World Report

Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

We would like to start this interview by looking at your background. As the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and only the second to hold this office under a presidential system of government, you have been an integral key in the development of this huge country. However even before your appointment in 1999, you had established yourself as a key figure in both the country's Public and Private sectors. Please tell the readers what your background is and how it has prepared you for your role as Vice President of Nigeria?

My background actually spanned over two areas: the public and the private sector. My public service is my 20 years experience as a custom's officer. But the past decade, I have spent in the private sector. Of course that movement was also accompanied by a foray into politics as well because I moved into the private sector at the time that Babangida's transition was unfolding. I had the opportunity to participate fully in that transition which gave me the opportunity to run first as governor of my state and secondly to run as a presidential candidate under Babangida's transition before the process was aborted. Naturally with these two backgrounds, it was not difficult for me when the Abdulsalam Abubakar transition programme was unfolded to fit back into this new transition programme. This is a brief account of the background that I brought into this current administration.

One of the hallmarks of the Obasanjo/Atiku administration has been NEEDS - a thorough and widespread economic reform program and in this sense, as the Chairman, National Economic Council, you have had the major responsibility of steering the nation's economic machinery and channelling efforts to optimize the opportunities of a potentially great economy. How do you assess the success of your administrations' economic, political and social reforms?

The reform program started as soon as we came into office in 1999. But then during our first term, we had to create reforms relating to the social and political state of the country; because we found a country that was so socially and politically divided that it was almost on the brink of disintegration. The first step was to bring the country back together and so our initial reforms actually centered on the social and political aspects of the country. We had had so many social upheavals, so many political crises. Our main reforms during the first term were targeted at stabilizing the country socially and politically. Only with stability you can introduce other reforms. So essentially during our first tenure, we concentrated on reforming the social and political arenas. We tried to stabilise the country; to make sure that we are a proud country that is stable and undivided, which I believe we did successfully. Then of course by the time we came into our second term, we were ready to launch our economic reforms. Since then we have pursued our economic reforms with vigor and I believe with tremendous success.

I am also the chairman of the National Economic Council, which is essentially a coordinating council. As you know, Nigeria is a federation of several states, but we have only one economy. Therefore there must be a synergy between the Federal government and the state governments and this is the role of the NEC, which is made up of all the state governors and myself as a representative of the federal government. We all have to work in harmony to be able to introduce meaningful economic reforms. That was how we introduced NEEDS at the federal level, SEEDS at the state level and LEEDS at the local government level. It was the responsibility of the National Economic Council to coordinate these economic reforms in order to see that we are going in one direction and not at variance from one another, because it is one economy. The economy has to move in one direction if we are to succeed in our reforms.

As Vice-President you are also the Chairman of the National Council on Privatization (NCP) and are primarily responsible for overseeing the Nation's privatization process, which this year has really starting seeing some strong results with the privatisation of the nation's major utilities. As Chairman of that council, how do you assess the success of the privatisation programme so far?

I think in the past six and half years, we have done extremely well as far as the privatisation programme is concerned. It is not an entirely new programme; in fact it was started about 10 years before the coming into being of this administration, but was carried out with varying degrees of success. However, it received a boost when we came in in 1999. During our first term, we actually privatised many enterprises particularly in the services sector: the banks, the oil marketing companies and we instrumented the deregulation of the telecommunication sector. All these ones were achieved during our first term. I think we did very well.

When we came back in our second term, we had some lull, because we had to prepare the giant enterprises for privatisation and that normally takes some time to prepare. Particularly challenging was the privatization of NITEL, of the power sector and of the Ports but after preparing successfully we have moved very fast to privatise them. It has been quite successful. We are now almost concluding the privatisation of the telephone company NITEL and I believe we should be able to complete it by the end of the year or early next year. That would have been a major success story. The next is the giant utility company called Power Holding Company of Nigeria. It is also well prepared now for privatisation from next year onwards.

The suitability of Investors has been a critical issue in Privatisation both in Nigeria and globally. One of the key problems with the privatisation process in the past has been the attraction of "speculators" to Nigerian Opportunities, rather than "investors." In this sense, how is the NCP and BPE ensuring that potential investors will bring, not only financial investment, but managerial and technological know-how and Reputation to Nigeria as well?

Actually there were only a few cases of what I would call speculative investors. There were only a few cases of botched sales. But all along, we have always been careful to make sure that a lot of screening is done on investors, whether foreign or local, to make sure that they have the financial, managerial and technical capability to bring into those enterprises that they are trying to buy. So we have a way of screening them both locally and internationally. Also, our consultants have a big role to play in that regard. So I believe that that has helped us tremendously.

