2015 Budget Gets Jonathan's Approval

With just over a week before his official handover, the outgoing President, Goodluck Jonathan, has approved the sum of N4.5 trillion ($22.6 billion) budget for 2015.

According to a statement credited to the president’s spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, the budget, which was by the National Assembly in late April, was approved by the Nigerian president on Wednesday, devoid of the usual fanfare.

READ ALSO: Analysis: Why Nigeria Does Not Need Fuel Subsidy Anymore

It was also reported that the budget is 3.2% smaller than last year’s, following the issues associated with global crude prices which are responsible for the cash crunch in the country.

Abati said: “I can confirm to you that Mr. President had signed the 2015 budget into law some days back without the usual fanfare”.

READ ALSO: How Buhari’s Threat Prompted Fuel Scarcity

Vanguard reports that Muhammadu Buhari’s imminent take-over next week may also mean a budget supplement since he is yet to outline his economic policy, although it is expected that the former head of state will crack down on excessive spending by government officials, including the use of official cars.Earlier this month, the finance ministry lamented that it had already been forced to use up half of its budgeted borrowing allowance to pay overheads and salaries, and is yet to release any funds for capital expenditure this year.

Meanwhile, claims by the vice president-elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has it that the president has left a huge debt for the incoming administration.

Abacha Loot: Secret Deal GEJ Approved To Save Abacha’s Family From Prosecution

For allegedly helping their father plunder Nigeria of an estimated $5 billion in the 1990s, Mohammed and Abba Abacha, and other relatives of the late dictator, Sani Abacha, have been rewarded by the Nigerian government.

A secret deal between the government and the Abachas, wants the family to return part of the loot, in exchange for perpetual immunity against prosecution.

The deal, kept classified for months, was personally approved by President Goodluck Jonathan in July 2014, and jointly authored by the Attorney General, Mohammed Adoke.

The terms of the agreement, obtained by PREMIUM TIMES in March, have alarmed anti-corruption activists.
“The agreement is (also) a tragic triumph of impunity,” said The Berne Declaration, a Swiss nongovernmental organization, which for years has monitored efforts by the Nigerian government to recover hundreds of millions of dollars stashed by the former military ruler, and his family, in bank accounts across Europe, and America.

The agreement closes criminal proceedings for the plundering of the Nigerian treasury against the perpetrators and their accomplices, with the result that they go unpunished.

Foreign banks involved in the heist have also not been convicted of money laundering.
Worse, Swiss lawyers and other attorneys who helped facilitate the so-called out-of-court settlement, will pocket fees up to five per cent of all monies recovered from the family from banks in Switzerland and other countries. The government expressly agreed to pay one of the attorneys $28 million.

“This is all the more troubling because many of the banks involved have not been convicted of money laundering. It is equally incomprehensible that the Swiss lawyers involved may pocket up to 7 percent of the sum for their services, as this money belongs to the Nigerian population,” Berne Declaration said.

The base of the agreement is for the Abacha family to cooperate with federal authorities to have the stolen funds repatriated, in exchange for clemency.

On receipt of the assets, Nigeria will “end any and all legal proceedings and investigations against the settling parties (referring to the Abacha family)”.

The government will “recognise” properties owned by the family in Nigeria, the agreement says.
“The FRN (Federal Republic of Nigeria) will withdraw any and all civil proceedings against the settling parties,” one clause in the agreement states.

Another clause says, “The FRN will end, without any finding of liability or guilt, any and all proceedings of whatever kind including criminal, civil or administrative proceedings contemplated or pending in any court in Nigeria (including in relation to forfeiture and or restraint) relating to or arising out of any investigations into the resolved matter, …”.

“The FRN will provide to any government, authority or organisation, where necessary, information, clearance or such other documentation or support as may be required by any or all of the Settling Parties to ensure and guarantee unrestricted movement in and out of Nigeria or in any other state or country,” another clause adds.

As Nigeria’s military leader between 1993 and 1998, Mr. Abacha stashed away billions of dollars of public funds in various accounts abroad.
Transparency International estimates $5 billion was stolen.

The money include those in three accounts at HSBC Bank Plc, one in Standard Bank Plc in England; five accounts in Cítibank Private Bank of London; one account in Deutsche Bank International Ltd, in Jersey, United States; three accounts in Banque SBA SA and one in Standard Alliance Corporation in France.

