Why Nigerians want recovered loot spent on infrastructure - Politics
From Isaac Anumihe
MANAGING an economy on the throes of recession, with inflation rate at 15.6 percent, a housing deficit of 17million units, power generation of less than 4000mw, and a nightmarish exchange rate can really be a burden to the best of economists.
Unfortunately, that is one challenge President Muhammadu Buhari and his cabinet cannot run away from at least in the next three years as managers of Nigeria’s ship of the state.
And that is probably because regardless of the country’s austere business environment made worse by over 70 per cent crash in commodity prices, Nigerians expect him to deliver on his electoral promises which include recovering billions of government revenue looted by former political appointees, many of who have already fled the country.
The concern comes as Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, listed N78,325,354,631.82, $ 185,119,584.61, 3,508,355.46 pounds sterling and 11, 250 euros as part of the looted funds recovered by the Federal Government on the first anniversary of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
He said also that recoveries Under Interim Forfeiture (cash and assets) during the period totalled N126,563,481,095.43; $9,090,243,920.15; 2,484,447.55 pounds sterling and €303,399.17.
Many Nigerians excited that these recoveries are coming at a time government revenues from oil export have almost nearly hit the trough due largely to the crash in global commodity prices and the effect of militancy in the Niger delta that has literarily paralysed production and export of crude oil.
But for a government that is already going cap in hand begging for funds from China, the EU and the USA among others, some stakeholders are of the view the recoveries are rather coming handy, particularly as the challenges of infrastructure deficiency are still huge.
Despite inheriting an economy blighted by energy shortages, poor road network, poor health facilities, high unemployment figures and a discontented citizenry, President Buhari is nevertheless expected to implement policies that would address Nigerians immediate concerns.
With growing worries that the economy is already in recession, inflation figures has hit 15.6 percent in the month of May, with total power generation capacity of less than 4000mw, coupled with inefficient transport and rail system, opinions are now divided as to how government can possibly utilise the recovered funds before they would suddenly disappear into thin air as in case of the ‘Abacha’s recovered loot’.
But some Nigerians who spoke to Daily Sun on the above subject matter, have argued that beyond the euphoria of the recovery, a judicious use of the money was imperative, adding that conscious and deliberate efforts should be made by government to ensure it impacts on the poor masses that had suffered deprivations as a result of the stealing of their commonwealth.
They argued that in the spirit of transparency and accountability, the recovered funds should be channeled to the productive sectors of the economy including the housing sector where a whoping 17million deficit currently exists so that the poor, on whose back the Buhari’s administration rode to power in 2015 would maximally benefit.
It would therefore not be out of place to use such funds to develop more low-cost houses in all the 36 states of the federation to accommodate these 17 million homeless Nigerians. They argued.
Commenting on how best to deploy the recovered fund, an Abuja-based development economist and policy analyst, Mr Odilim Enwegbara, said:
“Rather than plowing the recovered loots into the 2016 budget since these funds were never targeted as one of the sources of deficit financing, Federal Government should come up with a supplementary budget itemising the capital projects the recovered loot should be spent on. It is important in order not to allow our fiscal policymakers become a kind of relaxed in their efforts to source finance for the 2016 budget deficit as they are currently aggressively doing.
Since this government is sincerely pursuing economic diversification, and we all know that there is no better way to begin diversification than empowering the real sector economy, particularly the country’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). I would suggest that one of the best ways to support them is to build federal industrial parks with critical cluster services as well as farm settlements with specific food processing model factories located in the farm settlements.
Imagine the Federal Government investing in the next three years in the building of one specialised industrial park in each of the 36 states of the federation plus Abuja and possibly six specialised federal farm settlements one in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country. Should the government provide these parks and settlements, no doubt, the multiplier and trickle-down effect these will engender will be so much that they will have such unprecedented growth effect on the economy.
If for any reason government does not appreciate the importance of using both industrial parks and farm settlements to jumpstarting economic diversification of nationwide, another important area the recovered loots could be deployed is in rural electrification.
This becomes inevitable given that most of our rural and grassroots economies have remained moribund due largely to lack of electricity, and also because of the difficulty to connect most them to the national grid, one of easiest and reliable ways to promote these grassroots economies, which are the secret of growing the overall national economy with job, is to provide them cheap and reliable source of power. That’s why rural electrification deploying solar power to remote but important farm centres should be pursued using the recovered loots to finance their electrification. Also, if possible, the Federal Government should include solar-powered electrification of all public schools across the country using solar.
He also called for the establishment of Special National Farmers’ Loan Scheme (SNFLS) with the recovered looted funds. According to him, the SNFLS should be designed to cover the purchase of livestock, feeds, seeds, and other farm inputs, including farm equipment. Such loans with long-term repayment window will eliminate the present difficulty farmers encounter in sourcing loans. These three-year-interest-free loans should use the farmlands as collateral.
Rural Youth Farm Loan Scheme (RYFLS) that offers young graduates wanting to go into rural farming, should allow the beneficiaries interest-free repayment windows for between 5 and 10 years which will enable these young farmers to purchase farmland, lease farm equipment such as heavy agricultural machineries like tractors, irrigator, harvesters.
