Letter from Washington...
The IMF/World Bank manual meetings which just ended has been used as a platform for Nigeria to further amplify its belief that it is recording economic growth. NIK OGBULIE reports from Washington that the presentation was scandalous, in view of the very high level of poverty in the country.

ONE major issue that has continued to be in  news is the report of how devastating the global financial crisis has been and how all the countries affected tackled the scourge. Generally, one would not expect any African or third world country to get any good mention from this, but surprisingly, they are the regions that have been said to have come out better. Nobody can explain the reason behind this achievement, but assumptions are rife that such record may not have been unconnected with the fact that they really were not the targets of the development based on their very low and poor economic and developmental positions.
When Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Olusegun Aganga, delivered his keynote address as chairman of the session and emphasizing that Nigeria’s GDP has been on the upsurge in the last four years, I was really feeling that he has sold the controversial 7 per cent GDP growth debate to the world and this may have been the basis for the entire belief by the global body that the country has remained largely successful and out of the financial crisis. I looked round and did not find Professor Chukwuma Soludo on the side reserved for special dignitaries. I saw a few Nigerians like Dr Abraham Nwankwo, the DG of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office and Phillips Oduoza of UBA. It was obvious that Soludo’s battle to stop the deceit did not fly as the World Bank and the IMF have already bought the poor deal being sold by Lamido Sanusi and his collaborators who are doing everything to justify their plundering of the country’s riches. This conspiracy will boomerang because it is creating very serious mismatch information about our economy to the outside World. Nobody seems to be reading the handwritings on the wall until the time the whole wealthy nations will descend on us again to demand the payment of all our debts like they did few years ago.
As a matter of fact, there are so many reasons to believe that the economic situation in Nigeria could not have been close to the picture Aganga and Sanusi have been told to sell by the Nigerian government. The attendance record by Nigerian delegates has been so poor as not up to five bank chief executives are already here. Except those of First Bank and UBA no other one has been sighted. Though there is the expectation that Fidelity Bank CEO was on his way, he was not seated at the plenary session. Many small West African countries that are believed that have some very strong issues to present to the global event have been strong with intimidating presence. Some say that the political pressure in Nigeria is key to the low delegate participation but I still feel that it is really not enough reason.
For first Bank Plc, the current meeting is a plus to its strong desire to become a better measurement of the strength of the country’s financial sector growth as it has been detailed for elaborate awards within this three day period. The awards spanning various areas of banking sector proficiency, the bank is striving to close the yawning gap which stares the Nigerian financial operators in the face when compared with the results of its contemporaries within the region. Suffice it to say that the bank has been making bold the desire to represent the industry in the absence of banks like UBA, Union, Intercontinental, Zenith and Oceanic which had in the past made bold strives in the global arena before they started to go down in relevance.
This year’s World Bank /IMF meeting is unique in many ways. It is the meeting which the entire world has been waiting for in its anxiety to estimate who successful it has been in tackling the scourge of global financial crisis. There is no doubts that the position of all the global financial managers will still keep the entire world scared, especially with the revelation that the big spenders like USA and Britain have still not been clearly off the mark of experiencing another round of a killer holocaust in their financial systems. One wonders how they will feel if they come to terms with the fact that their sole dependants like Nigeria are getting clean bill of health while they are still receiving great knocks. This could be serious!
But the one important message one must let those who could not make Washington 2010 understand is the fact that Nigeria’s presence in international events need to be further hyped in the same manner South Africans have been able to do. Our Central Bank Governor must be told to be in the fore front of such presentation. He must be seen to be warn. I saw him wriggling within a crowd of dignitaries without anyone throwing banters at him. With a very tight safari suit that exposed his small body, not many could offer him any reference in such a mix. He may be brilliant as some people have been saying but he should also try in any way to uplift the image of this country. Allahu Akbar!