By Polycarp Onwubiko
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Among the newspaper columnists in Nigeria, only Dele Sobowale of Sunday Vanguard is courageous enough to "speak truth to power," as it were. Describing President Tinubu's 2024 budget as an "almost empty box," it is exhilarating to provide Nigerians with a few insights into his mind-blowing piece titled "Why Budget 2024 Will Not Work," Sunday Vanguard, December 10, 2024.
Hear him:
"The almost empty box,
which the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives received
gladly, contained only summaries and no details. This one will join all
previous budgets in the graveyard of budgets submitted with fanfare to the
worst Legislature on earth, without hope of success.
"No country governed by an
elected government ever grew rapidly and assumed first-world status by having
so many rubber stamps in the legislature. Tinubu might enjoy the current feel
of 'absolute power.' Nigerians must realize that absolute power will always
corrupt absolutely, seldom resulting in continuous economic and social backwardness.
"Senator Kawu Sumaila,
NNPP Kano, commenting on the budget said, "We cannot be considering a
budget whose details we have not seen. We don't have the sectoral breakdown;
how do we know if we are doing the right thing?". Senator Sumaila was one
of the few legislators who refused to applaud a budget devoid of hope. His main
grouse was about the lack of details. Perhaps if he had done the simple
arithmetic of reducing the budget to dollars, he might have been wondering if
he was the only person in the chambers.
"The rising debt burden is
certainly unsustainable. No lender wants to be last in line when a default is
imminent. And Tinubu can forget huge loans on Ways and Means, W & M. Buhari
and Emefiele have locked that gate in his face. Yemi Cardoso will probably not
want to go down in history as the second Nigerian Governor of the Central Bank
to remove all the legal guardrails erected to regulate W & M.
"Nothing suggests that the
economic hardship which provoked mass default (revolt?) In 2023 will vanish in
2024. At any rate, no government since 1999 has achieved its proposed revenue
target. It is doubtful if the Tinubu administration will do it in 2024.
"The empty box presented
to the NASS is indicative of the emptiness of thought which went into its
preparation. If Tinubu proves me wrong, it will be the first time a President's
budget has been proposed and executed as presented. Abandon hope for
2024..."
Nigerian people cannot thank
Dele Sobowale enough for his candid nature, which emphasizes the imperative of
good governance, as obtained in sane and sanitized federations the world over.
Polycarp Onwubiko, Author, and
Public Policy Analyst
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