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Economic Confidential,
November 2008
Wasting Scarce Resources on Sports Fiesta
By: Abubakar Jimoh
One can imagine the ongoing misconceptions in Nigeria political
landscape due lack of clearly defined principles and agenda by
political office holders, who attempt to solve our problems with
half-baked policies and programmes that hardly address our needs.
After hesitation, the Federal Government recently decided to spend
billions of naira in hosting U-17 World Cup just as it seeks for a
loan of $3 billion from World Bank in the face of huge funds in the
foreign reserves and Excess Crude Account. We need as Nigerians to
ask some vital questions on the hosting of the sports fiesta such
as: what does Nigeria really hope to achieve from the U-17 World
Cup? Does Nigeria, as a developing nation, with monumental and
developmental problems such as unemployment, poverty, irregular
power supply, bad roads? Are capable and truly ready for funding of
the game?
It has been established that the Federal government has lobbied the
National Assembly for to approve the funds to finance the U-17 World
Cup project. What would have happened to the other neglected
development projects in the country that need immediate attention?
The country has critical problems of irregular power supply that has
almost made all Nigerians to source for alternative means of
generating electricity using toxic and fuming generators that are
often hazardous to health. Anyway, this might not be shameful to the
government since most of the seats of power at federal and state
level also use generators as their major source of power. In this
case, the economic theory of for-whom-to-produce facing the
generator producers is solved when they think of Nigeria as a
market.
Some people believe that hosting the FIFA tournament would enhance
our image. I wonder if it wouldn’t reinforce our declining dignity
as a giant of Africa when foreigners for the game troop to Nigeria
only to realize that their hotels and sporting venues use generators
for mere electricity supply.
Today unemployment is another critical problem facing Nigeria with
thousands of able and capable graduates roaming the street without
jobs. It seems the government does not take the need to address the
joblessness of our youth as a priority for the attention of
lawmakers.
The government should stop beating around the bush and take the bull
by the horn by tackling the real problems facing the country. There
is no reason behind spending billions of naira in hosting U-17 World
Cup in Nigeria when we are suffering from many societal malaises
which the huge sum can be deployed to in reducing the pains.
Let Nigeria learn from the former experience in COJA held in Abuja
in year 2003 when Nigeria spent billions of naira only to end up in
almost bankruptcy by begging the Paris Clubs for debt relief three
years after the Game. Some of the structures put in place then have
either been sold off, vandalized or looted which means the
government must spend another enormous resources to recover or put
those amenities back for use.
Nigeria is indeed a funny country. One of the ongoing scandals is
billions of Naira spent to purchase brand new vehicles for
legislators, which by law they are not entitled to because such
privileges have been monetized. If Nigerian would remember, this
non-profitable venture was also executed during the immediate past
regime and nobody knows the fate of the past vehicles that were only
few years old? The present legislators could have still make use of
the vehicles purchased by the past administration. What a waste of
resources!
It is high time the policy makers should always think wisely in
making decisions for betterment of generality of Nigerians rather
than waste our scarce resources on non-profitable ventures. The
nation developmental projects cannot be adequately pursued if the
government fails to develop a sound principle to work within its
scope and objectives. For Nigeria to achieve development, the major
sectors of the economy need to be addressed squarely other than
spending billions of naira recklessly in such projects as the U-17
World Cup and legislators’ vehicles.
Abubakar Jimoh writes from:
Department of Linguistics
University of Abuja |
