Youths between the ages of 18 and 40 on Thursday ended a three-day live, online interactive conversation with the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The conversation, themed, “Budget 2014 Jam,” afforded the youths the opportunity to bare their minds on the 2014 budget and its implications for the economy.
While registered participants hooked up with the host via www.budget2014jam.com for a live streaming with the minister, others logged on to the various forums created for the programme on collaborationjam.com.
Members of the forums quizzed the minister on issues ranging from job creation, to power supply, high cost of doing business, high rate of corruption and debt management.
But of particular interest to the majority of them is the country’s debt burden. They say it will be unfair for the Goodluck Jonathan administration to keep mounting debts for future generations.
They say it’s time the FG curtailed the domestic debt profile so as not to roll it over to the next generation.
An economist and consultant based in South Africa, Nono Obokoli, argues that Nigeria is not in a healthy debt position. He says the revelation that the bulk of Nigeria’s debt is domestic is a source of worry to the younger generation.
“Nigeria is not exactly in a debt crisis, but we are definitely not in a healthy debt position. But more worrying is the fact that the bulk of Nigeria’s debt is domestic. In the event of a crisis, there will be no easy way to get round it,” he writes.
An IT professional based in the Federal Capital Territory, Chukwuemeka Victor, says an efficient debt management initiative which draws heavily on fiscal prudence is key.
He urges the Federal Government to demonstrate a strong commitment to greater transparency and reduction in leakages as a result of corrupt practices.
He argues that the burgeoning salaries of public office holders, stories of missing funds running into billions of dollars, and other forms of financial recklessness will not help in curtailing the mounting debt profile.
“Unnecessary luxury such as acquisition of additional presidential jets, leakages in the system, missing funds and other financial recklessness of our leaders will not assist in reducing domestic borrowing,” he adds.
But just as Victor harps on greater transparency in the workings of the FG, Egu Arikpo, a civil society advocate based in Rivers State, questions the sincerity of the Jonathan administration in fighting corruption.
Arikpo accuses the FG of underfunding the anti-corruption agencies, going by the allocations earmarked for them in the 2014 budget under review.
He says, “The total allocation to the EFCC, ICPC and the Code of Conduct Bureau, which are, more or less, our anti-corruption agencies, is a small fraction of the money earmarked for the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Is this how to fight corruption?
“Corruption kills and our seriousness in the fight against it determines the performance of the overall indicators of the Nigerian economy. If we cannot allocate more resources towards fighting this scourge, we will end up defeating the entire purpose of the annual budget.”
Meanwhile, many participants at the interactive session also carpeted Okonjo-Iweala on the relevance of the Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme.
In fact, many respondents in a poll conducted on the portal say they do not know how the programme has improved the lives of Nigerians.
Responding to the question, “Do you know how SURE-P is using subsidy funds to improve the lives of Nigerians?”, 67 per cent of the respondents indicate that they do not know; while 22 per cent say they can pinpoint the impact the programme is making. The remaining 11 per cent say they are unsure.
Commenting on the forum, an unemployed graduate, Analechi Nnadi, states that the management of the SURE-P is playing politics with its operations. He advocates closer monitoring by the finance minister.
“The failure of the programme stems from the fact that politicians have hijacked it. They are not using it as a means of helping the poor masses but their rich brothers. The government should monitor the programme very well to see if the things get to the people they are meant for,” he declares.
Okonjo-Iweala, in response to some of the concerns raised by the participants, says the FG has taken note of their suggestions and ideas.
On the management of the country’s debt, she says, “It is good to see the ongoing conversation on debt management. It is good to hear the views of the youth on this topic, especially since most of these debts will have to be repaid when you (the youth) are leaders of our country. But we have begun paying down our domestic debts, rather than rolling it over when they become due.”
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