Again, the former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has warned that Nigeria is leaving a mountain of debt for future leaders and generations yet unborn, as the country continues to borrow for debt servicing, payment of salaries, and infrastructural development.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of Kadinvest 7.0 in Kaduna, yesterday, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) expressed deep concern regarding what awaits President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor, just as he called on the Federal Government to immediately disband the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Sanusi who lamented that fact that the country’s economy has over the years been tied to the oil and gas sector said: “…Debt service is now 108 per cent of revenue. Every naira that the Federal Government earns goes to service debt, and it is not enough, (as the FG) has to borrow to service the debt. And then begin to borrow to build roads, and pay salaries and overheads.
“We are leaving a mountain of debt for our children. They (children) might curse us because we are taking all the money borrowed to subsidise petrol and enjoy it cheaply.
The 14th Emir of Kano, who was the guest speaker at the summit reiterated his call for the sale of the nation’s refineries in view of their poor performances and for becoming money pits instead of cash cows.
Sanusi in advising states to explore ways of freeing themselves from the effects of revenue leakages and unorthodox policies at the federal level stressed, “instead of pushing for a revised revenue sharing formula (a bigger piece of a shrinking pie) they need to push for new and independent powers of taxation.”
On what awaits the country under the next administration, he urged whoever forms the next government to take unpopular decisions once they get to power.
While calling on Nigerians not to vote for any politician who claims that everything will be easy once elected, Sanusi said politicians must prepare the minds of citizens for tough decisions.
“Please let me request from our politicians. You must prepare the minds of Nigerians for difficult decisions … Anybody who tells you that it is going to be easy, please don’t vote for him. It is either he is lying to you, or he doesn’t know what job he is going to get.
“You cannot with this level of debt service; with this level of collapse in revenue, and with this level of poverty, you cannot take corrective decisions. Tariffs on the electricity sector will have to be corrected. Tariffs in the oil sector have to be corrected. But before we correct that, we have to deal with the opportunities for rent-seeking. You have to close off the inflated numbers, the false numbers.”
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