I am surprised that nobody has led a campaign for the quadrupling of Nigeria's budget because at the moment, we simply do not vote enough to cater for our basic needs as a nation

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Let me make this crystal clear once more. About 90% of Nigeria’s problems stem from the fact that we are not productive enough as an economy. As long as things remain the way they are, corruption, brigandage, tribalism, ethnic mistrust, religious upheaval, kidnapping, terrorism, etc, will continue to thrive

[2] How can 200m people only have a gross domestic product (GDP) of $450bn. That is totally unacceptable and to an outsider looking in, it makes us appear to be a lazy, unproductive, idle, lethargic and unimaginative people

[3] To add insult to injury, our tax-to-GDP ratio is a lousy 6%, one of the lowest in the world. It is thus no surprise that 90% of government revenue comes from crude oil sales

[4] To get Nigeria working, you need a president who will either turn off the oil taps or simply refuse to pay out federal allocation to these lazy and irresponsible governors. Leon Trotsky once said: “Where tradition is lacking, a striking example is essential.” We need to take some drastic and unprecedented action to get Nigeria working

[5] How many Nigerians are ashamed of the fact that their national budget is a measly $36.6bn in 2025? This is a disgrace to Africa’s largest economy, the continent’s most populated country and the world’s largest negro nation

[6] At the very least, Nigeria should have an annual budget of $100bn. It is only then that we will be able to afford to fund education, healthcare, housing, etc and engage in the required infrastructural development that will make the nation at ease with itself

[7] Corruption can simply be defined as too many government officials chasing after too few resources. As long as Nigeria’a production remains limited and one product-based, corruption will continue to thrive, no matter how many people the EFCC prosecute

[8] The antidote to corruption is to diversify the economy, create lucrative jobs outside government, double our GDP, quadruple the size of our budget and increase spending on social services so people do not need to become rich to live comfortably

[9] Now, let me embarrass you with some figures. Do you know that despite being Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria only has the seventh largest budget? South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Angola and Morocco all have bigger budgets than Nigeria

[10] We simply do not budget enough to fund healthcare, education, security and infrastructural development. Each state probably needs about $10bn each.

ayoakinfe@gmail.com