There are also funds in nine accounts in Luxemburg and Liechtenstein totaling about $248.64 million and Euros179.14 million, which was transferred to the Bank for International Settlements (BI) in 2014.

In June 2014, Liechtenstein agreed to return $227m, while the U.S. froze some $458m hidden by Abacha in bank accounts.
Switzerland had earlier returned some $700m. By March 2015, the country agreed to return a further $380m.
The recovery of the money had been blocked by legal action brought by companies linked to members of the Abacha family.

The government’s initial charges against Abacha’s oldest son, Mohammed Abacha, was for unlawfully receiving government money from his father.
The Nigerian government agreed to the secret deal as a sort of plea bargain, to have the Abacha family drop its case, and allow the money to be repatriated.
Geneva prosecutors had also closed their own case against the Abacha.
Anti-corruption activists argue that granting immunity to those who helped in stealing the country blind will only embolden others to do worse.
They also question why the Nigerian government failed to lay clearly as part of the agreement how recovered money will be applied from the benefit of Nigerians.
“The agreement between Nigeria and the Abacha family, approved by the Public Prosecutor in Geneva, does not contain a single provision to ensure that the returned money will be of benefit to the Nigerian people from whom it was stolen in the nineties and who continue to suffer endemic corruption,” Bernes Declaration said.

“The entire arrangement is questionable,” said David Ugolor of the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice. “We must let Switzerland see the need to suspend further decision on the return of the money stolen by Abacha until all the terms are clearly established in a manner that would really benefit Nigerians.”

Anchored by Attorney General Adoke, the agreement compels the Federal Government to withdraw all pending cases against any member of the Abacha family at home and abroad, while all organs of government, including the National Assembly, were barred from asking questions with the intention of recovering the stolen wealth.

Also, the deal forbids the government from taking any action to limit the constitutional rights, including freedom of movement of the Abachas within and outside Nigeria and right to property, in connection with the theft.

Mohammed and Abba Abacha represented the Abacha family in the negotiations, which also involved international brokers.
Mr. Adoke represented Nigeria on the instructions of President Jonathan.

“I hereby confirm that the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke SAN CFR, has full authority to contract in that capacity in relation to the Repatriation Agreement between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Alhaji Mohammed Sani Abacha and Alhaji Abba Abacha,” the president wrote.

As part of the agreement, Nigeria will pay four per cent of the sums recovered and repatriated to Nigeria to Swiss agent, Enrico Monfrini of Monfrini, Crettol & Associe, which also entitled to another $5 million for litigation expenses.

Another 2.8 percent of the recovered or repatriated sum was agreed to be paid Christian Luscher of CMS Von Erlach Poncet Ltd (subject to a cap of $28million), while the Abacha are expected to settle the legal fees of their appointed agent, Nicola Boulton, of Byrne and Partners of London.

TEN POINTS TO SAVE NIGERIA ECONOMY

Ten Places Buhari Can Get A Trillion Naira By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari needs N1 trillion naira on May 29, 2015 or within his first 90 days in office.

Clearly, nobody is pretending anymore that Nigeria is not broke. President Jonathan’s finance minister/the coordinating minister of the economy, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has given up any pretense that she has a clue as to how to rescue Nigeria’s economy from total collapse. Recently, she confessed that sourcing where to borrow money has been more than a nightmare. In her own words, it has been causing her hypertension.

And borrowing, she had been doing with alacrity. The Central Bank of Nigeria recently announced that the federal government has over-spent by N365.3bn between July-Dec 2014. The minister herself announced that, "We've borrowed N473bn out of the N882bn we are allowed to borrow this year.” So there is no room to borrow a lot more. And borrowing to pay workers’ salaries and pay oil marketers for oil subsidy is as dumb as throwing bags of money into River Niger.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s debt profile has risen to N12 trillion, which is about three times our annual budget.

Despite the staggering debt ratio to the size of Nigeria’s economy, Nigeria still needs to pay workers. And since President Jonathan and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala decided to include only about N150 billion in the 2015 budget for oil subsidy, when in the last four years they have spent an average of N800 billion a year, there is an urgent need for money to keep the basic elements of the economy going as the new government settles in.

The Nigerian workers cannot go for another three months without pay. The consequences of that for the new government will be dire. And the Nigerian consumers of petrol cannot go for another three months of long lines at gas stations and live with fuel sold at exorbitant prices. And that will continue until oil marketers are paid the outstanding debt owed them or someone figured out how to stop them from holding Nigeria hostage.

