Some relief at last! The recovery is not total, but with many countries swimming out of recession, at least a road to recovery has been found. Unlike last year when the world, with all its experts, was groping in hopelessness, now there is hope. So much hope that Nigerian legislators even want to increase the benchmark $50 dollars per barrel crude oil price for the country's 2010 budget.

For over a year, the world had lived in fear of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. The signs were visible from the second quarter of 2008, but it was not until the US government let 160-year old Lehman Brothers die did they appreciate the severity of the crisis.

The collapse of the investment bank, a flagship of enterprise, is widely considered to have marked the beginning of the global recession. The global economy ceased to expand for the first time in 60 years, heading many strong economies into recession, and poorer countries severely hit by the fall in commodity prices and remittances. With a crashed oil market, Nigeria was badly hit.

All over the world, banks were popping like bubbles, gates of manufacturers were cranking shut in response to heavily depressed global consumer demand for goods and services, credits dried up, and stock markets crashed. Job losses were in millions. On January 26, 2009 alone, more than 70,000 people were estimated to have lost their jobs in the US, Europe and Asia.

So deep was the crisis that world leaders had to convene a desperate meeting in search of global solutions. It was similar to the Breton Woods meeting in 1944, when the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were born. Two follow-up meetings have been held since then.

Then in 1944, they knew the only country that had an industrial base capable of pulling the world back from the precipice was the United States. The rest of the world was in ruins. Ironically, it was the US that caused last year's tsunami.

In spite of the desperation there was a global uncertainty about the duration of the crisis and forecasts were unreliable. In the pitch darkness the world panicked.

However, in celebration of the power of the human spirit, the story has changed. The dark clouds are lifting and hope is being restored. US President Barack Obama, who last year described the crisis as a “disaster”, sang a new song last week, when his country swam out of recession.

With the contraction of the US economy reversed, Obama thumbed his chest, saying, “This is affirmation that this recession is abating and the steps we've taken have made a difference.”

The US economy grew at an annual pace of 3.5 per cent between July and September, its first expansion in more than a year and an official indication that the recession has ended. Japan, Germany and France have recently climbed out of recession. China and India are headed for full recovery.

Of course, as Obama noted, this is not synonymous with total recovery from business and economic losses and from unemployment. These would take a while longer, but now there is hope. What I am celebrating is the power of the human spirit and responsible leadership.

The road to recovery has not been easy. A total of about $11 trillion was spent by governments to bail out ailing firms and on loan guarantees. Out of this the world's rich countries spent some $9.2 trillion, translating to about $10,000 per person for each of the one billion people in those countries. China and other emerging countries spent $1.6 trillion on bailout.

Equally inspiring are some other desperate measures taken by these countries. Included in the hefty $3.6 trillion spent on bailout in the US is the ingenious “cash for clunkers” scheme to boost car sales and tax credit for first-time house buyers and strong exports.

In China where the economy grew by 7.7 per cent in the nine months to September, with its car market becoming the world's largest, the government announced at the end of 2008, a four trillion Yuan ($586bn) stimulus plan involving increased spending on infrastructure, such as rail and roads, to boost the domestic economy as exports slumped.

France and Germany are said to have their strong social security systems called “automatic stabilizers”, but they also used stimulus packages.

Japan officially fell into recession last year but government stimulus measures totalling some $260 billion helped to boost the economy, including cash handouts and subsidies to buy energy-efficient cars and home appliances.

The good news for Nigeria is that all these countries on the march to full recovery are oil guzzlers.

Indeed, all the G-20 countries, including South Africa, are on the path to recovery. But for a few countries, not much has been heard from Africa. On a continent where leaders are not accountable to the people, and executive begging has become a culture, efforts to reverse the effects of the global economic downturn have not been visible. Many African countries have been looking for handouts like the $20 billion in agricultural aid pledged them by the G8, and the G-20's pledge to provide $250 billion in trade financing to developing countries.

However, of early denials of the harsh effects of the crisis by some government officials, Nigeria did show concern. Addressing the newly constituted Federal Executive Council, President Umaru Yar' Adua said the mid-point of this administration has coincided with the time of profound economic worries in the world.

He demonstrated this concern in the establishment of a Presidential Steering Committee on the economic crisis, salary cuts for political office holders and the announcement of palliative measures.  Continued    Source: