Right from the onset, it is imperative to underscore the fact that Nigeria’s economy is not very strong. The present administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari inherited an ebbing and wobbling economy from the PDP, after years of glaring economic mismanagement. The new government has worked relentlessly and assiduously to pull the country out of recession as well as prudently manage the unpredictable economy. This administration is not pretending that it has the magic wand to wave away all the enormous economic challenges overnight and pronto, make Nigeria an al dorado; of the process of revamping the economy would be tedious and take some doings, and this is exactly that the government is doing.
Therefore, sequel to the presentation of the 2020 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly, President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the immediate suspension of international travels by all Cabinet Members and Heads of Government Agencies as to enable ministers personally lead the process of budget defence at the National Assembly. This is according to a communique by Willie Bassey, director of information, office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Mr Bassey notes that the suspension of such travels will enable Functionaries and Agencies of the Executive Arm to provide the required cooperation with the Legislature in order to ensure timely passage of the Appropriation Bill.
“Honourable Ministers who have already secured approval to travel are by this directive, required to revalidate such approvals with Mr. President after confirming the Schedule of Appearances with the relevant Committees of the National Assembly. “Furthermore, all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been directed to liaise with the relevant committees of the National Assembly for their Schedules of Budget defence,” the statement read.
It would be recalled that, the federal government has directed all its directors-general, managing directors and executive secretaries to start flying economy class on all local and international flights. A previous directive issued in April 2016 banned ministers and other federal government officials from flying first class. The latest circular, dated November 2, 2016, reads thus: “In view of the ensuing budgetary and fiscal challenges faced by the federal government arising from low oil revenue, it has become necessary to review the Guidelines for Local and International Travels as provided for in Circular Ref. No. SGF. 6/S.2/X/545 of 31st March, 2016, with a view to further prune recurrent expenses on travels and tours.
“Accordingly, government has decided that all civil and public servants in the rank of Directors and below in federal ministries, departments and agencies as well as Chief Executive Officers (Managing Directors, Executive Secretaries, Directors-General, etc) of federal government parastatals, agencies and institutions are henceforth to travel on economy class for both local and international travels. Similarly, all non-executive chairmen and members of federal government boards of parastatals are henceforth to travel economy class.”
The circular makes an exemption for ministers, permanent secretaries, presidential aides, service chiefs and “relevant” heads of armed and para-military services who are still allowed to travel business class. Lawal said there should be “immediate compliance” with the directive “For avoidance of doubt, it should be noted that government will monitor the implementation of this directive and any breach will be met with appropriate sanctions,” he said.
This government is committed to prudently managing and stopping waste and leakages in the system, there will be no room for duplication of offices and responsibility; the Buhari led government has shown that, it is its desire that everybody benefits from the goodies that the change mantra will bring to the country and not just a few people. If the truth must be told, the past not a few civil servants and government officials have gone away with blue murder in the name of foreign trip allowance, otherwise called graft.
The Buhari led government has been working round the clock to ensure that the suffering of Nigerians are assuaged and ameliorated, by laying a solid foundation for a greater and better tomorrow. The campaign of calumny against the government of President Buhari has been largely predicated on ethnicity and tribal particularism as well as politics of vendetta, especially by the opposition party that roundly defeated at the polls after many years of misrule, bad governance and monumental fraud. The other point which cannot be waved aside is the fact that, one of the cardinal policies of this administration is the war against corruption, and since this government came on board, never like before, it has consistently waged relentless war against graft in the country; and the high and mighty are not spared; now in a surreptitious manner, corruption is fighting back in a very dirty and desperate manner.
It is germane to observe and rightly so that, since the present administration came on board under the leadership and watch of President Muhammadu Buhari, the president and his team has worked relentlessly to bail out the economy from the recession in which it is presently enmeshed, an economic situation which is self-inflicted as a result of bad governance, mismanagement, corruption and apparent lack of accountability of past leaders in the country. They dissipated the scarce financial resources of the country on conspicuous consumption as well as hedonistic and epicurean lifestyles; and refused to save for the raining day. It is this multifaceted errors of the past that the present government is trying to put right, unfortunately, the present government has been severally criticized by those who created the economic challenges in the first place, particularly members of the past administration, who mercilessly plunder and pillage the resources of the country on selfish individual desires, thereby neglecting vast majority of the people. With the body language and mannerism of some members of the present administration, it is obvious that they are not on the same page with the president in truly salvaging the country from economic ruination and quagmire.
For instance, members of the national assembly, with all their economic preachments and sanctimonious claims, they have rapaciously refused to cut down on their illegal and immoral fat salaries and allowances, yet, they want Nigerians to make sacrifices, while they feed fat on the sweat and toil of Nigerians. As the government is working hard to resolve the fundamental economic contradictions with the economy, people who have illegitimately enriched themselves by pilfering the national treasury and are presently undergoing trails, are clandestinely sponsoring violence against the Nigerian state and painting the country black in both local and international media.
This is contrary to some spurious and erroneous claims in some quarters that this government is idle and doing nothing about the socio-economic miasma in which the country is presently enmeshed, unfortunately this unfounded and baseless claim is gaining currency because of the hardship Nigerians are presently going through. Those who created these problems are now behaving like the much needed messiah to rescue the country from this crisis, but what did they do for the country and they people in the last 16 years? The gang-up and conspiracy against the Buhari led government is because of the anti-corruption crusade of the present administration, hence, their inability to make cheap money and fleece the country of funds needed for development. Undoubtedly, this government is working hard and even world leaders know this fact, hence the need for all Nigerians to rally round the government and move the country forward; and stop the issue of violence, blackmail, vendetta, corruption and anything that can inhibit growth and development in the polity.
Therefore, the present administration in the country should be commended and not vilified by the people, all that the government needs at the this time is the cooperation, support, solidarity, patience and understanding on the part of the people and anybody or group of people that wants to constitute themselves into a cog in the wheel of progress should be viewed as economic saboteur and should be dealt with, in accordance with the provisions of the law, after all, Nigeria is greater than anybody or group of people, and we should all join hands together and make it great.
*** Written by Jide Ayobolu.
About the Author