In the last 16 years of the People’s Democratic Party rule, the political class squandered an equivalent of $500 billion US dollars. To go back to find the books, including those already reduced to ashes, open them, separate the scratched off figures from the original figures and prosecute those whose fingerprints were on the record books would be a difficult task. An easier way would be a mixture of plea-bargains, fees, surcharges, amnesties and luxury taxes imposed on these categories of past and present officials, all aimed at recovering a fraction of our commonwealth fleeced over the last 16 years.

So here are the top ten places President Jonathan can get N1 trillion naira.

1.) Go to the 36 governors that served with Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 - 2007. Offer them immunity from prosecution if they will all return N2.5 billion naira each for every four years in power. Those who spent eight years in office should return N5 billion each. After all, most of them were facing charges totaling over N100 billion before their files disappeared from the EFCC. That will give President Buhari N180 billion naira.

2.) Go to the 36 governors that served with Umaru Ya’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan from 2007 - 2015. Offer them immunity from prosecution if they will all return N5 billion naira each for every four years in power. Those who spent eight years in office should return N10 billion each. After all, most of them collected over N2.5 bn each year as security votes. That will give President Buhari N360 billion naira.

3.) President Buhari should cancel all import waivers given to religious leaders in Nigeria for 2015. Nigeria lost billions of naira just on the waivers given to Pastors Adeboye, Oyedepo, Oritsejafor and their likes under the Obasanjo-Jonathan administration - waivers they used to import expensive cars and luxury goods. Who knows what the big Imams get in waivers? Right there, another N50 billion will be readily available.

4.) A 50% cut in the salaries and allowances of members of the Nigerian House of Representative. At $1.4 million each for 360 members, Buhari can easily get $252 million dollars, which is over N40 billion. In the senate, with 109 senators each making $1.7 million, a 50% cut in their pay package will give President Buhari over N14.8 billion naira.

5.) President Buhari should audit the record books of the government with oil importers. A good auditing firm will easily unearth stolen wealth of the nation. Past audits have shown substantial stealing on their part. In a 2012 audit conducted by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede of the subsidy claims of 2011, discovered that the Federal Government had overpaid importers and marketers of petrol by a whopping N430 billion naira. Of this amount, less than N30 billion was ever recovered. Since these so-called cabals are friends of every government in power, the president should just ask them to refund N300 billion and we will let bygones be bygone.

6.) The president should, as a matter of urgency, investigate and evaluate all workers associated with the importation of fuel into Nigeria. Those found wanting should be prosecuted and fired. A good investigation of their assets and accounts will recover at least N10 billion. The same thing should be done with staff of the NNPC, both those serving and the retired staff. A good investigation will net over N10 billion.

7.) Go to all the ministers who served from 1999-2015. Depending on the ministry they manned, how long they manned the ministry and the budget of each ministry, each minister would be assessed. A special surcharge of each minister could net the government another N50 billion.

8.) The security votes of all state governors should be cut by 50%. At an average of N300 million a month, it runs up to N3.6 billion for a year each. For the 36 state governors, that amount is N129.6 billion naira. A 50% cut will give President Buhari N64.8 billion a year.

9.) The president should close half of Nigerian missions abroad in a major scale back and find other countries to manage Nigeria’s consular affairs. That will save at least N10 billion.

10.) Along with that, the government will impose a significant luxury tax on people who own private jets, luxury boats and those who own houses worth over N0.5 billion naira. If you may, just call it one-time tax to help feed Nigerian public school children. Let us see the billionaire that will grumble about giving a little back to help educate the disadvantaged. That will bring in another N100 billion.

Putting the savings together, we have N1.19 trillion for the President. That will be enough seed money to give the incoming government a breathing room to assess the damage done to the economy in the last 16 years.

Alternatively, President Buhari could move in security forces to the Niger Delta and stop crude oil theft. Since 2009, crude oil thieves have been increasing the amount of Nigeria’s oil that they steal. According to the 2012 Ribadu Report, crude oil thieves steal over 100,000 barrels a day. That is over $3.6 billion dollars a year. Some foreign sources put the figure of oil theft at 250,000 barrels a day. Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala in 2013 told the Vanguard newspaper that the loss to oil theft could be up to $12 billion.

Now, that is over a trillion naira. QED!

