Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), says a deliberate communication strategy was instrumental in helping Nigeria secure the landmark Paris Club debt relief during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Before 2005, Nigeria had an external debt stock of $36 billion, which was carried over from the military years dating back to 1985. In October 2005, when Okonjo-Iweala was the finance minister, Nigeria and the Paris Club announced a final agreement for debt relief worth $18 billion after Nigeria paid $12 billion. The deal was completed on April 21, 2006, when Nigeria made its final payment and its books were cleared of any Paris Club debt, bringing Nigeria’s external debt profile to just $3 billion while domestic debt was only about N1 trillion. Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja at the public presentation of ‘The Pain and the Promise’, a new book by Paul Nwabuikwu, communications expert and public affairs analyst, Okonjo-Iweala said public understanding and support were critical to the success of the economic reforms that culminated in the country’s debt deal. She recalled that she was recruited from the World Bank in 2003 to restore Nigeria’s public finances, including negotiating 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,” the WTO DG said. “To do this work, I knew Nigeria would have to undertake serious economic reforms of the type that would demand understanding and sacrifices from Nigerians.” Okonjo-Iweala said she recognised early that the reforms would require a strong public communication strategy, prompting her to recruit Nwabuikwu into the economic management team. “One important component in my mind then was that we would need a crack communications person or team to help us reach Nigerians, to 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,” the WTO chief said his ability to explain complex economic policies to Nigerians contributed significantly to the success of the reform programme. “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 said. Okonjo-Iweala said successful reforms in a democracy require more than policy design and implementation. “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,” the former minister said. ‘NIGERIA WILL PROSPER IF NATIONAL CONSENSUS IS FORGED’ Beyond reflecting on the debt negotiations, Okonjo-Iweala said Nigeria’s persistent ethnic, religious and regional divisions remain a major obstacle to sustainable development. She said the country would struggle to achieve enduring prosperity unless Nigerians forged a national consensus that transcends sectional interests and survives changes 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 publication as a compelling account of Nigeria’s political, economic and social evolution over the past three and a half decades, recommending it particularly to young Nigerians seeking to better understand the country’s history and contemporary challenges.