ViG: Imperative of reducing cost of governance

“The only way out of the valley is uphill”
-Anonymous
If there is one persisting, yet critical issue of national importance that must be frontally tackled by the incoming administration, after May 29, 2023 it has to be that of drastically reducing the huge burden of the cost of governance. So debilitating it has become that it is weighing down the steps towards economic recovery.

Though the cost of governance is incurred by the government in the course of providing goods and services to the citizenry, the statistics on its effects on the national economy and the human development index are humongous and unsustainable.

For instance, as at April 2023 it was revealed that Nigeria reportedly spends 96.3 percent of its revenue on debt servicing! That is up from 83.2 per cent in 2021. And the World Bank has raised a timely warning on how the fiscal deficit has worsened the nation’s public debt stock. But that is just part of the scary figures on our worsening economic paradigm.

Similarly, the percentage of GDP that our political leaders spend on running government rose from 12.82% in 2018 to 12.52% in 2019; slowed down to 12.08% in 2020 but escalated to 13.34% in 2021. It went to 14.27% in 2022 and is currently estimated at 14.24 % in 2023. That is according to Staista.com.

According to the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) ranking Nigeria has over 70 percent of the hapless citizens living below the poverty line, with infant/child and maternal mortality still one of the highest in the world. Apart from unemployment rate put at over 40 percent, life expectancy has reduced such that it stands at 52 years!

In fact, so dire and desperate the economic situation has become that Oxfam Nigeria, a non-profit organization through Vincent Ahonsi the country director has advised the incoming government to take urgent steps to drastically reduce the twin evils of hunger and poverty ravaging our dear country, Nigeria.

Oxfam has also advised that more budgetary allocation should go to Nigeria’s education, health, and agricultural sectors while small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) should attract government funding. Also, focus on tackling discrimination against women and persons living with disabilities in the country is being canvassed.

Lest we forget, Nigeria was rated as one of Africa’s worst-governed countries according to the Ibrahim Index of African Governance [IIAG]. That was back in October 2014. And in November 2017 it was ranked 35 out of 54 African countries overall.

In another IIAG report, Nigeria scored 45.8 percent as against the African average of 51.5 percent and ranked 37th out of 52 in the overall governance scale. The country scored lower than the regional average for West Africa which stood at 52.2 percent and ranked 12th out of 15 in the region.

On the other hand, Mauritius has been adjudged the best-governed country in Africa, with 81.7 percent, followed by Cape Verde, with 76.6 percent. The IIAG, published every two years, is the most comprehensive dataset measuring African governance performance.

While over time, concerned Nigerians, including seasoned economists such as the former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Alex Otti, former Managing Director of the defunct Diamond Bank and the incoming governor of Abia state have warned against the high cost of governance in Nigeria, the powers that be have taken it all with a pinch of salt.

It would be recalled that in March 2021Otti delivered a lecture titled: ‘Massive Government, Miserable Populace: Cost of Governance as Economic Growth Decelerator’. That was at the 10th Convocation of the Ademola Adeleke University in Osun state.

He decried the government spending of over 70 per cent of the budget on recurrent expenditure and less than 30 per cent on capital expenditure that is supposed to drive economic growth.

While a serving minister or senator may enjoy the apparatchiks of office with several cars and special assistants, and the presidency similarly boasting of 100 government parastatals, millions of Nigerians go to bed hungry every blessed day. So, what manner of democracy do we practice here in Nigeria? It is a king-servant relationship under which our fragile economy will soon crumble, if care is not taken.

On a comparative analysis, the United States has only 15 secretaries (equivalent to our ministers) that run a country of over 250 million people and the British cabinet is smaller than that of Nigeria. Simply put, government is not seen as the fertile field for the locusts to feed upon. No! But the issue at hand is what should be done to curtail this menace.

Though the visionary former president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, set up a Presidential Committee on Rationalization and Restructuring of Federal Government’s Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies stagged the Stephen Oronsaye Panel in August 2011, the report on the proliferation of agencies and parastatals is yet to be implemented to its fullest!  That is despite President Muhammadu Buhari approving the implementation in June 2020.Talk about matching wishful words with concrete action.

In its findings the report stated that: “The average cost of governance in Nigeria is believed to rank among the highest in the world” and “if the cost of governance must be brought down, all arms of government must make spirited efforts at reducing their running cost.”

Going forward on reducing the cost of governance, Nigeria should borrow a fresh new leaf from countries such as Singapore, Switzerland and Denmark ranked as the first, second and third in that order. That is on the Global Economy ratings on the Government effectiveness (1996-2021).

Another country to learn a lasting lesson from is Senegal. It has since abolished their Senate to save costs. In addition to a unicameral legislature their functions should be on part-time basis to save public funds.

Nigerian Senate

Some other countries such as India introduced e-governance in its administrative structure to reduce the cost of running its government. Similarly, Ethiopia, Thailand, Rwanda, Kenya and Ghana have taken the bull by the horn by drastically reducing the number of political appointees. But will Nigeria toe the same path of prudence? We are waiting and watching.

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has been at the forefront of calls for reduction in the day to day government expenditure. Through Seminars and Workshops, the Commission has continued to proffer useful suggestions/recommendations to governments at all levels on the need to scale.

But to make the desired difference, political offices should be made less attractive. Government should discontinue provision of houses and vehicles to officers whose allowances are already monetized.

Furthermore, entrenching the rule of law and attitudinal change on the part of civil servants have become the sine qua non to cutting down on unnecessary expenditure.  Government should also continue to monitor expenses on developmental projects, especially for those that would positively impact on the lives of the citizenry.

As one has consistently canvassed over the decades, what we need are Volunteers in Government (ViG), made up of patriotic Nigerian politicians ready to be placed on civil salary scale. We are currently at the economic valley. The only way forward is uphill. Who says it is not possible? Yours truly is ever ready. What about you?