By Olarongbe Kabir
The economic horizon is overcast with thick plumes from fireworks on the 2016 Budget. It is all about integrity. Who is for it in the genuinely decisive frontiers of sustainable development? Indeed, the senate Leadership once alluded to “Integrity Check” on budget discrepancies. The “Budget Mafia” had skipped the hurdle of zero-based-budget with bold pole vaulting. They expected the usual soft-landing in the once hollow hearings of the hallowed chambers. Gladly, the leaderships of both the executive and the legislature had calibrated their mechanism of checks and balances. The result: a deafening firework of integrity. Standing up, Speaking Up and Walking the Talk!
What happens when the plumes settle? Who gets what, where, when and how? These questions have significant impact on the livelihood of 110 million Nigerians acknowledged to be living below poverty line and the exotic life style of the elective/appointive/corporate class who are approximately 10 percent of the populace. Of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals conceptualized by the United Nations – and to which FG under President Muhammadu Buhari subscribed – the first three are specifically targeted at the poor. End poverty in all its forms everywhere and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture and ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
Over 100 million Nigerians living below N200 per day fall within this category of the poor. The Federal Government had this class of people in mind when it included N500 billion intervention fund in the budget. Majority of these people voted for change. Of the many promises during the campaign, the change in living condition was doubtlessly the most compelling. Every other promise was geared towards a better livelihood.
Call for Emergency Declaration.
Constant visits to constituencies mean constant reminder of the need for intervention. Legislators are constantly reminded of the promise of a better life. Nay, changed life. Thus, on two occasions in 2015, the House of Representatives passed motions calling for a State of Emergency on the Economy. The debate on the last motion mirrored the anxiety that is now gradually ebbing with the passage of the budget.
Canvassing support for the Motion to declare State of Emergency, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila spoke truth to power.
“I want to implore the Federal Government to please think outside the box regarding these problems.
` The heat of unemployment is choking and overbearing. Every member of this House is heavily exposed to it and no member of this House is an employer of Labour.
“Unemployment exposes people to corruption and also endangers the society to insecurity.
“ They say a hungry man is an angry man, and so all that are currently unemployed fall into this category.
“For us to have an unemployment rate of 24per cent is alarming and should be seen as unacceptable which requires urgent and drastic measures by all stakeholders.
“We should devote a certain percentage of the budget to programmes aimed at creating jobs. That’s what the capital aspect of our budget is supposed to take care of.
“Let us make it mandatory that an appreciable percentage of the budget is earmarked for capital projects, and also cause the government to expedite action on the economic stimulus bill for speedy legislative input which would also help fast-track the creation of jobs.
“Then, the local content initiative that should give leverage to our people to access gainful employment via the private sector should be vigorously pursued.
“Today, in Nigeria, foreigners have almost taken over the available jobs in the private sector. Even when the primary clients of these multinationals are the government, they find ways of substituting Nigerians for their own people at the expense of our local economy. This is something that we all have to fight head-on,” Hon. Gbajabiamila said.
Hon. Zakari Mohammed (APC, Kwara) rose in support of the motion, while commending the initiative of his colleagues in bringing the motion.
The lawmaker, however, laid greater emphasis on the issue of expatriate quota. “I highly commend the leader for this patriotic motion and the prayers it seeks to advance. However, one thing that must be said and done very quickly is to look at our expatriate quota. The quota is being highly abused by foreigners who come here to take over the jobs meant for locals with the connivance of Nigerian officials,’’ Zakari declared.
According to reports of the debate, the opposition led by the minority leader was not impressed.
“I need to guide my colleague so that it is not seen as if the opposition is against the people’s interest. Since the president made a promise to Nigerians that he would provide three million jobs per annum, I think it would be out of place asking the same person to declare a state of emergency in the labour sector which in my view would amount to needless and unsolicited reminder and advice,’’ Hon Leo Ogor reportedly cautioned.
In his contribution, Kingsley Chinda (Rivers) followed the lead of the Minority Leader.
