Cooter: It doesn’t take a miracle to fix Nigeria

My impression was two-fold. First of all I didn’t know very much about Nigeria. Secondly, what I heard about Nigeria were mostly negative: 419 scams, history of military coups, desert encroachment, and so on. But in the nine months that I have been here, I have travelled to some parts of the country and have […]

My impression was two-fold. First of all I didn’t know very much about Nigeria. Secondly, what I heard about Nigeria were mostly negative: 419 scams, history of military coups, desert encroachment, and so on. But in the nine months that I have been here, I have travelled to some parts of the country and have met people from all walks of life and my impression now is very very different. First, it is a country that has great dynamism and great potentials. It is a young country with over 150 million people under 30 and the pace quickening to development issues, including the election (of April), which many people have said is the most credible election that they have witnessed.

In the media, we criticize government. When you say Nigeria at 50 is young, those of us who criticize government wonder! How can you say at 50 one is young? Why do you think Nigeria is young at 50?

Fifty years in the life of a country is not very long. It takes a long time for a country to set things out and make them work…  This is not to say that Nigeria should wait, no.

When your country was of the same age as Nigeria, can you remember; did you read up history which says you have crisis, problems of corruption, and mismanagement. Do you have the history of how it was?

We had our problems. We had problem with power supply. You know it is not just about establishing a power plant. You have to have the systems that move it out: good transmission and distribution facilities to get it out to the people. It took us time to do that. We didn’t do it overnight.  But you had your own start in circumstances different from our own. It is a very different position. You have oil and gas; we had nothing like that. You have a lot of resources, financial resources and a huge human capital. You have a lot more than we had at age 50, so Nigeria has had much opportunity to move ahead quickly.

Did you read Chinua Achebe’s novels about Nigeria? It is said that many envoys, before they come into this country, they would read up literature, read up the history about the country and all that.

You mean Things Fall Apart? … If you see the kind of energy that I have seen in cities I have been to: Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and so on you get a quite different sense from what you had in mind beforehand. As I have said, it is a young country on the move and some good things are happening although you have challenges with power, issues with corruption, and difficulties with elections. But I think the impression I have arrived at is that it is a complex country that is on the move. Very much of that has been conveyed to Canada and much of it has also been confirmed.  People have come round and have seen certain things for themselves. Our former Prime Minister, Joe Clark, was here for election observation. Parliamentary Secretary Deepak Obhrai represented Canada at the inauguration of Goodluck Jonathan as president of Nigeria on May 29. There has also been a rise in business interests and a whole lot of commercial activities.

It is of interest to us that Canada exports power to the US. How did you attain that capacity?

We are an energy super power because we have energy from very many different kinds of sources. We have hydroelectric power which we export to the US. We have nuclear power, we have coal resources and we have oil and gas which we exploit from our Western Provinces. We have the expertise too; expertise with distribution that help export along extensive network to reach our very large landmass (the second largest in the world) and to export. .. And our population is relatively small: 34 million. And the US has enormous population which we need.  But it took a number of years to get into the US’s large market.

Nigeria has a large market for power too. Are you not doing something about it?

We are discussing with Nigerian officials, we are discussing how we may avail the country of our expertise on commercial basis; we have expertise in generation and in distribution: very extensive distribution network for our communities and for export to the US. We are discussing that with Nigerian officials and we are looking at how we may be able to provide that kind of expertise on a commercial basis and we are looking forward to the privatisation that will offer more opportunities.

How many of your companies have come to look at what we have?

We have them in increasing numbers. I don’t have the figures right away. Our companies have the same impression as I had about Nigeria, but many have been coming for a number of years.  We are looking at services and products but services mainly: We are looking at waste management. We are looking at education, aeronautics, aero safety, IT, and so on.  Many of you have BlackBerry. It is from Canada. It has been quite a broad relationship. It is good because Nigeria has many kinds of needs and many areas in which we can partner commercially. There are lots of potentials here in consumer market and in mining. We are the second biggest nation in mining after South Africa. There is a lot of potentials in Nigeria generally but the regulatory regime has not been encouraging enough and I hope that would be developed. Having said… and our trade relationship has doubled in volume.

Which other African country is competing with Nigeria when you talk of trade relationship with Canada?

