An annual ritual called budget
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- Category: Philosofaith
- Written by M. U. Ndagi
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Almost midway in to a new fiscal year and six months after the 2011 Appropriation Bill was presented to the National Assembly in November 2010; this year’s budget is yet to be signed in to law by President Goodluck Jonathan. The delay is believed to have resulted from disagreements that ensued after the budget was jacked up to N4.971 trillion from the N4.226 trillion presented to the legislature by the President. The jacking up of the budget proposal by legislators only indicates how self-centered and un-altruistic those elected to represent and serve the interest of their people have become. A new but dangerous trend is gradually being set by insensitive leaders in the governance of this country.
The 2011 budget of the National Assembly, as passed by the legislators, amazingly surpasses the capital vote of the four most sensitive sectors of the economy including education, agriculture and rural development, health and transport; all put together. Highlights of the budget approved by the legislators show that the capital expenditures of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development is N34 billion; Education is N60 billion; Health is N53 billion; and Transport N60 billion. When compared with the N233 billion budgeted for the National Assembly, the four sectors with a total budgetary allocation of N207 billion got N26 billion less. The two chambers of the National Assembly had earlier jacked up their budget from N111 billion proposed by the Federal Government to N233 billion, representing over 100 percent. If these figures were accepted by the executive as amplified by the legislators, it only means that the 420 lawmakers are inexcusably denying over 140 million Nigerians the right of benefitting from some developmental projects that could positively impact upon their lives in these sectors.The doubling of their budget when they passed the 2011 Appropriation Bill in March this year does not demonstrate that the legislators have actually learnt some lessons of probity, self-sacrifice and trustworthiness from their encounter with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Saanusi Lamido Sanusi. The CBN Governor lamented last year how thick-skinned and egocentric it was for the 2010 budget of the lawmakers to guzzle as much as 25 percent of the nation’s total annual expenditure; indicating that the National Assembly was consuming too much of the federal budget. With Mallam Sanusi Lamido’s exceptional sense of sincerity, integrity and rectitude; the lawmakers went back on their words to deal with the CBN Governor as they (instead of the CBN Governor) “swallowed their vomit”.
Early in the week, President Jonathan sent back the budget previously approved by the National Assembly back to the lawmakers; seeking a reduction of about N500 billion. The President wants a downward review of the budget from N4.97 trillion earlier passed by the legislators to N4.4 trillion. This includes a cut in capital expenditure from N1.56 trillion to N1.22 trillion; and a similar reduction in recurrent from N2.46 billion to N2.40 billion. The request by the President also includes a slash in the National Assembly budget from N232.7 billion to N120 billion which is still well above the N111 billion initially proposed by the executive.
This column strongly believes that if there is any part of the budget that requires to be jacked up, it should be the capital expenditure. It is capital expenditure that provides job opportunities for unskilled workers, artisans and technicians. This group of Nigerians traditionally earns their living from the execution of capital projects. We consider the downward review of the capital budget as not only representing government failure to appreciate the plight of the Nigerian masses but also an illustration of the uncharitable pattern of refusal by Nigerian leaders to recognize the needs of citizens. Nigeria, no doubts, faces serious infrastructural challenges. Without paying adequate attention to capital expenditure in our budget proposals, the infrastructural question will continue to remain unresolved.
It will be amazing if the extra N50 billion allocated to the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) is left out of the slash proposed to the lawmakers by the President. If it is left as jacked up, the argument would be that security is an overriding matter. President Jonathan had initially proposed N50.8 billion as recurrent expenditure with another N54.3 billion for the NSA’s office.
From discernible pattern of Nigeria’s Appropriation Bills in recent years, budget proposal has become more or less an annual ritual performed by those who turn themselves in to rulers instead of leaders after getting in to public offices. The ritual involves the annual and unending featuring of specific projects. The Abuja-Lokoja highway project, for instance, featured in all the Appropriation Bills signed in to law in the past twelve years. The attitude of many of our contemporary crop of leaders has transformed what ought to be a serious national assignment in to a ritual carried out for the sake of it being a routine exercise. Lawmakers would be on top of their voices before the end of a fiscal year lamenting over poor implementation of the budget. Yet, they would ignore their previous assessment as basis for considering a new budget proposal for approval.
We do not know in this context which arm of government is more ineffectual to Nigerians. Is it the executive that slashes figures appropriated for capital expenditure or the legislature that jacks up figures budgeted for it by the executive by a percentage far beyond what it really requires to function as a law making body or the judiciary, which in spite of the huge remunerations of judges, allows perpetrators of electoral offences to go unpunished including those guilty of stolen mandate?
Given an inflationary rate of 12.8 percent; a poverty ratio of 70 percent; a deflated Excess Crude Account as low as $6.9 billion; a debt burden of about $32billion; a power supply of 3,000 megawatts; and a life expectancy of 48.4 years; Nigerians need a budget that will bring inflation down to a single digit; a budget that will encourage the diversification of the nation’s economic base from oil to agriculture. We need a budget that will support the development of infrastructure with emphasis on power; a financial plan that will enhance the supply of credit facilities to the agricultural sector and improve upon storage initiatives. Concrete steps must be taken in the budget to deal with the two critical issues of poverty and unemployment. We appeal to the conscience of our leaders to, for the sake of the future of this country, reduce external borrowing and also cut down on the rate at which the nation’s Excess Crude Account is drained with no impact to show on the living condition of Nigerians. May Allah (SWT) touch the heart of our leaders to lead with piety, amin.
