1. The curse of the recurrentexpenditure
Welcome toNigeria,acountryof ironies.A countryof wealthandpoverty.A countryfree of natural
disastersandfull of man-made ones.Itonlytakesabrief lookintoouraffairsto see that
something(s) is wrong.Butwe knowall this,sothisisn’tthe focusof myrant today.
I’mjust here to talk aboutsomethingNigeriansknow butdon’treallyknow.Anevolvedenemyof
the state who,like the biblical thief inthe night,comestokill,steal anddestroy.Ok,thatwasa tad
bitdramatic butthisis a sicknessthatiseatingintothe nation’sbodyandit keepsgettingstronger
yearafter year.
I call it “the recurrentcurse”.See yea,I’mproud of that name;it’scoinedfromthe recurrent
expenditure armof the national budgetandlike itsname,ithappenseveryyearsoyea,the name
justsuitsperfectly.Youdig?Nevermind.
JourneyingthroughLagosone dayon a particularlybumpyroadandone beginstothink“how hard
woulditbe to justproperlytar these roads”.Asyou mayknow,the governmentwouldn’tjustdip
theirhandsintotheircoffersandbringout anymoneyto fix the roads.That’swhy we have budgets.
You know,forpropermanagementof money because justlikethe roads,there are numerousother
areas thatneedfinancial attention.
Anywaysmycuriositywaspiqued(itdoesn’ttake muchreally) aboutthe wholenational budgetary
systemand(don’tworry,I’mnot tryingto bore you) I eventuallydidsome research. Itisquite a
fascinatingreadtoo.
Most people lookatour corruptleadersandtheirillegal practicesandlament;thisgovernor
embezzlingbillions,thissenatorreceivingmillionsasbribe,the storiescouldgoonforever.What
some do notrealize isthe legal corruptionthat goesonsteadily until some funnystorybringsitto
light.
You mighthave readthe storyof howNigeriaborrowedthe Malawianpresidentapresidential jetto
flyintothe countryfor a summit.Didyoualso know thatNigeriahappenstohave 10 aircraftsinour
presidential fleet?1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 presidentialjets.Didyoualsoknow thatover N9 billionis
spentonmaintenance forthese planeseveryyear?Didyoualsoknow thatcountrieslike Japan&
Hollandhave just2, SouthAfrica& Malaysia have justone. Eventhe BritishcharterBritishAirways
aircraftsfor theirroyaltyandgovt.officials.(Take note:All the nationsmentionedabove have a
higherGDP thanour country)
The word of the dayis “recurrentexpenditure”. I’msure mostof youknow what itmeansbut for
those whodon’t,itis the part of the budgetthataccounts forsalariesof govt.workers,pensionsand
overheadbills.Basically,the sumof moneyrequiredtorunthe governmentproperly.
Quicklesson:The national budgetismade upof fourcomponents:1. Statutorytransfers.2.Debt
services.3.Recurrentexpenditure.4.Capital expenditure. We’ll justskipthe Economicsclassand
focuson the last 2. Afterall,theyusuallyaccountforover80% of the entire budget.Like Imentioned
before,the recurrentisforrunninggovernmentandpayingstaff while the capital isfornew projects
and improvinginfrastructure.
Nowthisiswhere the problemis.

2. How can youprogressas a nationwhenabout50% of your total nation’sbudgetisalreadyreserved
as recurrentexpenditure everyyear? Whenonly30% isallocatedtocapital expenditure?Thisisn’t
fiction,guys.Ourleadersare literally,andlegallytoo,eatingthisnational cake.Nothingnew here,
we all knowthisbut itcan onlyhelptoputa face to thismenace.
I got differingstatistical datawhile Iresearchedbuttheyall toldthe same tale.Before moneyis
allocatedtosectorsto improve upon,amassive chunkissetaside tocater to the whimsof the
President,the State House,andall hisofficials. Thentheydiptheirgrubbyfingersintothe capital
budgetto finance some self-glorifyingstructure (orgate) thatwoulddefinitelygrease some fingers.
Afterall’sbeingsaidanddone,we runto Chinaor the WorldBank to borrow some money,or
privatise ourindustries.Like we’re some paupercountry.Everytime Isee newsof usborrowing
more moneyonthe news,Ijustthinkto myself “whatbirthrightof ourshave we soldoff thistime?”
The national budgetforthisyear2013 was justunderN5 trillionandoverN2.3 trillionof itisgoing
to recurrentexpenditure.Staff mustbe paidyes?ASUUis currentlyonstrike,citingnon-paymentfor
yearsfrom the government.Pensionerswaitinvaintocollecttheirwell-earnedcompensationyear
inyear out.Amidstall the complainsandstrikes,the budgetisthe budget.The recurrentallocation
doesn’tfalter.Matterof fact, the lowestithascome in the last7 budgetsis45% in2010 and the
highestis58.7% in 2011.
Out of the little thatisnow lefttoimprove the society,awonboysmuststill chop.We’re not
particularlydoinganawesome jobof helpingourselvesinthiscountry.The recurrentcurse mustbe
banished.Ourgovernment’sbeltmustbe tightened.
There has beensome trimmingamongstthe Federal Parastatals,andthere isabill whichjustpassed
itssecondreadinginthe House of Repsallocating40% minimumtocapital expenditure sothere are
a fewsignsshowingefforttowardscurbingthisanomalybutmore still hastobe done.
Rant over.