A former Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo Prof. Akpan Ekpo has said it would take Nigeria at least 125 years of not borrowing to repay it’s current domestic and foreign debts, describing the 90% of IGR used in servicing the debts as unsustainable.
He has also expressed disgust that more than 150 million Nigerians have continued to live in abject poverty despite the huge material resources at the disposal of the country,blaming bad leadership for the country’s dwindling economy.
Ekpo who made this known in a keynote lecture during the 1st Akwa Ibom Annual Civil Society Conference in Uyo yesterday also identified docile citizenry as a factor that has given room for bad governance in Nigeria and challenged citizens to demand for their political and economic rights from governments.
Represented by Prof Ntiedo Umoren, Ekpo decried the rate of inflation, economic downturns, corruption, infringement of human rights, abuse of rule of law and other socio-economic crises bedeviling Nigeria and urged the CSOs to wake up to their duties of advocating for the poor masses and engaging government.
“The acceptable unemployment rate in economics in between 4-5 per cent.The Ekpo’s Misery index (EMI) showed steady increase from 2008 to 2020. The EMI which was 43 percent in 2008 rose to 59.3 percent in 2017. In 2020, the EMI was about 71 per cent indicating the misery state of Nigerians. Overall, the economic performance has been largely unsatisfactory.
“The EPI shows declining trend from 2008-2020. The satisfactory score is 80 per cent. The poverty index confirms the misery of Nigerians; about 150 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor (NBS, 2022).
“Regarding the fiscal aspect of the economy, the macro-management resulted in persistent deficit form 2007-2021, while the ratio of capital expenditure to total expenditure stood at 25 per cent for the same period. It should be noted that it is capital expenditure that enhances growth.
“The economy recorded persistent fiscal deficit and violated the conditions stipulated in the fiscal Responsibility Law during the period 2007-2022. The debt profile, though sustainable, is worrisome given the fact that almost 90 percent of revenue is used in servicing debt (see Table A1 in the appendix) (Ekpo, 2022c).” He posited.
He also harped on good followership, saying that, the CSOs and the followers must synergize, monitor and ensure good governance to avoid uncommon misery under the democracy.
“Citizens must be awake of their responsibility to demand their rights from government – these rights are both economic and political. There is a level of poverty that frustrates citizens and inhibit them from asking for good governance. They become helpless.
“On their part, the CSOs must always be the peoples watch-dog thus ensuring that government perform its responsibilities to the citizens. These include the right to food, clothing, health, education, and shelter.
“You can never have good governance when people are poor and hungry. A visionary and transformative leader must give the people hope in a democracy. It is expected that the present leadership in Nigeria with its renewed hope agenda would ensure good governance.” Ekpo said.
Chairman of the Conference and a member of the National Assembly, Barr Ime Okon in his remarks said that both the Conference and its theme have come at a good time as Nigeria at all levels of government was grappling with the challenges of good governance to birth the dividends of democracy.
Okon, who is the member representing Itu/Ibiono Ibom Federal Constituency said that the theme of the Conference directly establishes a nexus between good governance and democracy.
“For good governance to be sustainable in the polity, there is need for democratic accountability which thrives on three political virtues: informational transparency (knowledge about government actors, decisions and access to government information); participatory transparency (ability to participate in political decisions, either through fair representation or direct participation); and accountability transparency (ability to hold government accountable).
“The above transparencies, though lofty, can not be achieved without the involvement of the mass media, social media inclusive. By exposing corrupt or inept officials, malfunctioning public utilities, badly run public organisations, the processes in decision-making in government, the activities of government etc, the media unveil government before the public for scrutiny
State Director of Centre for Human Rights and Accountability Network, CHRAN, organisers of the conference, Comrade Franklyn Isong in his welcome address said the conference is meant to set agenda for new governments in the Country as it came at a time when the new administrations were yet to fully commence the process of implementing their blueprints for the benefits of the citizenry.
“As civil rights groups, we are here to renew our avowed commitment to continue to press forward with profound advocacies that will enhance the living condition of the voiceless, the oppressed and the deprived masses of the Nigerian State in spite of the many challenges that encumbered our advocacies.
“The Center intends that this Conference shall amongst other things, serve as a yearly training platform for the participants, particularly members of the civil society groups and the human rights community who are always in the frontline of our struggle to ensure good governance, rule of law and accountability in government at all levels.” Isong stated.