Articles
An annual ritual called budget
Category: Philosofaith Written by M. U. Ndagi Hits: 739
Almost midway in to a new fiscal year and six months after the 2011 Appropriation Bill was presented to the National Assembly in November 2010; this year’s budget is yet to be signed in to law by President Goodluck Jonathan. The delay is believed to have resulted from disagreements that ensued after the budget was jacked up to N4.971 trillion from the N4.226 trillion presented to the legislature by the President. The jacking up of the budget proposal by legislators only indicates how self-centered and un-altruistic those elected to represent and serve the interest of their people have become. A new but dangerous trend is gradually being set by insensitive leaders in the governance of this country.
The 2011 budget of the National Assembly, as passed by the legislators, amazingly surpasses the capital vote of the four most sensitive sectors of the economy including education, agriculture and rural development, health and transport; all put together. Highlights of the budget approved by the legislators show that the capital expenditures of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development is N34 billion; Education is N60 billion; Health is N53 billion; and Transport N60 billion. When compared with the N233 billion budgeted for the National Assembly, the four sectors with a total budgetary allocation of N207 billion got N26 billion less. The two chambers of the National Assembly had earlier jacked up their budget from N111 billion proposed by the Federal Government to N233 billion, representing over 100 percent. If these figures were accepted by the executive as amplified by the legislators, it only means that the 420 lawmakers are inexcusably denying over 140 million Nigerians the right of benefitting from some developmental projects that could positively impact upon their lives in these sectors.The doubling of their budget when they passed the 2011 Appropriation Bill in March this year does not demonstrate that the legislators have actually learnt some lessons of probity, self-sacrifice and trustworthiness from their encounter with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Saanusi Lamido Sanusi. The CBN Governor lamented last year how thick-skinned and egocentric it was for the 2010 budget of the lawmakers to guzzle as much as 25 percent of the nation’s total annual expenditure; indicating that the National Assembly was consuming too much of the federal budget. With Mallam Sanusi Lamido’s exceptional sense of sincerity, integrity and rectitude; the lawmakers went back on their words to deal with the CBN Governor as they (instead of the CBN Governor) “swallowed their vomit”.
Early in the week, President Jonathan sent back the budget previously approved by the National Assembly back to the lawmakers; seeking a reduction of about N500 billion. The President wants a downward review of the budget from N4.97 trillion earlier passed by the legislators to N4.4 trillion. This includes a cut in capital expenditure from N1.56 trillion to N1.22 trillion; and a similar reduction in recurrent from N2.46 billion to N2.40 billion. The request by the President also includes a slash in the National Assembly budget from N232.7 billion to N120 billion which is still well above the N111 billion initially proposed by the executive.
This column strongly believes that if there is any part of the budget that requires to be jacked up, it should be the capital expenditure. It is capital expenditure that provides job opportunities for unskilled workers, artisans and technicians. This group of Nigerians traditionally earns their living from the execution of capital projects. We consider the downward review of the capital budget as not only representing government failure to appreciate the plight of the Nigerian masses but also an illustration of the uncharitable pattern of refusal by Nigerian leaders to recognize the needs of citizens. Nigeria, no doubts, faces serious infrastructural challenges. Without paying adequate attention to capital expenditure in our budget proposals, the infrastructural question will continue to remain unresolved.
It will be amazing if the extra N50 billion allocated to the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) is left out of the slash proposed to the lawmakers by the President. If it is left as jacked up, the argument would be that security is an overriding matter. President Jonathan had initially proposed N50.8 billion as recurrent expenditure with another N54.3 billion for the NSA’s office.
From discernible pattern of Nigeria’s Appropriation Bills in recent years, budget proposal has become more or less an annual ritual performed by those who turn themselves in to rulers instead of leaders after getting in to public offices. The ritual involves the annual and unending featuring of specific projects. The Abuja-Lokoja highway project, for instance, featured in all the Appropriation Bills signed in to law in the past twelve years. The attitude of many of our contemporary crop of leaders has transformed what ought to be a serious national assignment in to a ritual carried out for the sake of it being a routine exercise. Lawmakers would be on top of their voices before the end of a fiscal year lamenting over poor implementation of the budget. Yet, they would ignore their previous assessment as basis for considering a new budget proposal for approval.
We do not know in this context which arm of government is more ineffectual to Nigerians. Is it the executive that slashes figures appropriated for capital expenditure or the legislature that jacks up figures budgeted for it by the executive by a percentage far beyond what it really requires to function as a law making body or the judiciary, which in spite of the huge remunerations of judges, allows perpetrators of electoral offences to go unpunished including those guilty of stolen mandate?
Given an inflationary rate of 12.8 percent; a poverty ratio of 70 percent; a deflated Excess Crude Account as low as $6.9 billion; a debt burden of about $32billion; a power supply of 3,000 megawatts; and a life expectancy of 48.4 years; Nigerians need a budget that will bring inflation down to a single digit; a budget that will encourage the diversification of the nation’s economic base from oil to agriculture. We need a budget that will support the development of infrastructure with emphasis on power; a financial plan that will enhance the supply of credit facilities to the agricultural sector and improve upon storage initiatives. Concrete steps must be taken in the budget to deal with the two critical issues of poverty and unemployment. We appeal to the conscience of our leaders to, for the sake of the future of this country, reduce external borrowing and also cut down on the rate at which the nation’s Excess Crude Account is drained with no impact to show on the living condition of Nigerians. May Allah (SWT) touch the heart of our leaders to lead with piety, amin.