Another area the recovered looted funds could be targeted at should be to finance startups and small businesses by providing them access to cheaply available funds to finance their business activities such as plant and equipment, and product development. But rather than access these funds through Bank of Industry, it will be better that an entirely venture financing specialised bank, Venture Bank of Nigeria (VBN) is established.
“My advice is that these targeted projects should be fully planned with detailed costing so that once any looted funds are recovered in future, government already has projects the funds should be spent on handy.
“To make sure that these funds are neither relooted nor the projects targeted are not overpriced, the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning should not oversee the implementation of these projects.
The Chief Executive Officer of Centre for Financial Journalism, Mr Ray Echebiri, however, sees nothing wrong in using the money to fund the budget as long as it is judiciously used to benefit the poor. According to him, if the money is included in the budget, it will be better accounted for. He disagreed with the proposition that the money be set aside for a special project because that does not make sense.
An economist, Mr Muyiwa Aderibigbe, said that the problem is not only in the recovery but in the application. He stated that, although, Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, has a zero tolerance for corruption, the president surrounded himself with corrupt people which makes it difficult for good policies of the government to be implemented. According to him, if the money is used to fund budget, the impact will not likely to be felt by the people and this can be misunderstood to be misappropriation. So, Buhari should be careful on the use of the fund.
But a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) deputy governor, Obadiah Mailafia, called on the Buhari administration to use the looted funds to develop infrastructure. We need massive infrastructure funding. Let’s put it in something that future generation will say, yes, this project was funded with stolen money recovered by government. It should have nothing to do with the budget because when you make a budget you should know how to finance it.
Then we need to know the full scope of that money. They said that they are going to tell us who provided the money. That is very important. What happened in the case of Abacha… Government has continued to say it recovered money from Abacha, but at the end of the day, nobody knows how much was collected from Abacha. And because we don’t know, it has been reported that the people didn’t know everything we got from Abacha. If we must come to equity, we must come with clean hands. If you are extracting money from looters, you youself should not be suspected in anyway.
Also, we need to know about the assets. They should be publicly auctioned and the money used to help our country build its infrastructure. That’s what I think.
But Professor Badayi Sani of Bayero University, Kano said,
“The budget involves assets both outside and within Nigeria. The one outside should be disposed of and put in the reserve while the ones in Nigeria should also be disposed of and used to fund budget deficit. It should not be used for special project.
http://sunnewsonline.com/why-nigerians-want-recovered-loot-spent-on-infrastructure/
MANAGING an economy on the throes of recession, with inflation rate at 15.6 percent, a housing deficit of 17million units, power generation of less than 4000mw, and a nightmarish exchange rate can really be a burden to the best of economists.
Unfortunately, that is one challenge President Muhammadu Buhari and his cabinet cannot run away from at least in the next three years as managers of Nigeria’s ship of the state.
And that is probably because regardless of the country’s austere business environment made worse by over 70 per cent crash in commodity prices, Nigerians expect him to deliver on his electoral promises which include recovering billions of government revenue looted by former political appointees, many of who have already fled the country.
The concern comes as Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, listed N78,325,354,631.82, $ 185,119,584.61, 3,508,355.46 pounds sterling and 11, 250 euros as part of the looted funds recovered by the Federal Government on the first anniversary of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
He said also that recoveries Under Interim Forfeiture (cash and assets) during the period totalled N126,563,481,095.43; $9,090,243,920.15; 2,484,447.55 pounds sterling and €303,399.17.
Many Nigerians excited that these recoveries are coming at a time government revenues from oil export have almost nearly hit the trough due largely to the crash in global commodity prices and the effect of militancy in the Niger delta that has literarily paralysed production and export of crude oil.
But for a government that is already going cap in hand begging for funds from China, the EU and the USA among others, some stakeholders are of the view the recoveries are rather coming handy, particularly as the challenges of infrastructure deficiency are still huge.
Despite inheriting an economy blighted by energy shortages, poor road network, poor health facilities, high unemployment figures and a discontented citizenry, President Buhari is nevertheless expected to implement policies that would address Nigerians immediate concerns.
With growing worries that the economy is already in recession, inflation figures has hit 15.6 percent in the month of May, with total power generation capacity of less than 4000mw, coupled with inefficient transport and rail system, opinions are now divided as to how government can possibly utilise the recovered funds before they would suddenly disappear into thin air as in case of the ‘Abacha’s recovered loot’.
But some Nigerians who spoke to Daily Sun on the above subject matter, have argued that beyond the euphoria of the recovery, a judicious use of the money was imperative, adding that conscious and deliberate efforts should be made by government to ensure it impacts on the poor masses that had suffered deprivations as a result of the stealing of their commonwealth.
They argued that in the spirit of transparency and accountability, the recovered funds should be channeled to the productive sectors of the economy including the housing sector where a whoping 17million deficit currently exists so that the poor, on whose back the Buhari’s administration rode to power in 2015 would maximally benefit.
