By Dr Olisa Agbakoba
The big budget decision – I was not surprised that our National budget has reached 50trillion for 2025. I predicted this possibility 5 years ago. We are simply not collecting potential revenue. Thanks to 2 men the possibility of hitting 100 trillion budget by 2026 is a viable possibility!!! I think we are concentrating on the tax side of revenue and ignoring the governance side. If the twin effort of tax and governance revenue are escalated, we ought to hit 500 trillion budget annually by 2030. To do this requires innovation. First bureaucratic procedures must give way to practical outcomes. Second is big leadership. Third is Easing the hardship in the land by a quantitative easing and big ticket palliatives so that all fees are waived at primary and secondary schools and health care is made free like the NHS in the Uk.
More imaginative palliatives is urgently needed to cushion the impact of the tough correction in progress. I always recommended a department of efficiency innovation and transformation to cut waste. Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk to perform this task in the US. Part of the success of Margaret Thatcher was her Efficiency office. There is far too much waste of Government resources in Nigeria that an effective efficiency can cut significantly. We need to see substantial borrowing to get manufacturing off the ground. There will be no production if we don’t cut waste and consumption. I look forward therefore to a lean Government shedding excess weight by the federal Government unloading power to states and local Governments.
Government must let go of its unnecessary hold on Education. The decades of underfunding of ASUU may be resolved by making education autonomous of tight Government control. I believe an effective and efficient Government can deliver good quality of life to Nigerians. Inflation will go down if productivity improves. These steps are easy but require major leadership decisions. The pain all Nigerians feel at present is completely resolvable with new tools applied.