EXCLUSIVE: Ex-President, Obasanjo, turns down pleas to help revive PDP

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has rebuffed repeated pleas from concerned member of the Peoples Democratic Party to help revive the party following its defeat in the March 28 presidential election.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who flew the PDP flag in the March 28 election, lost to his All Progressives Congress challenger, Muhammadu Buhari, a former military head of state.

The party, which has ruled Nigeria since the return of democracy 16 years ago, also lost its majority status in the National Assembly just as it won a fewer number of states unlike in the past election.

With the defeat, the ruling party will now take on the opposition role as from May 29 when Mr. Jonathan hands over power to Mr. Buhari.
Since the defeat, the party’s senior members have been bickering with one another with some demanding the exit of its National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu and other officers, who are accused of working against the party during the election.

Concerned about the future of the party, some of its leaders have been reaching out to Mr. Obasanjo to return to the party and help build it ahead of future elections.

The former president had in February directed a fellow PDP member and ward leader to openly tear his party membership card at a forum in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that among those persuading him to return to lead the party were serving governors and federal lawmakers who believed the party should play viable opposition in the next dispensation.

Mr. Obasanjo’s close allies said the anxious party men have been pressuring the former leader, who was the first elected president on the party’s platform, by either visiting him or through telephone calls.

This newspaper learnt that the former president, who was also the PDP leader and Chairman of its Board of Trustees, has repeatedly rebuffed the request to return to the party.

Sources close to him said at some point he told those mounting pressure on him that rather than returning to the party he would encourage viable opposition from other standpoints.

“I’m done with party politics here on earth and in heaven. Period,” Mr. Obasanjo was overheard telling a PDP chieftain who telephoned him recently to raise the matter.

Mr. Obasanjo was also said to have told some people pressuring him that he could have considered returning to the party had his membership card not been publicly thorn before the general elections.

He was quoted as saying his membership card has been shredded and that “as it is now, a goat has eaten up the pieces”.
Mr. Obasanjo confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview that he has been under pressure to return to the PDP but vowed not to do so.

“I’m not ready to discuss partisan politics because I’m done with it,” he said.

After a meeting with Mr. Jonathan sometime in February, the outgoing governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, had assured that the PDP would beg Mr. Obasanjo to return to the party.

“When a father is angry with his children, the children should beg him. Baba is more than a party man. He is an icon, a national symbol and a leader and inventor, a creator of all the institutions today in Nigeria from the president to the governors, who are his own sons, are all his creations.”

“And so when a father is angry with his children, we will only say we are sorry to him. But then, we cannot be renounced for whatever it is…….We might have made some mistakes, but abandoning us is not the solution because the country is first before anything else. So, he is our Baba even up to the president.”

But Mr. Obasanjo told PREMIUM TIMES he has foreclosed any possibility of returning to the PDP.

“I agree that Nigeria needs a strong and viable opposition and I will continue to encourage that,” the former President said. “I will continue to do that even without belonging to a political party. I have moved beyond party politics.”