It would therefore not be out of place to use such funds to develop more low-cost houses in all the 36 states of the federation to accommodate these 17 million homeless Nigerians. They argued.
Commenting on how best to deploy the recovered fund, an Abuja-based development economist and policy analyst, Mr Odilim Enwegbara, said:
“Rather than plowing the recovered loots into the 2016 budget since these funds were never targeted as one of the sources of deficit financing, Federal Government should come up with a supplementary budget itemising the capital projects the recovered loot should be spent on. It is important in order not to allow our fiscal policymakers become a kind of relaxed in their efforts to source finance for the 2016 budget deficit as they are currently aggressively doing.
Since this government is sincerely pursuing economic diversification, and we all know that there is no better way to begin diversification than empowering the real sector economy, particularly the country’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). I would suggest that one of the best ways to support them is to build federal industrial parks with critical cluster services as well as farm settlements with specific food processing model factories located in the farm settlements.
Imagine the Federal Government investing in the next three years in the building of one specialised industrial park in each of the 36 states of the federation plus Abuja and possibly six specialised federal farm settlements one in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country. Should the government provide these parks and settlements, no doubt, the multiplier and trickle-down effect these will engender will be so much that they will have such unprecedented growth effect on the economy.
If for any reason government does not appreciate the importance of using both industrial parks and farm settlements to jumpstarting economic diversification of nationwide, another important area the recovered loots could be deployed is in rural electrification.
This becomes inevitable given that most of our rural and grassroots economies have remained moribund due largely to lack of electricity, and also because of the difficulty to connect most them to the national grid, one of easiest and reliable ways to promote these grassroots economies, which are the secret of growing the overall national economy with job, is to provide them cheap and reliable source of power. That’s why rural electrification deploying solar power to remote but important farm centres should be pursued using the recovered loots to finance their electrification. Also, if possible, the Federal Government should include solar-powered electrification of all public schools across the country using solar.
He also called for the establishment of Special National Farmers’ Loan Scheme (SNFLS) with the recovered looted funds. According to him, the SNFLS should be designed to cover the purchase of livestock, feeds, seeds, and other farm inputs, including farm equipment. Such loans with long-term repayment window will eliminate the present difficulty farmers encounter in sourcing loans. These three-year-interest-free loans should use the farmlands as collateral.
Rural Youth Farm Loan Scheme (RYFLS) that offers young graduates wanting to go into rural farming, should allow the beneficiaries interest-free repayment windows for between 5 and 10 years which will enable these young farmers to purchase farmland, lease farm equipment such as heavy agricultural machineries like tractors, irrigator, harvesters.
Another area the recovered looted funds could be targeted at should be to finance startups and small businesses by providing them access to cheaply available funds to finance their business activities such as plant and equipment, and product development. But rather than access these funds through Bank of Industry, it will be better that an entirely venture financing specialised bank, Venture Bank of Nigeria (VBN) is established.
“My advice is that these targeted projects should be fully planned with detailed costing so that once any looted funds are recovered in future, government already has projects the funds should be spent on handy.
“To make sure that these funds are neither relooted nor the projects targeted are not overpriced, the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning should not oversee the implementation of these projects.
The Chief Executive Officer of Centre for Financial Journalism, Mr Ray Echebiri, however, sees nothing wrong in using the money to fund the budget as long as it is judiciously used to benefit the poor. According to him, if the money is included in the budget, it will be better accounted for. He disagreed with the proposition that the money be set aside for a special project because that does not make sense.
An economist, Mr Muyiwa Aderibigbe, said that the problem is not only in the recovery but in the application. He stated that, although, Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, has a zero tolerance for corruption, the president surrounded himself with corrupt people which makes it difficult for good policies of the government to be implemented. According to him, if the money is used to fund budget, the impact will not likely to be felt by the people and this can be misunderstood to be misappropriation. So, Buhari should be careful on the use of the fund.
But a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) deputy governor, Obadiah Mailafia, called on the Buhari administration to use the looted funds to develop infrastructure. We need massive infrastructure funding. Let’s put it in something that future generation will say, yes, this project was funded with stolen money recovered by government. It should have nothing to do with the budget because when you make a budget you should know how to finance it.
Then we need to know the full scope of that money. They said that they are going to tell us who provided the money. That is very important. What happened in the case of Abacha… Government has continued to say it recovered money from Abacha, but at the end of the day, nobody knows how much was collected from Abacha. And because we don’t know, it has been reported that the people didn’t know everything we got from Abacha. If we must come to equity, we must come with clean hands. If you are extracting money from looters, you youself should not be suspected in anyway.
Also, we need to know about the assets. They should be publicly auctioned and the money used to help our country build its infrastructure. That’s what I think.
But Professor Badayi Sani of Bayero University, Kano said,
“The budget involves assets both outside and within Nigeria. The one outside should be disposed of and put in the reserve while the ones in Nigeria should also be disposed of and used to fund budget deficit. It should not be used for special project.
http://sunnewsonline.com/why-nigerians-want-recovered-loot-spent-on-infrastructure/
No comments
Post a Comment