It was recently reported in the dailies that the two arms of the National Assembly, NASS, declared that the 2016 budget was full of errors, adding the document could no longer be passed on February 25 as expected.
Scene inside a commuter bus in one of the major cities of Nigeria, the topic of discussion is the 2016 budget as presented by the President:
Passenger 1: ....Can you imagine...a whooping 89.1 million allocated to buying kitchen equipment, unbelievable....will the whole country be cooking in there???
Passenger 2: For this hard time wey money no dey, our Naira just dey fall like humpty-dumpty, prices of foodstuff getting higher by the day...
Passenger 3 (a Woman) cuts in: Go to the market everything is now expensive...fish, vegetables and pepper sellers blaming it on dollar...
Passenger 4: I tell you...alarming naira, dollar and pounds exchange rates, lack of electricity supply...and the administration needs =N=89. what?...for what una call am again? ...they cant be serious.
Passenger 5: They are seriousooo, dey there...When it comes to money matters, I assure you our governments don't joke ...no matter how ridiculous it sounds.
Passenger 1: What about the kitchen equipment the immediate past administration used, that one wey I hear say dem use =N=237m buy for 2015?
Old man in the bus:That one has expired naw...which government makes use of a past administration's property, when they all behave like new wives...when a new one comes in, she discards all the properties of the former wife, even the decorations like virus. What worries me is that all these non-essential things they purchase is at the expense of some vital areas the resources could be channeled to.
Passenger 5: Kitchen cabinet is a vital areaoooo...maybe not to you...but to them....(everyone bursts into laughter)
Passenger 2: People dey find work to do, no jobs, from childhood our parents endevoured to send us to school so that we could have a better life than theirs, you go school finish, no job, you divert to create job for your self and others through SMEs, no loan for start-ups, and in situations where there is loan, the rigorous process of securing one can be so frustrating and discouraging.
Passenger 1: Meanwhile the fund is there...banks just sit on it and be waiting to loan to private organizations and individuals with high interest rates, and some of them end up not paying back...
Old man: You didn't talk of tax...I think we have one of the most unfavorable atmosphere for Start-Ups and Entrepreneurship development. There are all partners in this, there is no way you will convince me that the government does not know about this, yet they turn their eyes the other way, give a deaf ear...and keep disbursing money to banks for so called SME loans...
Everyone echoed: That is part of the corruption we are talking about naw...
Passenger 3: What about all the young people trying to make some thing out of their lives, no government jobs, no money for start-ups, they opt to street hawking...instead of the government to provide shopping spaces for them at very affordable rents, and flexible payment modes to get them off the street so that hoodlums don't take advantage of the situation to rob people in traffic, they whisk them away in 'black-maria' instead like criminals. They should provide alternatives first...
Passenger 5: But they did provide an alternative
Every body asks unanimously: What alternative?
Passenger 5: (straight face) Go back to your village...
Passenger 4: And do what?
Passenger 5: Farm...fish...turn to the village nuisance or marry, have children...at least be useful and help increase the population for election times...do what ever you want to do...join militancy...or insurgency...
(everyone bursts into laughter) shakes head...you cant be serious
Old man: But he is talking some sense here, when even in the rural areas you are not empowered...what else is left to do when you'v been deprived of your entitlements as a citizen of a state? It all boils down to getting our priorities right in this country...an expenditure channeled in the wrong direction can cause so many damages in the society...because key areas that need some attention will not be getting any...
Light out....
Dialogue copyright: Oby Denis
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