DMO trains online journalists in Lagos

TO ensure that new media journalists are equipped with in-depth knowledge of debt management in Nigeria, the Debt Management Office (DMO) organised training for online reporters and publishers in Lagos recently.

The workshop held at the Best Western Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, had top management of DMO in attendance with the Director General, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo informing the trainees that his office had helped to facilitate bailout for 23 states of the federation by working out an arrangement under which their domestic debts were restructured for repayment over a much longer period.

Nwankwo noted that serious minded institutions could no longer take online journalism lightly as their reporting could shape the economy of Nigeria.

He urged the publishers to ensure balance and fairness in their reporting and imbibe the culture of responsible journalism in order to ensure stability of Nigeria’s economy.

He told the audience that top among the reasons for their training was to intimate them on the workings of the Debt Management office and the giant strides it has recorded over the years.

According to him, DMO came up with the debt restructuring proposal as its own way of assisting states facing financial crisis as a result of declining federal allocation occasioned by the sharp drop in federal revenue as a result of the plunge in the price of oil in the international market.

He gave the total debt restructured at N575 billion, disclosing that 15 banks are involved in the exercise.
He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for promptly taking appropriate steps to bail out financially troubled states.

The DMO DG described debt as a necessity for development and a global phenomenon. He dismissed the notion that Nigeria has an unhealthy debt stock, saying: “Debt is not necessarily bad. That is why the USA, which is the biggest debtor in the world, is also the strongest economy.

How much a state or the Federal Government owes is not the issue; what matters is debt sustainability – the size of your debt relative to your macro-economic activities.
“Nigeria’s debt is sustainable. Our debt is among the lowest in the world in terms of GDP ratio. In terms of ratio, you find that we are not doing badly, but I admit that we need to do a lot of work to put our economy in better shape.”

The workshop, which attracted online publishers from various parts of the country, educated participants on the stringent processes involved in approving loans for both the states and the Federal Government. It also dwelt on how DMO has sanitized the borrowing process since its establishment, ensuring that there has been no defaulting in debt repayment since 2007.

Apart from Dr. Nwankwo, who delivered the Keynote Address, other DMO top officials who delivered papers at the workshop included Director, Market Development; Patience Oniha, Director, Debt recording & Resettlement; Hannatu Suleiman, Director, Strategic Programmes; and Head, Portfolio Management.
Asmau Mohammed.