Afenifere decries high costs of living, advises FG on measures to take

By Chukwudi Nweje

Pan Yoruba sociopolitical organisation has recommended that Nigeria should firstly, seek debt relief from the major creditor countries; secondly, reduce the size of government at all levels; thirdly block areas of leakages of public resources, especially finance; fourthly embark on policies or programmes that are capable of engaging millions of unemployed people; and fifthly ensure that security and safety of lives and property become a permanent feature in the country to overcome the harsh economic conditions prevailing in the country.

It said, “Nigeria needs far-reaching and deep-rooted steps for the current economic quagmire facing the country to be ameliorated.”

The organisation made the recommendations Sunday, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi,
He said, “At the moment, Nigeria’s debt profile is so huge that it is spending about 97 per cent of its revenue to service the debts according to many official sources including the Debt Management Office (DMO), Federal Budget Office, Ministry of Finance, and the World Bank. When the World Bank disclosed that Nigeria spent 96.3 per cent of its revenue to service its debt in 2022, the then Minister of Finance, Hajia Zainab Ahmed objected, saying that it was ‘only’ 80.6 per cent. If a person earns N100 and has to use N80.5 of it to service his or her debts, how would N19.5 be enough to take care of feeding, transport, health, education, care for the family etc.?” Incidentally, the Director-General of the Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze, also at several fora, including when he spoke at a Retreat for the 10th National Assembly Members in Abuja in May, this year, confirmed that the country is servicing its debts with an amount that is above the revenue it is generating.

“The situation is such that very soon there may be no more funds for the provision of social services and infrastructure. To prevent possible social chaos in this respect, President Tinubu must embark on diplomatic shuttles to get debt forgiveness from our creditors. Doing so would certainly be herculean in view of a similar benefit we enjoyed under former President Olusegun Obasanjo circa 2005, which we later mismanaged. But given the potential of Nigeria and the possibility of President Tinubu to convince everyone that his own administration is going to be different, it is possible that the creditors may listen to the plea. For such a plea to succeed however, there is an urgent need to drastically cut down on the emolument of public officials, especially political office holders, block the holes through which public funds leak and wage a serious war against corrupt officers – presently in or out of office. Only by doing these three things will those we approach for debt forgiveness listen to us.

“For instance, the National Assembly cornering N70 billion out of the N500 billion announced for palliatives is not only uncalled for, but it also demonstrated clearly how insensitive our elected officers are to the plight of average Nigerians. The President should prevail on them to rescind their decision in this regard.”

The organisation further stated that infrastructure development in Nigeria is stagnating because the government’s overhead costs exceeded its revenue generation.

He further said, “It could be recalled that the World Bank, in the June 2023 edition of its publication, ‘Nigeria Development Update’, stated that Personnel costs and debt servicing in 2022 exceeded government revenue. In other words, the government had to borrow money to be able to pay its personnel as well as service its loans. The actual amounts spent came to 102 per cent of the revenue generated.

This, in a way, explained why infrastructural development stagnated and social services virtually grounded to a halt. It also explained why the cost of living spiked, and unemployment soared – leading to increased crime rates and loss of faith in the country as reflected in the Japa syndrome.”

Afenifere called on Tinubu to resuscitate moribund industries in the country to provide jobs for youths and reduce criminality.

It also advised against increasing taxes and condemned the recent increases in the fees of government owns schools.

“Doing so will create employment, reduce crimes, boost the nation’s economy, strengthen the Naira, and earn the country foreign exchange. For now, the government should refrain from increasing taxes and fees but explore ways to enhance productivity and reduce pains.”