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Dr. Reuben Abati, seasoned journalist and former media adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has clarified why Nigerians should not have expected Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to deliver a different message to President Bola Tinubu regarding the country’s economic situation.

According to Abati, Okonjo-Iweala operates as an international diplomat, and her statements largely align with those made by global financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

He emphasized that the nation’s core issue lies in its lack of productivity, pointing out that Nigeria continues to rely heavily on oil as its primary source of income, maintaining a monocultural economy.

On Thursday, Okonjo-Iweala commended President Tinubu’s economic policies, stating that his administration’s reforms are progressing in the right direction. She made this remark during a media briefing after paying a courtesy visit to the President.

However, during an appearance on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Friday, Abati argued that the sentiments of everyday Nigerians are not shaped by statistics, but by their lived experiences.

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He said: Dr Ngozi okonjo was in Nigeria originally to launch this $50 million fund with regard to getting Nigerian women into the digital space. And the main proposition is that Nigerian women need to be further empowered. And I think that on the surface of it, that greater involvement is march in the digital space, even for Nigerian women and other categories, is an important proposition. I think that we should not lose sight of the major mission to Nigeria.

Abati underlined that while her remarks on the economy have sparked conversations, her primary purpose for visiting the country was tied to promoting digital inclusion for women, a goal he described as both timely and essential.

“Now, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is Director General second time of the WTO, is an International diplomat. No one should expect that she will go to the president of Nigeria and tell him anything otherwise as an international diplomat.

“Yes, she will echo, and what she’s done is not even original. She simply echoed IMF, World Bank. After her consultative session outcome, saying that, ‘oh, President Tinubu, reform is going very well, and that those reforms are important and all that.’

“But both the IMF and the World Bank added the same caveat about the need for social safety nets. She said exactly the same thing. She said, okay, the reforms are working, but now we need growth. In other words, she’s also saying the same thing that the IMF and World Bank said that we need to do more.

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“So when Minister Edun comes on the sidelines and says, Oh, we’re doing well. You know, the budget is doing well. We are, you know, paying attention to all regular payments and all that. That’s government talk. The emphasis is on growth, which Dr Okonjo-Iweala pointed out, how do we grow this economy? And the counter argument is like, is there enough productivity in this economy to ensure growth?

“I’ve consistently said there is no enough productivity, and then we’re still a monocultural economy. The bulk of what we get is still from oil.

“We need to do a lot more in terms of expanding this economy. You know, making it grow 3.4 3.5% growth is not enough. Those who know the subject have said, look, can we get to Nigeria to a double digit growth level, which was where this economy was going at a certain time, removing subsidy and having additional revenue.

“Yes, it may solve initial problems, but there are more fundamental problems that an international diplomat will not stand in front of President Tinubu and spell out.

“But the point is that, you know, government needs new ideas to achieve that objective of growth that Dr Okonjo-Iweala pointed out. So it’s not enough to say we have stabilized the economy, you have stabilized the economy. That’s why the international diplomat was saying you have to provide social safety nets.

“There are people we see on a daily basis who are saying, they are groaning that there is hardship in the land, that they cannot survive under the same reforms that are working. The last common denominator is what the ordinary man thinks, how the ordinary man feels, how the ordinary man survives when there is prosperity in your house.

“The point I’m making is that we just want a country where everybody is prosperous and safe. We are not relying on statistics, we are relying on reality, and there is that social safety net that everyone from Okonjo-Iweala to IMF and World Bank ambassador is talking about.”

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