The above titled piece by Prof. Chuwuma Soludo to us is highly welcome at a time like this when those who should know would be doing Nigeria a great injustice by keeping quiet. Any advice given by the former CBN governor, ought to be given critical attention by any serious minded party.
This piece is to first, appreciate the depth of thought the author has put in, to particularly wake Nigerians up to the reality of the quagmire the PDP government has placed this nation particularly in the last five years. As a former Chief Economic Adviser to the President and later CBN governor Prof. Soludo surely knows what he is talking about.
On our part as a party that is determined to reverse the nation from the march to self-destruction we have taken a long and hard look at most of the issues raised by the erudite professor and we have penned down credible and workable answers to the issues raised...
While not denying the nobility and originality of our ideas for change, the writer only assumed that with the current state of the badly battered public finance, our party when elected into power would not be able to fulfil its promises. This opinion need not be criticised but to be provided with honest answers since its manifest intent and purpose is to engender qualitative debate and not strife.
Based on our track record in the states we presently control, any discerning observer would notice that there is a pattern of governance that APC states are known for. Wherever we lead, one of the first things we do is to bolster the capacity for internally generated revenue through a programmed course of action. Some examples would be apposite here- Lagos state in 1999 was generating a meagre N600 million monthly, but today it generates an average of N20 billion. Osun state in 2010 when we took over was generating a measly N300 million monthly, today it generates an average of N1billion despite the economic and political constraints trying to hinder her progress. Kano state used to raise a meagre N400 million monthly in 2011, today it has grossed over N2 billion monthly.
All these increased earning were mostly done by blocking leakages, ensuring the integrity of the collection and remitting system and utilising the scarce resources in the best interest of the people. So we believe that with careful planning and transparency, we would double our non-oil revenue in two years, by re-enacting our knack for excellence at the Federal level.
The APC believes that tackling corruption is the singular most important economic initiative we can take as a nation at this time. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria earned N51.50 trillion as proceeds from oil between 1979–2011. Only N3.10 trillion was earned between 1979-1999, from 2000-2011 the sum of N48.40trillion was received. The successive regimes from the civilian to military, were still able to build the longest bridge in Africa, the National Assembly complex, massive roads, refineries, power lines, dams etc. despite the relative low earnings. Our belief is that the opaque nature of our major revenue earning institutions like the NNPC, Customs, Internal Revenue Service etc. needs to change, these institutions can earn far more than they are currently doing. Our government, under Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is set to reverse this trend. Government money must be put in the service of the people and not squandered by a few cabals.
Another important source of leakage and corruption is the procurement system currently in place.
While we would encourage both big and small contractors, we would however sanitise the procurement system and ensure all contracts give optimum value for money. Our procurement system would be transparent for all Nigerian to know how our commonwealth is being disbursed. It is now a pedestrian information that Nigeria loses about 17% of its oil production to oil theft. This translates to about 400,000 barrels per day. Since President Goodluck Jonathan assumed office on May 6, 2010 over N6 Trillion of government funds have been stolen through fraud, embezzlement and theft in the oil industry alone. This, to us, is unacceptable. We believe that the greatest losers in this evil scheme are the people of the Niger-Delta and the vulnerable majority of our people. We would reverse this trend and make the money work for the people.
Another important issue raised by Prof. Soludo is the costing of our welfare programmes. We have done our homework in this regard, before I put forward the figures, it is important to note that a nation with 80% graduate unemployment; over 100 million living below poverty; 10.8 million children out of school etc. we cannot afford not to take any risk to salvage our nation. Our current security problems of insurgency, kidnapping, militancy etc. are aggravated by the vast army of unemployed youths available to be recruited into such crimes. We believe by spending money to reduce poverty, empower our youths and give hope to the vast majority of Nigerians, our nation would resurge back to productivity and prosperity.
We have tested it and it worked in states like Osun where meals are given to children every day. The state government ensured all the foods consumed are produced locally, so it buys agro products from farmers at a guaranteed price; about 3000 food vendors were also given seed capital to become cooks for the schools in their vicinity. That policy alone made the state attain the status of highest school enrolment by population; lowest unemployment rate (3% compared with national average of 24%) and one of the leading agro-based economies in Nigeria. So in the long run, it is not how much we spend, that is the greatest issue for us, it is, how much hope, employment and sustainable revenue we would start realising from such bold venture.
Our proposed 740,000 emergency new jobs in the 36 states would cost N88.8b per annum at N20,000 per month. The social security programme of conditional cash transfer of N5,000 monthly to at least 25,000,000 poorest and most vulnerable people would amount to N125bn/month. On the primary school feeding programme, at a cost of N2.5b per month by 36 states, we have N90 billion per month. All these costs are structured to simultaneously boost production and local economies. Over the years, the benefits of this programmes become self-evident.
As we engage youths in productive activities and teach them modern skills, they become contributors to the national economy. Imagine investing a guaranteed N1 trillion on agriculture for the school feeding programme, that alone would revolutionise our agriculture. More than 2 million direct and indirect jobs would be created. Scientists, farmers, economists, artisans, marketers, insurers and many others would be engaged, also mechanisation of the agriculture industry would be achieved in less than four years.
This piece cannot exhaust our action plan of action, however, as a party we are daily joggling the ideas and ensuring it meets reality checks. Our ‘CHANGE’ mantra implies that rather than merely throwing money at problems, we want to be sure that every public expenditure generates jobs and has multiplier effects on the economy. We are committed to recruiting the best economic team this country has ever gathered to implement these laudable ideals and restore hope to our long-suffering and beleaguered people.
- All Progressives Congress
