*says Nigeria should not be a perpetual debtor-nation.
By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The Pan Yoruba Socio political organisation, Afenifere on Thursday,
cautioned the National Assembly to stop acceding to every loan request being made by the Executive henceforth.
Afenifere in a statement in Ibadan by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi warned that the Executive and Legislative Arms of government should not turn Nigeria into a perpetual debtor-nation.
The Pan Yoruba Socio political organisation expressed dismay over the purported disclosure by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed and the Debt Management Office (DMO) that as much 74 per cent of the country’s earnings go into debt servicing.
According to Afenifere, as at September, 2021, Nigeria’s public debt was N38.005 trillion and has not stopped rising, saying, ” DMO is a federal government agency handling various debts by the government”
“Neither was it reflected in the living standard of Nigerians. As a matter of fact, it looks as if the more Nigeria is sinking into the debt dungeon, the more the standard of living goes down”, it said.
Afenifere added, ” it is apparent that the more money Nigeria earns along with monies being obtained in form of loans and grants, the more the welfare of Nigerians suffer.”
While alluding to the announced N250 billion to be borrowed from World Bank ‘to solve environmental degradation in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Afenifere noted that states in the Southern part of the country deserve attention too.
” When we talk of environmental degradation. It is a known fact that a lot of places particularly in the South East and South South have been rendered almost useless by incessant erosion. Such places equally deserve similar attention.”
Stressing that all the points raised to justify the project equally apply to the South, Afenifere pointed out that “other than desertification that is greater in the north leading to poor water storage, all other issues mentioned equally apply to the South”.
” There, however, is no doubt that the activities of bandits and terrorists are far more responsible for the inadequate food production in the north and even in the south western parts of the country in recent times. Meaning that if terrorism was not brought to an end, the loan committed to such a project in the north might just go down the drain as it may not achieve the announced reasons for obtaining it.
Afenifere in a statement in Ibadan by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi warned that the Executive and Legislative Arms of government should not turn Nigeria into a perpetual debtor-nation.
The Pan Yoruba Socio political organisation expressed dismay over the purported disclosure by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed and the Debt Management Office (DMO) that as much 74 per cent of the country’s earnings go into debt servicing.
According to Afenifere, as at September, 2021, Nigeria’s public debt was N38.005 trillion and has not stopped rising, saying, ” DMO is a federal government agency handling various debts by the government”
“Neither was it reflected in the living standard of Nigerians. As a matter of fact, it looks as if the more Nigeria is sinking into the debt dungeon, the more the standard of living goes down”, it said.
Afenifere added, ” it is apparent that the more money Nigeria earns along with monies being obtained in form of loans and grants, the more the welfare of Nigerians suffer.”
While alluding to the announced N250 billion to be borrowed from World Bank ‘to solve environmental degradation in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Afenifere noted that states in the Southern part of the country deserve attention too.
” When we talk of environmental degradation. It is a known fact that a lot of places particularly in the South East and South South have been rendered almost useless by incessant erosion. Such places equally deserve similar attention.”
Stressing that all the points raised to justify the project equally apply to the South, Afenifere pointed out that “other than desertification that is greater in the north leading to poor water storage, all other issues mentioned equally apply to the South”.
” There, however, is no doubt that the activities of bandits and terrorists are far more responsible for the inadequate food production in the north and even in the south western parts of the country in recent times. Meaning that if terrorism was not brought to an end, the loan committed to such a project in the north might just go down the drain as it may not achieve the announced reasons for obtaining it.
