BY donating various sums of money to the victims of Boko Haram’s bomb blasts in parts of the country, the Central Bank Governor, Lamido Sanusi Lamido may have unwittingly raised questions about the propriety of his assumed philanthropic gesture. Why, for instance would such donations be coming from a government agency in charge of the country’s financial and monetary policies? Is the money donated not public fund that the CBN Governor is expected to keep or invest in the public interest? When did it suddenly become the lot of the Central Bank to respond to non-financial, indeed criminally-instigated emergencies occurring in the country? And it may further be asked whether Sanusi has fully attended to his primary duty of regulating the country’s finances as to have so much time for humanitarian activities?

First, Sanusi donated N100 million to Boko Haram victims in Kano State, raising public curiosity as to why he chose his home state among several terrorist incidents across the nation. As if to repel the insinuation of nepotism on his part, he proceeded to donate N25 million to victims of Christmas Day church bombing in Madalla, Niger State. But the main question on whether he or the CBN is the appropriate institution to make the donations remains unanswered, having regard to the existence of various organs relevant for that purpose. However, actions or utterances with little bearing to Sanusi’s main charge have lately not been confined to philanthropic donations.

In a recent interview with a foreign newspaper, Sanusi attributed the violence being perpetrated by the insurgent Boko Haram Islamic sect to what he claimed was uneven distribution of federal revenue. The fundamentalist sect’s initial vague reasons for the killings ranged from avenging the perceived extra-judicial shooting to death of its founder to seeking to impose Sharia throughout Northern Nigeria. To these grievances, Sanusi has added poverty purportedly induced by uneven distribution of federal revenue.

However, Sanusi’s claim that the present allocation of revenue favours South-South states to the detriment of Northern states is a one-sided view. Non-oil producing parts of the country are not necessarily poor just as the volume of government spending alone is not the index of wealth. In any case, the much envied allocation in 2008 of N3,965 per capita of Rivers State deemed too much money by Sanusi was US$33 per capita, which did not make the state rich. Also, the 13 per cent oil revenue that goes to oil producing states on the basis of derivation formed only two per cent of the contribution of 17.5 per cent to GDP in 2008 by the oil sector. The balance was shared to all tiers of government using factors like land mass and questionable population figures that benefit all the states and the Federal Government. Besides, the Northern states control the agricultural sector, which accounts for 42 per cent of GDP but adds negligible revenue to the Federation Account. With the Northern states pocketing the bulk of the massive earnings garnered from domestic trade in agricultural produce and related products, Sanusi’s statement that uneven distribution of federal resources has enriched South-South states while consigning the North-Eastern states to poverty is preposterous. Quite pertinently, recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that absolute poverty is rising throughout the country.

The CBN governor should not try so hard to lead the Northern states on a plunderous mission to further appropriate unfair share of federal revenue in the guise of a Marshall plan. Rather, he should advise the Northern states to be supportive of efforts to restore equitable distribution of the country’s resources to the revenue formulae of the pre-civil war era including the devolution of responsibilities to the states.

On the desirable objective of reducing poverty throughout the country, the CBN governor should call for a Marshall plan with a view to regenerating industrialisation in the North-Eastern states and ensure that oil revenues derivable from the 2012 high oil output should be fully disbursed to the tiers of government for investment.

Only when the three tiers of government are correctly allocated dollar revenue for conversion to realised naira revenue via deposit money banks, will there prevail conducive economic conditions for the private sector to flourish. That way, irrespective of the geographical distribution of oil revenue based on any revenue sharing formula, the process of converting dollar allocations to realised naira revenue for government expenditure channels foreign exchange to genuine private sector businesses that create direct and indirect jobs and lift all parts of the economy in varying degrees. In this scanario, the more government and autonomous foreign exchange flows into the system, the more intense is economic activity, which spurs prosperity.

Sanusi cannot claim ignorance of the fact that extant monetary practices have underlined economic underperformance. Sanusi has claimed that Boko Haram is a product of the economic conditions. However, the sect’s activities are tantamount to insurrection against the Nigerian state which could create anarchy and threaten the country’s corporate existence; wanton destruction of property in different parts of the country; and insensate killing of innocent people. The resulting atmosphere of fear undermines the economy and discourages all forms of investment thereby creating a cycle of deepening poverty. Sanusi’s implicit defence of Boko Haram’s methods is therefore absurd.

All in all, Sanusi has shown a lack of full grasp of the monetary brief of CBN to promote national economic prosperity. Instead of willfully watching over continued mismanagement of national resources; and inciting controversies over issues that hardly have any bearing on sound monetary management, Sanusi should face the challenge of turning around the country’s economy through sound and logical policies. That is what Nigerians expect of him as Central Bank Governor. If he cannot live up to that billing, he should respectfully step down in the national interest.

http://ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77857:sanusi-poverty-and-boko-haram-&catid=37:editorial&Itemid=612

I think this article should be named 'The Sanusi Bokonomics'

Succintly put. . . .hope he get to see this.