The Nation Newspaper

Tag: implementation

  • ‘Sustain health policies’ implementation’

    TO improve on its achievements in the last four years, the outgoing Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has called on the ministry’s management staff and other stakeholders in the health sector to sustain the implementation of health policies.

    The minister specifically listed policies, such as the National Health Policy, National Strategic Health Development Plan1 and II and Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) as some of the key policies that need to be sustained for the overall development of the nation’s health sector.

    Prof. Adewole said this at the valedictory management meeting and handover organised by the ministry in his honour, adding that before he was appointed, he  worked with the ministry for several years in various capacities, beginning from the late Prof. Ransome Kuti’s time. His appointment as a minister, he said, gave him the opportunity to sit in the center and drive the affairs of the sector directly.

    “For us, over last few years, we have done our bit. The health sector is a very challenging one, such that, one can never complete the assignment; the best one can do is to do one’s bit and leave. In the last four years, you supported us to develop the National Health Policy with the support from the former Minister of Health, Prof. Lambo. We also developed the National Strategic Health Development Plan II and now we are fortunate to be implementing the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund.

    “Over the years, governments put on policy without plan or the plan would come four or five years after the policy and when the policy or plan comes, there would be no money; but what is unique about this tenure is that, we are fortunate we have the policy, we have the plan and we have the money. That is what has become the ‘game changer’ in terms of health sector restructuring,” he said.

    The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Abdulaziz Mashi Abdullahi, commended Prof Adewole for his open-door policy and that when he assumed office with poor knowledge of health matters, the minister assisted him to understand the health sector quickly.

    Directors in the ministry praised Adewole and the Minister of State for Health, Osagie Enakhire, wishing them well in their future endeavours.

  • Amnesty initiator faults govt on implementation

    Ten years after he sold the blueprint of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme to former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, President of the Foundation for Peace and Non-Violence in Nigeria, Comrade Onengiye Erekosima, has expressed worries over the rising cases of violence in the Niger Delta.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos, Erekosima lamented that assassinations, cult clashes and indiscriminate killing of people were on the rise in the region.

    He expressed misgivings on the approach being employed by the Federal and state governments to deal with the situation.

    Erekosima, who recalled that championed the Amnesty Programme and introduced it to the late President Yar’Adua, regretted that his recommendations were doctored to suit the interest of those who have “hijacked” the programme.

    According to him, it was wrong to pay ex-agitators monthly without engaging in any type of work for the government.

    He added that his blue print suggested that the ex-agitators should be engaged in surveillance and intelligence gathering for security forces.

    But Erekosima lamented that able-bodied young men were paid by the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) monthly for doing nothing. An idle mind is a devil’s workshop, he added.

    Erekosima, therefore, advised the government to implement his own blue print, which he said would abate incessant assassination, cultism, kidnapping and killing in the Niger Delta.

    According to him, if the ex-agitators were engaged in intelligence, they would have been in a position to inform the authorities of the activities of so many criminals operating in the region.

    He also lampooned the idea of grouping the ex-agitators under their former warlords, saying such would make them loyal to the warlords.

  • Issues on policy implementation

    The Buhari-Osinbajo administration has been criticized on a lot of issues, ranging from the handling of security, to lack of direction and insensitivity to the plight of citizens.  However, whether the administration’s good trumps its bad is left for posterity to judge. What is more important now is that the All Progressives Congress (APC), has won another ticket to steer the rudder of the country for another four years.

    On March 19, 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari announced that he has set up a committee to assess the level of implementation of all his administration’s policies, programmes and projects. Buhari also appointed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who has spearheaded the administration’s economic policies, to head the policy audit committee.

    No doubt, this is a laudable move by the administration. It indicates a deliberate attempt to make sure policies are followed through and have an impact on the lives of average Nigerians.

    Now that an audit committee is in place, it is the responsibility of Nigerians to begin to point the government’s attention to policies that are failing and programmes that have not served any purpose.

    The government also needs to know that it is acting as an albatross against the successful implementation of some of its most profound policies. One of such is the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which has been described as the singular most successful policy of the Buhari regime.

    The TSA centralizes government revenue and accounting in a way that opens it up for scrutiny. This is one of the greatest threats to the old system of handling public funds in Nigeria. TSA plugged leakages and made it more difficult to steal from the treasury. In November last year, President Muhammadu Buhari announced that the TSA saves the government over N24 billion monthly. With the implementation of TSA, government revenue has also cushioned the effect of unstable oil prices. Likewise, government agencies like the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Administration Agency (NIMASA) have tripled their revenue.

    That said, the government needs to deliberately review the entire TSA policy and address encumbrances that have prevented the initiative from reaching its full potential.

    One of these is that some government owned enterprises and MDAs are still not remitting a sizable chunk of their revenue into the TSA. Prominent among these agencies are the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which operate several accounts outside the purview of the TSA in a shady, non-transparent manner.

    Also, In February this year, prominent Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN), threatened to file a suit against the federal government over alleged corruption in the award of a contract for the production of the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Alien Card (CERPAC) by the NIS, alleging that the proceeds from the process are deposited in a bank account instead of the TSA.

    Another shortcoming of the government on the TSA project is its failure to sensitize the public enough. This lapse has become really obvious following the recent change in TSA transaction pricing regime. The government had pushed the cost of processing payment into the TSA to the payer without notice. The administration needs to embark on a sensitization programme for the public to avoid a serious backlash on such moves.

    Finally, the fact that the TSA is being powered by an indigenous software called Remita should be a source of pride to the government and a reference point for home grown technology. The government should use this as an opportunity to market Nigeria’s ingenuity and drive investment into the country’s ICT industry. Unfortunately, the Nigerian government has been silent on this.

    As the Osinbajo-led committee begins work, it is pertinent that it beams its searchlight on these issues among others and be willing to solve problems to ensure a better four years of governance ahead.

    • By Nkechi Ihekire

    Enugu.

     

  • Make the policy public before implementation, say Muslim students

    The Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria yesterday appealed to the Lagos State Government to make the reviewed policies public and available to stakeholders before implementation.

    This, the organisation said, would aid a collective acceptance of the policy and prevent a similar crisis currently witnessed with the Land Use Charge.

    Its Lagos State Amir (President), Dr Saheed Ashafa, said this after attending the Lagos State Stakeholders Engagement Forum on the review of the state’s policy on education.

    Ashafa, who commended the move, said that it was important to give education stakeholders the opportunity to assess the policies before implementation.

    He noted that implementing the policies without adequate input from stakeholders may not yield the desired result.

    He said: “We commend Lagos State Government for bringing stakeholders together to consider the proposed new policies on education. The involvement of stakeholders is a step to success but we must avoid shortcut. We love the tall aspiration of Lagos state government for striving to meet up with the status of leading nations in the education sector like Finland, South Korea and Singapore.

    “While we commend the state government for involving stakeholders in the validation of the document, we feel it is fundamental to share necessary documents with stakeholders for quality contribution and unquestionable acceptance.

    “A situation where a ready-made policy is just being read to stakeholders without giving room for input or contributions may defeat the good notion of the state government to maintain a good relationship with stakeholders in the education sector.”

    He, however, appealed to the Lagos State Government not to allow the implementation of the new policy disrupts the peace and relative progress being enjoyed in the state’s education sector.

    “We advocate for all-inclusive implementation of the policy. One way to do this is to allow non-governmental organisations to participate in the monitoring of the policy to enhance objectivity in reporting,” he said.

  • Reps hail nimasa on budget implementation

    The Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has received commendations from the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration for its 2017 budget implementation.

    The committee, led by its Chairman, Mohammed Umaru Bago, hailed the agency for repositioning the maritime.

    It spoke during an oversight visit to the agency yesterday.

    Speaking shortly after listening to a presentation from the agency on the 2017 budget performance,  Bago noted that there has been improvement in its activities.

    “We have visited beneficiaries of NSDP in some countries, in Egypt for example we discovered over 300 cadets undergoing sea time training. As a committee, we will continue to give the agency the legislative backing in ensuring that it achieves its mandate to ensure a robust maritime sector,” Bago said.

    Peterside hailed the committee for its support, reiterated the agency’s commitment to continue making accountability its watchword.

