The Governor of the Central Bank, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, has said that more than 25 per cent of Nigeria’s annual total overhead cost is expended on lawmakers .


Sanusi, who was the guest lecturer at the eighth convocation of the Igbinedion University, Okada, in Edo State, on Friday, only those in the National Assembly or in the three tiers of government.


He said that the nation could only be back on the path of growth and sustainability through the prioritisation of the economy.


Sanusi said, “Unless we frontally address some of issues, like an average of 25 per cent of total annual overhead cost of the federal budget allotted to few persons, who serve as lawmaker, we may never compete with the emerging economies in Asia.”


The CBN governor whose lecture was titled “Future prospect of Nigeria’s economy,” lamented that Nigeria had fallen shot of meeting its potentials when compared to its vast natural and human resources.


He said, “The Nigerian economy has grossly underperformed relative to her enormous resources, endowment and her peer nations.


“It has the sixth largest gas reserves and the eight largest crude oil reserves in the world. It is endowed in commercial quantities, with about 37 solid mineral types and has a population of over 150 million.


“Yet, economic performance has been rather weak and does not reflect these endowments. Emerging Asian countries, notably, Thailand, Malaysia, China, India and Indonesia that were far behind Nigeria in terms of Gross Domestic Product per capita in 1970 have transformed their economies and are not only miles ahead of Nigeria, but are also major players on the global economic arena.”


The apex bank governor, who put the poverty level in Nigeria at 54.4 per cent, added that the country was trailing China and Thailand in human the development index.


He said, “Available data has put the national poverty level at 54.4 per cent. Similarly, there has been rising unemployment with the current level put at 19.7 per cent by the National Bureau of Statistics.


“Furthermore, the country lags behind other countries in most human development indicators. For example, while China and Thailand are in the fifth and 22nd positions, respectively, in the 2009 Global Hunger Index, Nigeria was ranked 46th. This can be traced largely to the huge infrastructure deficit, rising insecurity, mass corruption and widespread poverty.”


Sanusi added that Nigeria’s poor economic performance, particularly in the last 40 years, was better illustrated when compared with China, which now occupies an enviable position as the second largest economy in the world.


He said, “In 1970, while Nigeria had a GDP per capita of $233.35 and was ranked 88th in the world, China was ranked 114th with a GDP per capita of $111.82.”


Lamido said, “Macroeconomic challenges such as structural rigidities, dualism and false paradigm model, which characterised the economy, has kept it in the silos to the extent that the primary sector does not relate meaningfully with the secondary and tertiary sectors.”


He pointed out that the country’s over-dependence on a mono-product, which is susceptible to shocks in the international oil market, and disproportionate reliance on the primary end of markets both in agriculture and extractive sectors, “would never result in commensurate employment creation and income redistribution.”


Sanusi also decried the imbalance in the economy whereby the ”rich in the society concentrated on oil due to its attractive revenue while agriculture with its meagre revenue is consigned to the poor and subsistence farmers.”


He, therefore, called on government to step up efforts at reviving the economy, saying that 11 years of democratic rule has given hope for its rejuvenation.


On Saturday, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Segun Aganga, said that in spite of the global financial crisis, Nigeria’s economy had continued to grow, thereby “outpacing economic growth of many advanced and emerging economies.”


“It is universally acknowledged that our economy can easily rival those of the most advanced economies in the coming decades,‘‘ the minister said at the 60th Diamond Jubilee Guest luncheon and launch of the Sigma Educational Foundation Endowment Fund in Ibadan, Oyo State.


Aganga said that the Federal Government, under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan, was “making great progress towards achieving the goals of making the country a major player on the global economic scene.”


He emphasised that in his quest to make this a reality, Jonathan recently reconstituted a National Economic Management Team.


He added that the government, through the National Economic Council, also approved the framework for the operation and funding of the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund with $1bn.


He said, “The $1bn had already being set aside as seed capital for the SWF to fund a stabilisation fund, an inter-generational savings fund and an infrastructure fund.”


The minister explained that was one of the reforms that the present administration had put in place to fulfill its promise of a sounder and more prudently-run economy.


He assured Nigerians that the country’s resources would be dedicated towards building a better tomorrow for all.



http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201011291593451

If this is true, then there are people who perhaps should die before the country can move forward.
It is too sad

this topic is already on the child board.