The administration of former President Mohammadu Buhari that handed over to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu left at its wake debts that will take generations unborn to continue to service let alone outright payment, writes Chibuike Chiemerie
It may sound incredible but true. The unprecedented debt left by the outgone administration of President Mohammadu Buhari for the incoming administration is mindboggling to the extent that economic analysts quipped that it is difficult for any government to wriggle out of the problem created by the huge debt that is hanging on the neck of the country. According to some of the economists who spoke to this medium, it was revealed that the debt is so huge that generations unborn would bear the burden of just servicing the debt before even talking of paying the debt.
Information at the disposal of Tentacle revealed that one of the dangers awaiting the administration of Tinubu is the attempt of trying to ignore the debt and make attempt of borrowing more to grandstand that they came prepared to right the economic wrongs wrought on the nation by the administration of Buhari. Grapevines are rife with the information that the Tinubu administration might embark on social welfare intervention that requires money to execute in order to curry the sympathy of the populace. But it is not going to fly, leaving the incoming administration with no option than to go borrowing more in order to meet the demands of the intervention that would be the recipe for early failure of the administration.
Investigation revealed that the running of the Nigerian economy under Buhari had been virtually taken over by the bodies that lent the nation money. For instance, China has taken over the running of some strategic sectors in the country. In the transport sector, the railway is being controlled by the Chinese nationals, and the control would last for a very long time. The same investigation revealed that the control of the Nigeria Customs Service, the cash cow of government has been technically handed over to the Chinese via a contentious $3.1 billion modernization scheme Though the Chinese Communist party owner of Huawei Communication Limited had not fully taken over revenue collection job of Nigeria Customs, going by the dictates of the concession agreement, the Chinese nationals are going to take over the works of the officers of if the incoming government respects the concession agreement which is likely going to stand except the incoming administration is ready to go the full hog of legal battle that would ensue at the attempt of saying no to the agreement.
It is on record that when former President Buhari took over from the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, his immediate predecessor, he inherited a debt portfolio of six trillion naira, eight years after leaving office, Buhari has left debt profile of over N70 trillion. In defense of the borrowing, his spin doctors argued that the money borrowed was ploughed into infrastructure development. Fact check orchestrated by this medium revealed that more money may have been borrowed in the twilight of the administration of Buhari, and the terms of the borrowing are still hazy as the time of filing this report.
It was gathered that 93 per cent of the budget of 2023 would be used in serving the debt and paying for the fuel subsidy, according to World Bank, At the end of the day, the incoming administration is left with no option than borrowing more to meet the obligation of governance. Already critics have berated Buhari for initiating more borrowings for Tinubu government from various lenders both local and international. An informed source said that the incoming administration is not likely going to renege on the promise of removing fuel subsidy because of the economic reality on ground that makes it impossible to live in the country. Information has it that for the past eight years, the administration of Buhari had been on borrowing spree to pay salaries of workers, one of the items that he listed as the achievements of the administration.
The consequences of the debts on the citizenry are enormous. Most families in the country are finding it pretty difficult to feed because of the spiraling price of the goods and service in the country. For instance, a bag of rice that went for seven thousand naira when Buhari administration took over in 2015 now sells for 53 or 54 thousand depending on the part of the country where you decide to buy it. Mr. Dele Oyekan, a civil servant recently narrated story of how in December 2014 he used 53 thousand naira to buy 10 bags of rice which he distributed to families and well wishers, in 2023 the same Oyekan could not afford one bag of rice for his own household let alone relations because his income could not afford that.
Mrs. Nnebuife Ogbuji is a house wife based in Lagos. She told this medium that before now her husband used to give her N100, 000 for the family of four in a month, today the same amount barely lasts for two weeks thereby creating friction between her and her husband who could not come into terms with the consequences of inflation in the country. According to her, in 2014, 2015 she used N5, 000 to cook a good pot of soup but today the same amount cannot cook pot of soup no matter how she managed it. “We are existing not living in this country; it took the grace of God for my marriage to be intact because my husband is not finding it funny. I pity young family now because the cost of anti-natal now is expensive let alone buying pampers of baby food for new born”, laments Mrs. Ogbuji.
The complaints of Mrs. Ogbuji are metaphor for many families in the country which is finding it difficult to feed let alone to send their wards to school. The reason number of children out of school is on the rise since the inception of the Buhari administration.
