The Director-General of the Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO), Dr. Abraham Nwankwo has sought a strong partnership with media, particularly, the online media for the operations of the Debt Management outfit which is a vital instrument of nation’s economic development.
Dr. Nwankwo spoke yesterday when DMO played host to Online Publishers at an enlightenment workshop it organized for them at the Best Western Hotel, Allen Avenue, Ikeja Lagos.
The DMO boss described the nation’s economy as being based purely on two parameters: material and none material, explaining that none material development which has to do with intellectual rectitude should be given much emphasis to ensure that the material development of the country, which is the human and physical development, has greater and meaningful impact.
Dr. Nwankwo said that DMO is an integral part of the modern economy, dealing with every national economic challenge. He said that the organization has no supervisory role on the use to which loans taken by federal and state governments are put.
“We try to detach ourselves from the political complications of how state governments utilize the loans they take, but we make sure they pay back the loans.
Dr. Nwankwo, in an answer to a question, said that Nigeria’s external debts is the smallest in the world in relation to its GDP, adding that level of debt does not determine the level of a nation’s economy.
“America has one of the highest debt portfolios in the world, but it is also the strongest economy of the world.”
He stressed that Online publishers are being brought in as the DMO’s stakeholders to take advantage of the emerging new window of information technology.
“We value the importance of Online publishing as an emerging new window of information for the collaborative development of the nation and its economy,” he stressed.
Dr. Nwankwo emphasized that in developing rapport and seeking the collaboration of stakeholders, including students, the organization has come to realize that the role of the Online publishing as public opinion shaper, cannot be under-estimated.
During the one-day workshop, four directors in DMO, Patience Oniha, Dele Afolabi, Hannatu Suleiman and Asmau Mohammed delivered papers on various functions of the organization.
The President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), Mr. Malachy Agbo assured the DMO team that the Online publishers would support the economic growth of the country.
Agbo said that the fact that about 85 million Nigerians now have access to online made it the most powerful and useful aspect of the nation’s economic and sociopolitical development. [myad]
