Debt relief, reform agenda and the triumph of neo-liberalism: An interrogation of the Obasanjo administration (1999-2007)

From the standpoint of the clamour for debt relief which lately, has become the preoccupation of Developing World and especially those whose economies have been overwhelmed by external debt, to the emerging mantra called reform agenda (this appears to have taken centre-stage in the lexicon of the Developing World and, in countries undergoing the politics of democratic transition); which formed the fulcrum leading to the grant of debt relief to Nigeria. Most often, such reforms are largely seen as politically and in fact, externally motivated. This thus, has imposed the need to ask the questions, reform for what and for whom? By way of further interrogating these questions, this paper, using qualitative data and rooted in the dependency framework of analysis; proceeded to argue, amongst others, that ensnared within Obasanjo’s reform agenda, owing to the onslaught occasioned by the global financial meltdown, a grand design at providing liquidity-cum bailout for global capital. While the paper concludes that debt relief and indeed the reform agenda must both be seen as responses to externally induced agenda, especially aimed at allowing the country’s continued exploitation by the West; part of the paper’s recommendation is on the need for caution in the way the country fraternizes either with foreign economic assistances, foreign aid and external loans; this is in view of their long term implications.