CALLS FOR PROPER UTILIZATION OF REVENUE COLLECTION TO MEET CITIZENS’ NEED
In 2022, 80% of Nigeria’s total revenue is dedicated to debt servicing, even though it witnessed a slight increase of 4.3%, allocation in health and 5.7% in the 2023 budget, considered the highest from the last administration.
However, only N6.47 trillion was allocated to the education sector in seven years. The highest allocation to education was N745 billion, representing 8.4% out of the N8.9 trillion of the 2019 budget.
Recall, that the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic heightened the debt crisis, as the education budget has consistently dropped from 6.5% to 5.7% and 5.4% of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 budgets, respectively.
Consequently, the present administration led by President Bola Tinubu has shown commitment to revitalizing the sector by allocating more funding to social services in its 2024 budget.
But this still doesn’t explain that Nigeria will spend six times more on servicing debts rather than providing amenities such as schools and hospitals in 2024.
Only 7.9%, 5%, and 4% were allocated to education; healthcare; social development, and poverty reduction, despite running a dollar-denominated economy.
Speaking at a world press conference, on Friday 2nd February 2024 in Abuja, the Executive Director, of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) Auwal Rafsanjani said regrettably, the country’s 2023 and 2024 budgets for education expenditure have significantly dropped by 36% due to exchange rate.
This according to him, has provided the platform for new borrowings and unsustainable debt servicing costs and called on the federal, state, and local governments to reassess their allocation to address unemployment, poverty, and out-of-school children in Nigeria.