    He said: “When you are given an assignment, you are expected to be accountable; you are expected to conduct the assignment in a transparent manner and that is exactly what NIMASA is doing. We have the mandate to promote and regulate shipping activities in Nigeria and we have to continue to engage stakeholders locally and internationally and assure them of a conducive environment for their businesses to thrive.”

  • Ahmed promises 90 per cent budget implementation

    Ahmed promises 90 per cent budget implementation

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has promised that his administration remains resolute in achieving over 80 per cent budget implementation on capital projects.

    Ahmed, who spoke while inspecting ongoing projects in Ilorin yesterday, reaffirmed the government’s determination to bridge infrastructure deficit in the state.

    A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Abdulwahab Oba, said: “The administration achieved 70 per cent budget implementation last year and we are determined to achieve between 80 and 90 per cent this year.”

    He explained that infrastructure is key in facilitating socio-economic development, and promised that the government would not relevant in providing critical infrastructure for the development of Kwara State.

    The governor has commiserated with the Emir of Ilorin, the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU), families and friends, on the death of Justice Saka Yusuf.

    The deceased was the state’s former chief judge.

    A statement by Oba described Justice Yusuf’s death as the exit of a fearless but God-fearing legendary legal luminary.

    The statement reads: “The late Justice Saka contributed his quota to the state and humanity within the opportunities available to him as a Chief Judge of the state and former National President of the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU). No doubt, the exit of this legal icon will be missed by his family in particular and the state in general.”

    Ahmed prayed God to grant the deceased rest and the families, friends and the entire Emirate the fortitude to bear the loss.

  • Buhari seeks three months for the implementation of FCT 2017 budget

    Resident Muhammadu Buhari has asked for the extension of the implementation of the N222.36 billion 2017 budget of the Federal Capital Territory  (FCT) to March 2018.

    According to him, the FCT Appropriation Act, 2017 had only there days of implementation having been assented to on December 29, 2017.

    The breakdown of the budget showed that Capital projects got N128.49b, while N52.58b  was allocated for Personnel costs and N41.30b  for Recurrent expenditure.

    In his letter to Speaker Yakubu Dogara that was read on the floor of the House yesterday, the President explained that on July 20, 2017, he forwarded FCT’s 2017 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly for consideration.

    The letter reads: “The Bill as passed was communicated to me on December 22, 2017. I assented to same on December 29, 2017.

    “Accordingly, the Act had only three days of operation from December 29th to 31st December, 2017.

    “Unless the Act is amended to extend the implementation beyond December 31, 2017 as therein contained, the operations of the FCT will be hampered.

    “I therefore forward herewith the Bill to extend the implementation of the FCT Appropriation Act to March, 2018 or such other time as the 2018 FCT Appropriation Act would come in effect , whichever is earlier”.

  • Of poor budget implementation

    The perennial gap between budgetary estimates and implementation is a growing concern and a contributory cause for poor economic development. Budget is variously regarded as a comprehensive document of estimates of government’s income and expenditure proposed for a specified period which is usually one year. In Nigeria, it is not unusual to hear of frequent low budget implementation, leaving one to wonder if our budgets are always designed to be partially implemented.

    Any student who scores less than average in exams cannot be deemed to have done well. If this universal measurement approach is applied to assess government performance on budget implementation, then citizens would objectively score their government based on how the budget performs. There is no how a government should feel it has performed well when it continues to score low on execution of its budgets.

    Both arms of government – the executive and legislature are to blame for delay and poor annual budget implementation. The late submission of budget proposals by the Presidency to the National Assembly and the unnecessary prolonged deliberations on the appropriation bill  by the legislators have been seen to be the major reasons for the ineffective implementation of the budget.

    Since the inception of this fourth republic, it has been observed that, it often takes successive governments an average of close to six months from presentation to the passage and the final presidential accent before a budget is ready for implementation sometimes close to the middle of the year. This delay in budgets’ approval and subsequent implementation also affects fiscal planning in private and non-formal sectors of the economy whose projections are usually predicated on federal government allocation to its ministries and agencies. Also, the recurring less than 45 percent capital component in budget implementation is quite worrisome.

