Nigeria was just one of three Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) nations without a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), until the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan did the needful, according to former Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga.
Prior to Jonathan okaying its creation during his tenure, the country didn’t emulate their counterparts like Saudi Arabia and Gabon and this was despite having no control over the fluctuating price of her crude oil and the production quota that OPEC dictates.
Aganga, who served in Jonathan’s cabinet as both Minister of Finance and then Industry, Trade and Investment, disclosed this during the launch of his book, “Reclaiming the African Jewel – A blueprint for taking Nigeria and Africa from potential to posterity.
Revealing this during the event at the Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre of School of African and Oriental Studies, SOAS, Aganga, who is credited with creating the SWF, was asked by the compère, Nick Kachan, “how did it happen?”
The former Minister responded: “We were relying on oil, and the economy was not diversified enough.
Moreover, we didn’t have control on oil price. These provided the need for establishing the SWF.”
He also argued that the country’s “least utilised resource” were the people, predicting that the future is bright for the country.
He was given an ovation when, while reading excerpts from the book, he said: “Nigeria will rise again and that green passport will be our greatest asset.”
He described himself as “a proud Nigerian,” and that among the reasons for writing the book is his resolve to focus more on solutions, not just the problems. “It was also to beam the searchlight on what are the causes of corruption?” he added.
He made a number of recommendations, including giving meritocracy more room in filling political positions and tackling the problems of illiteracy and poverty.
