Jubilee Scotland > response

The government has responded to campaigners’ letters on Nigeria’s debt. Their major claims are:

1. Nigeria chose to do this deal and give away its oil revenues
2. Any repayment would be at the expense of spending on other poor countries.

If you have sent an email and have received a response please use the following to keep the dialogue open and to keep the pressure on:

‘Nigeria chose to do this deal and give away its oil revenues’
The debt cancellation offered by rich creditor countries amounted to little more than half of Nigeria’s debt burden. To pay off the rest they had to use oil revenues. We have congratulated the UK government on helping Nigeria get the best deal they were likely to get; and we support the Nigerian government in keeping to the agreement they have made. But this is not the same as accepting that the Nigerian government ‘wishes’ to give its oil revenues to wealthy countries. On the contrary, only a few months before the initial agreement with creditors was reached, Nigeria’s finance minister explained how the country really wanted to use these revenues, explaining that they were “earmarked for investment in education, health and infrastructure and against a future drop in prices and revenues.” For the UK government to suggest therefore that they should keep the money – money that would otherwise have been spent on poverty reduction – because Nigeria really wanted to give it to them is ridiculous

‘Any repayment would be at the expense of spending on other poor countries’
The UK had long ago made provision for losses in respect of this ‘debt’ and therefore the UK is receiving a sudden and unexpected windfall of £1.7 billion. This is extra money coming into the UK’s finances from one of the poorest countries in the world and should be paid back not at the expense of other poor countries. Money does not need to come through the aid budget but, as with the Asian Tsunami, emergency aid came from additional resources and not at an expense to other countries.

UK INCREASES IN AID AND SUPPORT FOR THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO REDUCE POVERTY ARE URGENTLY NEEDED AND VERY WELCOME. BUT THIS MUST NOT BE UNDERMINED BY ACCEPTING SUCH A HUGE SUM IN PAYMENT FROM NIGERIA.

Whilst the debt cancellation is significant, almost all of this was interest and penalties, they have not forgiven a penny of the capital, only waived the interest and charges.