In response to my article on the presidential ambition of Gov Shekarau, Saka Raji Audu, one of the unofficial spokespersons of Gov Shekarau,  accuses me of ‘using the principle of hear-say and unverified theses’ and ‘making sweeping claims’ in order to discredit the regime.  It apparently pleases Raji that I praise Mallam for his modest achievements and he requests for no ‘statistics’ in support of that.  But the Governor’s shortcomings which I highlight are dismissed as ‘just a figment’ of my imagination. Raji challenges me to provide evidence to back my ‘spurious claims’.  I take that as a challenge. 

First, is it fair to characterize certain government expenditure as wasteful? Universally, public expenditure is deemed wasteful when there is a preponderance of overhead costs in the budget. This would imply that ‘too many financial resources are being expended in operating the system’. So what is the annual running cost of the state? In 2003, the cost of running the state government was N13.5 billion, or 71.81% of the state’s entire budget of N18.8 billion. In 2007, about N25 billion or 60% of the state’s budget of N41 billion was recurrent cost. Similarly in 2009 government’s operational costs were N26billion or 60% of the budget. Within the period, 2003-2007, the State Government’s actual expenditure was approximately N160billion.  Of this amount, N58 billion (36%) was expended on overheads: namely transport and travelling, fuelling of government vehicles and power generating sets, office stationary, meals and refreshments, entertainment, hospitality and gifts etc, N10 billion (6%) on General Administration- (purchase of official vehicles, office furniture and fixtures, purchase of land and buildings etc), N41 billion (26%) was spent on salaries and allowances of civil servants, and  therefore, only about N50 billion (31%) was left for development- that is for capital projects. That is to say, approximately 67k out of every Naira expended by the government is for its upkeep: 26k to pay salaries, 36K for overheads and 6K for general administration. Therefore, what is available for the building of schools, hospitals, roads, and the construction of water works etc is approximately 32k.

The big ‘wasters’ if I permitted to so use the term are easily identifiable: the Government House, State Assembly and Cabinet Office which together accounted for 21% (or N4.5 billion) in 2005, 32.4% (approx N8 billion) in 2007 and 37.1% (approx N9 billion) in 2009 of the state’s total recurrent expenditure. In 2009 the overhead costs of these branches of government (approx N9 billion) exceeded the combined capital investment spending of 7 state ministries: water resources (N1.89 billion), education (N471 million), higher education (N86 million) agriculture (N1.82 billion), health (N1.29 billion), rural and community development (N557 million) and works and housing (N1.99 billion) 

Clearly Raji needs no further proof! While he struggles to deny that there is any wasteful public spending, the government had recognised this as a serious problem and had set as its policy target for accountability and transparency, to ‘cut government overheads by at least 35% by 2005 (focussing on fuel consumption, vehicle maintenance, telephone charges/bills)’  (K-SSEDS Summary p43). Is Raji trying hard to be more catholic than the Pope?

Second, is the development of social infrastructure underfunded?  Perhaps there is no standard measure of ‘adequate’ or ‘inadequate’ funding of a sector. But one can apply a rule of thumb: if and when financial resources are channelled into a sector as to enable the sector meet specified targets or challenges, then that sector we can say, is ‘adequately’ funded. In both absolute and relative terms the two critical sectors, education and health, are clearly insufficiently funded by the state. The state government’s capital investment in the education sector, for the period 2003-2009, was approximately N9 billion or approximately 8% of its total capital expenditure. This roughly translates to N1.2 billion per annum. This is for the rehabilitation, provision and maintenance of school infrastructure-including class rooms, library and laboratory facilities, desks, chairs, electricity and water supply; teacher training etc. The state, it should be remembered has 6 tertiary institutions, including a university of science and technology and a polytechnic; six technical and vocational schools; close to one thousand senior and junior secondary schools and 4045 primary schools (2008 figures) and a number of other regulatory and support institutions.

