09102019 - 2020: Buhari presents N10.33trn job creation budget to NASS

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40 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 Poverty and the Nigerian attitude to giving (2) THIS week, in continuation of my discussion of the issue of poverty in the country, I will highlight how philanthropy can aid development. Philanthropy as a Tool for Development in Nigeria Nigeria is at the moment faced with several problems ranging from dilapidating infrastructure in every facet of public life, poor or inadequate medical facilities, ill-equipped educational institutions etc. As stated earlier, no single government can be expected to provide a solution to these problems and more. Regrettably, most of the problems of the country have been blamed on its leadership, and perhaps this is understandably so given its huge human and natural resources. However I am of the view that when the story of the current challenges of Nigeria come to be told decades down the road, both the government and governed will take the blame in not too dissimilar measures. For one, certain qualities and concepts such as service and philanthropy, the hallmarks of many great countries are terms with which many Nigerians are not familiar. Majority of Nigerians do not believe in rendering any form of service without taking something in return”. For many the idea of selfless service is anathema. For example, no aspect of our national life is more problematic and deserving of urgent attention than Nigeria’s educational sector. Our universities are obviously ill-equipped. No Nigerian university is ranked among the top 1000 universities in the world. Most of the first generation universities in Nigeria still utilize structures built several decades ago at the height of the oil boom in Nigeria. Most of our public universities are universities only in name. The challenge of poor funding is indeed a formidable one as no tertiary educational institution can provide quality and functional education without adequate funding. Funding is at the heart of any serious academic enterprise and even when government is not able to fully support tertiary institutions, some institutions, especially the private types have found alternative means of sourcing funds, particularly Mankind stands to benefit in the longrun from acts of philanthropy tractors. The immediate effect which this had on the community was a decrease in crime rate. Persons who out of idleness would have strayed into crime found themselves gainfully employed. The university today is in its ninth year of existence and by the special grace of God Almighty has been positioned to fulfil the dreams behind its coming into existence. through donations, endowments, and gifting. Universities have always utilized funding to pioneer research in existing and novel areas of academic enterprise. Additionally, some Nigerians and corporate entities have by their initiatives demonstrated that they can, without necessarily waiting for governmental intervention, contribute their quota towards educational development. Some of these initiatives have been in the form of scholarships and endowment to outright donation of infrastructure to assist universities. During my tenure as Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos several well-meaning Nigerians made immense contribution to the endowment of the university. This endowment today continues to provide funding for students who but for the existence of the endowment would have had their educational aspirations truncated. On my part, I founded the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti with a vision to lead education reform by example. My major motivation was a desire to ensure qualitative educational opportunity to the present generation. During construction, over 5000 workers were employed by the various con- Who Can Be A Philanthropist? Let me say straightaway that philanthropy is not restricted to a particular set of people nor a particular clime. Everyone who has something worthy of sharing is a potential philanthropist. What this simply translates into is that one does not need to be a millionaire or a billionaire before he becomes a philanthropist. The most important requirement or element is the possession of spirit of giving – willingness and readiness to help others in need, especially the poor and the less privileged. Most, if not all persons pray for favour. What most do not, however, realise is that they can themselves give uncommon favour to their fellow men. There was the case of two men standing side by side in a church; one was praying for the success of his multi-million dollar contract bid with a multinational oil company, whilst the other was asking God for a miracle in the form of his supper that evening. Without a doubt, the former is very well placed to provide the uncommon favour or miracle which the latter seeks. As funny as it sounds, this to my mind is a scenario that plays out often not only in our places of worship but also virtually in every minute of our daily existence. It is therefore imperative that everyone identifies areas where he or she can contribute meaningfully to the lives of others. In so doing perhaps we might just be performing a miracle. Philanthropy is rooted in love and compassion. It is of immense benefit not only to the person who practices it but also to the beneficiary and the society at large. Mankind stands to benefit in the long-run from acts of