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New Page 31
We need good leaders to make
budget work —Herbert Orji
Chief Herbert Orji is a member Nigerian Economic Summit Group
(NESG). He spoke with IHEANACHO NWOSU. Excerpts:
YOU are one of
the participants at this year’s Anyiam-Osigwe lecture where former Chancellor of
Germany, Dr. Helmut Kohl and wife of British Prime Minister, Cherie Blair argued
that only observance of due process and rule of law can move Nigeria forward. Do
you share a different opinion?
I think that this year’s Anyiam-Osigwe
lecture represents one of the highest level of international interaction with
regard to the philosophy, techniques and practical approach to human living,
human development, poverty eradication and the quest for peace in Nigeria,
Africa and the world generally.
The two speakers, Dr. Helmut Kohl who
ruled Germany for 16 years and Mrs. Cherie Blair, the wife of the British Prime
Minister elucidated contents in human welfare, human interaction and human
development that would ordinarily make it possible for people to hold additional
seminar and workshops on the issues delivered today.
However, and fortunately, the
Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation does not have just lectures. They implement projects in
the various areas being discussed. I am particularly pleased to say that this
heavily attended lecture both by Nigerians and non-Nigerians would add immensely
to the quest for knowledge on how to implement those social-economic and
political processes that would drive human development in the 21st century.
Relating the lecture to Nigerian
situation, what do you think the people of this country need to take from the
lecture?
We need time, patience and perseverance.
We need good leadership by example. I am not talking of angels. Angels are
perfect, human beings are not perfect. We need dedicated leadership by example.
Let me tell you another thing, we also
need leadership by intellectually sound people. You find out that complex
societies, the thinkers contribute a lot to it. The doers contribute a lot to
the society. Now when you have personalities who are both thinkers and doers,
they match minds. They are the characteristics that propel a society forward.
And I am looking for robust leadership from the ward level, council level, state
level, zonal level and to the federal government.
If these attributes can be put together
and made positively mobile in our society, with time, I believe we will begin to
see very serious results.
I think we are beginning to do that now.
It is just that we Nigerians are atimes impatient. And this is partly because of
poverty, too many demands that are not being met. We have children, school fees,
housing, no water and so on. But, to me, it is a problem of putting it together,
it cannot be done by one man. This is why private sector, the non-governmental
organisations, religious groups and the government must work together.
As an economic expert who is known for
deep analysis of implications of various governments’ economic programmes and
policies, how would you describe the 2005 budget recently presented to the
National Assembly by President Olusegun Obasanjo?
I believe in time, the resources are
there, a lot of people are in a position to help the government. And government
knows many of them and it is beginning to use some of them. So, that budget
which I believe is intrinsic with the NEEDS programme would launch us forward,
if not very significantly, certainly beyond where we are now.
I was the chairman of the budget and
national co-ordination committee of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group. I was
the acting chairman actually. Some of the things we suggested like making it
part of the law, rules and regulations that there must be budgetary discipline.
There must be ways and means of controlling the budget so that violators would
actually be seen to be violating the law. And this has now been read twice on
the floor of the National Assembly. When it is passed into law, it will be
similar to what the Brazilians are by whatever name it is called. I think it is
a significant improvement.
The National Assembly has set December 22
as deadline for finishing and handing over the budget to the Presidency so that
it can be ready on January 1. Do you think the time will be enough to come up
with quality budget, considering the time it was presented to it?
I believe they will come up with a quality
work. I think that by December 22, with them very hard as they are doing now,
the probability is very high that they will tidy it up so that it will be read
may be in the first week of January or before the month finishes.
But the argument of many is that it is not
so much about reading the budget on January 1 as it is usually done
traditionally, but packaging a budget that will address the needs and
aspirations of the different sections of the country as well as other interest
groups. So far, do you confidently think the National Assembly has had the time
to package the budget along that expectation, given the many distractions in the
polity that the lawmakers have had to contend with?
