The Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has said Nigeria could collapse as a result of the huge domestic debt that government is progressively accumulating.



Obi, who spoke while hosting the National Executive Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Awka on Saturday, is the honorary Special Adviser on Finance to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Although he did not give an idea of how much the domestic debt is, Obi said the situation was alarming.

Nigeria is said to owe an external debt of about $40bn.

He said, "The level of domestic debt is high. Domestic debt is more dangerous than external debt. You owe your own people and they see you every day. That means they can take their frustrations on you."

Obi, who boasted that his government had been able to run for five years without taking a loan, warned against the tendency of borrowing money and raising of bonds to support budgets by some state governors.

He said, "Each time they issue bonds to support a budget, they are starting a crisis. You cannot borrow money to fund consumption. Where are they going to raise the money to pay back the loan?

"When you increase the cost of governance, you increase the size of greed. When you raise the cost of governance, people in government will become lazy because they are looking at money, not service. When the money is not there they won’t be able to work."

He recalled how he had to borrow five bullet-proof cars from Delta State free of charge when the President visited Anambra State recently to save the state the millions of naira that it would have cost to buy the cars.

Also speaking at the event, the President of the NUJ, Mr. Mohammed Garba, urged the governor to help build a befitting press centre for journalists in the state, while the Vice-President, South East, Mr. Ambrose Nwachukwu, asked the governor to prevail on his colleagues in the zone to improve on the conditions of service of journalists in their employ.

http://www.punchng.com/index.php/news/item/8085-nigeria%E2%80%99s-domestic-debt-too-high-%E2%80%94-obi

Kudos - Obi

Peter Obi - 2015

Obi is one of the four governors whose states are debt free; kudos to him.

WOW, states and their high debt profile,

Cool one Obi, at least you have not mortgaged the future of the unborn generation unlike others with huge debts with nothing to show for it.

Its of no use avoiding to borrow and leaving your infrastructure to decay. Let us keep borrowing and using the money well.

obi i used to think you are not the right person to lead anambra, but now i am changing my mind.

Abagworo:

Its of no use avoiding to borrow and leaving your infrastructure to decay. Let us keep borrowing and using the money well.

I always know that you will come up with your myopic views on economic matters as usual. No wonder Ohakim left you guyz with huge mess and so much under-development despite the huge allocation. Does Imo state have more or better infrastructure than Anambra state? But yet you guyz are more dressed down with Rochas visionlessness nor any clue as to what running a government is about.

Back to the topic: Peter Obi is the type of material we need to move this country forward, because he know the deadly economic implication of taking loans. He has achieved much in Anambra without taking a single loan or going to bond market.

chino11:


I always know that you will come up with your myopic views economic matters as usual. No wonder Ohakim left you guyz with huge mess all around you people. Does Imo state have more or better than Anambra state? But yet you guyz are more dressed down with[b] Rochas visionlessness[/b] nor any clue as to what running a government is about.

Back to the topic: Peter Obi is the type of material we need to move this country forward, because he know the deadly economic implication of taking loans. He has achieved much in Anambra without taking a single loan or going to bond market.

explain what you mean here

There are essentially two ways to run a govt:
1. Borrow and use it wisely so that the dividends can pay back the debt. If used unwisely then you are in shytte.
2. Do not borrow; manage what you have and produce less dividends- good where corruption is an issue as in Nigeria.

Then how are we sure that vision-less leaders will use the funds appropriately

He didn't say what the # was. So how are we to judge if it is too high?

What metrics is he using to come to this conclusion?

Very weird dude. . .

Any reference for the $40 billion external debt, btw?

ekt_bear:

He didn't say what the # was. So how are we to judge if it is too high?

What metrics is he using to come to this conclusion?

Very weird dude. . .

Any reference for the $40 billion external debt, btw?

shut da f. . .up!!!
@op
Nice one Obi

Kudos again, its rare to read about an elected official with much sense.

One of the few gov'nurs i respect. Live within ur means Nigeria!

philip0906:

shut da f. . .up!!!

And what shall you do if I don't?

ak47mann:

The Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has said Nigeria could collapse as a result of the huge domestic debt that government is progressively accumulating.



Obi, who spoke while hosting the National Executive Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Awka on Saturday, is the honorary Special Adviser on Finance to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Although he did not give an idea of how much the domestic debt is, Obi said the situation was alarming.

Nigeria is said to owe an external debt of about $40bn.

He said, "The level of domestic debt is high. Domestic debt is more dangerous than external debt. You owe your own people and they see you every day. That means they can take their frustrations on you."

Obi, who boasted that his government had been able to run for five years without taking a loan, warned against the tendency of borrowing money and raising of bonds to support budgets by some state governors.

He said, "Each time they issue bonds to support a budget, they are starting a crisis. You cannot borrow money to fund consumption. Where are they going to raise the money to pay back the loan?

"When you increase the cost of governance, you increase the size of greed. When you raise the cost of governance, people in government will become lazy because they are looking at money, not service. When the money is not there they won’t be able to work."

He recalled how he had to borrow five bullet-proof cars from Delta State free of charge when the President visited Anambra State recently to save the state the millions of naira that it would have cost to buy the cars.

Also speaking at the event, the President of the NUJ, Mr. Mohammed Garba, urged the governor to help build a befitting press centre for journalists in the state, while the Vice-President, South East, Mr. Ambrose Nwachukwu, asked the governor to prevail on his colleagues in the zone to improve on the conditions of service of journalists in their employ.

http://www.punchng.com/index.php/news/item/8085-nigeria%E2%80%99s-domestic-debt-too-high-%E2%80%94-obi

Am proud of you

chino11:

Then how are we sure that vision-less leaders will use the funds appropriately

Of course they won't. But who is visionless now?

Abagworo:

Its of no use avoiding to borrow and leaving your infrastructure to decay. Let us keep borrowing and using the money well.

Come o, is this how you will run your state? Keep borrowing and continuously borrowing as long as money is used well? I beg of you, PLEASE change that mentality, borrowing is good (I'm not against it) but dangerous and risky. Why would you continue to borrow and borrow, what happened to you using retained earnings to finance what you need?

Here's my own take on borrowing, if you gonna borrow, do it for the right reasons. Invest it into actual, and TANGIBLE PROJECT that is bound to yield REVENUES. Borrowing shouldn't be used for social projects but capital projects, don't go and borrow to build roads when you know you're not going to collect tolls on that road. Don't borrow to use and renovate university when you know there will be protest when tuition is 1000x the current amount. Borrow only when you know you WILL build a $70million modern hospital at least you know an average patient spends about $10,000 or more with 10,000 patients annually, you know that's a revenue of $100million. Borrow only when you know you will build a mega wonderful bridge that spans about 20miles, with high speed train and you know you got to pay before you use that sucker.


Lol, well that's my own stand on borrowing. Be modest and prudent in borrowing else you're putting your state in debt.