Fashola
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has said that Nigeria could no longer build its future on oil revenue following the fall in global price of oil.
The minister spoke on Hard Talk, a weekly programme on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) monitored by our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday.
He stated that Nigeria failed to spend oil money wisely by building infrastructure despite making huge profits from oil in the past.
The minister specifically blamed the last administration of President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to save profits made from the sale of oil.
Nigeria, he said, is now facing the consequences of global downturn in oil price resulting from making “regrettable choices.”
Fashola explained that although Nigeria had made bad choices on how oil money was spent in the past, the present administration, he said, was ready to change that by focusing on taxation as a source of revenue.
He said: “As I have argued, at the time when there was a lot of prosperity, there was money to spend, we made some now regrettable choices.
“No nation is immune from what is happening now and people who are better able to weather the storm are perhaps those who invested wisely in educational assets, in security assets, in transportational assets, power generational assets but it does not make them immune. So it is like preparing for winter really.
“It is evolving in an era where there is a global economic downturn and there will be local consequences. We did not spend on investments particularly on infrastructure and therefore we consumed all our extraordinary income.
“You can’t plan a future around extraordinary income that you don’t control the circles. This budget will be driven by resources from taxation and any serious government, any forward looking government like this government must understand that the boom that comes from commodity prices really is extraordinary income.
“We may have made some very poor choices over the time about how we spent that money (oil money), this administration has a focus now that we will deal with our funding issues first from taxation, corporate taxation.
“No country survives on her own investment but every country thrives first on the investment of her people and as first Nigerians are responding and investing on that economy I think that we will turn this corner.
“There is a global downward trend. National growth projections are been revised downward and in this downward global times, there will be diverse local consequences. Ours is not different. We are not under
Performing. We are facing a turbulent time, difficult time but we will navigate. We will come through and I see that happening within a shorter time than a longer time.”
Speaking on the fight against Boko Haram in the North-East, the minister said that president Muhammadu Buhari had done well in restoring peace to the region.
Fashola, who debunked claims that thousands of children were dying daily of malnutrition in the region, noted that Buhari had ordered the release of food to the region.
He said: “Again I have issues with those numbers. They are people who are displaced but to the point to make also is that there is progress now in the north-east.
“The president has fulfilled his mandate to taking control of the security challenges of the north-east.
“In terms of restoring order to the north-east I believe the evidence that speaks today, people beginning to trade today on the streets of Borno, and Damarturu, in Yobe.
“In the last three to four months the president himself ordered release of food support from our strategic reserves of agriculture. So we are mindful of the problems.
“Construction going on in Adamawa that I am aware of. Roads being built means that order has return. Securing law and order is the first leg to being able to provide for those child, to put them back, to relocate families back to their homes. It is already happening as a result of government taking responsibility, states and civil society organization.
Fashola also said Buhari was winning the war against corruption, adding that Nigerians now believe that there is consequences for stealing public funds.
“The people of Nigeria believe that the president has walked his talk in terms of corruption. Now how many people you ultimately see in jail is one thing and I think that the point must be made and very clearly too that there are many interests here involved.
“The interest to see people convicted the interest to recover, and the interest to ensure that it won’t happen again. And all of these are going on simultaneously and that people believe that there will be consequences for their actions,” he added.
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