    Experts have over the years continued to criticize extra-budgetary spending, poor revenue collection and remittance, defective procurement processes, poor administrative monitoring and weak  legislative oversight, all of which have accounted for a weak link within the budgetary processes with a corollary poor delivery by government in its key target development areas.

    It is not the ineptitude of the public sector planners but insincerity and propensity towards profligacy that make our budgets to be designed in a way that makes their effective implementation difficult. Even where objectives are carefully enumerated, corruption has a way of derailing such plans although most people have blamed the less than average performance of the budgets on our oil-sensitive economy, which places our budgets at the mercies of the vagary of dynamic international oil pricing.  However, we have seen in this country many times where oil pump prices become higher than their projected estimates by almost half, yet the budget still failed to perform optimally.

    Even if corruption is fought at all sectors of the economy without beaming its  search light on the budget planning office to unravel and carefully scrutinize inputs from various ministries, departments, commissions, agencies and parastatals, the nation would continue to experience unclear budgetary directions and minimal implementation of projects captured in such budgets.

    Lagos State for instance has been found to have an improved performance of its budget of nearly 90 percent with an improved trajectory for a continuous increase in its Internally Generated Revenue. The transparent budgetary processes of the state have no doubt demystified that system which many states and federal government are still struggling to grasp.

    When figures are unnecessarily tinkered with, many wonder what constitutes padding; others question who has the authority to decide which projects should be in the budget, we are indeed in a serious dilemma. The question we the citizens should ask is who do we hold responsible where our expectations are not met?  If the simple process of executive preparing and presenting the budget to the National Assembly for consideration becomes such a tedious process, then it is personal interest that has compounded otherwise seamless and simple process.

    In Nigeria, unlike the usual practice in other climes where legislators are respected based on the quality of their contributions on the floor of the parliaments. Here, it is how much one is able to spend that guarantees his re election. So the process of garnering what to spend for re-election is the reason for this orchestrated row during budget deliberations and considerations. And this also explains the energetic passion over constituency projects by lawmakers. Do not be deceived, it is not because of the needs of the constituents that would necessitate expressions of such strong emotions in defence of these projects. It is their pockets that they are eager to line, after all the funds for the so-called constituency projects virtually end up there.

    A survey was recently conducted in some parts of the country to see the impacts of the much touted constituency projects embarked upon by both past and serving legislators on the lives of the people. Your guess may be as good as mine; abandoned solar-powered boreholes with large overhead tanks, non-functional street lights, civic centres over-grown with weeds and many of such projects which were not designed to meet any particular needs were replete in most communities visited.

    The legislators may not likely approve clearly inflated proposed expenditures sent from the executive but they would not also be willing to part without the usual practice of padding the budgets. This cocktail of conflicting personal interests most often holds the entire nation’s economy to ransom.

    • Etim writes from Calabar.

  • Minister: implementation of innovation roadmap’ll save over N3tr

    The execution of the National Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmap (NSTIR) will save Nigeria over $11 billion (about N4 trillion) within five years, the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, has said.

    He spoke at the unveiling of the NSTIR 2030 document and interactive session of the Southwest sensitisation on the document.

    “NSTIR 2030 is a roadmap of all roadmaps. Other roadmaps have a life span of three to five years, but this roadmap of 13 years would outlive this  government and would also outlive my stay as minister,” Onu stressed.

    According to him, NSTIR is a development plan for the country, which will help the nation move away from over dependence on oil, and also from a commodity dependent economy to an intellectual based economy.

    “If China with over one billion population could do it, Nigeria will. Our problem is not the population, but to harness the intellectual potentials and the talents of the populace. Our generation must do better than the previous generations,” Onu said.

    The Minister said it was the priority of the administration to harness the raw materials and products that are abundant in the country so as to stop their importation and the huge foreign exchange spent on them.

    He added that governors, commissioners of science and technology, universities and polytechnics, the organised private sector and research institutes as well as Nigerians in Diaspora contributed to the development of the science road map.

    The minister commended the Federal Institute for Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) for its contributions towards the development of the NSTIR.

    FIIRO Director-General, Prof. Gloria Elemo, promised that the institute would continue to support the ministry’s programmes in pursuit of government’s vision on the diversification and growth of the economy using the tools of science, technology and innovation.

