Elites Collide To Steal Nigeria’s Resources – Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday lampooned the Nigerian elite, saying irrespective of where they came from, they were united in stealing government resources.

Osinbajo, who spoke at the Nigerian Economic Summit, which opened in Abuja on Tuesday, said the elite only cared about where government officials were appointed from whenever they wanted to use ethnic or regional platform to further their selfish interests.

He said, “You find out that the elite, whether from the South-West, North-West or wherever are willing to collaborate in stealing the resources of the state.

“It is important to point out that the idea of where a person appointed into government comes from is meant to divert attention.”

He also explained that the financial bailout offered to some states of the federation by the Federal Government was as a result of low Internally Generated Revenue by the states as well as the dwindling resources they were receiving from the Federation Account as a result of low oil prices.

Osinbajo also emphasised why the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government must focus on social safety nets and fight the menace of corruption through transparency, accountability and personal example.

He said, “We are at a time of monumental challenges and tough choices, but also a time of incredible opportunities for achieving competitiveness, inclusive growth and sustainability.

“We, as a government, are called upon to make tough choices in exchange control restrictions, altering the absurd recurrent to capital expenditure ratio, reducing the deficit and reducing the overall size of governance. We are called upon to clean up the mess and rebuild the institutions that corruption has ravaged over the years.

“We are compelled to redress the paradox of high growth figures and widening inequality, and rising unemployment and poverty. It is evident that any economic model that leaves nearly half of the citizenry behind requires re-thinking.

“It requires rethinking of the citizens. This is why our economic model will involve substantial social safety investments over the next few years.”

The vice president said the bailout of the states from their financial quagmire was not a clean bill that they might not have been involved in financial recklessness.

He noted, “We recognised that there was a drop in states’ revenue due to the drop in oil price. This led to the inability of some states to pay salaries. In realising this fact and the fact that many of them have very little internally generated revenue, the government responded with the bailout. I am not absolving any state from financial recklessness.

“We thought that the best thing would be to work out a way that the banks would take Federal Government Bonds, meaning that states will now owe the Federal Government that will in turn do the deduction from their federal allocations. We are sure that with the reform, they will be accountable to the people.”

Speaking on education, Osinbajo lamented the level of decay in the nation’s education system, describing it as a tragic situation.

He said, “When you look at the way education has gone, it is tragic and it goes beyond equipping the institutions. We have a situation where many cannot read and write. For us, that is a major problem.

“As a way of tackling this problem, we are increasing investment in education, and in many places worst hit by illiteracy, there will be greater attention. Even in the South, there is serious low male enrolment and teachers’ training issues.”

Emphasizing the importance of the judiciary in the fight against corruption, Osinbajo said the judiciary as an independent arm of government had also committed to reforms, and commended the present leadership of the judiciary for being serious about the fight against corruption.

The Chairman, Board of the NESG, Mr. Kyari Bukar, drew attention to the current economic challenges facing the country with emphasis on the imperative to make tough choices in view of the need to achieve competitiveness, inclusive growth and sustainability.

He commended the Buhari administration, especially on the prospects of resolving the country’s socio-political problems through its change agenda.