philanthropy. It is said that no man is to himself an island. We are all part of a larger picture. Love is our eternal duty. It is the creed by which we are expected to live our lives and in so doing contribute our quota to humanity. Andrew Carnegie, at one time the richest man alive, in the last years of his life gave away about $350 million (conservatively estimated at $65 billion in today’s money). In an article titled: “The Gospel of Wealth” he advocated the responsibility of philanthropy by the new upper class of selfmade rich. Carnegie proposed that the best way of dealing with the new phenomenon of wealth inequality was for the wealthy to utilize their surplus means in a responsible and thoughtful manner. This approach was contrasted with traditional bequest (patrimony), where the rich hand down their wealth to their heirs alone, and other forms of bequest e.g. where wealth is willed to the state for public purposes. He argued that surplus wealth is put to best use (i.e. produces the greatest net benefit to society) when it is administered carefully by the wealthy. He also argued against wasteful use of capital in the form of extravagance, irresponsible spending, or self-indulgence, instead promoting the administration of said capital over the course of one’s lifetime toward the cause of reducing the divide between the rich and poor. He also famously declared that the man who dies rich dies disgraced. The rich in our society should imbibe the culture of giving as it appears that the present crop of rich men in our society are rather interested in watching their financial portfolio grow and nothing else matters to them. N1billion kept in a bank vault will remain N1billion. However, if money is giving to others, it increases the velocity of money and stimulates economic growth. The more the money is allowed to go round, the more opportunities will be created for creation of businesses and jobs for the populace. BBNajia: I felt very bad when Tacha was disqualified — Mercy ...as she gets N30m cheque, N25m SUV Stories by Benjamin Njoku THE Big Brother Naija “Pepper Dem” reali ty TV show, Mercy Eke, has expressed how she felt when Tacha was disqualified from the show. Mercy, who is widely referred to as Lamborghini Mercy in the house and Tacha had a brawl, which apparently led to the disqualification of the latter. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, in Lagos, the 26-year-old reality TV star, said she felt very bad when Tacha was disqualified from the show. “Tacha is someone I admire and I’m definitely going to settle with her as regards whatever had happened between us.” I felt bad when she was disqualified from the show,” Mercy said while answering questions from journalists at the event. The Managing Director of Multichoice Nigeria, Mr John Ogbe, however, has said that the organizers would issue an official statement in respect of the disqualification/ their future relationship with Tacha. Mercy became the first female contestant to win the BBNaija reality TV show, beating fellow housemates , including Mike, Frodd, Omashola and Seyi to coast home to victory. The curvy video vixen polled over 41.77 per cent of a total of 250 million votes cast by viewers to beat fellow housemate, Mike Edwards, who got about 19.94 per cent of the votes. At the event, which had other housemates including , first runner up, Mike, Seyi, Frodd and Omashola in attendance, Mercy was presented with a cheque of N30 million and keys to her brand new Sport Utility Vehicle from Innoson Motors among other gifts. The car gift is worth N25 million. AFROBEAT sensation and winner of BET 2019 Best International Act, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, popularly called Burna Boy will be headlining this year’s Felabration 2019. This was announced on social media by the organizers of 2019 Felabration, an annual festival of music and arts, celebrating the life, times and legacy of the icon Fela Anikulapo Kuti. According to the organizers, the concert which is *Burna expected to kick boy off from October 14 through 20, will feature more than 400 Nigerian and foreign artistes who have indicated their in- Mercy receiving her cheque and SUV Burnaboy to headline Felabration 2019 •Cossy *Mercy terests to perform at the New Afrika Shrine and other venues in Ikeja, Lagos. The theme for this year’s Felabration is ‘From Lagos with Love.’ The festival usually features a symposium, concerts, a dance competition, debates among selected secondary schools in Lagos and other activities. African Giant’s singer who is currently on Europe tour was among three music stars, that topped the list of nominees for the 2019 Headies’ Award. He dropped visual for “Another Story”, a track off his African Giant album, to reckon with the legacy of British colonial rule over Nigeria — and marks the country’s independence day. Six years after, Cossy plans to drop new single CONTROVERSIAL Nollywood actress, Cossy Orjiakor who came into the limelight after featuring in a music video by Obesere has revealed plans to drop a new single. Cossy released her debut album ‘Nutty Queen’ in 2013, which she admitted conveyed important lessons for the masses. In an Instagram post yesterday, the busty actress said she would be releasing a new single soon. “Just a few know that I’m a good rapper. Oh Baby You too Talk’ to be released soon,” she wrote. Cossy had featured in musical videos, starred in films and had an album to her credit, before she went underground.
vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews Buhari presents N10.33trn job creation budget Continues from Page 5 pands the exempt items to include the following: Brown and white bread; cereals, including maize, rice, wheat, millet, barley and sorghum; fish of all kinds; flour and starch meals; fruits, nuts, pulses and vegetables of various kinds; Roots such as yam, cocoyam, sweet and Irish potatoes; Meat and poultry products including eggs; Milk; Salt and herbs of various kinds; and Natural water and table water. “Additionally, our proposals also raise the threshold for VAT registration to N25 million in turnover per annum, such that the revenue authorities can focus their compliance efforts on larger businesses, thereby bringing relief for our Micro, Small and Mediumsized businesses,’’ the President said. Sectoral allocations In the area of sectoral allocation in the 2020 Budget, Works and Housing got N262 billion; Power was allocated N127 billion; Transportation got N123 billion; Universal Basic Education Commission was allocated N112 billion while Defence got N100 billion as against N435.62 billion in 2019. According to the breakdown, Zonal Intervention Projects was allocated N100 billion; Agriculture and Rural Development got N83 billion; Water Resources, N82 billion; Niger Delta Development Commission got N81 billion. Education was allocated N48 billion as against the N462.24 billion that was allocated to it in 2019. Health was allocated N46 billion as against the N315.62 billion it got in 2019 Budget; Industry, Trade and Investment got N40 billion; North East Development Commission, N38 billion; Interior, N35 billion as against the N569.07 in 2019; Social Investment Programmes, N30 billion; Federal Capital Territory, N28 billion; and Niger Delta Affairs Ministry, N24 billion. In the budget, the sum of N556.7 billion has been provided for Statutory Transfers and these include: N125 billion for the National Assembly; N110 billion for the Judiciary; N37.83 billion for the North East Development Commission (NEDC); N44.5 billion for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF); N111.79 billion for the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC); and N80.88 billion for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which is now supervised by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. The President has equally disclosed that the government has increased the budgetary allocation to the National Human Rights Commission from N1.5 billion to N2.5 billion, explaining that the 67 percent increase is to enable the Commission perform its functions more effectively. Review of economy in 2019 Giving an over view of the economy in 2019, President Buhari said: “The economic environment remains very challenging, globally. The International Monetary Fund expects global economic recovery to slow down from 3.6 percent in 2018 to 3.5 percent in 2020. This reflects uncertainties arising from security and trade tensions with attendant implications on commodity price volatility. “Nearer to home, however, Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to continue to grow from 3.1 percent in 2018 to 3.6 percent in 2020. This is driven by investor confidence, oil production recovery in key exporting countries, sustained strong agricultural production as well as public investment in non-dependent economies. “The Nigerian economy thus far has recorded nine consecutive quarters of GDP growth. Annual growth increased from 0.82 percent in 2017 to 1.93 percent in 2018, and 2.02 percent in the first half of 2019. The continuous recovery reflects our economy’s resilience and gives credence to the effectiveness of our economic policies thus far. “We also succeeded in significantly reducing inflation from a peak of 18.72 percent in January 2017, to 11.02 percent by August 2019. This was achieved through effective fiscal and monetary policy coordination, exchange rate stability and sensible management of our foreign exchange. “We have sustained accretion to our external reserves, which have risen from US$23 billion in October 2016 to about US$42.5 billion by August 2019. The increase is largely due to favourable prices of crude oil in the international market, minimal disruption of crude oil production given the stable security situation in the Niger Delta region and our import substitution drive, especially in key commodities. “The foreign exchange market has also remained stable due to the effective implementation of the Central Bank’s interventions to restore liquidity, improve access and discourage currency speculation. Special windows were created that enabled small businesses, investors and importers in priority economic sectors to have timely access to foreign exchange. “Furthermore, as a sign of increased investor confidence in our economy, there were remarkable inflows of foreign capital in the second quarter of 2019. The total value of capital imported into Nigeria increased from US$12 billion in the first half year of 2018 to US$14 billion for the same period in 2019” On the performance of 2019 Budget, the President said, “you will recall that the 2019 ‘Budget of Continuity’ was based on a benchmark oil price of US$60 per barrel, oil production of 2.3 mbpd, and an exchange rate of N305 to the United States Dollar. Based on these parameters, we projected a deficit of N1.918 trillion or 1.37 percent of Gross Domestic Product. “ As at June 2019, Federal Government’s actual aggregate revenue (excluding Government-Owned Enterprises) was N2.04 trillion. This revenue performance is only 58 percent of the 2019 Budget’s target due to the under-performance of both oil and non-oil revenue sources. Specifically, oil revenues were below target by 49 percent as at June 2019. This reflects the lower-than-projected oil production, deductions for cost under-recovery on supply of premium motor spirit (PMS), as well as higher expenditures on pipeline security/maintenance and Frontier exploration. “Daily oil production averaged 1.86 mbpd as at June 2019, as against the estimated 2.3 mbpd that was assumed. This shortfall was partly offset as the market price of Bonny Light crude oil averaged US$67.20 per barrel which was higher than the benchmark price of US$60. “Additionally, revenue projections from restructuring of Joint Venture Oil and Gas assets and enactment of new fiscal terms for Production Sharing Contracts did not materialize, as the enabling legislation for these reforms is yet to be passed into law. “The performance of non-oil taxes and independent revenues such as internally generated revenues were N614.57 billion and N217.84 billion, respectively. “Receipts from Value Added Tax were below expectations due to lower levels of activities in certain economic sectors, in the aftermath of national