Former governor of Anambra State and 2023 presidential contender Peter Obi has attacked the government’s funding distribution, complaining that human capital development is receiving too little attention, in a harsh indictment of the country’s budgetary objectives.
“Shocking” is how Obi described the recently signed budget, pointing to the mere N5 billion designated for student loans. He revealed that a staggering N6 billion was earmarked for building a car park for legislators – an amount surpassing the funds allocated to empower students. Obi, emphasizing the irony, stated, “Legislators recently used 12 times the amount of student loans to buy official cars.”
UPDATE: Peter Obi Calls for African Leadership Reform
The former governor expressed disappointment that the National Library, which Late General Abacha started in 1995, was not completed despite significant financial outlays. “The National Library of Nigeria is functioning out of rented space,” observed Obi, drawing a comparison between this and the N3 billion allocated by the National Assembly for books for its own library.
Obi’s criticism centres on the pressing need to prioritise development initiatives and reduce the expense of governance. “Without prioritising expenditure on growth, tangible and lasting development will remain elusive,” he said, pointing out that Nigeria languishes at 163 out of 191 countries in the Human progress Index.
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