Another of the more visible and tangible achievements of the Obasanjo/Atiku administration, has the high profile assault on corruption in the Nigerian Economy, led by the EFCC and ICPC. Vice President Atiku, please tell the readers of the Independent, how has the administration fought corruption and what are the main tenets of your anti-corruption campaign?

There are two aspects. One of the major legislations we introduced immediately when we came into the office was the Anti-Corruption law. And it was one of the legislations that were passed by the National Assembly. That goes to show our determination and commitment, right from the beginning, to fight corruption. We are the only administration that has been able to do that. Of course, secondly, then came the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Both of these developments were geared towards fighting corruption in one form or another. EFCC fights corruption, for instance, through avoiding and deterring successful money laundering.

Also, the Anti-Corruption Commission is fighting corruption both at the lower and middle level of the public and the private sector. These two legislations provided us with the launching pad to really and vigorously pursue the fight against corruption. We have done extremely well both within and outside the country, even though a lot still needs to be done, as even now we still have corruption in the public and private sectors in the country. It is an endemic malaise and it is not just something that you can root out within a few years. It has to be a fight that must be sustained over a period of time to be able to bring corruption to the minimum level in the country, both in the private and the public sector. None of the sectors is spared of corruption. So it has to be a total fight as far as corruption is concerned.

How do you think the successes you have had so far has affected the Nigerian people? What do Nigerians think about your war on corruption?

I think they welcome it. They cooperate with us and are very supportive. We know that we have been able to particularly get the public sector to be more prudent. There is more transparency and accountability in the public sector now, both at the federal and state government levels. What we want to be able to do is to extend this down to the local government level. It is a huge battle.

At the continental level the Obasanjo/Atiku administration is a driving force behind NEPAD, a vital pan-african initiative aimed at ensuring peace, security, good governance, sustainable development and poverty reduction in the African continent. In your opinion, has the evolution of NEPAD gone to plan?

NEPAD is a concept developed by the African Union to replace what has, for a long time, been the relationship between developing countries and the developed world which was more or less based on aid and handouts. The African Union then decided that more development can be achieved and poverty reduced if our relationship is based on partnership. Of course, that partnership must be home grown, which we were able to develop ourselves and then the international community looked at it and bought it. Certain key areas were identified in NEPAD, which we both agreed to concentrate on in the form of partnership programmes, ranging from infrastructure to agriculture, power, health and education. So certain key sectors of development were identified and it is on those sectors that the NEPAD partnership agreement is focused.

What role must Nigeria -as Africa's biggest nation- play in the whole NEPAD initiative?

Nigeria must play a leadership role. It has no alternative but to do that. Nature has thrust that responsibility on Nigeria, whether in ECOWAS or in the African Union, we just have to play that leadership role. Therefore by playing a leadership role, we have to be seen to be implementing the principles of NEPAD in Nigeria. Mr. President has set the pace by establishing a number of initiatives in those key sectors agreed between the African Union and the rest of the G8. So Nigeria has a responsibility to provide that leadership.

One of the key tools in NEPAD is the African Peer Review Mechanism. How would you assess the success of that mechanism so far?

I would say that it is something that is still at its initial stage. A number of countries have agreed and accepted to be bound by the African Peer Review Mechanism and they are in the process of implementing the mechanism. I believe the African Peer Review Mechanism will help to achieve the objectives of NEPAD.

Looking more closely at the ECOWAS region, currently less than 5% of African trade occurs between African Nations and in confronting this issue the Nigerian government has strengthened its commitment to the implementation of a unified West African region. What is your vision for the ECOWAS region and how close do you think the region is to real integration?

I think when we came in, Nigeria was the first to establish a Ministry of integration and by now, most West African countries have established a Ministry of integration. That is to show how committed we are to integration in West Africa. We are one regional group in Africa that has achieved more integration than any other regional grouping and we are moving towards further integration on a fast track. In this respect, for instance, Nigeria and Ghana have already signed an agreement to move towards integration on a fast track basis. As you know, we have just introduced a common customs tariff for the whole of West Africa, and we are also on the way to introducing a common monetary union. These are all objectives which are being implemented so that we can achieve the total integration of ECOWAS. Once we do that, and other regional groupings are also able to achieve integration, it will be easier for us to have the African Union as an integral, integrated union. I think ECOWAS is setting the pace as far as integration is concerned and we have moved faster than any regional grouping in the whole of the African continent.

