Will the 2017 budget pull Nigeria out of recession?

The 2017 budget is not for the common man on the street because it has no interest of the common man in it and so, the budget will only enrich the privilege in the society and plunge Nigeria more into recession. I can only imagine news going round in the media about the infusion of about N127 billion by the Senate which was inherently not in the original budget submitted by the President.I would not be too sure of the authenticity of the figure being infused into the 2017 budget but one thing is for sure, this budget will not pull Nigeria out of recession. When we talk about recession in the country, it should be noted that the big guns and political big wigs in the country led Nigeria to where it is today.Can you imagine that out of 100% of the whole budget, the Legislature has 25% leaving the remaining 75% for a populace of about 190 million people? I feel the recession will only end when the National Assembly cuts down its cost.In a research I made, I found out that in the National Assembly, a Senator receives N36,000,000 (thirty-six million Naira) monthly whilea member of the House of Representatives receives a salary of N25,000,000 (twenty-five million Naira) monthly. Nigeria has 360 Members of the House of Representatives; half of their salaries can employ 48,600 Nigerians who can live comfortable lives. With this, the APC led Administration can employ 70,400 Nigerians with monthly salaries ranging from N90,000 to N92,500 accordingly. This is just by dividing the salaries of Senators and Members of the House of Representatives. Half of their present salaries are more than enough for them in a country where majority of Nigerians live on less than a dollar a day not to talk of all the other over bloated salaries and allowances of Ministers and others.The 2017 budget will only go by way of the 2016 budget where nothing was achieved. It has been carefully crafted to suit the whims and caprices of the political big wigs and not to pull Nigeria out of recession.

As a common Nigerian, this 2017 budget does not directly affect the lives of a common Nigerian on the street. In reality, majority of organisations are still retrenching workers, cost of common food items is still very high and rate of unemployment is still very high. I think whatever statistics they must have given out to the public that we are out of recession is highly falsified. In paper, we are out recession but in reality we are living in recession and I wonder what the 2017 budget is doing to accommodate this fiscal year in terms of recession so that lives of common Nigerians would be better. So far so good, we are using majority of our tax revenues to pay debt. According to figures, it was said that we use more than 60% to pay debt whereas there will be less room for capital projects to be accomplished which directly affects the lives of the people more than creating jobs and improving the standard of living. 2016 budget was a failure because what the budget covered was majorly on salaries and all that was less than 20%. I think the government need to look into budget properly to fix the issue of hunger, inflation and unemployment. My reasons are: it is more difficult now for an average Nigerian in this economy to feed on three square meals daily looking at cost of food items and considering the price increase in every commodity; inflation is still there and yet we think the 2017 budget will pull us out of recession. Therefore, it is high time we started facing the fact about this economy by implementing the major fiscal proportion of the 2017 budget that would take us out of the recession in reality and not in paper.

 

Based on 2017 budget to be signed by the President very soon, I believe it will bring Nigeria out of recession because this is a deficit budget and not surplus budget. The government is trying to pump in money into the economy whereby if spent wisely, it will lead to increase in job opportunities and that will help in the standard of living of people and will also increase the productivity level of the country. Any serious government that really want good things for its citizens, the government need to use deficit budget.

 

 

 

 

The 2017 budget cannot take the country out of recession because from the look of things, Nigeria is not in recession in the first place but the problem we have is in the leadership. The leadership system in Nigeria is corrupt from the Executive to the Legislative down to the Judiciary arms of government. They do not have the citizens at heart but they are just there for their selfish reasons just to embezzle the tax payers’ money. The 2017 budget has not been approved by the Legislative arms of government just because they are having power tussle between the Executive arms of government. We are almost in the third quarter of the year and no budget yet.You now tell me if the budget is passed and approved in the third quarter of the year,will Nigeria be out of recession? The answer is will be ‘No’ except if we practice a balanced budget systemwhereby government expenditure and revenue are equal because in Nigeria we practice the deficit budget system where the government anticipated expenditure is greater than the revenue. 

 

For a nation to be healthy enough in times of economic activities, basic amenities such as good roads, industries, housing schemes, power and the likes need to be put in place. Note that all of these are capital expenditure. Only 10% of the Nigeria budget was usually set aside for capital expenditure and a larger percentage on recurrent expenditure. Hence, with the increase of capital expenditure form 10% to 30% (N2.24 billion) in the 2017 budget, the amenities that are much likely to boost economic activities will be attended to. Over N500 billion is going into power, works and housing and N81 billion dedicated to industry, trade and investments. I feel 2017 budget will put an end to recession in the country.

 

 

 

 

Well, I think it should. Judging from the fact that it is already an issue affecting all Nigerians, whether rich or poor and based on the fact that we have knowledge of how it started and how it can be tackled, I think it should be able to pull the nation out of recession. I also heard recently that Nigeria is out of recession.Thanks to the present administration’s effort. So, all we need now is to balance the economic policy and structure of the country, so that such will not repeat itself and the only way that can be successfully done is with the present 2017 national budget.

 

 

 

 

The truth of the matter is, this present government is not ready to work. Every day, we hear different talk, no action. They are just busy chasing shadows. I wish this administration can understand that it is already two years and nothing to show for it. This is the only year they have to salvage anything out of the current mess we find ourselves in as a Nation because by next year, campaign of elections will begin.

 

 

 

 

Whether a budget will work out or not depends on the handler. There is this story from a village. One day some youths went to meet an old man. One of them was holding a bird in his pocket. When they met him, they greeted him and asked him. Sir, one of us is having a bird in his pocket. Tell us; is the bird dead or alive? The old man thought for a while and said to himself, if I say the bird is dead and it is alive, the boy will bring it out alive and if I say it is alive, the boy can kill it and bring it out dead. He said to them, my young ones, the life of the bird is in your hands. What I mean by this story is that the success of the budget is in the hands of the people that will implement it. They are the ones that will determine if the budget will pull Nigeria out of recession.

 

 

 

The 2017 budget has the capacity of pulling Nigeria out of recession if it is properly and judiciously expended on the course of the budget. The government should focus on capital projects like roads, power and infrastructures. Our GDP should be looked into as well.

 

Jeremiah Omoaka

Lagos

 

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