Mu’azu Wanted Ambode As PDP Gov Candidate – Akiolu

Out of the numerous governorship candidates in Lagos State why didyou choose Akinwunmi Ambode of the All Progressives Congress as your candidate?  It is only Almighty Allah that knows everything. Let me be honest with you, I do not play politics. But if you look at things, you have to consider what is best for the development of your people and the one that can bring good tidings for your people. From 1999 to 2007, when Bola Tinubu led the government, it was by the grace of God and prayers of Lagosians and my ancestors that saved us from what somebody who I don’t want to mention did. I will not mention his name because I have been persuaded by our highly respected Awujale in Ijebu Ode, and Tinubu. Sincerely, if I disclose some things, it will shake this country. I am not afraid of anything, I swear by Almighty Allah. But a tortoise does not come out completely from its shell; you only see its head. When that problem (withholding of Lagos State allocation) started, I prayed to God. In my life, I do not condone criminality and I don’t encourage it. Somebody somehow, because of his desperation and because he felt after Almighty Allah in Nigeria, it is himself, wanted to destroy by all cost, Tinubu and some other people but as God would have it, that didn’t happen. What Ambode displayed at that time impressed me. Despite all the tribulations, he stood firm and his loyalty and commitment to the progress of Lagos State impressed me and since then, I have been having my eyes on him that may be in the future, if the opportunity presents itself, and he has the opportunity of becoming something in Lagos, I will encourage him in his aspirations. You said you don’t play politics. But would you have supported Ambode if he was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party?  Well, I can tell you in all honesty, I went to Mecca as the head of Nigerian delegation and I met the present Chairman of the PDP, Adamu Mu’azu. He is someone I have known for a long time. He is a very close friend. In Mecca, there was nothing he did not say to convince me to support his party. He told me support him but I told him what Almighty Allah had shown to me regarding Ambode. He said I should convince Ambode to defect to the PDP and they would adopt him as their candidate but I said I no. I told him that I did not hate the PDP. Some very good people there are my friends. The late Funsho Williams was very close to me and I had a very high regard for him. He was a peace lover. When he was murdered, I was shaking. Some top PDP chieftains were arrested over his murder. By the grace of Almighty Allah, I, the Oba of Lagos, requested and demanded that they be released. I went to the State Criminal Investigation Department at Panti to shout at the police to release them because one officer said something which I would not want to disclose and I said that if anything happens to the former Minister of Works, Adeseye Ogunlewe, I would expose them and I was instrumental to his release. He is still alive and is still my very good friend. I was in his house about two weeks ago and he comes here every time. So, it is not a question of hate. My concern is the growth, development and the best for Lagos and Nigeria. But you once said it was not the will of God for the PDP to rule Lagos. Does it mean that if a qualified person from the PDP steps forward, that person can never be governor?  There are still good people in the PDP. I am not saying that. Don’t misquote me. There are many good people like Ade Dosunmu and even Jimi Agbaje, who is my blood relation. But it is unfortunate because there are some things I don’t want to disclose. Their hatred of Bola Tinubu is the mistake they are making. He is an individual they don’t understand. You know Jesus said in the Bible that ‘Father please forgive them for they know not what they do’. And the Tinubu that they wanted to destroy, see what God has helped him to do for Nigeria. The Bible said the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. The art of politics and getting things done for now, can only be done through Bola Tinubu, which they do not understand. Some people say I always agree with him and it is because they do not know me. I have no friend or enemy and I don’t have a reservoir of knowledge but God has found me worthy. We argue on many occasions and at times, he suggests reasonable things which I concur with but sometimes, I will convince him to accept my own and as a son to a father, he has no choice but to obey me.