“Asking this House to come up with a bill that would be passed to curb unemployment is like me asking myself to do my job, a job which I was elected to do. So instead of asking this House to bring a bill, the mover of the motion should have prepared the bill and brought it before the House,’’ he said.
Whilst acknowledging the objections of the opposition, the Deputy Speaker and Presiding officer, Hon Lasun Yusuf, prevailed on the House to consider the wider perspective of the motion. Hence, the motion was amended and passed.
What did we learn from the debate?
To fight corruption, insecurity and poverty, we must fight unemployment. Now that we have the budget, how far can it go in addressing this problem? The National Assembly no doubt kept the State of Emergency Motion in mind when the time to scrutinize the 2016 Budget came. The evidence of this legislative cognizance was the statement issued by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Appropriation. The Committee expressed concern over the mode of intervention contemplated by the Appropriation Bill. The appropriation for intervention is N500 billion However, the Committee believed such amount of money should be spent within a defined framework – leaving no chance for misappropriation. A statement issued by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Appropriation said:
“The committee expressed concern over reports indicating that the government has yet to put in place sufficient structure for proper take off of a programme which is expected to bring succour to the poor.
“ It was our considered view that the amount involved is so huge that adequate preparation and structure needed to be put in place for it to succeed and achieve the desired result; and also to avoid mistakes of the past where similar laudable programmes were initiated but did not succeed as a result of poor implementation.
“ We therefore suggested that the take off of the programme be postponed to next year so as to enable the government prepare adequately and avoid any failure.
The Call for A Legal Framework.
No government Intervention fund has ever been disbursed through one public servant or civil servant. Funds are disbursed based on proposals through various echelons of MDAs. So the chances of success are limited to the perimeters of our chief executives’ offices. That is the practice. Is that OK? The legislators do not think so. Who gets what, where, when and how? The target is over 100 million poor Nigerians. How many people can be reached? How many will be left? What happens to those left unaccounted for? What are the consequences if any? Are we ready to live with the consequences of leaving many people behind? Is there anything general that can be done that gives everyone a fair chance at Self-Change at least?
Investigations by Time Nigeria reveals that a bill to relieve the economic situation has been vetted by the Federal Ministry of Justice under the incumbent Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN. The bill when passed will provide a veritable legal framework for ameliorating economic austerity.
The short title of the Bill is: ` Relief Economic Solutions and Transparency (REST) Bill.’’ Its objectives are to provide reliefs in accordance with the provisions of the Act in order to ameliorate socio-economic austerity; create new jobs and preservation of existing jobs in the Nigerian Economy; provide assistance to Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises; provide special health insurance cover; develop renewable energy infrastructure for the purpose of supporting business clusters at the Local Government level in Nigeria; promote urban to rural mobility through funding of Local Government infrastructural projects in: Health, Education, Housing Renewable Energy and Agriculture; ensure affirmative participation of women and youths in public procurement system to the effect of consolidating women and youths empowerment under global developmental goals; promote cultural industries through integration of cultural enterprises in the relevant public procurement system; promote a rewarding industrial extension education programme.
Speaking with Babatunde Bamigboye, who led a team of legal experts in crafting and proposing the bill to the Federal Government, Time Nigeria gathered that managers of intervention funds will have a statutorily defined social safety net with an obligation to transparently account for and cater for everyone within the net. The bill ultimately captures everyone within the Nigerian labour force and gives opportunities of productive and rewarding engagement to those hitherto left out of national productivity calculus. This scale of statutory obligation reinforces government comment to egalitarian change and legally prohibits subjective spending of public resources.
The Budget of Change faces the integrity challenge in implementation. The Presidency has left no one in doubt as to where it stands on this. Beside the fundamental issue of punishing saboteurs who may attempt to undermine budget implementation, there is equally a fundamental issue of deliverability even with the best of intentions. Now we know the fears. We know the assurances. We know them in facts and figures. Whilst we are trying to bookmark and underline the salient points on this page alone, at least, one pregnant woman will have died of preventable causes. This, sadly, is the reality of Sustainable Development Goals.