In a series of media stunts, Musiliu Obanikoro, erstwhile Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Ghana, former senator, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Lagos State and presently, a ministerial nominee had expressed concern regarding governance and popular expectations in Lagos State under the leadership of Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and All Progressive Congress (APC). I consider his thoughts driven by politics, and it behoves anyone with a conscience to write in defence of a working government. I must state that I don’t belong to any political party.
I must give kudos to Obanikoro’s for dissecting the Lagos 2014 budget in a recent interview. It is a fact that no government, be it federal or state, has all it needs to execute its projects. The most ingenious way available to every government is to shore-up its internally generated revenue (IGR), and most importantly, go borrowing. Borrowing is neither a curse nor a bad idea; however in our clime the problem we have with borrowing is misuse of borrowed funds, because for any borrowed funds, the project(s) of its application must be attached. The criticism for borrowing is stemmed from the corrupt attitudes of our government officials and the needless open display of ostentations in the midst of a debilitating poverty.
On the issue of Lagos budget 2014, Obanikoro told us the zero deficit claim of the government is a hoax. He is economical with the truth. Again, while it is debatable, we must look at some parameters to get an answer. Firstly is the issue of recurrent expenditures, this is an issue that virtually all states of the federation and particularly the PDP-led federal government are guilty of. In fact, the federal government budget estimates for 2014 is over 70% recurrent on personnel and overhead. The onus is on governments to reduce the costs on personnel.
My understanding of zero deficit budgeting is that all expenses captured are justified and provided for, that is, budgets are built around what is needed for the upcoming period, regardless of whether is higher or lower than the previous one. Zero based budgeting allows for top-level strategic goals to be implemented into the budget process by tying them to specific functional areas of the government where costs can be first grouped, then measured against previous results and current expectations. The proposed borrowing of N99.74 billion in the budget is to refinance existing debt. Obanikoro should know that refinancing a debt is different from interest payment for internal loans. At any point in time, more avenues may be open to government to borrow; servicing a loan is different from refinancing a loan. That the state government will access US$200m World Bank loan in 2014 does not translate to the budget being financed from this loan.
More importantly, that Lagos State will borrow to finance some its projects does not preclude it from having a zero deficit budget. We must know that risk assessment by professionals played an important role before loans are given to any government. More so, credit-worthiness of a state determines if such a state will even be given loan or not. The debt profile of Lagos State is manageable; if not, it is unlikely the World Bank will have made available to it the recent loan. Borrowing and debt management are risks that cannot be avoided but managed.
In the area of healthcare, I have been to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), but for purpose this writing I will say what I saw in LASUTH can compare favourably with any teaching hospital in Nigeria. Governor Fashola should not be made to bear the brunt of choices of individuals who prefer overseas hospital as a status symbol. We need to build our capacity in the health sector, and this will require the collaboration of both federal and state governments.
On the electoral issue involving his son, there is always the aftermath of an election, and the loser with a genuine case will approach the tribunal for a redress. Obanikoro’s son won at the tribunal, but since there is a window for an appeal, it is expected that the other person will appeal. To now accuse a sitting governor because of his legal credentials and/status as Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN) of impounding the legal victory of his son is cheap politics.
One area I least expected Obanikoro’s condemnation is the Lagos residency registration campaign. To me this a laudable effort hinged on planning for the development of the state. Headcounts inform government’s template for planning, and that the present Lagos government chose to do so is commendable. Population determination is an important ingredient in governance and infrastructure development.
In Lagos, exemplary leadership has resulted in ambitious projects that have direct bearing on the populace, notably the BRT expansion from Mile 12 to Ikorodu; the gigantic Badagry-Marina blue light railways, Adiyan water works expansion project, Ozumba Mbadiwe-Awolowo road link bridge, Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge, construction of 16 roads in Mushin local government, construction of major roads (Simbiat Abiola road, Kodesho etc) in Ikeja local government, a new modern market in Oshodi, the on-going Tejuosho modern market, new modern stalls in Agege, re-construction of major roads (Adeniran Ogunsanya, Akerele, Bode Thomas etc) in Surulere, the re-construction of 2.6km Alaba/Cemetary road in Ajeromi-Ifelodun, the remodelled Obalende and its environs. More importantly, Lagos State government must be given kudos for the environmental management of canals; the continued dredging and de-silting of these numerous canals within the state have gone a long way to save the populace from flooding issues.
Obanikoro chose to denigrate his benefactor, APC leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the interview. I don’t think politics should be carried that far. For what it is worth, Tinubu made him a commissioner and facilitated his election into the senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In an interview on NTA programme One-On-One sometime in 2004, Obanikoro himself said after God, the next person who had played an important role in his political career is Tinubu. As humans, we should always look beyond the present. Whatever might be Tinubu’s political school, a former political son addressing a political father with such odium hardly speaks well of our age-long known attributes of honour and respect.
On the whole, the signature of development as embedded through responsible governance from the inception of democratic government in Lagos State is encouraging. We must guard against making negative political judgment on verifiable performance. Much of Obanikoro’s thoughts is political than sound economic management, and we will continue to do ourselves grave injustice if we give political colouration to every issues. While more work needs to be done, Fashola and his team deserve commendation.
• Nurudeen writes from Surulere, Lagos State.
