The idea of budgeting does not naturally trigger excitement in the minds of a layman.
Government's budget usually appear complex or confusing at a first glance, me thinks it is
possibly put together so that only bureaucrats could understand it. The technical terms and intimidating figures are enough to frighten the common citizen. Little wonder why, budget speeches are seen as mere yearly rituals, forgotten after they are read to public hearing. Such presentations are seen as official secrets between the executive and the legisture which requires 'accelerated passage' by the latter. What is more appalling is the fact that the big figures reeled out do not match current realities.
Nigeria’s economy has grown very fast in the last thirteen years in
response to the surges in global oil and non-oil commodity prices. In
particular, Nigeria’s nominal GDP has doubled from N20 trillion in 2007
to N40 trillion in 2012! Oil and gas output rose from N7.5 trillion in
2007 to 15 trillion in 2012. Non-oil GDP rose from N12.5 trillion in 2007
to N25 trillion in 2012. Crops rose from N6 trillion in 2007 to N12
trillion in 2012. Trading and commercial services rose from N6 trillion in
2007 to N11 trillion in 2012. Comparatively, with a nominal GDP of $250
billion in 2012 ($451 billion PPP), Nigeria is the 30th (40th in 2005,
52nd in 2000) largest economy in the world (PPP), 2nd largest within
Africa behind South Africa, and on track to overtake South Africa and
become one of the 20 largest economies in the world before by 2020 (if
recent trends persist!!!). Its small manufacturing sector is the third-
largest on the continent, and produces a large proportion of goods and
services for the West African region. With a population over 160 million
people, GDP per capita was $1560 Nominal, $2,800 PPP in 2012, Nigeria
is once again a middle income economy, an emerging market, with
expanding financial, service, communications, and entertainment sectors.
But the question raging across the country is the potency of
the jumbo figures and the growth in the economy promoting the standard of living of Nigerians. While some analysts blamed spiralling inflation for making the
people "going thirsty" even as they "reside" by the proverbial
ever-flowing river, the manifest opulence of the political class has
become a discomforting alibi for negative judgement in respect of
government's concern for the electorates. Therefore, if the figures show the economy is getting healthy by the day and the masses are languishing in poverty, it means there is a wide gap in the economic planning process that needs to be bridged. And that is exactly what a young, vibrant lawyer who chairs the Finance and Appropriation Committee in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has been striving to achieve. His name is Hon Barr Onofiok Akpan Luke.
December 5, 2012 still comes fresh to mind, Barr Luke blazed the trail in an out of the box fashion. He foraged into the innovation of
Public participatory budgeting. It was the first ever Pre-Budget
briefing/Public hearing on the 2013 Budget, conducted as a town
hall meeting by his Committee. The array of dignitaries, relevant government officials, stakeholders, students, NGO's, Market
organizations, businesses, youth and women groups, professionals, members of the
traditional institutions and the media that invaded the hitterto quiet conference room of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly was manifest tandem with the
importance of the event.
This year 2014, the story has remained the same and indeed the records have been surpassed. He had once again engaged stakeholders, finance ministry
officials as well as their counterparts in
the ministry of economic development
and principal officers of the house, on a
one day budget meeting, where their
views, criticism, recommendations, were
collated to form part of the working
tools of the committee.
The public was also briefed by ministry
officials on various aspects of the
budget. A budget that has been widely acclaimed “the people’s budget”
The Akwa Ibom Government has proposed a total budgetary outlay of
N469.374 billion for the 2014 financial year. This amount is as against N599.180 billion of the total revised
appropriation for 2013 fiscal year. To raise the bar, the people must derive inspiration from the template laid by Barr Luke. They must participate in the process, which doesn't necessarily end at the public hearing. The 2014 budget is tagged ”Budget of Actualisation” and the people ought to know that the policy thrust of the budget is aimed at completing ongoing projects and creating jobs, ensuring efficient service delivery, enhancing sercurity and promoting private investment. This is the crux of human capital development and it requires vigilance. Now that Hon Onofiok Luke has brought the people closer to the process via the public hearing, they must follow it all the way, even by assisting the house perform its oversight functions.
A breakdown of the budget as presented by the Governor shows that general administration will receive N93.2 billion or 30.7 per cent of the budget proposal, while N69.19
billion or 22 per cent of the budget is earmarked for the social sector.
The Justice and Law sector is to receive N6.06 billion or two per cent of
the budget proposal, while the regional sector is allocated N4.5 billion
or 1.5 per cent of the total budget and with the major thrust of the budget being the completion of
on-going projects like the 30,000 capacity stadium, the specialist
hospital and the Tropicana Entertainment Centre before the end of 2015.
For the 2014 fiscal year, government says Recurrent
Expenditure is proposed at N165 . 504 billion , made up of N 42 . 534
billion for personnel cost , N31 ,673 billion for overhead cost and
N 91 . 297 billion for consolidated revenue fund charges including
pensions , gratuities and public debts . The total Capital Receipts and Expenditure for the year 2014 is
estimated at N 303 . 870 billion as against the corresponding revised
figure of N421 . 285 billion for 2013 , a total projected capital receipts
shows that N251 . 420 billion will be transferred from the
consolidated revenue fund .
The 2014 budget moreso is derived from the 2014-2016 medium term expenditure framework promoting projects and programmes which aims to develop human capital and enhance services in the education and health sectors. High premium is placed on optimizing the services of the key economic development drivers particularly human capital development, agriculture and micro, small and medium development as foundation for real growth.
The people must get involved borrowing a leaf from the Onofiok Luke example. He has kickstarted a trend we
hope will be deepened and institutionalized in Budgeting processes
and cycle. And if the people do not take advantage, his efforts will be in vain. God forbid. Onofiok Luke is an exceptional gift to the state. His valuable
weapon towards target objectives is the functionality of his intellectual
power. Every reformer must be gutsy enough to dare to cleanse the
Augean stable. While his intellectual station proffers a sense of social
responsibility, his gut to try the extraordinary underpins his impulse as a
crusader for change. A deeply humble young man who covers it all with the
force of a brainwave that’s capable of the unexpected. A man that is naturally loved and admired by
people; a democrat and pivot of mass mobilization; a man who achieves
greatness through sheer
determination; a good listener; a man that remains unruffled even at the
height of unwarranted intimidation and provocation; a man with critical
thinking skills. He is a lawmaker for all seasons and his template for budgeting is remarkable.
No comments:
Post a Comment