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Feb, 16, 2000: Nigeria Committed to Economic Reform and Fight Against Corruption, Declares Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar

Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar called his government's anti-corruption bill a landmark piece of legislation for Nigeria and a testament to the Obasanjo administration's commitment to economic reform when the Vice President addressed corporate heads at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on February 16.

The Vice President was in Washington at the head of a Nigerian delegation at the National Summit on Africa. A former civil servant, businessman and head of Nigeria's drug enforcement agency, Abubakar made business a focus of his U.S. visit. Earlier in the day, he signed a Bilateral Trade Agreement with U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshevsky at a White House ceremony.

Abubakar raised three issues with his audience at the CCA dinner, which included over 100 corporate representatives, Ex-Im Bank Chairman James Harmon, AID Administrator for Africa Vivian Lowery Derryck, and Representatives Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Donald Payne (D-MI) and Jim McDermott (D-WA).

"We inherited a Nigeria without the rule of law," he explained. "We know that the rule of law, and basic security, is a key to attracting foreign investment, and we are committed to improving the police force and the legal system. We know how much corruption has cost Nigeria, its people and its society. Our anti-corruption bill, currently in congress, is a first step in a government of probity. And, one of our major economic reforms is the privatization program we have launched, an ambitious program that is moving on very well, and which we hope will be another area of interest to corporate America.

"Our modest achievements in this short tenure have made clear that we are determined and that we are committed to these reforms because we have the political will, we have the political support, and most important, our president has the courage to undertake those reforms," he concluded.

Abubakar thanked the three members of the House of Representatives in the audience, for their support of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). "I would like to appeal to those members here tonight to please speed up the final passage of that bill so that business can thrive between Nigeria and the United States," he urged.

The event was presented by Goodworks International, underwritten by Chevron, and sponsored by Modern Africa Fund Managers, ENRON and Moving Water Industries.

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