Sanusi raises alarm over increasing debt in Nigeria

 
THE Emir of Kano, who was also former Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, Muhammadu Sanusi II has raised an alarm over the increasing debt in the country.
The traditional ruler who was the keynote speaker at the Second Kaduna Investment Summit, stated that among other oil-producing countries in Africa, Nigeria is the only one, “borrowing domestically to fund current expenditure”.
He added that the growth of Nigeria was driven largely by rising commodity prices and debt, and the module has reached the logical limit with the collapse in oil price.
Quoting the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the monarch said the Federal Government of Nigeria is spending 66 percent of its interest revenue on debt, which means only 34 percent of its revenue is available for capital expenditure, recurrent expenditure and development.
He added that the 2017 budget presented by the Federal Government is a budget that goes for more debt.
“As a country, we must understand that the module of government borrowing and spending has reached its limit, therefore growth must only come from investment,” he stressed.
The Emir crititicised leaders that go to China to sign MoU and come back with debts forgetting their areas of development.
“A nation and a state is only transformed by vision, once that vision is lost every other thing around the vision collapses”.
Delving into the factors hindering development in the North, the Emir challenged the leaders to focus more on education and health sector, asking them to use their resources to deal with the issues of poverty in the region.
He also dispelled the general belief that the problems facing the region, especially with regard to health, has something to do with religion. He challenged the elite in the North to show leadership and tackle head on the issues of out-of-school children, diseases, poverty and unemployment.
The occasion was well attended by industrialists, traditional rulers, media owners and government functionaries.