Skip to main content

We borrow-borrow country



Nigeria needs to learn that borrowing is not the way out...
LGs are borrowing, states are borrowing, FG is borrowing…
Borrowing from commercial banks, borrowing from Paris club, borrowing from the World Bank, borrowing everywhere.
Borrowing to build roads, borrowing to drill boreholes, borrowing to build schools, borrowing to steal.
Unfortunately, this yeye habit is going to be here for a while. I remember when Simon Bako Lalong ​criticized the immediate past administration for the debt it accumulated. I had to admit that he had a point. “Finally the elephant in the room flees!” I thought. Here was someone one who was willing to talk hard on all this borrowing. Fast forward a few weeks… the story had changed. Shortly after being elected, Lalong mentioned that he was willing to pay salaries even before being sworn in, provided the banks will offer him loans. I was confused, I didn’t know if to join the civil servants in celebrating the end of their plight [after all, the end justifies the means, right?] or to worry deeply for the state’s economic future.
Unfortunately [or fortunately as radical Lalong apologetics will say], the Plateau State situation is not an isolated case. In fact, OUR debt case could pass as relatively decent. There are perhaps a number of Governors whose signatures will first grace loan applications before any other major documents [well that’s just an unnecessary hyperbole, lol]. And there is no redemption, our government is made up of unrepentant borrowers.
It seems [to me at least] Nigerian government officials are either very ignorant of the long-term consequences of borrowing or have weighed the options and decided that the end justified the means. Or it could be that they are so lazy to explore other relatively harder sources of funding such as aggressive IGR and has resorted to the easiest way out. I hold the opinion that it is time to put an end to this habit of excessive borrowing. The economic problem the present government is facing is largely because of the reckless borrowing of the administrations before it. Why then should this government make the job of governance harder for the next government by collecting loans it cannot pay back?
I am scared for this country. Once you start borrowing to keep basic functions of government afloat, it is a slippery slope. Look at Greece; they kept rolling down the downward spiral, one loan at a time, all in a bid to stay afloat. Time has flown, Greece has realized its mistake… but it’s too late. I just pray that this doesn’t become the fate of our country.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

...just 'Du' it: Jang and the Era of Nepotism

I have absolutely no intent to spend the words of this post talking about the 'Du Covenant' as it, to me, bears no credence. I will also not talk about the videos on the internet, showing an alleged initiation of Gov. Jang and his wife, nor will I talk about his apparent imposition of GNS as the PDP flag-bearer  in the state - these are tales for another day. What I want to talk about is the era of nepotism that is ever-proudly represented by Gov. Jang. When Jang contested in 2007, he appealed to our sense of morals. I remember vividly, though i was just about 15 then, how he so proudly flaunted his principle of integrity and contentment. He told the voters tales of how he had only one old house despite being governor in the military era that preceded our democracy. There was no doubt that this was an entirely selfless servant who represented service, morality and discipline. Or so we thought. The recent acts of nepotism carried out by the government is a testament of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Europe’s Migrant Crises and the Wolves in Sheep Clothing

The current leaders of Europe are the orchestrators of all its aching. For instance, Angela welcomed with wide arms, over 1million refuges from the Middle East. My very limited knowledge of world politics and countless evenings of perusing conspiracy theories have led me to conclude that this very controversial decision was led by one of two reasons – a vampiric lust for cheap labour which is innate in all capitalists or a grandiose sense of humanity powered by the desire to portray Germany as a leader in all and every respect. Well, I don’t need a soothsayer to tell me that she, alongside other European leaders who followed her lead are in shad’in (euphemism for “ deep shit ”). We're so unfortunate to have lived through the terror of the Paris attacks, the Brusells attacks (twice) and the uncertainty and tension that have now covered Europe like a cloud. I understand that one may wonder if there is in fact any evidence which proves these attacks were made possible by the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tribute to YS Dimka (Missing You by N.I. & Eyesreal)

Principals come and go, but only a handful of principals get studio-recorded tributes as powerful as this one. This is a song dedicated to Late YS Dimka, a man who most of his ex-students will agree is beyond reasonable doubt, one of the greatest principals in the country. This is a song that echoes the greatness of a man who dedicated most of his life to turning boys into great men.  RIP Mr. YS Dimka Download Missing You (tribute to YS Dimka) by N.I. & Eyesreal (dropbox) Download Missing You (tribute to YS DIMKA) by NI & Eyesreal [uptobox]
Post a Comment
Read more