Rotimi Agboluaje, Ibadan
Experts drawn from various fields of social science at the University of Ibadan,Oyo State, have urged the Federal Government to adopt a consensus-based national economic goal to solve budgeting and social policy challenges.
The experts– Professor Ademola Ariyo and Dr Omoaregba Aregbeyen from Economics; Professor Adigun Agbaje from Political Science and Professor Oka Obono from Sociology stressed that the current budgeting structure of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is a death warrant which could not produce result-oriented development.
In their various presentations, the experts took this common position at a seminar on the “2017 Budget” organized by the Department of Economics, University of Ibadan under the headship of Professor Kassey Garba.
In his presentation, Professor Ariyo frowned at the current budgeting system of borrowing to fund projects saying the overall budget deficit in Nigeria is too large without an increase drive to increase internally generated revenue.
According to him, Nigeria must restructure to address institutional deficiencies and encourage Local Direct Investment as against Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which makes Nigeria an economic slave.
He said; “You cannot call someone that lends you money a development partner. What sort of partnership is between a creditor and a debtor? It makes you a slave, as you cannot develop any policy without their input. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:7 that the rich rule over the poor and the borrower is a servant to the lender.”
In a submission, Professor Agbaje, a political scientist called for a judicial review to correct institutional constraints in budgeting and governance.
Agbaje whose presentation was entitled “2017 Budget: Matters Arising”, stated that the Nigerian elites are not strategic enough to know that their fortune is tied to the fortune of the masses, calling for active citizen participation.
Noting that Nigeria lacks the culture of planning, the former deputy vice-chancellor of the premier university said the Nigerian presidency as currently constituted is weak, adding that all institutions, which ought to make things work in the country, are weak.
Professor Oka Obono and Dr Omoaregba Aregbeyen observed that future Nigerian budget must derive from the needs of Nigerians and not what the leadership thinks, stating that this would hasten development and link the state with the society.