    Elemo assured the minister of the Institute’s unalloyed support of his campaign of using the instrument of science, technology and innovation to drive the national economy as seen in the ‘Change Agenda’ through economic diversification programme of the present administration.

    “But this cannot happen without a roadmap, which is what the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology under the leadership of the Minister of Science and Technology has put together.

    “The event is a Sensitisation Programme on the National Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmap at the Southwest geo-political zone’, she stated.

    Science and Technology Promotion Director, Mr. Ekanem Udoh, said the road map is for the private sector to see what the government has put in place, acquire it and build industries to generate jobs for the teeming unemployed youths.

    “This provides framework to promote science and technology and provide catalyst to move science and technology forward in Nigeria. It is also to create platform for Nigerians to key into science, technology and innovation in every sector of the economy,” he explained.

  • PwC: 2018 budget implementation hinges on revenue accretion

    The proposed 2018 N8.6 trillion Budget of Consolidation announced by the Federal Government is to be funded with projected revenues of N6.6 trillion, with oil and non-oil accounting for 37.0 per cent and 63.0 per cent, respectively.

    The budget proposes an aggressive increase in non-oil revenues to N4.2 trillion. However, while the reduced reliance on oil revenues is plausible, the trend and reasons for revenue under-performance in previous years suggest that this target might be difficult to achieve.

    PwC Nigeria made this known in its latest “Nigeria Economic Alert” tilled ‘2018 budget: Implementation Hinges on Revenue Accretion’ released on Wednesday.

    The audit and advisory firm said Nigeria’s low tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio at around six per cent was a consequence of a poor and inefficient tax collection system.

    “While the government has implemented specific measures to address this by expanding the tax base and increasing tax compliance using various incentives, the impact is yet to materialise,” PwC said, in its analysis of the proposed spending.

    The report by PwC Nigeria Partner & Chief Economist Dr. Andrew S Nevin and Economist Adedayo Akinbiyi said as a result, “We estimate that the fiscal deficit could overshoot projections by as much as 67 .7 per cent to N3.4 trillion.

    The Federal Government announced a 2018 budget proposal, which put spending at a record high of N8.6 trillion. The 2018 budget assumes an oil price benchmark of $45/bbl, oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of N305/USD.

    According to the budget speech, the aim was to consolidate on the improvement in economic growth in 2017 by sustaining the reflationary policies of the past two budgets.

    The budget is to be funded with revenues projected at N6.6 trillion (+30.1% y/y), with oil and non-oil accounting for 37.0 per cent and 63.0 per cent, respectively.

    Although, the budget estimates the 2018 deficit at N2.0 trillion, PwC said given its outlook of revenue under-performance, it expects a higher-than-expected deficit, which could bring the federal Government’s debt stock to N20.9 trillion in 2018 (2017E: N17 .6 trillion).

    “We believe government would rely more on the domestic debt market to finance this deficit, given the availability of a stable domestic investor base, which includes the Pension Funds.

    “Moreover, external financing could be tight in 2018 due to the uptrend in interest rates in advanced economies, particularly in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK). Following this, we estimate that debt to GDP could rise marginally to 15.1 per cent (201 7E: 1 4.6%)

    “This is closer to Nigeria’s country-specific threshold of 1 9.4 per cent, but still far below the International Monetary Fund (IMF’s) recommended threshold of 56 per cent,” PwC said.

    While noting that the low debt-to-GDP ratio was reassuring, the firm said debt service to revenue ratio, which is often cited as a better measure of debt sustainability is projected at 30.1 per cent in 2018 (threshold: 28per cent).

    “Based on our estimates, this could rise to 45.9 per cent in the event the budget deficit reaches 2.4 per cent of GDP,” the firm projected.

    It also said inflationary risks subdue scope for monetary easing. PwC said given a reduction in core inflation to 12.1 per cent y/y in September 2017, and its expectation of a continued moderation in inflation in the near term, it believes there is sufficient head-room for a rate cut in Q1 2018.

    “However, this reflationary budget, which provides for a 12.0 per cent increase in personnel costs, raises inflation expectations. Likewise, history suggests that the commencement of the election cycle ahead of the 2019 general elections could portend significant inflationary risks, thus reducing the scope for monetary easing,” the report concluded.