For the health sector cumulative capital investment for 2003-2009 was N5.33 billion representing less than 5% of the State’s capital vote during the period. On average therefore the state committed approximately N760 million annually over the seven year period.

Before we celebrate N9b for education and N5 billion for health over a period of 7 years, let us pose to consider these:  first, with a state population of 12 million people, these capital votes translate to merely N100 and N63 per head respectively for education and health! Second, one can clearly see the extent of underfunding relative to other sectors. For example, for the fiscal years 2008 and 2009, the sum of N13 billion was expended by the state in the provision of urban roads and infrastructure; this approximates the combined allocations to education and health (approx N14 billion) over a seven-year period (2003-2009)! Third, one is left to wonder whether we have any priorities at all: for, in just 365 days the Cabinet Office expended N6.7 billion (2007), N8.8 billion (2008) and N6.6 billion (2009) on overheads-electricity, water and telephone services, grants to local organizations, meals and refreshments, entertainment and hospitality! 

In a recent widely disseminated interview the VC of KUT clearly stated his major source of headache: lack of funds for capital projects. The VC has reasons to be worried: the educationally disadvantaged state pays no particular attention to higher education. In 2003 KUT received N193 million or just 2.8% of its approved capital budget of N684 million. This dropped to N3m or 1.6% of approved budget in 2005. In 2007, only 35% (N186 million) of its budget estimates of N540 million was released. The 2005 capital investment was less than the capital vote of the Kano State Zoological & Wildlife Management Agency or the amount set aside to “stock galleries at Gidan Dan Hausa and Arewa House Kaduna”. KUT is not the only tertiary institution of higher learning in dire need: when the staff of College of Education embarked on strike in 2008 they complained of insufficient funding as a result of which the college was said to be ‘facing problems of inadequate lecture and office accommodation...and lack of functional transportation system...’ (DT Wed 11-June 2008)

As a consequence of under-funding, the two sectors face severe facility crises, and are barely able to provide the basic services of education and health care respectively. Schools-especially in the urban centres- and hospitals are overcrowded, student-teacher ratio in schools and patient-doctor ratio in hospitals are significantly high and almost all educational and health institutions are lacking in basic infrastructure like desks, chairs, beds, electricity and water supply etc. Most teachers are unqualified (STEP-B coordinator in Daily Trust Thursday June 6, 2008) and the state is said to be a ‘leader in school congestion’ (Commissioner, education in Weekly Trust July 26, 2008).The facility crises have forced the authorities to adopt a rather strange, factory-type system of “shifts” in public schools.

Let me finally offer an unsolicited advice. You cannot win the hearts and souls of potential voters for Governor Shekarau if you portray him all the time as absolutely infallible. No one is. The only people who make no mistakes are those who do nothing. You mustn’t assume too that those who criticise Shekarau are necessarily against his presidential ambition or sympathetic to PDP. To effectively market Shekarau you must worker harder to showcase his modest achievements, accept his shortcomings and share with us his vision for our beloved nation.

Muhammad Sagagi

drmuhammadsagagi@yahoo.com

EsinIslam.Com

Sadiq Dutse, Abuja - Nigeria [Friday September 17, 2010]

Muhammad Sagagi Got it Wrong

The response of Muhammad Sagagi to that of Saka Raji Audu's earlier response to his own deviated from the fact put by Saka Audu before him. Sagagi, as University done, riding under the ignorance of his unsuspecting student should simply tell the reason behind constant strike of ASUU, his union for many years that dislocated the academic struggle of the Nigerian students for years. What Sagagi writes here is like a budet and what has he been doing to put the state and her previous leadership into proper perspective. It is not enough to tell us economic jargons, which are mere theories. Apart from Malam (Dr) Ibrahim Shekarau, who else does Sagagi wants? Jonatthan, Buhari, Atiku, Gusau, Babangida, please, tell us who do you think can work on your mere theories? Really, sentiment asides, I enjoy reading Saka Raji Audu piece than that of Muhammad Sagagi.

To Email Sadiq Dutse

©  EsinIslam.Com