The siege on Lamido Sanusi

I disagreed with Sanusi when in unison with the duo of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Diezani Alison-Madueke trumpeted the removal of the “invisible” subsidy that swallowed up a huge chunk of our budgetary appropriations. It is inconceivable that a country with a consumption rate of 35 million litres per day could be doling out subsidy […]

I disagreed with Sanusi when in unison with the duo of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Diezani Alison-Madueke trumpeted the removal of the “invisible” subsidy that swallowed up a huge chunk of our budgetary appropriations. It is inconceivable that a country with a consumption rate of 35 million litres per day could be doling out subsidy funds on a figure of 55 million litres per day. It is the unaccounted 20 million litres that have overburdened the economy and created a fiscal challenge to the managers of our economy. It is therefore logical to oppose any policy direction that transfers the inefficiency of the state to impoverished citizens.

The driving factor in these matters is purely functioned on ideological contradictions pervading our socio-political commentary space. Is it not strange that one decries the continuous allocation of over 70 per cent of our budgets to recurrent expenditures, yet frowns at any suggestion of pruning the workforce through a systematic progression that draws down the workforce over a stipulated period? Most critics of Sanusi on this issue failed to differentiate between minimum wage which is an ally of social justice and over bloated civil service which is essentially the waste of our commonwealth on a workforce that arguably consists of over 50 per cent unproductive personnel. The CBN governor cannot be accused of suffering from selective amnesia on this issue because prior to his outburst on the size of the civil service at all levels, he had taken the National Assembly to task over their continuous gulping of almost a quarter of our annual appropriations. In essence, his call for reduction of government expenditures at all levels has been consistent, non-discriminatory and primarily geared at engendering savings that should be channelled to critical areas of the economy.

Another absurdity that emerged from the Sanusi’s call for prudent management of our scarce resources was the hurried nature of the response from all levels of government. Government officials overdid themselves in their attempts to reassure workers that they will not be sacked? Did Sanusi call for the sack of the workers? They immediately forgot their daily cries on their inability to fulfil electoral promises due to high level of wages and salaries. Probably they have not been telling us the truth on this matter. We now know that over bloated payroll is the least of their problems. In strictly interrogating the position of Sanusi on this matter, we must draw a visible line between sacking of legitimately employed civil servants and effective drawdown of the labour force within a definite timeframe to bring it in line with our economic realities. While the former is summary, arbitral and whimsical, the latter is anchored on a graduated template that retrains, refocuses and reposts redundant workers to be productive and contribute to national development. It essentially creates clear criteria on the modalities for new recruitments into the public service to save future policy makers and generation from our present difficulties.

The non-viability of almost all the states in the federation is no secret and most discerning Nigerians have decried the “begging bowl syndrome” of the state governors in financing even the minutest of projects. What is wrong in calling for a second look at the state of the states as federating units? Have the governors not been crying on daily basis because of paucity of funds? Let us get serious for once as a people. The hypocritical selection of message absorption is one of the greatest dangers we face as a nation. Some critics of the Sanusi’s “outburst” could have definitely viewed it in another light had the messenger been different. Kill the message because of the messenger which has never benefited anybody.

We have all condemned the sham that is local government administration in Nigeria. Was Sanusi wrong in calling for their abolition or by my interpretation the cessation of funding availed to them? What is the logic in allowing the operation of local government and state joint accounts, conferment of powers to states to control the local governments and state independent electoral bodies, yet we think it is sensible to statutorily finance their operations from the consolidated fund. It is time we holistically look into these matters to instil good governance, probity and accountability. We should have extended kudos to the man for highlighting the issues once more instead of upbraiding him.

The most ridiculous of all the criticisms is the notion that he is speaking too much beyond his official designation. This idea that he should be seen but not heard is as clueless as asking a religious leader to turn deaf ears to the rot in the society because he is supposed to be apolitical. The laughable part is that majority of those shutting him up now were in agreement with him when he joined the finance minister to force the “invisible” fuel subsidy down our throats. I need them to convince me and other Nigerians that his effusions have affected the economy negatively. Sanusi’s style is different and what counts is that the job is being done and he has not been fingered in any malfeasance since his assumption of office.

Eme, an engineer, wrote this piece from Abuja and can be reached at: [email protected])