As the cost of livelihood continues to skyrocket, despite the Federal Government’s effort to better the lot of the ‘average’ Nigerian, it is important to note that each Nigerian in the country is a debtor and currently owes external creditors $157, that is N64,684.
This is as a result of the borrowing rate of the incumbent administration, led by President Muhammad Buhari.
Expressing worry over the development, Dr. Tayo Bello, a development economist, while expressing worry over the rate by which the Buhari government continues to borrow funds from external bodies, is alarming, as it does not reflect in physical infrastructures that can repay the loan.
Dr. Bello said:
“The problem with Nigeria is that the borrowed fund is not commensurate with the availability of revenue, both inflow and outflow, and does not reflect in infrastructure that can repay the loans. It is a garbage in, garbage out situation.”
Dr. Bello’s standpoint is in line with the statement of former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, who noted, in September, that it is foolish to borrow for recurrent expenditure, which amounts to spending so much without getting any profit.
READ ALSO: Lagos Police Reveals Its Strategy Ahead Of Proposed #EndSARS Protest
Obasanjo was quoted to have stated:
“If you want to build a commercial house and you go and borrow money, and you have 50 per cent of your own money and you borrow 50 per cent and in five years, you pay the 50 per cent that you borrowed. That is a wise thing to do. But if you have to go and borrow money for you to be able to feed yourself and your family, that is a stupid thing to do.
“So, if we are borrowing for recurrent expenditure, it is the height of foolery. If we are borrowing for development that can pay itself, that is understandable; then how long will it pay itself? But we are borrowing and accumulating debt for the next generation and the next generation after them, it is criminal, to put it mildly. What are we borrowing for?
According to the Debt Management Office, Nigeria’s external obligations stood at $33.468 billion As of June 30, 2021.
Meanwhile, as of Saturday, October 9, 2021, based on Worldometer’s elaboration of the latest United Nations data, Nigeria’s current population stands at 212,599,044, and when the country’s debt is equally divided, each person, old and young, irrespective of gender, is owing external entities $157.42 or N64,684 each.
This is as the country is looking at borrowing another N6 trillion to fund the N16 trillion spending for next year.
The country’s external borrowings have been on the increase in recent times, with the country’s external debt rising by $120.84 million between January and June this year.
In the meantime, Dr. Bello alleged that some persons steal the money that is borrowed and expressed worry over taking loans to fund a railway line leading to Niger Republic for the sheer reason that Nigeriens are President Muhammadu Buhari’s cousins.