You just said Agbaje is your blood relative. Won’t your family be upset that you went against your own blood to support another person?  I am supporting the progress of Lagos, I am not against him. After the election, I spoke to him in the morning. Alhaji Lateef Okunnu and I spoke to him and later that day, I heard that he congratulated Ambode. You know, there are some people that do things on their own while some others are influenced to do things. Agbaje is a very matured person and comes from a very good background but their own understanding of things is different from my own. A week to the governorship election, there was a meeting with Igbo leaders at your palace where you said they would perish in the lagoon if they did not vote for Ambode.  Look, let me tell you something, if you know me, you will know the kind of person that I am. I am not God. I can be confident on some things and if it is the will of God Almighty, it will come to pass. But before that, what I know is that the people of Lagos suffered for no just cause, and those among them who are members of the PDP did not like the injustice (withholding of federal allocations) that was being meted out to the people of Lagos at that time but they did not want to talk. That is hypocrisy which is not good. At that time, I was confident according to the wisdom of God. It was on May 14, 2014 when I was invited to Ambode’s book launch. I asked them what book launch they were doing. I told them that they could call it a book launch if they wanted but I had seen it in my palace in Iga Idugaran that Ambode would be the next governor of Lagos State and that God would make it so. And I prayed to Olokun Olosa (the gods of the sea) to make it so and it came to pass. I am not God but with prayers and the support of everyone, you will see how well he will perform. And it is the wish of this present governor that the person taking over from him should do better than him. Governor Babatunde Fashola has done a lot. We are equal in the eyes of God but we are not equal in the love of God. So what is your relationship with the Igbo community?  Some Igbo people are my very close friends like Pascal Dozie (Chairman, MTN Nigeria). Even the Obi of Onitsha came here to see me a few days ago. The former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (retd.), and many others know the kind of person I am. If you go to the Dosunmu and Nnamdi Azikiwe areas of Lagos Island, you will see my many valuable commercial properties. In fact, 99 per cent of them are occupied by Igbo people. All the medicine sellers in Isale Eko, nobody dare molest them in those areas because they know me and know that I will protect the Igbo traders. Eze Odimegwu, who is a former CEO of Nigerian Breweries, is still my best friend and many others. When you go to a place, you have to respect the host leaders, particularly the traditional leaders there because you are coming to benefit from our success. The people of Lagos are the friendliest and most accommodating people in Nigeria. Those who orchestrated the entire incident (the lagoon incident) know themselves and I tell you, those who came here on that day understood me a lot and have even been coming since then. After we had that discussion on that very day, they all sat down and ate pounded yam and panla (fish) and drank wine. We were all in a happy mood. The few incurable bad people wanted to twist the issue for political gain and were talking nonsense. That is their headache. I don’t want to say much but the man who spearheaded this thing was the one that first approached me and said that he would bring some of the Igbo people that won election to me and that he wanted me to appeal to my son, Bola Tinubu, for him. He wrote a letter of appeal in his own handwriting and everything is still in my possession but I will leave that for now. His life is all about money but there is no happiness in that money and that is what is disturbing him now, pushing him here and there. About four Igbo have been elected to the House of Representatives and House of Assembly in Lagos. What is your view of this new trend of non-indigenes dominating Lagos politics?  Well, if they say they have won, then good luck to them. And if it is the choice of the people for these candidates to represent them, they should go and represent them in the best interest of Lagos and Nigerians. The man that allegedly promised to hand them the deputy governorship slot and four commissioner positions and elevate the status of Eze Ndigbo to that of Oba of Lagos has since denied it. It was all a political gimmick because I am sure they know that he was only deceiving them. As a matter of fact, prominent traditional rulers in the South-East have been writing us to say that they are not happy about the large number of Eze in Lagos and they are not happy that we recognise them here in Lagos. I told them that Lagos accommodates everybody but if they want to behave in excess and go beyond their bounds, we will bring them to order by the grace of God. If Agbaje contests again in 2019 or 2023, will you give him your blessing?  He is a Nigerian. He can contest 20 times. It is his inalienable right to contest and God Almighty and any occupier of this house, anything he feels will be in the best interest of his people is who he will bless. What do you see of President Goodluck Jonathan’s defeat? I am not hiding it. I have personal respect for President Jonathan and he has the highest regard for me and he knows my stand on the politics of Lagos. When he came to Lagos to campaign, I did not hide my admiration for him. He came to pay homage to me here in the palace before campaigning. I first met him when he came with the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. Yar’adua’s brother and I were very close. I took Arabic lessons in their late father’s house in Ikoyi when he was a Minister for Lagos Affairs. Yar’adua came with my good friend, Bode George and on that day, I saw that sign of leadership on Jonathan and I told them to bring a special chair for him. But whatever you have is what you use in winning. When a matter is in court, I should not comment on it. By the grace of Almighty Allah and my ancestors in this house, the Governor-elect, Ambode, will rule for eight years with a good performance.

Buhari And The Challenge Of Unpaid Salaries

Nigeria’s President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, no doubt, has a huge burden upon his shoulder. Nearly every sector throughout the country is threatened.  The sixteen years’ reign of the People Democratic Party, PDP, has been a matter of one step forward two steps backwards.  The economy is currently in comatose. The nation’s foreign reserve has been  depleted. To worsen things, inflation and unemployment is at an all-time high while  corruption is rife.  The truth, however, is that Nigeria is actually in trouble.

One of the very daunting tasks that General Buhari and his team would have to tackle, in earnest, is that of unpaid salaries. In the last sixteen years, the norm in budgetary planning, formulation and execution has been for recurrent expenditure to be excessively higher than capital outlay. This is not, in any way, peculiar to the Federal Government (FG) alone as nearly all the state governments in the country operate a similar unproductive budgetary planning.

The consequence of this is the poor state of social and physical infrastructure across the country. Almost all federal roads are in terrible conditions. The  PDP-led government, after sixteen years in power, could not fix the nation’s refineries as we continue to import refined petroleum products.  This is what happens when a nation fails to prioritize its developmental needs. No nation in the world, not even the almighty United States of America, touted as the number-one economy could develop via the kind of budgetary system we have been operating in the past sixteen years.

High wage bills, as well as escalating cost of governance, remains a major threat to the survival of democracy in the country. Presently, aside the various Federal Government agencies and parastatals that are being owed various degrees of salaries and emoluments, about twenty six (26) State Governments in the country are owing workers salaries in arrears of months. The State of Osun readily comes to mind here as the state has been singled out for target of media attack on this issue. I am piqued about this though  the state is not the only one in this dire financial strait. The Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was, in fact, the first person to call national attention to this financial disaster in 2013, when he alleged that the FG had declared war on the state as allocation dropped to 40%.

