The President, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) Comrade Quadri A. Olaleye, has frowned at the state of the nation .
The president made this known in his New Year message which was signed by the Secretary General, TUC, Comarade (Barr.) Musa-Lawal Ozigi and was made available to CEOAFRICA.
In the message, the president raised questions that need immediate attention. The president asked; why should the State House earmarked N66.6m for the payment of Aso Rock rent, N45m for sewerage charges, N116m for vehicle tyres while N436m was earmarked for replacement of vehicles and spare parts and N67m for fuel?
He said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results';. We must begin to do things differently because like the late South African president, Nelson Mandela charged, "The world will never respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect".
The statement reads below:
On behalf of the National Executive Council (NEC) of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) I bring fraternal greetings to all Nigerian workers and the masses. First and foremost, the Congress feels eternally grateful to God for being gracious to us because if we go by the predictions of some experts within and outside Nigeria and the numerous challenges facing Nigeria, nay the world you will agree that being alive today is a miracle.
It is not over yet. The battle still rages as some countries have locked down for the second time because of the pandemic. Report has it that Nigeria lost 20 medical doctors out of the almost 1,300 people that contracted the virus. Beyond the loss, the economy has further plummeted ours being a mono-economy. You will recall that the price of crude fell to about $20 and according to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation of Nigeria (NNPC) they were practically begging countries and organizations to buy our crude.
In the first four months of the outbreak the federal government disclosed it spent N30,540,563,571.09 to fight Covid-19. Of the N36.3bn public funds and donations received, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) spent N22bn; 36 states spent N7bn; NAF spent N877m, etc. The latest information was that about N3.5tn was spent on Covid-19 and related matter in a country that has one of the lowest per capita-income in the world. Still on Covid-19, the sum of N540bn has been budgeted to purchase Coronavirus vaccine in the 2021 National Budget at a time when our infrastructure, healthcare facilities and education are gasping for breath. Inflation rate oscillates between 14.89 and 15.0 percent, the unemployment rate and insecurity are all time high. Need less mention the high cost of governance, “Nigerian factor” is embedded in every contract they award.
These are parameters individuals and countries consider before they invest but our leaders do not give a damn. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow has been ridiculously low. Many countries on the continent benefited more because of the relative peace they enjoy. Only recently the dreaded Boko Haram stormed Kankara boys school in Katsina and kidnapped over 340 boys. They released them after one week. On February 19, 2018 at exactly 5:30pm, 110 school girls aged between 11-19years were kidnapped by the sect. All were released except Miss LEAH SHARIBU. There was the Chibok kidnap, etc. Any journey by road is a risk, including traveling from Lagos to Ibadan. No investor wants to throw away money. It does not matter how the government feels about the rating of Transparency International (TI) and others, the truth remains that many investors depend on such information to invest. Instead of attacking them we urge the government to wake up to its responsibilities, even if it means changing the Service Chiefs.
An UNCTAD report states that FDI inflow in Africa dropped by 28% in the last six months which is about $16bn compared to $23bn over the same period in 2019. While Africa remains less affected by the virus in terms of the number of deaths she has suffered deficit in investments. However, the economies of Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, etc appreciated in terms of investments, job creation, etc.
The unemployment rate in Nigeria averages 12.84 percent from 2006 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 27.1 percent in the second quarter of 2020. You do not need to be a prophet of doom to predict that worse days are ahead if this government does not initiate and implement good economic policies that would bring about growth and create jobs. The unemployment rate has tripled since this government came into power in 2015. They seem to have forgotten their “change mantra”.
The population of the unemployed in Nigeria exceeds the population of 35 of Africa’s 54 countries. Nigeria’s jobs crisis does not exist in a vacuum. It is caused by perennial under-funding of some critical sectors, especially the education sector which is grossly under-funded. The education sector is like a “power house” that supplies every other sector. Unfortunately the government has never given 10 percent of its annual budget even when UNESCO stipulates 26.5 percent. It is laughable that at this age and time only one in four Nigerians applying to university gets a spot. There is a dearth of creativity in the sector because people who should revive the system display photographs of their children in a graduation ceremony in a foreign university. This is an irony.
Nigeria overtook India in 2018 as the country with the most people in extreme poverty. It is regrettable because we are the six oil producing country in the world. Till date the craze for oil has blinded the leadership from seeing and taking advantage of the innumerable natural resources that God magnanimously bequeathed to Nigeria. There was a groundnut pyramid in the north; cocoa in the west and palm oil in the east with which the leaders at that time were able to do wonders. There was a healthy rivalry among the founding fathers. Their quest for leadership was not about ego and greed. It was about service to the people to a large extent. Their legacies are speaking for them whereas there were presidents and governors of less than 10 years ago that we have forgotten. We only remember them because of the injury and misery they brought upon Nigeria and Nigerians.
According to Nigeria public debt report recently released by Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria’ s total debt as at June 2020 stands at N31.01tn (85.9bn)- 8.31% increase when compared with N28.63tn (79.3bn) recorded in March, 2020. In saner climes where true patriots are in government the right thing to do now would have been to cut down on the cost of governance.
Why should the State House earmarked N66.6m for the payment of Aso Rock rent, N45m for sewerage charges, N116m for vehicle tyres while N436m was earmarked for replacement of vehicles and spare parts and N67m for fuel? Despite making N10m provision for Giant HD copier, the State House would still spend N46m and another N22m for printing of non security and security documents respectively. You will recall that not too long ago it was in the news that the Petroleum Ministry spent over N113m for the purchase of Schneider pens, Yet they dubbed the 2021 budget “Budget of Economic Recovery and Resilience”. This does not show prudence and responsibility.
We must take seriously the wise counsel of Albert Einsten. He said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results';;';;. We must begin to do things differently because like the late South African president, Nelson Mandela charged, "The world will never respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect".
Happy New Year to all Nigerians. God bless.
