Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
A professor of economics at the School of Economics, University of Ibadan, Ademola Ariyo, has said more than 400,000 projects are being abandoned in Nigeria every year in the last 20 years.
He raised the alarm, yesterday in a valedictory lecture he delivered at Large Lecture Theatre, Faculty of the Social Sciences, entitled: ‘Knowledge for Sound Economic Judgment’.
Ariyo, who is a public finance and development economics, said the culture of abandoned projects has become entrenched in the country nationally. He said lack of honest costing of projects and will to fully fund them are the causes of bad culture.
He also said unbridled borrowing by the leadership has continued to enslave the country to its lenders, adding that, “this is what is responsible for tax regime being imposed on Nigerians. Due to lack of sound economic judgment, budgeting in Nigeria has become a licence to squander national resources, and personal preferences of Nigerian leaders take precedence over national preferences.”
Ariyo disclosed that Nigeria’s representative government has become a curse rather a blessing through the squandering of enormous national wealth.
He urged President Muhammadu Buhari and states’ governors to ensure that only persons with requisite knowledge, character or cognate experiences are appointed into very critical public sector positions.