Debts Profile: Addressing fundamental-institutional strains frustrating development courses

Borrowings by the Nigerian government  have been a monumental subject of discourse with linking resonance on political and socio-economic spheres of influences. It is inarguable that the reservations which have followed the continued borrowings by the present administration, have rightly attracted attention and outcry for those who look into what future holds for the Country, amidst present chaos of socio-economic and political disturbances. The worsening profile of the economy despite the heap of borrowings incurred within the space of about six years, remains a subject of worry which obviously has been sending a signal of danger to concerned Nigerians. However, while the frowning notes against continuous borrowings have been resonating, the Federal Government has not stopped to look forward to sources of loans to finance its projects. The questions which readily comes to mind is such lingering on the lines of whether the purpose for which these funds are acquired are achieved qualitatively in line with the set objectives. The argument of borrowing funds for purposes which objectives are poorly defined have appeared tenable in the light of the justification that many of the projects these funds were eventually used for, never outlived their purposes.

Concerns over Nigeria’s rising debt profile have begun to hit the rock with attention given to the huge chunk of funds that now settle for debt servicing in the Country’s fiscal expenditure. The debt profile is now indeed a stiffening force against development of capital projects in the Country. The profile of public debts in Nigeria has enormously grown under the present administration. The development has continued to attract criticisms, particularly over the poor records of the performance of the economy despite the heap of borrowings in less than six years. Records have shown that between 2015 when this government came into power and now, Nigeria’s public debt profile has skyrocketed from N12.6trillion at the close of 2015 to well above N32.2trillion based on the latest records of the Debt Management Office which as at September, 2020, places Nigeria’s debt profile at N32trillion.

Recent hints of the Federal Government to again borrow an estimated sum of N895 billion has correspondingly raised cloudy atmosphere. The loan which is anticipated to be sourced from money of Nigerians from unclaimed dividends and balances in dormant accounts has attracted resistance from various quarters by those who are very conscious of what dangers the heaping of debts place before the Country. Concerns have rose to the height of lawsuit instituted against the Federal Government. The development has led to a lawsuit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) against the Federal Government seeking the Federal High Court in Abuja to restrain and stop President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government from borrowing the estimated sum of N895billion. In the suit with number FHC/ABJ/CS/31/2021 filed by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Ms Adelanke Aremo, last Friday, SERAP is seeking “an order of perpetual injunction restraining and stopping President Buhari from demanding, taking over, borrowing, and collecting Nigerians’ money in the form of their unclaimed dividends and funds in dormant accounts or transferring and moving the money into a trust fund known as ‘Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund”. The arguments raised in the suit which joined the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami SAN, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; the Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Ms Zainab Ahmed, as Defendants,  include that “the Federal Government should not be allowed to borrow Nigerians’ money. Borrowing unclaimed dividends and funds in dormant accounts owned by ordinary Nigerians would negatively affect their right to an adequate standard of living, and access to clean water, quality healthcare, and education.Despite Nigeria’s dwindling oil revenue, the growing level of public debt, and widespread poverty, public officers including the President, Vice President, governors and their deputies, and members of the National Assembly have refused to cut their emoluments, allowances and security votes. At the same time, millions of Nigerians continue to bear the brunt of mismanagement and corruption.”

The outcry over the stock of debts heaping up by the inordinate culture of borrowing under an architecture of poor public finance structures engrossed with leakages and dysfunctional strains of institutional imbalance, calls for concern. The state of the economy is coloured with unsavoury features which naturally call for resistance on the account of comparison made on the level of borrowings of the present administration pari parsu the deepening of economic performance over the years. The lay man would have ordinarily argued to the fact that such borrowings make no appeal to reason, since the impact cannot concretely be felt in the economy which has been waxing gross to unbearable limits.

However, since basic macroeconomic principles particularly justify how borrowings can cater for certain strains in the economy for growth and development, it is nevertheless important for the Nigerian Government to learn the dynamics of the working strategies and the realities that surrounds such provisions. In this sense, working frameworks that put into consideration the peculiar circumstances of the Country’s socio-economic, political and institutional formations is key. This is particularly important to put into bear the institutional defects demanding repositioning and remodeling, which are responsible for frustrating desired goals of development courses from coming into fruition. It is indisputable that several strings of institutional defects have over the years compounded to frustrate development efforts across board in the Country. Many of these defecting strings which have come to assume a culture syndrome within the working structures of government institutions, require rejigging apparatuses to redirect the patterns of operations to respond appropriately to development courses. The insensitivity of successive governments to these underlying deficiencies have been a bane frustrating development courses, on which basis, several borrowed funds determined to cater for developmental  projects have had their purposes eroded and disappeared into the thin air, while the stock of debts continue to heap up.

It is therefore essential for the Government to move back to the drawing board to address the institutional strains which constitute forces of frustration that ground  development efforts. These strains  have never been magnanimous to  spare borrowed funds from been squandered. Nigeria’s debts continue to rise with alarming concerns amidst worsening profile of economic performance with several direct and indirect consequences on socio-political outcomes in the Country. The dynamics of the outcomes have not been in any way desirable. The consequential effects of the degeneration of the economy to social life have been unhealthy to cohabitation in the Country; therefore frustrating the essence of governance while expanding the tentacles of unruliness. Thus, it is imperative that while the Government is seemingly pressurized to arrest the present woes of the economy necessitating borrowings, it is however important that this be done in the most strategic manner of creative brainstorming with forceful moves towards addressing fundamental issues of institutional dysfunctions frustrating development courses, bearing in mind the dangers that failures of projects sponsored with borrowed funds pose before the Federation.