Why FG Should Not Borrow From The Pension Fund

Early this year, the Federal Government (FG) expressed the desire to borrow N620 billion loan from the National Pension Fund. Every worker’s union and retiree opposed the plan. We The Guardian join every Nigerian to vehemently oppose the plan to further impoverish Nigerians through this domestic borrowing. Already, FG is owing the world N40 trillion, thus making President Buhari to have borrowed more than all former presidents combined. Upon this, deficit financing of the 2022 budget at N6.25trillion, which is 3.4 percent of Nigeria’s GDP and more than the 3 percent allowed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. As we are borrowing more, debt servicing swallows a larger chunk of our resources, compounding the social welfare challenges of our people. Worse still both federal and state governments promise more taxes, taxation of commuters in Lagos and removal of oil subsidy by Buhari. Government is making Nigeria unlivable by these multiple taxes. The general level of inflation is intolerable, insecurity is at its highest since the civil war; life expectancy is as low as 55 years, economic growth stands at 1.5 percent, poverty rate is 43 percent, unemployment rate is 14.2 percent and galloping inflation is 15.4 percent. Where do we go from here? More worrisome is growing corruption in high places. Only recently, the secretary to the Government of the Federation openly declared that Nigeria is exporting corruption, since on the once clean highways , Federal Road Safety officials now contract pure water hawkers to collect bribes from drivers who do not want to be delayed. Which is why we don’t need more loans to sustain corruption in high places. The high cost of governance in Nigeria is unsustainable. But the solution is unpalatable to the president. Just as the creation of regional police and the devolution of police powers to that of National Guard is not acceptable to the president, the ensuing suggestions may not be acceptable him as well. To scale down government spending, in this age of paperless administration half of the civil service should be retired. Like in the United States, the offices of minister of External Affairs and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation should be merged into one: the office of the Secretary of State. By the same token, the ministry of Police Affairs should be returned as a department in the ministry of the Interior. Both the national Orientation Agency and the National Youth Service Corps should be scrapped. They are merely duplicating the duties of others. To believe that NYSC is contributing to national unity is false belief. There can never be unity in Nigeria without justice and the observance of the federal character principle. There should be 36 ministries in obedience to the Constitution which requires a minister for each state. Government should budget for our needs not our wants. Great Britain our mother country has no royal fleet with which the Queen and her Prime Minister travels. The Nigerian President does not need a fleet of planes. As host to the poorest people on earth the Nigerian president can only charter planes to travel. Therefore, Nigeria cannot borrow to indulge our wants. Thus, we join other Nigerians to oppose borrowing loans from Pension Funds. Besides, the FG isn’t trustworthy. Government has not honored promises it gave to the Academic Staff Union of Universities. It didn’t honor its pledge to restructure the country as given in its manifesto. The FG will not return the loan if it is allowed to borrow from the Pension Fund.