By Owei Lakemfa

    By Owei Lakemfa

    I first met Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during the Obasanjo administration at a conference organised by the newly emergent Due Process Office headed by Mrs. Obiageli (Oby) Katryn Ezekwesili.

    Okonjo-Iweala was Minister of Finance, so I asked her how much oil Nigeria was producing daily. Conference Chairman, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai (Now Governor of Kaduna State) fumed: “Mr. Lakemfa, let me tell you, there are three persons I can die for in this government; Oby, Ribadu (Nuhu, then Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) and Ngozi.” He did not allow her to answer the question. I doubt if until today, it is a question she can answer.

    Okonjo-Iweala was an instrument for the perpetuation of the enslaving policies of the IMF and World Bank. In her 2018 book “Fighting Corruption Is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines” she admitted being a stooge of those organisations. In it, she wrote of her reaction to the January 1, 2012 fuel price increase: “I told my husband that I was sure that I would be blamed if things did not go right because everyone would feel that in my rush to implement so-called neoliberal policies informed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, I had rushed the President into this decision”

    Okonjo-Iweala as Finance Minister from 2003-2006 was one of the main forces that drove the Obasanjo administration’s privatization process in which choice public property like the profit-making 670-room luxuriously furnished Nicon-Noga Hotel(Renamed Transcorp) were sold. My primary point on this issue is that the funds realised from these prodigal sales were not accounted for by the Iweala-controlled Finance Ministry or any other government arm, nor were Nigerians told the public projects on which these funds were expended.

    Okonjo-Iweala was the pivot of the controversial 2005 debt repayment project to the Paris Club. The debts were said to be $30 Billion under which $18 billion was written off as aid while the country made an outright payment of $12 billion. First, there was the controversy whether these debts were verifiable. Secondly, whether it made sense for an underdeveloped country to make a bulk payment of $12 billion. But the main controversy was whether in paying the Paris Club, Nigeria needed “Consultants” or “Advisors” who were paid huge commissions. Nigerians asked Okonjo-Iweala to name these middlemen and exactly how much they were paid. This, to the best of my knowledge has not been done fifteen years later.

    In 2010, the labour unions had differences with government over the new National Minimum Wage of N18,000. We thought the then Secretary to the Government, Senator Pius Ayim was not forthcoming so elected to meet President Jonathan. After he sorted out the issue, we told him there were rumours Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was to be brought back as Finance Minister, and stated reasons for our objection. President Jonathan noted Labour’s objection, but went ahead not only to bring her back as Finance Minister, but also as the ‘Coordinating Minister for the Economy’ A sort of Prime Minister.

    When in 2011, the administration flew the kite of an astronomical increase in fuel price, she went into over drive with her propaganda machinery. As this heated up the polity, President Jonathan invited the Labour unions to a meeting on December 19, 2011 in the Presidential Villa. I was then the Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Okonjo-Iweala with slides, briefed us on government’s position. She made the usual windy arguments about the increase being based on transparency, oil subsidy mainly benefiting the rich, need to attract private investors, curb fuel smuggling and that PMS prices should be subjected to so-called market forces as had happened to the telecommunication and aviation sectors.

    She claimed that the landing cost of a litre of PMS was N139. First we showed that her statistics were faulty and asked her how much a litre would cost were the country to do local refining. She had no answer, so with statistics, we provided the answer; N40!

    Then she claimed that the country consumed “35 to 40million” litres of PMS daily. We argued that since almost all the PMS is dispensed from petrol stations, she should tell us the number of such stations and their holding capacity. She could not, and we provided the information that the entire capacity of the fuel stations was between 20-25 million litres. In other words that her claimed 35-40 million-litre consumption, was false. She began to shout: “ I don’t lie o! Nobody should call me a liar!!” An apparently embarrassed President Jonathan calmed her down and requested we adjourned the meeting to the New year, 2012 during which Labour would present its counter statistics to those of the Minister. That meeting never held as the Government on January 1, 2012, announced the fuel price increase. The reactions were massive protests that heralded the end of that administration.

    Later, revelations showed that while the Executive with Okonjo-Iweala as Co-ordinating Minister claimed the country was paying daily subsidy for 35-40 million litres, the truth from the record of payments through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) was that the country was paying subsidy for 59 million litres per day! This daily 19-24 million litre subsidy difference, is called fraud.

    Also under her watch, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) rather than pay all monies accruing to the country into the Federation Account as constitutionally provided, first paid itself whatever amount it wanted before paying the balance into the account. Also, the PPPRA which was not importing fuel was being paid an average ‘fuel subsidy’ of N150 Billion annually. While the subsidy provision for 2011 was N245.96 Billion, the Finance Ministry under Okonjo Iweala paid N2,587.087 Trillion.

