• …says Nigeria, Africa need to define their problems
• …urges Continent to strengthen institutions

A former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, yesterday, said the policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have failed to develop Nigeria and the African continent.

Speaking as guest lecturer at the 12th anniversary lecture of Realnews Magazine in Lagos, Gambari said Nigeria and Africa needed to reject the policies and embrace homegrown solutions that would reflect the interest of the continent.

He said: “As a Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria in 1984, the administration rejected the prescription of the IMF and the World Bank and their interference in our system.

“That government believed that it was time for Africans to define our problem and find our solutions in developing our institutions while fighting for the reforms of those global institutions that we are very poorly represented in.

“We need to think about how we can solve our problems. We are members of the international community and we are contributing much to the development of the world.

It is about time we define our problem and define the ways we will resolve it. “We are not rejecting partnership because we will not be in isolation but partnership in which we are real partners that will serve our interest. If the prescriptions of the World Bank and IMF are correct, we should not be struggling the way we are today.

“As I reflected on the theme of this anniversary lecture, I was reminded of the popular saying, May you live in interesting times. It is generally thought to have originated from ancient China, although there is a lively dispute as to whether it was meant as a curse or a blessing.

“Whatever the case may be, it is fair to say that we are indeed living in interesting times in the world, comprising an admixture of positive and adverse developments that are working complementarity to shape the process of change that is unfolding. Integral to the dynamic of change that is taking place is the breakneck speed at which it is happening.

“Across all spheres of human endeavour, change is taking place at a velocity that is as impressive as it is also potentially disorienting. Events in our everyday lives unfold with a rapidity that ensures that even before we accustom ourselves to them, they are already superseded by new happenings.”