It will be difficult to query his record as a worker-friendly administrator. In some states, in order to ensure workers go home with something; salaries are paid in bits, and my lawyer friend told me this was a breach of contract.  Expectedly, in most of the States, workers are threatening to go on strike in a bid to press home their demands for prompt payment of their wages. Things are not looking up at all.

With the decline in revenue accruing to the Federation Account through the sale of crude oil, some of the states might not be able to pay workers salaries, not to talk of paying arrears of pension and gratuity being owed pensioners. As things stand, the amount that stands to the credit of each of the states monthly is not enough to pay workers’ wages, and this means all other similar recurring expenditures would suffer. A few of them that try to embark on capital spending do so through loans from banks and bonds earlier negotiated, which must be serviced regularly at huge cost.

With this stark reality, it has therefore, become highly imperative for the incoming Buhari administration to take a holistic view of the whole issue with a view to saving our democracy from  imminent collapse. Bureaucracy is meant to help drive the pace of development in a democracy. In any nation where bureaucracy has become the problem rather than the solution, democracy would  become endangered. This is where General Buhari, and his team need to take decisive steps to save the country from what has become a chronic and nagging problem. As a stop-gap measure, one is actually canvassing that the incoming Buhari administration bails out the states that are owing excessive workers’ wages by offsetting such, and give them enough to pay pensions and gratuity. We have done it before.

Unpaid salaries have always plagued civil administration in Nigeria. Military takeover, had always been the quick fix, but with its recurring nature, it’s obvious we have not found the solution. Yes, government is always the biggest employer of labour; we cannot continue to bring idle hands into governments without a commensurate analysis of what is actually needed. This is to avert undue labour disputes that could cause needless troubles in the land. A sound employment policy would still address the problem of unemployment.

Equally, the idea of the Federal Government entering into wage negotiations on behalf of the State Governments should be discarded. Since the revenue base of each state differs, it would be inappropriate for both the Federal Government and the Labour Unions, to force State Governments to pay their worker’s wages being paid by the Federal Government. Each State Government ought to employ and pay according to its capacity. Equally important is that labour unions must desist from the incessant act of demanding for an arbitrary wage increase. While the work force deserves better pay packages, government has responsibilities to the larger society through the provision of social amenities and infrastructures.

In the same vein, governments across the land need to cut all avenues that open the door for wastes in governance. We have taken the issue of taxation too lightly in this country. No nation attains greatness without the adequate contributions of the citizens in the forms of taxes. We must start emphasizing our tax systems to make governments and citizens more fiscally responsible. Democracy is about bringing development to a greater number of the people. It is about human and capital development. It ceases to be democracy when just a few individuals or groups corner the commonwealth while the rest of the society languishes in abject poverty. Now that change has come, it is, indeed, the right time to get things done in the right way in order to get the right result. God bless Nigeria.

A Microcosm Of Nigeria At Present

Madam Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the one Nigerian who should never have left Washington to happen to Nigeria with her lethal IMF cocktails, has told us that we are flat broke and that she and her staff have run out of ideas.

She says that she has high blood pressure.

She says that members of her immediate staff have high blood pressure.

She says that we are now effectively Unoka of Things Fall Apart. Unoka worries about paying only his big debts first. Unoka does not tolerate it when people he owes chicken change come to disturb his sleep. The Nigerian economy pays the gargantuan salaries, perks, and allowances of the most indolent and parasitic fragment of our population – the one percent otherwise known as Ministers, Governors, Senators, and the like. Those are the big debts that the Nigerian economy now pays exclusively. As for little debts like the salaries of teachers, pensioners, nurses, civil servants, and messengers, the Nigerian economy, like Unoka, does not worry. After all, the sun will shine on those standing before it shines on those kneeling beneath them.

But the Madam with the awkward gele is not done with us yet. She says that even the big debts of the big Ogas that she is paying, we are borrowing money from pillar to post to settle that one. She says that our Nigerian black behinds are so broke that we are borrowing money to pay the big Ogas while the rest of us, the ninety-nine percent, rot in penury

So, Ogbeni Aregbesola in the state of Osun is tactically manoeuvring out of every promise made to the people of Osun faster than Major-General Chris Olukolade’s trickster tongue has been manoeuvring in and out of Boko Haram scenarios. Ogbeni is no longer feeding the pupils. Ogbeni is no longer paying salaries. Ogbeni says he has no money. He says the remittances from Madam Okonjo in Abuja never come.

