Suing poor and rich

>> A Nigerian-Canadian takes his fight against debt bondage to court

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

Photos by JASON FELKER

It’s like David and Goliath, only more so. The hulking, oppressive brute in this case consists of the Paris Club, the informal group of 19 rich creditor countries (including Canada and the U.S.) who arrange the rescheduling of debts owed them by debtor nations. The plucky sling-wielder is Ike Okwuobi, the founder and president of the non-profit organization Alternative Economics and a Nigerian-Canadian living on Nuns’ Island.
He is taking on the daunting task of suing in a New York court the Paris Club and Nigeria for debt bondage—basically, enslaving Nigeria into paying rich countries back for old debts that have already been paid many times over, largely thanks to rescheduling. Okwuobi is charging that by rescheduling debt payments to the Paris Club, which would see future Nigerians pay back future Americans, Canadians and Europeans, the West and Nigeria are permanently hobbling the country.

“Nigeria is supposed to be a rich country,” he says. “It has over 120-million people, and there are enough resources to run the country. It has just been badly mismanaged, largely because of corruption.”

Rich in natural resources it is indeed. Nigeria is an OPEC member, with proven reserves of some 22.5-billion barrels of crude oil and 3.5-billion cubic metres of natural gas. Nevertheless, it is also one of the poorest countries: its external debt is a staggering $32-billion (U.S.), 45 per cent of its population lives under the poverty line and GDP per capita is a measly $278. The average life expectancy is 51 years.

“Oil is now priced at about $26 per barrel,” Okwuobi says. “That gives Nigeria so much, but they have chosen to reschedule again, which raises some questions, like, ‘How is this possible?’ The common man is worse off than he was 30 years ago. This has to stop somewhere. It is ethically and morally unjustifiable.” He believes Nigeria has already paid its initial $13-billion debt, dating back to the 1970s, over the years, but rescheduling, waste and corruption has passed the debt burden on to generations to come. The present rescheduling agreement, the fourth, has Nigeria paying back the Paris Club until 2021.

In a statement released by his organization two weeks ago, Okwuobi saves most of his anger for Nigeria: “[As] a result of these series of contracts with the Paris Club and the government of Nigeria’s default on its loan agreements, as well as Nigeria’s deceitful claim of illusory economic hardship in prosperous times, [Okwuobi] has been, and will be, unjustifiably subject to peonage and debt bondage, depriving him of his fundamental human rights.”

Okwuobi is familiar with other movements around the world working on debt relief for poor countries, and is working on alternative forms of debt payment schemes, which he hopes to present first to the Canadian government. If they bite, he hopes to approach African governments with his plans.

While he doubts he’ll win his suit against 19 of the richest countries on the planet, he does hope to at least bring more attention to the chronic, and increasingly discussed, problem of Third World debt. “I expect perhaps some change to international law that would stop this kind of thing from happening,” he says. “I’m confident the international community will have a look at the situation and say this isn’t right.” :