WHAT A  YEAR  it has been for Nigerians, and indeed, for Muhammadu Buhari presidency!  At the start of his presidency Buhari enjoyed a reputation as a man of high integrity. Probably his reputation is still intact. He earned a wide acclaim as the figurative “messiah” that his followers were waiting for to end our long years of hardship, corruption and lack of good governance.
Nineteen months into his presidency , you can hear some people say that Buhari has become “Baba go-slow”,  an incredible shrinking President.                                              If our President   should spare a little time to do a listening tour of the country,with a notepad in hand and a retinue of security personnel in toe , he would be shocked by what Nigerians will tell him. He will discover that anger is eating deep into many Nigerians like acid.
This anger and disillusionment were on display last Tuesday during the Federal Government organised Town Hall meeting in Abuja. At that meeting which was attended by some ministers, the youths raised a red flag of anger,frustration and hunger are evident in the land. Youth unemployment is now a time bomb.
This may be hard for government to take in, but that is the grim truth across the country. It’s not enough for government to admit this fact, as its officials admitted at the Town Hall meeting last week. Nigerians demand urgent solutions to the prevailing hardships in the country. Over the past one year,  this  administration has gone relentlessly hammer and tongs after its predecesso, blaming it for  every  problems facing Nigeria today. Government officials have made the Jonathan administration  a political football  to play with.  Perhaps the only thing this government is yet to do is hold Jonathan responsible for any pregnancy miscarriage.
But the tables have since turned. The economy has grown much worse under this government.  By demonizing the Jonathan presidency ,Buhari has distracted himself from focusing on the issues that brought him into  office. Two of such key issues are : how to contain corruption, grow the economy and deliver recovery from recession.
Can  President Buhari fix these myriad problems? Unarguably, 2016 is the year hope faded in Nigeria. Recession set in. Inflation reached a frightening level of 18.4 percent, the highest in three decades. Nigerians were forced to pay for virtually everything they consume. On December 14, the President presented a 2017 budget proposal of N7.289 trillion to the National Assembly. The Appropriation Bill entitled :”Budget of Recovery and Growth” , is 20.4 percent higher in nominal terms over that of 2016.
It seeks, among other things, to boost agriculture output and productivity, domestic manufacturing, eliminate costly Joint Venture Cash (JVC) calls for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) is predicated on  benchmark crude oil price of $42.5 per barrel, 2.2 million oil production estimate per day, and a foreign exchange rate of N305 to the USD. Based on these assumptions, aggregate revenue available to fund the budget is put at N4.94trn. This is 28 percent higher than the 2016 projections .
Oil revenues are projected to contribute N1.985trn of the total budget outlay. If the current oil price remains so till June next year, the projected revenue could be met.  Non-oil revenues,the President said,  will largely come from company income tax, Value Added Tax (VAT), Customs and Excise duties and Federation Account levies, contributing  N1.373trn.  N565bn is projected to come from recoveries of  stolen funds.
The mining sector is expected to bring in  N210.9bn. The President has promised that the 2017 budget will provide the “road map of policy actions and steps designed to bring the economy out of recession and to a path of steady growth and prosperity”. He admitted that  Nigerians have  gone through the most challenging economic situation in the history of our nation. But it remains to be seen if his administration  truly cares a whit for the concerns  of Nigerians. Highlights of the budget show that 30.7 , which represents N2.24trn , is for capital expenditure while recurrent expenditure takes N2.98trn.
The President said the capital expenditure vote is in line with his administration’s “determination to reflate and pull the economy out of recession as quickly as possible”.   Analysis of the budget also reveals that the federal government plans to spend N1.837 trn, or 25.2 percent of the total budget estimate) for debt servicing and about 66 percent(N4.81trn) as total recurrent expenditure.
This is N600 bn above the 2016 figures   . Government also intends to borrow N2.231trn. Out of this, N1.253trn will be sourced locally, while N1.067trn will come from foreign sources, possibly the yet to be approved $30bn loan .  In the 2016 budget, N1.182trn was  borrowed from the domestic market and N635.8bn from foreign sources.
A breakdown of the recurrent expenditure shows the Ministry of interior got N482.37 bn, Education ministry N325.87bn. On the capital aspect of the budget, Works, Housing and Power  ministry got  the lion share of N433.4 bn ,  ministry of Transportation N262 bn, while Defence got N140bn.   The  crucial question is : will the budget end the current economic recession and stimulate growth as promised by the President?   The truth  is that a budget can get a country into growth, but not into recovery.      . With high  expenditure on debt servicing, 2017 could yet be another tough year, if Buhari fails to secure the $30bn loan  he says he badly needs to meet infrastructure requirement, create jobs and stave off recession.
It is sad that the expectations often associated with budgets are waning due to the combination of frivolous and fictitious overheads, duplication of items, and  lack of implementation.  This is why  Nigeria’s N53trn budget since 1999  had not produced any better deal for the citizens. We hope  2017  budget must be different.   The blame game  for which this government has become notorious should stop. In 2016, Nigerians have gone through some of the most challenging moments of their lives. Current  inflation rate  of 18.4 has pushed up  prices of essential food items beyond the means of ordinary Nigerians. This is in addition to  increases in housing rents, electricity tariffs, water, petroleum products and other essentials.
Government should show a clear roadmap to reset the economy in 2017. Investors expect the 2017 budget to give a new optimism in  the country. In 2016, investment inflow dropped by USD4.56bn in the third quarter(Q3). Federal budget should run the economy and shape social policy. Government must stabilise the foreign exchange regime or else, more companies will fold up. In that regard,  government must stabilise the naira. At close of trading before Christmas,naira  tumbled to N490 to the USD.
Government needs to access an emergency lifeline which experts have put at  $10 bn  to stabilise the exchange rate and restore investors confidence to the financial market. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should do more in its monetary policies. Nobody needs to remind us that our economy is in deep trouble. The question is : does he have the right ideas and personnel to stimulate economic growth and recovery? 2017 beckons

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