…Says Nigeria may enter recession in 2020
…’States must look inwards by boosting their revenue generation base’
The Nigerian Governors Forum ( NGF), an umbrella body of governors of the 36 states of the federation, has expressed concern over the increasing debt profile of the country, saying that borrowing is never a reliable alternative to solving the country’s economic challenges.
Zamfara State governor and chairman of the NGF, Abdulaziz Yari, said this on Monday at an induction programme organised by the NGF for new and returning governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Yari, who also raised the alarm over an impending recession by 2020, said that if nothing is done to cut the nation’s rate of borrowing, source alternative means of revenue generation, the likely recession may last up to the third quarter of 2021.
The NGF chairman called on his colleagues to work hard to multiply their revenue generation bases” so that together we change the course of doing government business for the betterment of our people.
According to him, for most of the states, IGR is nothing to write home about, stating that they must look inwards by boosting their revenue generation base and also utilise them effectively for execution of projects that would touch the lives of the people.
However, the governor pointed out that even though many states have fared well by executing projects, there was still the need for states to work harder to boost their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
He said that if the federal and state governments were to put the economy on the right track and insulate it from frequent crisis stemming from absolute reliance on oil, they must look seriously into the need to diversify the economy by investing enormous resources in agriculture and mining.
Yari also stressed the need to slam high import tariff on agricultural products such as maize and wheat in order to boost their production and provide raw materials for local industries.
The NGF chairman noted that, from the records, government spends about two trillion naira on oil development yearly, suggesting that if one third of the amount is dedicated to agriculture and mining, the state of the economy would have been different by now.
He further stated that there is no better time for the Federal Government to pay more serious attention to the issue of diversification than now when the world is moving away from carbon fuel to biofuel and electric vehicles.
He said: “By the mid 2014, the price of crude oil which is sadly the main driving force of government’s expenditure, dropped to 75 dollar per barrel.
It therefore became very difficult for many states to even pay salaries of their workers.
“This scenario is a wake-up call for all of you to come amply prepared to face these kinds of challenges especially since we are expecting the possibility of another cycle of recession by the mid 2020 and which may last up to the third quarter of 2021.
“In so doing, key revenue agencies like NNPC, FIRS, NCS and other sister agencies must be made to work more especially now that Mr. President has signed the much awaited National minimum wage law, pegging the minimum workers salaries at 30,000 naira per month”.
He also stated that despite Nigeria’s 59 years of independence, “we only have a 20 year history of uninterrupted democratic experience.
Nigeria still has a relatively nascent democracy that requires more nourishment and gradual process to develop.
“We must fight all incentives to corruption by waging the war through a bottom up approach. Attention should equally be focused on all strata of the society if we are to win the war against this scourge.”
He said the political leaders need to be supported to act within their powers, rather than being pushed to run faster than their feet. He also called on the Federal Government to revisit its approach to fighting corruption, saying there is a need for proactiveness in its approach.
0 Comments