OMG ono this is just how I see it too?
like I said Fela has told us these things in his songs either rightly or wrongly the meaning of his songs must not be ignored!!!!!!!

@babagana.....i disagree with your submission here. What emperical facts do we have for now to suggest this fear of ours? Where is the slavery in getting out of the debt that we're owing the Paris Club?

We should give them the benefit of doubt for the very last time and keep the our tabs on the outcome.

My friend in the history of the world the europeans have never been altruistic in their actions even to themselves.For this simple reason I can convincingly state that there is more to this than meets the

I just finished reading the elendu reports thing. My people i am sorry but this Elendu guys are begining to sound like a publicity hungry bunch. That report is filled with hearsay and alot of "beer parlour" type of talk. Every thing there is circumstancial.
I am against any form of official stealing under whatever guise but we need to look at this debt thing from a pragmatic angle.

Is it favourable to Nigeria? Hope there are no future penalty clause and all.
How much did it cost us- in terms of cash paid - to get the debt relief?
Again I ask;
Is it standard practice
What is the going rate?
The 10% of payment value quoted by Elendu is incredulous where in the world is that kind of thing done.
Will the governments of all these countries continue this proces with Nigeria if Elendus' "findings" were true?
If they were true, why have all the human rights groups that have pleaded with all these countries for an outright write-off not said anything about it?
Please people, the same people propagating this conspiracy theory are also the ones who rubbished the deal when it was first announced. Debt forgiveness is good if we can confirm that it is a clean break and no future penalties will apply.
God save Nigeria.

Otitoloju I couldn't agree with you more. Its always the hidden agenda that we Nigerians are affraid of after going through so much deception from even our own leaders.

otitoloju:

.......Please people, the same people propagating this conspiracy theory are also the ones who rubbished the deal when it was first announced. Debt forgiveness is good if we can confirm that it is a clean break and no future penalties will apply.
God save Nigeria.

Exactly, let us find out some facts about this particular debt forgiveness rather than base our arguments against it purely on what happened in the past. Yes, we may need to look into the past; but it should not totally block us from moving forward or considering new alternatives.

We cannot afford inactivity considering the dynamics of the emerging world business order.

You can't continue to expect the United States to forgive the world's debts when no one forgives our debts. We are now drowning in debt and cannot afford to continue helping other countries. It is time that we start looking out for our own self-interests and try to save our own country.

Otito, I hear you. But what do we do? The government of the day will not tell us anything about this debt relief thing. All I want is a monthly situation report published at the Finance Ministry's website (if they have any). Debt matters are not issues that should be treated with kid-gloves. The future of the citizenry is tied to it.

The house of rep. and even the Senate, as I have been made to understand, have called on Okonjo and her team to tell them what's going on in there. But the woman just comes around and read out rhetorics to them.

The other day, she was taken up at the NA on this debt thing by Senators. The Senators heard something about the finance ministry taking a certain fraction of the proceeds from excess crude oil sales to service debts and she was called upon to explain why she did not consult the NA before going ahead to do such a thing. But she dazzled everyone with MIT thesis on debt financing and all the jargons about economics and what the President said that I personally got fed up with the whole thing. I was watching the whole show on NTA. The senators could not do much, other than to cut her short at intervals and ask some mumbo jumbo questions!

Now, with all these shows on debt servicing, how do I know now that some people in Abuja have not sold my people as 21st century slaves to the Americans and Europeans? Just read Phoenix's entry and understand that nothing good comes easy. Every good country wants to see their people liberated financially and to help empower them to contribute to national growth. But our leaders here will rather pull the veil over our eyes and deceive us to sell us out. God help us o.

ono:

.......All I want is a monthly situation report published at the Finance Ministry's website (if they have any). Debt matters are not issues that should be treated with kid-gloves. The future of the citizenry is tied to it.

Now a good suggestion. If the present regime of Obasanjo is going to do the mind of Nigerians any good now, it should make this debt issue more transparent than it's claiming to have made it presntly. It's no person's personal matter/property. It's that of Nigeria.

The Ministry of Finance must ensure that a kind of monthly progress report on Nigeria's foreign debt profile is prepared and published in national dailies or websites. By this, the viscious doubt about the whole debt relief will be scaled down if not totally put to rest.