Business
Rising Debt Profile: Stop mortgaging future of unborn generation, Bishop Onuoha warns FG
Worried by the rising debt profile of Nigeria, the President and Founder, Vision Africa International, Bishop Sunday Ndukwo Onuoha Ph.D, has expressed disaffection over continuous borrowing by the Federal Government.
The Methodist Bishop who decried that successive administrations went borrowing without efforts to repay, said he is also pained that the current administration led by President Bola Tinubu has also continued using loans to service loans.
Bishop Onuoha, who stated this on Wednesday while interacting with Hallmark Business Correspondent Izuchukwu Nwokoma on the State of the Nation, said it was not wrong to borrow if channeled appropriately to reposition an ailing economy like Nigeria, but regretted that in this situation, loans are accumulating without reviving the economy.
The cleric who criticised the present administration at the centre and accused it of endangering the lives of generations yet unborn through constant borrowing, also wondered who will service the debts, insisting that they are mortgaging the next generation who will repay these loans.
In his words, “I have sat back, asked myself how on earth the federal government of Nigeria intend to repay these loans which runs in trillions. In as much as it is not wrong to borrow, it makes more sense when you borrow and make judicious use of the money borrowed. It becomes indeed an aberration when you borrow and fail to invest in critical areas that will yield interest to repay the loans.
“So it goes beyond just borrowing. Let’s even talk about the economy, we saw a situation where subsidy was removed without commensurate mechanism to cushion it’s effect, what about the floating of the naira? Today in Nigeria, people find it difficult to feed, take care of daily needs or even invest, it is indeed a terrible situation that we have found ourselves in the country”.
Bishop Onuoha called on the federal government to ensure that the current approved loan by the The World Bank, is channeled appropriately to identified areas of deficit, adding that Nigerians are worried about these humongous loans and its attendant consequences on generations yet unborn.
Recall that the World Bank had approved a $500m loan to Nigeria last Friday to support the country’s Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.
Also, another loan package was waiting for the approval of the World Bank totalling $632m amid mounting concerns over the country’s rising debt profile.
Business Hallmark reports that the loans are to support critical areas, including nutrition improvement and quality basic education.
Speaking on the political imbroglio in Rivers State, Bishop Onuoha, called on all the parties involved in the situation to put their personal interests aside to ensure that the problem is resolved for the sake of the country’s democracy, adding that further deterioration will be painting Nigeria and her democracy in bad light.