elections. Corporate taxes were affected by the seasonality of collections, which tend to peak in the second half of the calendar year. “On the expenditure side, 2019 Budget implementation was also hindered by the combination of delay in its approval and the underperformance of revenue collections. As such, only recurrent expenditure items have been implemented substantially. Of the prorated expenditure of N4.46 trillion budgeted, N3.39 trillion had been spent by June 30, 2019. “In compliance with the provisions of the 2018 Appropriation Act, we implemented the 2018 capital budget till June 2019. Capital releases under the 2019 Budget commenced in the third quarter. As at 30th September 2019, a total of about N294.63 billion had been released for capital projects. I have directed the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to release an additional N600 billion of the 2019 capital budget by the end of the year. “Despite the delay in capital releases, a deficit of N1.35 trillion was recorded at end of June 2019. This represents 70 percent of the budgeted deficit for the full year. “Despite these anomalies, I am happy to report that we met our debt service obligations, we are current on staff salaries and overhead costs have also been largely covered.” MDAs to appear for 2020 budget defence in October – Lawan Meanwhile, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, are to appear before Committees of the Senate in October to defend their 2020 budget, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said. Lawan spoke yesterday as the House of Representatives said debate on the 2020 Appropriations Bill would commence today. Lawan, who stated this at the presentation of the budget by President Buhari, said for timely passage of the budget, all MDAs were expected to appear before the committees for the defence within the month of October. He said the National Assembly committees were ready to receive ministers and other heads of agencies for the budget defence of various MDAs within the month. “We have earmarked the month of October to be the sole window for all budget defence activities in this year by all MDAs. Our committees will be expected to conclude their work on budget defence within October 2019. “The subsequent necessary legislative work will be carried out in November and December leading to eventual passage before December 31,” he said. Lawan said the presentation of the budget marked another day of exercising the constitutional obligations and mandates by both the Legislature and the Executive as provided for Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 — 41 NEWS HOTLINES 018773962, 08052867058 Osun State Governor, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola; welcoming wife of the Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osibajo to the Government House. With them is wife of the Governor, Mrs Kafayat. Behind them is former House of Representative member, Alhaja Ayo Omidiran; wife of Ekiti State Governor, Mrs Bisi Fayemi; and Mrs Ibijoke Sanwoolu of Lagos State, during a National Women's Conference with theme: Women-Pioneer of Change for Inclusive Participation Development, at Aurora Event Centre, Osogbo yesterday. in Section 81 of the 1999 Constitution. He said: “This function, being the first in the 9th the National Assembly, makes it even more significant as both the Legislature and the Executive have demonstrated readiness and commitment to work together in order to pass the 2020 budget in a good and desirable time. “Clearly, this effort is to enable the federal government provide those laudable objectives of physical infrastructure and socioeconomic services to our citizens.’’ He said further that the public and private sectors needed a reliable budget cycle that was predictable and reliable for planning and execution of fiscal and financial policies and programmes. “It is, therefore, necessary that the present cycle is changed to January-December. In this regard, the National Assembly and the executive must work together to ensure the realisation of the important objective,” he said. Lawan said the National Assembly, after the receipt of the budget, would swing into action to start work immediately. “Both chambers of the National Assembly have constituted their committees, we are, therefore, ready to start processing the budget,” he said. The president of senate said the 9th National Assembly had shown capacity, commitment and willingness to treat legislative matters that would impact on the lives of citizens with dispatch and every sense of urgency. He said this was clearly demonstrated last week, when the National Assembly received, processed and passed the request of the president on the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/ FSP). “The National Assembly will treat the 2020 budget with the same commitment or even more. “In our effort to pass the budget, we will also be guided by the legislative requirement of a thorough scrutiny,” Mr Lawan said. Reps commence debate on 2020 budget today On its part, the House of Representatives said debate on the 2020 Appropriations Bill would commence today. Spokesman of the House, Benjamin Kalu (APC-Abia), said the general principles of the 2020 Appropriations Bill would commence today, after the second reading of the bill. Benjamin Kalu, who disclosed this at a briefing in Abuja yesterday, said the aim of the House was to conclude work on the 2020 budget on November 28. He said: “We are suspending plenary to enable us go into our various committees to interact with MDAs. To achieve that, we have set up a road map which goes as follows : Today (yesterday) October 8, the presentation of the draft budget was done by the President. ‘’On Wednesday 9 to October 10, we will have debate on the general principles of the Appropriations Bill, as well as the second reading and referral. “This is to show you how committed the House of Representatives is in achieving this change in our budget calendar. On Thursday, October 10, we are going to meet with the chairmen of all the committees to guide them on what is expected as regards the 2020 budget. “From same Thursday, October 10 to 29 , we will have budget hearing and engagements with MDAs by the Appropriations sub committees. “From Monday, October 21 to Tuesday, October 22, we will have public hearing on the 2020 Appropriations Bill . ‘’From Wednesday, October 30 to Tuesday, November 5, we are going to have submission and defence of budget reports to the Appropriations Committees. After November 5, we will not accept any defence from any MDA. “This is our expectation. Continues on Page 43
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09102019 - 2020: Buhari presents N10.33trn job creation budget to NASS

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