The constitution of Nigeria allows for at least 36 Ministers of the Federal Republic in order to ensure each state is represented at the Federal Executive Council. In practice, the Nigerian Presidents have gone further by adding to that number. President Jonathan has 43 ministers! If you understand that most of these ministers have duplicated duties and yet send different budgets to the Nigerian National Assembly, you’d understand the monumental waste going on at the federal level. This must have explained the reason why the legislators deleted the clause about having an Anti-Terrorism Commission from the recently passed Anti-Terrorism Bill. That would have given room for an Anti-Terrorism Federal Commissioner, State commissioners and other field workers and the wastage of public funds would have continued without hindrance. For every minister, there are aides and for every ministry there are permanent secretaries and other directors not to mention the junior staff. The Federal Government of Nigeria while trying to get into the Guinness World Records for another form of planned waste – the world’s biggest cake, should instead have applied for the world record as the world’s most profligate government.
With the Freedom of Information Law still elusive – as the combination of the Executive’s non-committal attitude and the National Assemblies lack of focus, has stalled the process of its passage and eventual signing into law – we will never know the exact amount of government waste. Take these figures for instance;
N4.23 trillion is the proposal for the 2011 budget, out of which N3.2 trillion is expected to go into thin air otherwise called recurrent expenditure, while a comparatively paltry N1 trillion is set aside for capital projects. It means just 23.8% of the budget would be used to establish national infrastructure. For a country whose infrastructures cry for a savior president you can imagine the anomaly. Needless to say that, of the stipulated N1 trillion, a certain 50% or so will find domain in the pockets of corrupt government officials – from the very top of the hierarchy to the last man in the various ministries. The President is a beneficiary of the dirty process directly or indirectly – who are the donors to his undeclared campaign war-chest?
70 per cent of the 2009 budget served recurrent problems, 67 per cent of the 2008 budget for the same purpose and 57 per cent of the 2007 budget served as recurrent expenditures. Did you notice the trend? Considering that the recurrent expenditures for the 2011 budget are expected to be 76.19 per cent, it means that the percentage of recurrent expenditures of Nigeria’s national budget has risen by 13.72 per cent in just for years. That percentage number amounts to trillions of Naira of economic wastage.
The new President will have to tackle this problem like an emergency that it is. With N3.3 trillion being said to have been spent on emoluments by the various governments in 2010 – an admission given by the Federal Ministry of Finance, you can then imagine what the real costs of emoluments was, not just for the quoted year but for all the years of corruption before and during this democratic process.
The Africa Progress Report Committee headed by Nobel Laureate Kofi Annan puts Nigeria at the top of the continent’s countries with the highest number of illicit capital flights – about $80billion in the 2010 report. These are trends that entrench poverty. The President Nigeria needs is one that will be quick to stop this economic haemorrhage. He can not stop it if he is a part of the problem. Solutions solve problems, not problems themselves.
According to a Punch Newspaper editorial, the Nigerian Ministry of Labour and whatever intends to spend about N623 million on foreign trips in 2011. For what? What are they labouring for abroad? It is funny to think that tax payers’ money is being used to fund the movement of tax payers’ money to private accounts abroad.
Dr. Audu Ogbeh did say at a recent colloquium of the Action Congress Party of Nigeria that, if the Nigerian government refuses to provide the much needed job opportunities for the teeming Nigerian young population, “Tunisia and Egypt are not too far away”. Hordes of Nigerian under 35’s spend days on vigil – some in churches praying and most in cyber cafes and in the comfort of their homes looking for help beyond our national realm. The former seek Divine assistance for their problems, while the latter look to the pockets of naive foreign nationals desperate for love and happiness to meet their own ends. It is not a fluke that Nigeria boasts one of the highest number of pastors the world over – we have since abandoned our trust in the government’s or man’s abilities to solve our problems and now are completely dependent on God. No wonder we want to force God to naturalize as a Nigerian. Don’t we say God is a Nigerian?
Our problems are chiefly our making. Outgoing governments are borrowing money from the International market for projects they obviously won’t be around to execute – monies they intend to use for campaigns and possible retirement. Legislators are closing-in on a successful four year tenure of earning some 25 per cent of Nigeria’s federal over head expenditure – no wonder the punches and Mike Tyson-like blows never ceased from their sessions.
As it is, we are heading for an impending disaster. Our economic choices point to more years of waste and poverty if the current trends are not nipped as quickly as possible. The constitution needs major amendments – we sure don’t need more than 20 ministers. Federal character should not be an excuse for the waste of federal wealth.
If we had about 46 million young registrants from the total of 60+ millions of registered voters, one thing is certain; Nigeria’s future is in the hands of those who are currently not in power. One only wonders if the youth will exercise this power currently in their hands. We can change Everything in April. This is the first of many paths to Change.
You can follow Japheth J Omojuwa on twitter @omojuwa
