The 2016 budgets of both the federal and state governments look very much like a still birth and the truth is that any government that sits down and does nothing to get the budget to work has already failed this fiscal year. This is the time that calls for innovation on the part of governments and business-like strategic engagements have to happen for any government to translate into reality the objectives set in the 2016 budget.
To this extent, I can appreciate why Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the Governor of Enugu State, isn’t just sleeping and waking up in the comforts of the state house in Enugu. The man seems to be everywhere in and outside Nigeria with a dogged determination to match his electoral promises with action. Nothing venture, nothing gained!
With the revenue situation facing federal and state governments this year, it is apparent that neither the president nor any governor can implement the 2016 budget without either looking for new sources of funding or cutting off a good part of planned expenditure for the year. Well before the budgets are approved, crude oil price, which is the central plank of every Nigerian budget, has dropped below the budget benchmark.
Cutting expenditure necessarily has to be avoided, as it is capital votes that are likely to be cut. Such will be a disastrous mission in the face of deteriorated infrastructures, massive unemployment and falling aggregate expenditure.
For the more aggressive governments such as we have seen so far in Enugu State, it is not surprising that Ugwuanyi was in Dublin recently for an investment drive critically needed at home to boost commercial activities, create new job opportunities and step up the production-consumption chain in the state. I am aware that Diaspora investing has been given high priority in Enugu State since the coming into office of the present governor and this represents a veritable source of new money particularly for every state government east of the Niger if they can be as focused and articulated as Enugu State.
Enugu indigenes in Diaspora have so far shown great interests in the development agenda of their governor at home. The Igbos are known generally for being a great force of development at home no matter where they live and this is often expresses in a proverb that says it is when a man’s wealth reaches home that it is fully claimed. I reckon that Ugwuanyi has clearly identified this great opportunity and is doggedly determined to exploit it to the fullest.
His recent trip to Dublin is seen to be yielding results in this direction. Positive developments have been indicated from government quarters in Enugu that some Enugu indigenes in the Diaspora in association with Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU), Scotland have expressed their commitment to partner the State in funding priority projects in the education sector.
It is also good news that the state government signed a memorandum of understanding with the authorities of Dublin City University on development programmes in the education sector in the state. This new strides are commendable, as education constitutes one of the focal points of every government’s development initiatives across the nation.
Neither the states nor the federal government has been able to meet the funding requirements in the education sector even in the many years of the sustained flow of oil wealth. Now, even the modest funding in the sector is bound to drop drastically in the face of the drop in government earnings. This demands exploration of alternative funding arrangements for the sector just as Ugwuanyi has set out early enough in the year to do. Good effort demands adequate commendation!
The budget in Enugu State for 2016 recognises a drop in federal allocation and the shortfall was planned to be met from foreign investment inflow, borrowings and internally generated revenue. For the budget to work as presented, not only in Enugu State but indeed in any other state of the federation as well as the federal government, there has to be increased dependence on non-oil earnings, investment inflow through public-private sector partnerships and new borrowings.
The aggressive investment drive that took Ugwuanyi and his team to Dublin can therefore be appreciated in the light of his effort to meet the challenges of implementing the 2016 budget. A remarkable success has been reported from the investment drive and a new set of investors and donor agencies identified this time around will easily key into the new phase of development in Enugu State. The government too has assured that the results of the investment drive will be felt by the people of the state in no distant time.
It seems to me that some state governors may just fold their arms, using the falling federal allocations as excuses for not doing much this year. This time, Nigerians will not take excuses and governors as well as the President should henceforth spend less time sleeping than planning and working out new strategies to meet their campaign promises.
This is the drive I have seen in Enugu State so far and I urge the governor there to sustain his aggressive push towards satisfying his development hunger for his people. I have been keeping track of his key campaign promise, which is to navigate the state through the current economic challenges by exploiting alternative avenues of revenue generation for development. I can see that he is right on track so far.
. Anwucha, an Economist, writes from Enugu.
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