    Another revelation was that she hired two audit firms; Akintola William Deloitte and Olusola Adekanla and Co to verify subsidy claims before payments were made. But the House of Representatives found that the firms had no adequate knowledge of measuring products in a vessel before and after discharge. So the firms were simply: “participating in a bazaar and collecting N275,000.00 per vessel”

    It was indeed, a bazaar; while Okonjo-Iweala paid oil subsidy to five companies in 2006, in 2011, for generally the same level of consumption, she paid 140 companies! Anybody interested in these details can pick up a copy of my 2015 book “Parliament of the Streets: Mass Strikes and Street Protests that Shook Nigeria in 2012” I cannot in clean conscience, recommend Okonjo-Iweala for any job.

    On the shark WTO, while it is true Okonjo-Iweala is a Nigerian and an African, but of what comfort is it to the forest that the handle of the sharp axe cutting down its trees is made of wood from the forest?

     

  • Swimming against WTO and Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy, By Owei Lakemfa

    By Owei Lakemfa.

     

    TRUTH is not always as innocent as it looks or is portrayed. Quite often, it is a burden, especially to the heart, and it is difficult to discharge. The truth can also be a temptation. For instance, for some time now, I have thought of addressing the issue of the World Trade Organisation, WTO and Nigeria’s candidate, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The truth is that I have lacked the courage to do so due to a number of truths. The first is that her father, Prof. Chukwuka Okonjo, the noted Mathematician was a father figure to those who mentored me when I was a student. Many of these mentors revived the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU and turned it into an efficient fighting force for the defence of education in a country run mostly by leaders contemptuous of education and steeped in corruption, regional and ethno-religious jingoism. So, the truth is that it is difficult for me to critically analyse his daughter even when I know their philosophies are on parallel lines.

     

    The second truth is that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s curriculum vitae is so long, windy, weighty and suffocating that she is either a genius like Albert Einstein or an endlessly recycled agent of Western interests. The type of Black elites Franz Fanon described as “Black Skin, White Masks.” A third truth is that she is so well-connected nationally and globally that to write anything, no matter how innocuous, that may portray her in a light less illuminating than she is used to, is to risk serious retribution. It would amount to a person lying down while tonnes of bricks are off loaded on him. That, in plain language, is committing suicide.

     

    A fourth truth is that the personae of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has been so ingrained in the consciousness or sub-consciousness of many Nigerian middle class elements, that to say anything negative about her is to commit a crime, if not a sin. In fact, there are some rooting for her to succeed Buhari as the next President of Nigeria, my dear country that lays prostrate after decades of relentless pounding by her progressive and conservative children.

     

    The fifth truth is that the Buhari government withdrew the Nigerian nominee for the race of the WTO Director General, Mr. Yonov Frederick Agah, and replaced him with Dr. Okonjo-Iweala. There was no explanation for this unusual step, especially when it came after the African Union, AU, had short-listed Agah, who is the WTO Deputy Director General; Eloi Laourou of Benin Republic; and Egypt’s Abdulhammed Mamdouh as its official candidates. Did the Buhari government take this step having come to the conclusion that she has a better chance? Was it taken to appease the increasing agitation by our Igbo compatriots who have been completely marginalised, or was it pressure from her mother agency, the imperial World Bank and its Western owners?

     

    The sixth truth responsible for my reluctance is the fact that she is Nigeria’s official candidate; would I not be accused of being unpatriotic if I make public my views? Lastly, in a world gripped by a pandemic of falsehood; where many wear face masks not to be infected with the truth, maintain social distancing not to be plagued by the truth, and like Pontius Pilate, wash their hands off the truth so it can be nailed at Golgotha, does it make sense to be a cross bearer of the truth? Or it makes more sense to deny the truth thrice before the cock crows even once?

     

    I was privileged to learn trade unionism at the feet of the greatest trade union organiser in Nigerian history, Wahab Omorilewa Goodluck, who used to say: “You tell the truth, you die, you don’t tell the truth, you die; so why not tell the truth and die?”

     

    Trade had been central to European voyages across the world. The Europeans came to Africa in search of new markets. They first traded in goods like mirrors and guns, and then humans. When slave trade was no longer lucrative, they banned it and used this as pretext to colonise some African societies like Lagos. They also colonised many African states for allegedly impeding ‘free trade’.

     

    After the Second World War, the victorious allies decided to control the economy and finances of the world. They met in 1944 at the Mount Washington Hotel, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, US, where the American International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, which was charged with giving out loans, credits and grants, was rechristened the World Bank. A sister agency, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, was also established at the meeting to remove ‘trade barriers’. They became known as the ‘Bretton Woods Twins’ or ‘Institutions’.

     

    To ensure control, the allies shared the leadership of the two institutions. Subsequently, since 1944, only Europeans are allowed to be the Managing Director of the IMF. The absolute control of the IMF Board by US and Western Europe, ensures this dictatorial practice.

