By AISHAT JIMOH

Monday, 31 Jan 2011

Nigerians have continued to call for a reduction in salaries and allowances of legislators, saying they are unjustifiable. An economist and former Vice-Chancellor, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Prof. Afolabi Soyode, says the economy, in its current state, cannot afford such huge salaries, especially as regards the actual contribution of legislators to economic growth. He spoke to AISHAT JIMOH in Abeokuta. Excerpts:

Do you agree with the notion that Nigeria’s expensive democracy, especially the lavish spending on the legislative arm of government, is a major stumbling block in the way of productive spending?

I do agree and I have a major concern here. They have been talking about this jumbo pay and members of the National Assembly have been opposing comments by people on the matter. But I have not heard a single voice from the National Assembly as regards what the actual pay is. Why have we not heard two or three senators or a few representatives talking about their actual salaries or basic allowances? They have the data in their pockets, they can say, for instance, that in 2009; this was our total pay , and tell us that it is different from what somebody at the central bank had said. There is a kind of conspiracy against the people because the argument is that they are earning too much and it is affecting development and they are not talking about the real issue.

My view is that they should reduce that jumbo pay drastically because the economy cannot afford it, their level of performance cannot justify what they are earning. And I do not believe that any legislator should earn more than twice what a professor or an appeal court judge earns in this country. With the level of education, complexity of duties that I know university professors have, I do not believe any legislator should deserve more than twice what they earn. We should use some benchmark to fix what people earn in the public service and it should not be outrageously beyond that.

Experts have continued to score the economy low despite various policies that have been put in place to alleviate poverty. Would you then say that the country has been pursuing the right policies?

Which policies are we pursuing? Well, from what I can infer, good power supply is being considered, and things are being done in the transport sector too. But here again, I think there is incoherence. Look at the conditions of our roads, at least the parts that I know in this South-West, whether the urban or inter-city roads, they are in bad shape. There is no way we can develop if we cannot move people and goods freely. We spend hours in heavy traffic. Some days back, I passed through the Sango Ota bridge, which they said they did, and I discovered that there were still problems. The roads under the bridge that are supposed to have been taken care of have not been done and we have such all over the place. Something must be done about the roads in this country. They are doing something about rail, I hope, but water supply is bad. There is no way we can develop if there is no water. I have been living in a government estate for about 19 years, and there is no single drop of water. We depend on boreholes, and if you cannot get water in government estates, what are you expecting in the inner cities?

There are many areas calling for attention and I don’t see government addressing them in a manner that may be considered serious. And this is where the jumbo pay and corruption issues come in. They award contracts that will not be executed and when they are executed, it is only because those executing them will benefit. For instance, I read in the papers that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s involvement in the pension scheme had saved government about a trillion naira. This means that this had been going to private pockets before under different schemes. But it is not just enough to say you are saving that amount, the EFCC, ICPC should take a very critical look at the sources of these diversions, and deal with the individuals involved whether they are still in service or have retired. We should not overlook the fact that they have inconvenienced pensioners. Many have died in the quest for their rights because of these fraudulent schemes.

As a pensioner myself, I have felt improvements in pension payments in the past few months. They are more regular, and this was not the case until about a year or two ago. When people serve a country, they deserve to be taken seriously when they cannot do anything for themselves again.

What would you consider a major stumbling block in the way of growth in Nigeria?

A major stumbling block is policy inconsistency, and I don’t also think that we have convinced ourselves about the private sector-led development approach. That has helped many countries of the world and we should adopt it, especially when we think of the amount of resources we even have as a state. Someone even passed a joke that the total resources of Nigeria may not be up to the budget of New York. We think we have money, but how much do we have? That is why I am always infuriated when they say government alone cannot do it. Who says government alone can do it? All we are saying is that they should allow those who have funds from around the world access to these areas.

So, what exactly should the government do to improve the economy?

First, corruption should be minimised to the lowest level because corruption does two things: it diverts resources from desired ends to ends that you did not plan for. In many cases, private interests predominate. Corruption also prevents government from focusing on priorities. When you have priorities in a plan or budget and corruption sets in, individuals will do things anyhow they desire, and at the end of the day, private interest will prevail and priorities will be abandoned. Secondly, we should make sure that our budgeting and planning are done right and implemented correctly. All I hear about is the routine of planning and budgeting but once it is approved, that will be the end of it. The next time they talk about it will be towards the end of the year, when they want to review it. That is when they will be telling us they have achieved 40 per cent implementation. What is the meaning of that? Why did they plan at all if all they do is achieve 40 per cent implementation? Why can’t they make 80 per cent or 90 per cent if they plan and implement the budget with sincerity?

With the current situation of things, would you say Vision 2020 is attainable?

I don’t know. You want to be one of the 20 most developed economies by year 2020 and we are now in 2011. I keep on asking myself: which country can Nigeria beat out of the existing 20? Which one are we going to displace and how are we going to displace that one? What outputs are we going to develop or what variable in our economy will change so dramatically that will put us in that category? Is it the output of power, energy or security? Or is it industrial production or transport? Which one would have developed so much that will make us out-class the existing ones? Well, I still see the vision as something they can work towards, after all; they once asked a primary four pupil what he was working towards, and his reply was that he was working towards a PhD, when he was still in the primary school. That is the way I see Vision 2020. We are in primary four and we are working towards a PhD.

How would you assess the 2011 budget?

Well, I have not studied the 2011 budget. And because annual budgets are not taken seriously, I don’t want to invest my time in taking seriously, a document, which those working on it, do not take seriously. The point we are making is that they have extended the 2010 budget till March because the 2011 budget is not ready. What are they doing in the National Assembly, if at the end of the year; the budget for the New Year is not ready?

You were a vice- chancellor at the Olabisi Onabanjo University. What do you think of Nigeria’s education system, having also worked in South Africa for many years?

There are many problems in the system. For instance, OOU has unfortunately not continued along the path that we left it. From recent data, many variables of interest in the university trended up until 2007 and started falling in such a way that the whole system has almost collapsed. I left the place in 2006, maybe the momentum we gathered was sustained till 2007.

The place has not been functioning for almost seven months, salaries are not being paid, students are home and nobody is talking. The feeling is that government is not funding them adequately; many of the programmes are now disaccredited. I feel very sorry! They have sacked so many professors and lecturers and I keep on wondering how they are going to survive with so many of their staff sacked. I hope God will help the incoming administration because I don’t see how the current one will be able to resuscitate the situation. In other words, the current administration in Ogun State met a flourishing university, but by its policy of interference, it has reduced that university to a level that we are not all happy about.

Those of them in government should be crying when they see the state university in its present situation. This is where priority comes in, we could not cope with one university and we have created another one! May God help us!

 

Source: Punch