Who Will Save Nigeria From Debt Burdens?

When Mr President Buhari was elected it was with great fanfare-and expectations. Many Nigerians expected him—being a prudent man—to bring that Spartan reputation to play. The hope was that, apart from insecurity and corruption, Nigeria’s debt burden would be seriously tackled and reduced. In the run-up to the 2015 presidential campaigns, he had assured Nigerians that he had the magic wand to make that dream come true. But five years down the road, the nation has systematically found itself in dire straits sinking deeper into the morass of debt. Not only has insecurity worsened, but corruption has also become endemic while the nation’s debt burden has skyrocketed. The worst is that all the leakages for plundering the nations valuable resources remain unplugged while trusted officials behave as though nothing is amiss. In addition, investigation reveals the anaesthesia that has enveloped Nigerians with contracts awarded and no work is done! The cases recorded at NNPC, NDDC, FIRS, NISTF and others too numerous to mention where staggering cases of corruption has been exposed with EFCC not excluded, the unfolding picture should be worrisome to President Buhari. He seems not to be aware of the time bomb ticking. He looks aloof and relaxed, but the trend on ground should stir his consciousness. With the nation running on the budget deficit and the sovereign wealth fund down to less than $200 million, and with the government unable to meet up payments on the common interest of principal loans previously secured, surely the story is not savoury. Again, if the increasing reliance by the federal government on foreign loans to fund the budget is nothing to worry about to officials, it is, to leading Institutions like the IMF, World Bank and perhaps the AFDB. Though they have prescribed unified exchange rates for all transactions –an action that May likely jack up the exchange rate—the government instead has turned to the Chinese for the reprieve. The Chinese are known to be awash with free cash that even if they loan out anything around $400 billion they are not shaken! That’s how rich they are. So it is understandable why they are seeking outlets to borrow out cash! Political pundits and socio-economic crusaders are of the view that the loopholes for the leakages of funds ought to have been plugged but for the perceived lack of will on the part of authorities. “Imagine what would happen if leakages in NDDC, SITF, NNPC and NDDC are successfully plugged”, queried Chief Isaac Abugewa. “Nigeria would easily pay back those loans without borrowing”, he declared. “The EFCC and the ICPC have no business going after corrupt people and getting involved in litigations; they should do what NFIU are doing and help the nation plug perceived loopholes these funds are stolen”, said Chief Isaac.