TAKING a retrospective look at the country's relations with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday came out with an uncheering verdict: "For three years, I can't really say we have got much out of IMF". And also speaking yesterday, Swedish State Secretary for Development and Cooperation, Migration and Asylum Policy, faulted the world body's
economic policies and programmes in Africa.

According to Obasanjo in an interview with The Financial Times in London, one of the problems Nigeria has had with the Brentwoods organisation "is that the IMF wants 10 out of 10. Nine and half is not good enough for IMF's targets".

"They wanted me to say this will be the level of expenditure in 2002; this will be the level of inflation; this will be the exchange rate," the President added, explaining that because he couldn't do that, he decided to suspend discussions with them until the budget was approved. Nigeria recently announced it was pulling out of IMF monitoring programmes, an action that attracted commendations nation-wide.

Speaking further on his virtually fruitless efforts, Obasanjo remarked: "In three years, I went round the world and I didn't get anything. From April 1999, I went round the countries in Europe, twice over, I went to Japan, to America, to Canada and got good words... but no action at all".

The President, however, said on the economic front, Nigerians were better off today than three years ago, particularly those earning salaries, some of whom now earn about 20 times more than before the advent of his administration.

He denied United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reports that majority of Nigerians in the rural areas were getting poorer, arguing that in the past three years, agriculture had grown by more than five per cent every year, with the farmers reaping the "benefits". He recalled that when he took over, Nigeria was a "fractured nation," with some sections refusing to recognise
themselves as part of Nigeria, "but today, the people feel very much part of Nigeria, much closer to the promised land".

On health, Obasanjo said that government would build about 400 primary health centres, rehabilitate hospitals that used to be a pride of Nigeria "like the University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan".

"You just see things the way they were four, five years ago. I know we are moving. I know that we are improving; the average Nigerian knows things are better for him".

On the political scene, Obasanjo said money would not have much influence in the forth-coming elections, explaining that not many people "who had got money corruptly" were left to influence the electoral process.

He, however, conceded that most Nigerian politicians were more concerned with getting into office than what to do when there, and pledged to steer electioneering campaigns from personalities to issues.

On his experiences as both military and civilian head of state, Obasanjo said the bottomline was always service to the people, stressing that he had always been a democrat and would do everything for democracy. He expressed belief that Nigeria has had the last military regime or military head of state.

In a related development, the Swedish State Secretary for Development and Cooperation Migration and Asylum Policy, Mrs. Gun Britt Anderson, has lashed the economic policies and programmes of the IMF in Africa.

Speaking during a courtesy call on the Co-operation and Integration in Africa Minister, Dr. Bimbola Ogunkelu, Anderson said Sweden's growing interest in Nigeria and Africa generally is borne out of new wave of emancipation and co-operation which requires a lot of group co-operation in the region, not only on the political declaration but also on a lot of the technical work like the convergence criteria and proper monitoring of economic policies in the region.

Speaking as head of a delegation which included Mr. Lars Ekstrom, the Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria, and Mr. Per Holmstrom, a deputy director in the Africa department of Sweden's Foreign Affairs Ministry, Anderson said the IMF should not be pushing the African countries to achieve their developmental economic policies and that it is Africa's sole responsibility for that.

The Swedish envoy, who agreed that Sweden's interest had until now been principally focused on South Africa and the East African states, said that Sweden is particularly encouraged by the rising trend of co-operation sweeping through the continent.

Her words: "We couldn't spend the bulk of over 25 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on East Africa alone, we must extend the aids to other African countries".

She added that Sweden contributes 0-80 per cent of her GDP on Africa and still provides a lot of funding to United Nations agencies which ranges from the correction of refugee situations, humanitarian programmes, and the UN

Children Fund (UNICEF) in Africa and other regions.