     

    On the other hand, although the World Bank is made up of 189 countries, only an American can be its President. In other words, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, despite her 25-year service in the Bank and holding such a high sounding position as Managing Director (Operations) cannot be World Bank President.

     

    In 1947, the allies decided also to control world trade by floating the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, GATT. This body was renamed on January 1, 1995 as the World Trade Organisation, WTO. So, the Western allies succeeded in creating a monopoly over world finance, investment, trade and economic governance. This same group holds military monopoly as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO.

     

    While all these were being perfected, most of the world was under European colonialism. At that time, in Africa, only Egypt, Ethiopia and Liberia were independent with South Africa under Apartheid. However, when many African and Asian countries became independent, they decided in 1964, to break the World Bank-IMF-WTO monopoly by establishing an equitable agency: the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD.

     

    So, the IMF and the World Bank are two monkeys who take turns carrying each other on their backs while their child, the WTO, hops from one tree to another playing at nurturing world trade. That imperial family of three have for 55 years now, carried out a sustained fight to kill UNCTAD, the baby born by the wider world to handle beneficial trade, multilateral relations and all-round human development. They have already aborted UNCTAD’s attempt to give birth to a New World Economic Order in which all humanity will benefit from an increasingly interdependent and globalised world.

     

    Next, we will discuss the fruitlessness of an Okonjo-Iweala leadership of the neo-colonial WTO.

  • Okonjo-Iweala raises alarm: Some influential Nigerians sabotaging my campaign for WTO job

    Okonjo-Iweala raises alarm: Some influential Nigerians sabotaging my campaign for WTO job

    Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance and candidate for the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala has raised the alarm that some highly placed Nigerians are making moves to sabotage her campaign for the position.

    In a statement on Friday by her Media Adviser, Mr Paul Nwabuikwu, the former minister said
    these persons and their cohorts are peddling outright lies and distortions designed to invent a non-existent scandal in order to paint her and her campaign in negative light.

    The statement said, “It has come to our attention that there is an ongoing effort by some well-connected Nigerians to sabotage the campaign of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the country’s candidate for Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

    “As part of this campaign, these persons and their cohorts are peddling outright lies and distortions designed to invent a non-existent ‘scandal’ in order to paint the Candidate and her campaign in negative light.

    “An example of this is the effort to misrepresent the Campaign’s relationship with Mercury Communications, one of the organizations and individuals that have done voluntary, pro bono work for the Campaign.

    “Mercury was never formally engaged by Dr Okonjo-Iweala and its work for the Campaign was done strictly on volunteer basis.

    “Against this background, the attempt by these elements to manufacture a ‘controversy’ in the local and international media by distorting the facts and creating falsehoods to link the Campaign with some of Mercury’s current or past clients to push a false impression is contemptible.”

    The minister in the statement said that it is sad that the elements behind this campaign are placing their “squalid concerns above the interests of the country.”

    She added, “We urge all well-meaning Nigerians to ignore this condemnable effort.

    “Dr Okonjo-Iweala is humbled that her campaign is progressing in the right direction and that her candidacy has been embraced by many Nigerians, including a growing number of spirited volunteers.”

    While appreciating the strong show of support by both the Presidency and Nigerians, despite the efforts of the persons engaged in this negative exercise, Okonjo-Iweala assured that she would continue to do her best to make her candidacy count for the country.

    Meanwhile, Mercury on Friday also issued a statement denying receiving the campaign contract of Okonjo-Iweala for the WTO job.

    “Mercury does not and has never had a contract to represent Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s campaign for WTO. Her campaign team is comprised of volunteers.
    A small number of Mercury employees are volunteering to help Dr Ngozi in her campaign for WTO Director General. She is not a client of our firm and the campaign has never had a contract with Mercury. An administrative error was made when the staff volunteered, leading to a precautionary LDA registration. This was cancelled because it was unnecessary,” the statement said.

  • Buhari nominates ex-two-term finance minister Okonjo-Iweala for DG, WTO

    Buhari nominates ex-two-term finance minister Okonjo-Iweala for DG, WTO

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the nomination of a former two-term Minister of Finance and former Managing Director (Operations) of the World Bank, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

    The nomination comes about three weeks after the incumbent, Mr. Roberto Azevêdo, announced that he would step down from the position on August 31, 2020, cutting his second term short by one year.

    The decision, according to Azevêdo, is to give his successor the time to work with WTO members to shape the strategic direction for the Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) and beyond. The election is scheduled to hold in Geneva, Switzerland next year.

    However, in a leaked five-page document dated June 4, 2020, that was addressed to all embassies and permanent missions in Addis Ababa, the federal government also withdrew the candidacy of Yonov Frederick Agah, Nigeria’s permanent representative to WTO, for the same position.

