The Nigerian media space has been recently suffused with trivia and jokes about the 2016 Federal budget. At first it was “missing”, then “padded”, and later “found”. This unfortunate drama enacted by the Executive and Legislative arms of government is an unwelcome comic relief as it does not in any way detract from the dire situation we currently find ourselves in as a nation.
One must be afflicted by a total numbing of all the sensory organs not to appreciate the frightfully bleak future staring Nigerians in the face. Starvation is a daily reality as basic foods have vanished from many households, as the Naira continues to bow meekly against international currencies and price of goods and services soar beyond the reach of the common man.
In addition to the ravaging insecurity, soaring rents, hiked electricity tariffs and the burden of paying for electricity not consumed, amongst others, Nigerians are suffering!
The National Association of Seadogs, Pyrates Confraternity wishes to express our profound disappointment that while the national economy is on brink of total collapse, while Nigeria burns, the arms of government responsible for articulating and fashioning the fiscal policies and charting the direction that would guide the economy out of the doldrums would be fiddling.
This smacks of insensitivity to the plight of overwhelmed Nigerians who have had to endure the hibernation of the economy since INEC’s preparations for the general elections commenced in June 2014.
We are saying enough of this hubris and grandstanding!
The socioeconomic and security situation we find ourselves in as a nation today calls for sober reflection and strategic thinking, and those cannot happen in an atmosphere of rancour. This is hardly the time to play politics; Nigerians deserve and demand good governance.
The longer the 2016 Federal Budget stays without being passed into law and its implementation commenced, the more our economic miseries deepen. Hence, we implore the Executive and Legislative arms of government to quickly close ranks, discuss and resolve all issues and discrepancies in the budget. Whatsoever that is inimical to our collective national interest must be delisted without fail.
The time to start is now … as the despair spreading amongst Nigerians is gradually becoming deafening!
Prince Ifeanyi Onochie
NAS Cap’n
National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity)
February, 2016
