Haiti under the Duvaliers, comprising Papa Doc and his son, Baby Doc, who ruled successively from 1957 to 1986, following a controversial election won by Papa Doc in the earlier year, before dying in 1971, after which Baby Doc took over. Their progressive kleptocratic regimes were marked by extreme corruption and the systematic and brutal plundering of the national wealth. Under their rule, the economy deteriorated, poverty became widespread, and public funds were diverted for personal enrichment, leading to the severe decline in public services and a growing gap between the wealthy elite and the impoverished masses. They also led extravagant lifestyles, which contrasted starkly with the poverty of most Haitians, and invested minimally in education, healthcare, and essential services. The Duvalier era remains one of the most damaging periods in Haitian history till date!
Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, gained independence from Britain in 1980, with Robert Mugabe becoming the country’s first prime minister and later president. Initially, Zimbabwe experienced economic growth and was considered one of Africa’s most prosperous nations. However, Mugabe’s tendencies and policies such as corruption, mismanagement, increased borrowing, capital flight, inefficiency and the printing of money, led to economic decline, with the worst period being the 2000s, which witnessed the hyperinflation crisis, when the Zimbabwean inflation rate reached 89.7 sextillion (89,700,000,000,000,000,000) per cent per month, making the Zimbabwean Dollar worthless, and in 2009, Zimbabwe officially abandoned its currency and adopted a multi-currency system.(The Economic Decline of Zimbabwe: Neither Growth nor Equity)
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As Nigeria hurtles towards the path of Haiti or Rhodesia or both, lets delve into the issues that will help us decide.
The VPs House
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According to Worldometer (A United Nations real-time estimate data centre), the current population of Nigeria, as of 11 April, is estimated at 236,413,198. The Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa’s (CAHF) country profile for Nigeria, highlights the housing deficit as at 2023 to be 28 million houses and growing, requiring an estimated sum of N35.5 trillion to finance the housing deficit.
On Friday the 7th of June 2024, after 14 years, the official residence of the vice president was commissioned. The cost of this remarkable heaven on earth edifice was a staggering and obscene amount of N21 billion, amidst a struggling populace, the skyrocketing prices of basic utilities, electricity that was rationed often on an apartheid-like basis, a plummeting naira, and the removal of essential subsidies.
The government claimed that providing a suitable residence for the vice president is not merely a matter of convenience, but a symbol of respect for the office and the individual occupying it. It also described the funding of the house as a commitment to transparency, accountability, and efficient resource utilisation.
That’s how sadistic and morally bankrupt government is!
The 73rd Birth Day Bash
No one, none at all, has a hand in the presence of commercial crude oil in Nigeria, yet the administration said that it had removed subsidy from our God-given oil! And to add salt to injury, at “a sight to behold” 73rd birthday party of the president, he was referred to as being courageous for removing the subsidy.
Now our question is “is it culturally, morally and politically right” for a country’s president to use state resources for personal celebrations before or after removing subsidy from petrol and electricity, especially with the current economic challenges in which multitudes of citizens did not see food to eat that day, while all those who graced the occasion likely had foodstuffs busting at the seams in their houses. Maybe it was a state event!
The True Value of Life and that of the Naira
To understand how the naira is becoming a Zimbabwean currency, let’s take a look at the report of the National Moonsighting Committee of Nigeria, based on the value of gold on 28 March.
- Zakat Nisab is N12,921,120.00. To put it graphically, in Islam, a person who has N12,900,000.00 untouched for a whole year, is poor and not expected to pay zakat on that sum of money.
- The theft threshold is N161,514.00. To illustrate, in Islam, a person who unjustifiably consumes an amount/resource that belongs to someone or some people else, which is equivalent to N161,514.00 upon conviction, is liable to have his/her hand cut off.
- Blood money (Diyyah) is N646,056,000.00. Also to illustrate, the cost of a life in Islam is over half a billion naira. Meaning any one who kills an innocent soul, upon conviction, is liable to pay that amount to the family of the deceased.
The 2025 Budget and Excessive Borrowing
The approved budget for 2024 was N27.5 trillion (let’s assume it is not padded), and if we may dare ask, what was the budget performance in that year?
The 2025 approved Nigerian Budget of Restoration (minus padding if any) is N54.99 trillion from N49.7 trillion earlier presented. Debt servicing is N14.32 trillion. Meanwhile, the projected deficit is N13.08 trillion, to be financed through borrowing!
The precise total borrowing by the present administration, from 29 May, 2023 till date, can safely be said to be non-existent or at best it shows incompetence, as neither the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS) “Nigerian Domestic and Foreign Debt Q1 2024” report nor the Debt Management Office’s (DMO) “Nigeria Public Debt Statistical Bulletin Q3 2023” can give one a sensible figure. However, based on the latest complete breakdown (Q3 2023) and the total debt figure for Q1 2024, the Federal Government’s debt stock, excluding those of the sub-nationals, is estimated to be around N114 trillion as of the first quarter of 2024. This is a ticking time bomb.
The Erosion of Democratic Principles and Human Rights
The suppression of dissent, as exemplified by the #EndBadGovernance and other protests, highlights the government’s disregard for democratic principles and human rights. The use of excessive force and recent arrest of innocent children yet to reach puberty and peaceful protesters, are a grave violation of fundamental freedoms as stated in Chapter IV (Sections 33 – 46) of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) and Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
The Naira-for-Crude Deal
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) in July 2024 directed the NNPCL to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery in naira. This FEC directive is essentially more like a scam of Nigerians or the height of impunity of government. In Nigeria, the use of foreign currencies for domestic transactions is generally prohibited, with specific regulations reinforcing the primacy of the naira as the sole legal tender. This is anchored on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 2007 Act, Section 20(1), which stipulates that the naira is the only legal tender in Nigeria. Any pricing or payment for goods and services in foreign currencies within the country contravenes this provision.
Furthermore, Section 20(5) of the Act criminalises and stipulates that any person(s) who contravenes this provision is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a prescribed fine or six months imprisonment. Additionally, the CBN has issued directives through its circulars warning individuals and businesses against denominating or demanding payments in foreign currencies for domestic transactions. Violations are to be reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the CBN for appropriate action.
Certainly, a government official or officials who refused to abide by this law should face the consequences of his or their actions.
Dumping the National Power Grid for a N10 billion Solar Grid
Let Nigerians don’t forget, in late December 2022, someone promised Nigerians that, “If I don’t give you constant electricity for four years, don’t vote for me when I come back for second term.”
The abandonment of the national grid by the by the Aso Rock occupants is nothing short of impunity, lack of accountability, opacity in government dealings and crude policies of government. It was a photo-shop opportunity when the clueless government proudly approved the removal of electricity subsidy, increase in electricity tariff and creation of a scam and apartheid band system, with the Villa finding itself in Band A. And to cap it all, the minister that mislead the president to increase tariffs unnecessarily is still sitting pretty in his post, instead of facing the consequences of his actions. Our take here is that “finally, the chicken has come home to roost.”
In line with its crude political exigencies in the run-up to the 2027 elections, the government seems ill-equipped to stem the tide of economic decline and is only obsessed with the perks of office and directing government affairs to activities that benefit only its members.
In the final analysis, what we see is the executive’s response and that of the legislature, which appears to be a flurry of additional naivety, impunity and the decamping of elected officials, which shows that they are “deaf, dumb, and blind, as they are unable to return to righteousness.”
Adamu Rabiu, a monitoring and evaluation specialist on policy, finance, risk, politics, good governance and an advocate for sustainable development, writes from Kaduna.