You are now our number one trading partner.

So, Nigeria is ahead of South Africa in the partnership with Canada?

Yes.

But the trade balance is in your favour?

These days it’s hard to know… because if you have an aeroplane for instance, you may buy that from a company that is based in the US whereas it is manufactured in Canada. We have cases like that and they are not easy to track…

During the military regime we felt the presence of Canada. For us as journalists, if a Canadian High Commissioner made

a statement it was a front page headline. These days we don’t hear Canada talking about democracy in Nigeria apart from maybe sponsoring this or that. We don’t have Canada talking about things that are not going on well in Nigeria.

Nigeria is a maturing democracy. We don’t have to tell you how to run your democracy. Having said that, we come in where we feel we should and make comments we consider necessary.  We assisted with INEC and we commented on the bombing and expressing our views on security. Our government was elected the same time your government was elected ….   We are very much in support of the position Nigeria took on Libya. We were also pleased with the decision of President Goodluck Jonathan on Cote d’Ivoire, the anarchy there and the war and the need to restore democracy. The position that Nigeria took on that was very much the Canadian position…

How are you helping with the fight against terror in Nigeria?

It’s a security challenge for the Nigerian government to address. And there is no specific request from the government for any involvement.

There used to be some volunteers from Canada to Nigeria. Some of them would come and work in one agency or the other, some teaching and the like. This has fizzled out. What is happening?

Yes, it was very inspiring. I got very impressed about how much impact the programme was making. There are different education needs by Nigeria. Education has to be a top priority, vocational training in particular. If the people have skills they would be able to work in other businesses that they didn’t have skill for. It has great potentials for young people…. But on the other hand many Nigerians are choosing Canada for their education…

Right now, what business opportunities, what business areas are in Canada for Nigerians to tap in?

Almost everything you can think of: Education services, mining, oil and gas, agriculture, communication, technology, aero safety. We have a huge agricultural sector. We have things that many big countries don’t have. Building: We have companies that are experts in low cost housing. In construction we have machines that can pick up the old tarmac and spill a new one in its place. We have all kinds of technology because we have all sorts of demands in Canada.

Canada is a member-country of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the military alliance comprising 28 member states recently criticised as having no business in that big scale bombardment of Libya. The critics say you are supposed to be mediating between the rebels and the government. How do you react to the critique?

This is an operation that nobody wants. We want peace, but the protection of civilians is paramount, and at some point, as Nigerians must know,  you have to take steps. We are part of the alliance and we don’t shy away when we have to do the right thing. We all hope that it will be over very very soon. If we can mediate peacefully, that would be fine, but at the moment the pressure has to be maintained so that we can protect those civilians maybe till they have the opportunity of choosing their own government

Let me go to this area of immigration, because it is an issue that is popular among many Nigerians. How is the process of immigration to Canada? How is it like, because on the street, it’s like if you want to go to Canada we can facilitate it for you…

People have to be very careful, because you can be led on the wrong direction. The best thing really is to go to the web of the Government of Canada. You will find all the right information. Outside that and around here, we have our visa office in Lagos and immigration office in Accra, Ghana. It’s the same process for everyone not just in Nigeria but all over the world.  We are very open to immigration and we have diverse population now. Lots of people are going in every year.  We don’t discourage it. We expect it, we celebrate it. The legal process of getting into Canada is simple. It is not something that anybody should be confused about. It’s all there on the website and it is the easiest way to get information because you can ask questions to clear all the issues. The best thing is to get the information by yourself and clear all doubts you may have.

What would be your focus as the Canadian high commissioner to Nigeria; what would you want to achieve in the years that you will be here as the high commissioner?