    The document stated: “The embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and permanent mission to the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) presents compliments to all embassies and permanent missions in Addis Ababa and has the honour to inform that the Federal Government of Nigeria has withdrawn the candidacy of Ambassador Yonov Frederick Agah for election to the position of Director-General of the WTO.

    “In this regard, the Mission also wishes to inform that his Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, has approved the nomination of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to replace Ambassador Agah, as Nigeria’s candidacy for the position of the Director-General of the WTO, for the term 2021-2025 at the elections scheduled to hold in Geneva, Switzerland in 2021.

    “Nigeria is, therefore, pleased to request the support of esteemed AU member states as well as permanent missions and embassies in Addis Ababa in favour of the candidacy of Okonjo-Iweala.”

    It described Okonjo-Iweala as a renowned global finance expert, an economist and international development professional with over 30 years of experience, having worked in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and North America.

    She is presently the Chair of the Board of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance. Since its creation in 2000, GAVI has immunised over 760 million children across the globe. She also sits on the boards of Standard Chartered Plc and Twitter Inc. She was recently appointed African Union Special Envoy to mobilise international financial support in the fight against COVID-19, as well as Envoy for the World Health Organisation’s access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.

    The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, also recently appointed Okonjo-Iweala, to serve as a member of her newly-established External Advisory Group.

    In addition, Okonjo-Iweala served twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister, from 2003-2006, 2011-2015 and briefly as Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions.

    She had a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development economist, rising to the number two position of Managing Director (Operations).
    As Finance Minister, Okonjo-Iweala steered Nigeria through the varying degree of reforms, particularly on macroeconomic, trade, financial and real sector issues.

    As Managing Director (Operations) of the World Bank, her several portfolios included oversight responsibility for the World Bank’s $81 billion operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia.

    Okonjo-Iweala spearheaded several World Bank initiatives to assist low-income countries during the 2008-2009 food crisis and later in the trying period of the global financial crisis.

    In 2010, she served as Chair of the World Bank’s successful drive to raise $49.3 billion in grants and low-interest credit for the poorest countries in the world.

  • Nigeria, 107 other countries ratify WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement

    Nigeria on Friday in Davos, Switzerland, ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), making it the 107th WTO member to do so.

    The country’s instrument of acceptance was submitted to the WTO by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, a statement from the ministry said.

    Enelamah handed over the instrument at a meeting with the WTO Director-General, Roberto Azevêdo, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

    Only three more ratifications from member countries are needed to achieve the two-third threshold required to bring the treaty into force.

    Concluded at the WTO’s 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference, the TFA contains provisions for expediting the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit, says the African Press Organisation (APO).

    The agreement sets out measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.

    It also contains provisions for technical assistance and capacity building in this area, and has the potential to increase global merchandise exports by up to one trillion dollars.

    A 2015 study by WTO economists cited by APO states that full implementation of the TFA would reduce members’ trade costs by an average of 14.3 per cent, with developing countries having the most to gain.

    It would also reduce the time to import goods by over a day and a half, while also reducing time to export by almost two days, representing a reduction of 47 per cent and 91 per cent respectively over the current average.

    Nigeria submitted its Category A notification to the WTO on Nov. 10, 2014, outlining which substantive provisions of the TFA it intends to implement when it takes effect.

    Enelamah said that Nigeria’s ratification of the treaty was a reflection of its commitment to the WTO and a rules-based economy.

    “It is evidence of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to rapidly implement his presidential initiative on the creation of an enabling environment for business.

    “Nigeria would like to see a strengthened WTO that reflects the development principles of developing countries like Nigeria and we commend the effectiveness of director general Azevêdo in this regard,” he added.

    Other African countries that have ratified the TFA are Botswana, Niger, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Zambia, Lesotho, Mali, Senegal, Swaziland, Gabon, Ghana and Mozambique.

    “The TFA broke new ground for developing and least-developed countries in the way it will be implemented.

    “For the first time in WTO history, the requirement to implement the agreement was directly linked to the capacity of the country to do so.

    “In addition, the agreement states that assistance and support should be provided to help them achieve that capacity,’’ APO said.

    It added that TFA was also created at the request of developing and least-developed country members to help ensure that they receive the assistance needed to reap its full benefits.

    The Federal Government is expected to take the advantage of Nigeria’s membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to impact positively on nation’s economies through increase in the volume of trade and Foreign Direct Investment inflow.

    It is also expected to the advantage of increased technical assistance and support from the multinational trading system and donor countries in the areas of capacity-building, infrastructure development, enhanced foreign exchange earnings, and market access for the countries’ exportable commodities through removal of technical and non-technical barriers to trade.

     

    NAN