Though Nigeria’s debt profile has continued to grow to the point of concerns over increasing debt service burden, the point is that there should be no limit to actions considered imperative in a situation of emergency. When it comes to a matter of defending ourselves, we cannot afford not to give the military whatever they deem necessary to ensure adequate security for the nation.
The fact that Nigeria is facing a real war situation can now be appreciated and in every war situation every naira or dollar than can be mobilized to secure lives and property should be sacrificed. It is in this light that we consider the proposed $1.0 billion loan to strengthen the military a necessity. The armed forces need to reinforce their capacity and equip themselves appropriately for engagement in modern warfare. The request for the loan to do so is however a revelation to us that they have not been doing this all these years and we wonder why?
To the extent that this loan will empower the military to deal decisively with the insurgency in the north east, it is quite important now. The question however is why borrow for what annual defence budgets are meant to accomplish. Is it that the military has been under budgeting for their capacity building?
Considering the emergency at hand, if borrowing is what we need to crush the insurgency so let it be. It is a part of the demonstration of government might. The various options open to government to mobilize resources to deal with its internal security problems are not available to terrorists and other forms of insurgents. The nation will therefore like to see the military empowered to carry the war against insurgency to the level the enemy can no longer stand it.
Besides the known battle against terrorism, the nation needs to be on guard against other forms of insurgency that might crop up as the 2015 general election draws near. The focus should not only be on the terrorist activities in the north-east but on the general security issues in the country, which is in line with government’s clarification on the matter. This will ensure that government is not once again taken unawares by other security problems that could be spurred by next year’s general election and beyond.
The long-term aspect of the loan is therefore important to ensure that the military prepares itself for both the anticipated and the unanticipated security challenges in the years ahead. This will ensure that we will not again be seeking another external loan in the face of emergencies.
Government borrowing is approaching a level that warrants extreme caution to avoid Nigeria getting into the debt trap once again. For this reason, it is important that the new borrowing be applied strictly for the purpose for which it is meant. We also demand that Nigerians should feel the benefit of this extra borrowing by way of enhanced security of lives and property. The additional spending needed to upgrade the equipment of the armed forces has to produce an additional level of security for Nigerians all over the nation.
However, we are worried that the recourse to new borrowing for the military is an admission that the huge defence budgets made in recent years have not been applied to fill up the capacity building gap that has now been exposed. While it may be imperative to raise new loan, if money is the problem in fighting terrorism, there is no reason for failing to equip the military adequately with all the defence spending incurred from year to year. The basis for additional borrowing should be to show why and how the huge defence budgets of many years are not sufficient to build the needed capacity in the military.
The recourse to external borrowing for every engage of government is becoming a worrisome trend. For us to be able to undertake any meaningful infrastructure project, we resort to external borrowing; to deal with internal security issues, it has to be another foreign loan. Accountability is conspicuously missing and we cannot measure the value we get with the loan we take and the money we spend.
Inability to undertake any major project without new borrowing points once again to the problem in government expenditure structure. The high and rising proportion of recurrent expenditure cannot permit any reasonable savings we need for the rainy day. The high proportion of recurrent spending and the rising level of government borrowing portend danger in government finances in the near future.
In April this year 83.4% of government spending constituted recurrent items while capital expenditure accounted for just 9.8%. Debt servicing is fast approaching the N1.0 trillion mark annually yet new debts are piling up and the nation’s revenue base keeps hanging on the unpredictable oil market. With proper management of government finances and proper accountability for budget provisions, it is highly possible that the money we want to borrow is either available within the government coffers or has already been budgeted for projects unexecuted.
