By Jérôme-Mario Utomi
As a nation, Nigeria and most of its states are currently facing serious socio-economic problems / survival dilemmas.
Although in my opinion, as a nation that plays politics with everything, it has worked overtime, we live in denial. But as it stands, it has gotten to the brink and nations / states face options of confession or collapse.
According to media reports on September 16, 2021, the country's public debt stood at N 35,465 million as of June 30, according to the director-general of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha.
The total national debt includes the domestic and foreign debt of the federal government, the 36 state governments and the federal capital area (FCT).
Nigeria's total public debt portfolio as of March 31, 2021 was 33.107 trillion naira, or $ 87.239 billion.
FG owes $ 29.5 trillion, states owe Naira $ 6 trillion. The World Bank Group and the AfDB Group dominate the list of creditors. Bilateral creditors are China, France, Japan, Germany and India.
Basically, in my opinion, borrowing is not a bad idea, especially if such borrowing is developmental / purposeful. However, as we saw recently, pointless borrowing can only weaken the borrower's economic creative abilities, reduce the propensity for self-sufficiency, and expose the business to additional socio-economic vulnerability.
As a nation, we seem to have forgotten that one of the negative qualities of borrowing is that once you start it becomes your character. This borrowing habit has managed to weaken our states to an unfortunate level.
The consequence of such a development (thoughtless indebtedness) becomes worrying if one recalls a similar report, according to which the federal government achieved a total of 3.25 trillion naira in 2020 and spent a total of 2.34 trillion naira on debt servicing in the country. Year. That means 72 percent of government revenue was spent on debt servicing, the report said. In addition, the ratio of debt servicing to government revenue is put at 72%.
During the year debt servicing consumed 2.11 trillion naira. This means that the ratio between debt service and federal income in 2019 is 54.66%. This means that between 2019 and 2020 the ratio of debt service to federal income fell from 54.66% to 72%.
Now this space will keep the problems where they are.
First of all, there are reasons why state governors are notorious for not looking in their own countries for ways to make their state financially independent / self-sufficient. The most basic reason is the feeling by some that Abuja is there to provide the necessary financial aid. This has led most of our governors to be lazy and indifferent to their own insights into how to improve their state's Internally Generated Income (IGR). Instead, they prefer to borrow, regardless of the fact that any opportunity to borrow as planned carries an immediate risk.
With the exception of Lagos, Delta, Rivers and a few other states, which are still active in maintaining their states through internally generated revenue, the others have a common denominator; Relatives of Abuja. It also underscores the fact that our problem as a nation has more to do with leadership than with
"The strength of any state is a direct result of the strength of its rulers."
To further substantiate the previous point, the fact is that, before independence, our colonial rulers developed very transparent means of generating income. These methods include, but are not limited to, penetrating every nook and cranny of the country's geography to make sure everyone has paid their taxes.
So if this could be done by outsiders years ago and in a time without improved information technology, the question can be asked; What happens / happens to our current group of executives? Why can't they replicate the same thing or find more creative ways to make the nation / state financially viable? What is so attractive about borrowing that they (executives) see the only credible / effective alternative?
Without a doubt, our leaders know how to purify our community for their personal gain while abandoning the poor masses to wipe away their tears. They (public officials) are specialists in finding foreign loans.
In doing so, they forget that no one takes a government that rules with a beggar-like approach seriously, and that no nation becomes strong or great by living on borrowed capital.
In this context, they (managers) should also remember that people are keeping a close eye on them, especially young people. You need to remember that at a time like this, people are looking carefully, noticing their every move and learning what they really believe, not what they are saying.
Likewise, most of our retirees have given up hope and resigned themselves to fate by relying on their ancient religious teaching that their reward is in heaven.
As an incentive to change this, it should be noted that Nigeria may openly have shown remarkable improvements in its culture and civilization. But the fact that, after almost 60 years of independence, the country is not only indebted to many institutions, nations and organizations, but also constantly asks for help, secretly tells the story of a nation unable to take responsibility for its actions and initiatives based on values .
Given the above, I believe that it is necessary for our leaders to embrace a culture of savings, because eating with our ten fingers does not support our economic growth or sustainability in any way.
Finally, state governors need to remember that the shortest path to a bright future we seek is a creative approach.
So let the governors focus on Abuja and focus on increasing the income internally generated by their state by working with development-minded Nigerians. This process, who knows, may provide a permanent solution to the country's ongoing financial challenge.
Jerome-Mario Utomi, Program Coordinator (Media and Public Order), Defense of Social and Economic Justice (SEJA), writes from Lagos via jeromeutomi@yahoo.com or 08032725374.
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