WORLD RECORD
First timekeeping device Vol. 02 No. 502
N150
Thursday, November 29, 2012
First used in Mesopotamia in c. 3500 BC, the time stick – a primitive form of sundial – was the first “clock” ever developed by Man. Consisting simply of a long stick planted in the earth, it told the time by casting a shadow on the ground that changed length and position as the Sun “moved” overhead.
Debating Sanusi’s panacea for huge governance cost
A
lthough it is still generating wide reactions, the most important reaction that is needed on the views of the Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, beyond the hysteria from organised labour, is that of the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Sanusi had, on Tuesday, drew the ire of workers by arguing that for Nigeria to get some respite from the biting cash crunch, the Federal Government must embark on some cost saving measures; namely to radically downsize the federal and state civil service, as well as the National Assembly. For the Local Governments, 774 of which exist, if we discountenance the 37 additional council areas in Lagos, it is outright scrapping the CBN governor recommended. With these measures, creation of new states is impossible in Sanusi’s envisioned new Nigeria, because they will invariably lead to increase in recurrent expenditure. The thrust of his radical interven-
SOMETHING BEFORE THE WEEKEND
Steve Ayorinde
sayorinde@nationalmirroronline.net (08054500808 sms only)
tion is fiscal prudence in the public sector – with emphasis on the need to discontinue with the profligate and unsustainable trend in which the federal and state governments commit 70 per cent of their income to the payment of workers’ wages and allowances. I should say that I do not always agree with the views of this lanky Prince who appears given to being loquacious. His arguments on the introduction of N5,000 notes was a clear example of a policy not well thought out, considering the passion with which he had few months earlier promoted the cashless policy that ought to have nullified any need for currency re-print in any denomination. You cannot be encouraging the economy to migrate to credit and debit cards, cheques and money transfers and suddenly make a detour to commit N40bn to the printing of new notes. His views on the contentious removal of oil subsidy are also below satisfactory in my opinion. Granted that one may not doubt the interest of a CBN governor in how a small band of oil importers could be responsible for the bulk of the bad loans that eventually got a number of our banks into trouble in 2009, Sanusi’s hasty conclusion that for the economy to survive, the subsidy on oil has to be fully removed, leaves important aspects of the argument unaddressed. My position is that such argument overlooks the fact that we have not always paid N1.3trn on subsidy per year and that the shenanigans that caused
THE POINT OF HIS SUBMISSION IS THAT THE COST OF GOVERNANCE IS TOO HIGH AND UNSUSTAINABLE this astronomical cost during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration ought to be addressed. Also, the agitation for subsidy removal tends to ignore the fact that even at their worst period, the four local refineries at least contribute a certain percentage of the fuel that is consumed locally. Will that also be subjected to ‘appropriate pricing’ if there is total deregulation? In any case, a situation where the CBN governor himself and neither the Petroleum Minister nor her Finance counterpart have no reliable information on the exact amount of litres of petrol that is imported or consumed, and how much precisely is expended on it, cannot be relied upon for solution. However, Sanusi’s treatise on the cost of governance cannot be treated like that of oil subsidy. It may not be totally new, but it is probably his most impactful till date. What is at stake, from his analysis at the Capital Market Committee retreat of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which held in Warri on Tuesday, is
even more than the figure that the Federal Government is desperate to save from fuel subsidy when you remove the waste and corruption that got subsidy provision to frog-jump from N400bn in 2007 to almost N2trn this year. The 2012 budget that is still struggling for full implementation and the 2013 budget forecast lend credence to Sanusi’s position. No society spends 70 per cent on civil servants that are less than five per cent of the population, leaving just 30 percent for capital projects and expects rapid development. It is already certain that Nigeria will borrow to finance the 2013 budget. Development will be slow. And it is worse that corruption is still rampant in the public sector in addition to a harsh, almost toxic environment for the private sector. I admit that many of Sanusi’s recommendations will require constitutional amendments, but why not if there will be immediate and long-term gains? The point of his submission is that the cost of governance is too high and unsustainable. The suggestions, thankfully, serve as a reminder to the Jonathan administration on a similar recommendation made last year by the TY Danjuma-led committee that made a strong case for the pruning down of government functionaries. Sanusi should not stop at making his position a food for thought for only the SEC and the media. He should make it a case of Urgent National Importance as the custodian of the nation’s banking operations. It may be necessary if he articulates his position as a letter to Mr. President, for which the reaction of the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and the President’s Special Adviser on the Economy would be needed. If the Jonathan administration will oppose this view from the CBN governor, then it would need to make its assessment of it public. But to ignore it will amount to playing politics with the financial stability of the country.
Sport Extra
T
he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) will hold fund-raising dinners to support Super Eagles’ campaign in the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa in January. Executive Committee of the NFF took the decision at their meeting
AFCON: NFF holds fund-raising dinners held in Abuja, yesterday. In a communiqué sent to National Mirror, Chief Emeka Inyama said the NFF set up an ad-hoc committee headed by Chief Mike Umeh to organise the fund-raising dinners
and that money raised at the events will complement the Federal Government’s funding for the championship. Also, the Executive Committee approved that the 2012 Annual Gen-
eral Assembly of Nigerian football will hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on December 13. Meanwhile, the Executive Committee will hold a meeting with Board Members of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) today at the Glass House.
Aminu Maigari
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