But Ogbeni is thankful that his own case is even still better than that of his friend, Idris Wada, in Kogi state. With Idris Wada, Kogi is in the running to clinch the gold medal for Nigeria’s most misgoverned state. After donating millions to the Jonathan campaign in Abuja, Wada returned to Lokoja to sack workers because he could not pay salaries. And now he has announced that the workers he has not sacked are entitled to only sixty percent of salaries he is not paying. 

Yes, you heard that right: a state Governor in Nigeria is announcing a forty-percent cut on salaries he is not paying. Idris Wada says he has no money. He says the remittances from Madam Okonjo in Abuja never come.

But Idris Wada is thankful that his own case is even still better than that of his friend, Ochendo, in Abia state. My young friend, Mitt Okorie, insists that Kogi is the younger brother of Abia when we are talking about underdevelopment, backwardness, and kwashiokored governance. Personally, I don’t believe that it is possible to be more underdeveloped and more horribly governed than Kogi state. Anything worse than Kogi state ought to attract the attention of the international community for humanitarian intervention but I will take Mitt’s word for it that Kogi should not be beating her chest over her poor governance creds in the presence of Abia. Apart from running Nigeria’s dirtiest and filthiest state capital, Ochendo pays salaries by ballot and lottery. Ochendo says he has no money. He says the remittances from Madam Okonjo in Abuja never come.

Case after case after case: no state Governor is paying salaries in Nigeria because Madam Okonjo says we are broke. She says it is the fault of oil. Oil is not selling. Where it is selling at all, prices are not good. And we are losing customers left, right, and centre as those who used to buy our oil have either found other sellers or are gyrating towards cleaner, safer, and more efficient alternative sources of energy. They are investing in tomorrow whereas we are still fighting barbaric wars over the Niger Delta’s oil.

Madam Okonjo has been abusing the father and the mother of oil for being responsible for all our woes. Oil is why we are so blest; oil is why we are so underdeveloped; oil is why we have no light; oil is why we have no roads; oil is why we have no hospitals; oil is why our schools belong to the 19th century; oil is why we have no potable water; oil is why we cannot pay salaries; oil is why life is shorter and more brutish in Nigeria than it is for lions and hyenas in the 
Serengeti; oil is why ours is such a bitter life.

That is Madam Okonjo’s explanation.

And I start to think about the matriarch’s song. For Mama Isanlu, my grandmother, sings and sings. The matriarch sings:

“Ojo to ro s’ewuro lo ro s’ireke”!

“Ojo to ro s’ewuro lo ro s’ireke”!

The rain falls, sings Mama Isanlu. The rain falls on sugar cane and falls on bitter leaf. There is not a different rain for sugar cane and bitter leaf. Both plants receive the blessing of the same rain from nature, sings the matriarch. The same rain falls on sugar cane and bitter leaf. Sugar cane takes its own share of the rain and travels the path of sweetness while bitter leaf takes its own share of the same rain and travels the path of bitterness.

“Ojo to ro s’ewuro, lo ro s’ireke!”

“Ojo to ro s’ewuro lo ro s’ireke”!

The rain of oil falls on Dubai and falls on Nigeria. The rulers of Dubai use their own share of the rain of oil to launch their people on the path of sweetness while their Nigerian counterparts take same rain and condemn their own people to the path of bitterness. The rain of oil waters sweetness and abundance for the people of Dubai and waters bitterness and penury for the people of Nigeria.

“Ojo to ro s’ewuro, lo ro s’ireke!”

“Ojo to ro s’ewuro lo ro s’ireke”!

And that is why you, President Buhari, must not allow Madam Okonjo Iweala’s gele to block your view to life after oil for Nigeria. She has been offering you advice lately from her location on top of Africa’s most disgraceful gbese economy. We have seen how well her advice to Obasanjo and Jonathan has worked since she happened to our lives. 

President Buhari, do not listen to her o. We cannot continue to rely on this single resource controlled by a feeding bottle in Abuja. We have squeezed enough bitterness out of it. Let us see if we are imaginative enough as a people to squeeze sweetness out of agriculture and the hundreds of other resources that litter our patch of earth called Nigeria.
Mama Isanlu’s dirge rings still in my ears:

“Ojo to ro s’ewuro, lo ro s’ireke!”

“Ojo to ro s’ewuro lo ro s’ireke”!