Both the Senate and House of
Representatives have a priority system that is tied to the goal and aspirations
of the policy directive principles of our country. And that priority system has
the budget as one of the top three. Therefore the canvassing of the budget had
been done with all the communities, interest groups, political parties, labour
unions, universities, private sector, religious groups etc making their input
and contributions. And the lady who chaired the overall committee that put it
together is Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. I don’t know how much you know about
her. But she is not just one of the best of modern finance ministers, not just
one of the most versatile and experienced, not just one of the finance ministers
with the highest level of integrity worldwide, but her tenacity of purpose in
getting a job done is probably second to none in any part of the world.
She has developed, overtime, excellent
work which will lead her through the National Assembly and deliver the budget in
a form that will meet the needs and aspirations of Nigerians. I am saying this
because I have known her when she was a student at Harvard and when she was
working with the World Bank, up to when she came back to Nigeria for this work.
She has an excellent team which is headed
by Mr. President, Vice President and CBN governor.
To what extent have you in the private
sector gone in convincing the government to work with you in making the next
budget work?
Right from Gen. Ibrahim Babangida era, we
were always consulted. I am a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and
just like we have Institute of Chartered Accountants, Institute of Management
and other various institutes, Nigerian Bar Association, we are often called up
to make input.
What the government does is that it
selects a few people to represent them with the budget planning committees of
the government. And this was done in the case of the new budget which we will
hear in January.
Labour leaders, market women, children in
schools, university scholars and their students, farmers’ union, merchants and
maritime people, people in government, we were all, across board consulted. All
of us, including political parties were consulted in the making of the budget.
The budget was very robustly canvassed. And this is why I believe that the
budget will achieve its target.
Last year’s budget which I consider a very
good budget will be superceded by the next budget both in terms of quality and
in terms of quantity. This year’s budget we have more money than last year’s
budget.
From what you said, you have always been
part of the privileged Nigerians that make input into budgets. Why have budgets
in the past not been able to address the problems of the country.
There are many reasons. Part of it is
bribery, corruption, ineptitude, incompetence and many people who don’t believe
in project Nigeria working at high levels of government and private sector and
religious organisations.
Just like Dr. Kohl said at the Anyiam-
Osigwe lecture, it takes strong optimist with a good track record of achievement
to overtime convince the pessimist who might have all the rational reasons why
things cannot work to partake. It is only when those things they think would not
work start working courtesy of the optimist, that they will not need anybody to
tell them to give their support.
So we have to keep with it. As we keep
with it, things must improve and we will see the sceptics joining those of us
who are believers in Project Nigeria.
We may not have fought the kind of many
years of wars that tens of millions of people died, but we have had our own
civil war in which we lost many people. However, God has spared us very long
war. But those we did not lose through long years of war, we lose through
poverty, sickness, religious strife and frustration all these come with a
developmental process.
Nigeria is also lucky that majority of
things that afflict other nations for years have fortunately eluded us. Nigeria
has human resources, educated people, practically experienced who can stand
their own in any part of the world. Nigeria has technocrats, scientists, writers
and the best of the media. We have everything. We just have to make things work.
We need little patience and total commitment, exemplary leadership. Nigerians
should stop pandering to people who today cannot afford a bicycle, tomorrow they
have a Rose Royce. Nobody wants to know where the money came from. Instead we
have our traditional rulers giving them chieftaincy titles.
Nigerians should stop pandering to
unknown, undifferentiated, unidentifiable and unaccountable wealth. It creates
the impression that anything goes. It destroys the society and makes going to
school unnecessary, makes going to school a waste of time.
Look at the background of Helmut Khol, who
in 1958 bagged, a Ph.D and he rose through the rank in his party and after 35
years he became the chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Look at Tony Blair, a lawyer. He moved
from one step of his party to the other.
Today he is the Prime Minister that the
British should be proud of. Look at the man that replaced Dr. Kohl. Look at
George Bush, American president.
The world is in year 2004, 21st century.
We must come out with our first team. If we don’t come out with our first team,
then the people of Nigeria will have themselves to blame. If we don’t come out
with our first team, budgets, though beautifully crafted would continue to fail
in achieving their targets.
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