I will like to see that Nigeria takes to Canada. There has been improvement in relationship from what it was in the past, especially during the military era and up to the first few years of democracy. We didn’t see eye to eye. We are very much on the same page now but there is still a lot more to do. It is easy to work together.  Nigeria is a country we can work with. One thing about Nigeria is that it has an open mind. If something is happening, it takes its time to assess it and take a stand in view of its own interest which may not always suit some other parties. We understand such things because we know where the thinking is coming from. We understand it, and that makes it is easy to work with you internationally. It’s a very open country. I want to see in Nigeria-Canada relationship some concrete deliverables and cement our relationship, not just that this high commissioner comes, another one comes and so on.  We need to have firm foundation for relationship. We need to have regular kind of dialogue, but not dialogue for the sake of dialogue, but dialogue that leads to specific outcomes. On my own personal level and I think it’s also important for our relationship, I like to see as much of Nigeria as possible. I have been to about 15, 16 states, I came back from Edo last week. I try to see the governors and other leaders in such states, because until you see all the country, you really can’t say you know Nigeria from Abuja. Also, another part of it which is important and which Nigeria and Canada have in common is we both have a federation. And in all federations, the states are more important than they used to be. In Canada we have provinces and they are all very important factors in how the country is governed. We have lessons to learn from each other and we have experiences to share. We can share experiences like fiscal federalism, what is the best level for doing things like health insurance, and the likes.

Actually, that is one of the greatest problems Nigeria is trying to tackle. Because if you go to states, say Edo; you discover that so many people come from there to Abuja because the economy of Edo is not developed. There is need to develop the economy of the states. Are you thinking along the line of helping with developing the states?

There is a process in that direction. I began discussion with the governor last week. Some of the areas was an intention to get the economy moving. There is the talk of vocational training. You will keep coming back to the need for vocational training, of turning out people like welders, mechanics, and giving them access to capital and machine for practising. And there is something that you can’t discount. Every state is different. Priorities should be different. We will reinforce this as we work on the ties we have with states.

Have you been to Kogi State? It is just next door.

I have been through many times but I have not met with the governor.

The state needs Canadian support.

Yes, just as we are saying. The states need support with infrastructure: power and such things. If you have infrastructure and you have good governance, you will get better results…

Do you know Professor Odidi? He is a Nigerian businessman in Canada. What is his story in Canada?

He is very successful in Canada. He owns a very successful pharmaceutical company. Yes. I know him well and we are very happy that he represents a kind of Diaspora that is successful in Canada.

What message do you have for other Nigerians like him and Nigeria as a country?

The message would be for you to stick to what you’ve been doing to advance development. You’ve got to get a government in place….  There is need for transparency. I am very happy that the Freedom of Information Bill has been passed, because information being available to the public is essential for good governance. You can’t have good governance without transparency, it doesn’t matter however great you are. People need to see what is going on. People need to know how government gets revenue and how it spends the revenue. On the economic side, the private sector needs to play increasing economic roles, which is consistent with what the president has been saying about privatisation of the power sector, for example, which is a good idea. Diversify your economy. If it is too much in the hands of government, unless you have a great government, you will have problems. You will in any case be putting too many eggs in one basket. Privatisation allows you to diversify your economy. Improve your entrepreneurial power. You’ve got over a hundred million people under 30. They have to be everywhere working across the country. There has to be electricity to reduce the cost of diesel and cost of production generally. There is a surge in unemployment. If you can reduce the cost of production and give the people necessary skills, you will go far. Increase access to education. Increase the level of power supply.  It is incredible living with the obstacles the people now face. But it’s all within your grasp. It doesn’t require a miracle. It just requires more implementation. You are talking of Vision 2020. Implementation is critical. No doubt you will have people who will tend to slow things down. There will be conflicting interests, it can be expected. But there are key issues of consensus, particularly for power to be made available, for generation to increase and for transmission and distribution to improve. Vocational education is also vital. Security has to be maintained. The growing tide of insecurity and crime has to be checked. And, definitely, economic development will give people opportunity to support themselves and keep them busy on worthwhile enterprises.

How do you rate the fight against corruption in Nigeria?

One of the greatest tools that the government and the Nigerian people have against corruption is transparency.  This is why the Freedom of Information law is important. In anything you do in any country, you could have a great idea but it is not sustainable. It’s a cultural thing too. It’s not just law. It’s what people do on a daily basis. Your country is making progress in curbing corruption, but it is not just about what the government does, it’s what people do too. If you don’t accept it, it won’t work. It requires a shift in the way people see things and in the way they do things. Freedom of information will provide a lot of education about your rights. Why should you have to pay bribe for a service or something the law of the country entitles you to? It has to take leadership, it also has to take public awareness of your rights and of course of your responsibilities. The more transparency in governance, the more participation of the people through the social media, the more progress you will make.