As the chairman of the National Economic Revitalisation Committee, you play a crucial role in forming relationships between Nigeria and other nations like the UK, US and so on. What do you believe the Nigerian economy represents to potential investors from the UK, US and Europe?

There are two aspects to the National Economic Revitalisation committee. One aspect is to try to promote partnership between the private and the public sectors in the Nigerian economy. On this we have succeeded because we have been able to bring the private and public sectors to be partners in the economic development of our country. This partnership has resulted in a number of successes. It has resulted in the successes of privatization and our success in investments. It has also resulted in the success of making sure that we have physical responsibility and in making sure that we were able to achieve macro-economic stability. That is on the domestic front.

As far as the external aspect of it is concerned, we have achieved a lot by creating relationships between a number of countries: particularly between Nigeria and South Africa, and Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Those relationships improved economically because a number of agreements have been signed, which has brought in a number of investments from South Africa, the United Kingdom, China and other parts of the world. Nigeria has benefited from the partnerships and they have accounted for some of the successes that we have achieved in our economic reform.

With the G8 meeting finished, amidst great achievements and strides forward for Africa and Nigeria in particular, it is vital that African development continues to be a focus for African and non-African nations alike. Indeed, it is the responsibility of African Governments to drive national issues higher up the International agenda. What are your views on the promises made to Africa, and in particular to Nigeria, at the G8 meeting?

Before we went to the G8 meeting, what actually contributed to the success of the G8 and Africa was the Commission for Africa set up by British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. That commission has done a wonderful job and I believe it was the report of that commission that formed the basis of our pact with the G8. To that extent I would like to commend the effort of Prime Minister Blair for laying that solid foundation which resulted in our partnership with the G8. Of course our partnership with the G8 first and foremost brought about the debt relief, which the poorest countries have received; not only Nigeria, but many other African countries. That is the beginning and that has laid a foundation for other benefits that we expect to derive from that partnership with the G8, particularly in investment and other important aspects of our economic development programmes.

One of the conditions given by the G8 for continued support to Africa is for Africans to ensure that they keep faith with their development programmes. What political functions are in place to ensure that Africa continues to develop itself and also receive the support of developed countries?

I would like to see two aspects sustained. The first aspect is NEPAD, which is an instrument of sustaining the partnership with the G8. The second aspect is that of course the bilateral agreements that were signed with countries of the G8, like with the UK and the US, are the instruments that will help sustain the momentum of the partnership that has been developed between Africa and the G8.

One of the major challenges of the Administration has been the handling and re-engineering of Nigeria's poor international image. To handle this issue the Government recently launched the N600 million 'Heart of Africa' project. We would like you to tell our readers, what is the vision and specific objective of the Heart of Africa Project?

The vision is to try and change the international image of Nigeria. If you recall, by the time we came in, Nigeria was a pariah nation. We were not respected and we were not listened to. But democracy, which is a universally accepted form of government that was responsible for making this administration possible, is the bedrock of this Heart of Africa programme. So essentially the programme is aimed at changing our image and I think it is a very good idea. It is only when the image of the country is changed for good that you get investment and tourists to come into the country. That is the objective of the Heart of Africa initiative. It is to remake the image of the country. We want to bring statesmanship, respectability and integrity into Nigeria's image. Nigeria is a very big country. It is a very prosperous country and has good prospects. All we need is a new image that reflects the good things that are happening here.

In the past, Nigeria has been labeled as a risk market. In your opinion why should International Investors feel confident that Nigeria is no more a "risk market" than other countries?

Due to a number of things. First of all, we are now a democratic country. Furthermore, we have a rule of law, we have respect for human rights, and we have also improved our security situation. We can be considered as one of the modern states. These are some of the reasons why I believe the risk level should be reduced to the barest minimum for investors to come in.

In Closing, with the end of the Obasanjo/Atiku Administration just around the corner in 2007, what would you like your legacy to be from your time as Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?

I would like to be seen as the Vice President that has supported President Obasanjo to achieve all these landmark reforms in the history of our country: the economic reform and the social reform prgrammes. As a Vice President that is all you are expected to do. You can not wish for a better legacy than that one.

What is your final message to the readers of The Independent and Nigerians in the Diaspora?

Nigeria is now a stable country. Its economy is growing fast and its returns on investment are the highest in Africa. I believe that investors' risks are very minimal in Nigeria now and we welcome all investors and interested business people to come and invest in our great nation.

Honourable Vice President Abubakar, thank you for your time.

Thank you.