The monthly revenue allocation to the three tiers of government for the
\nmonth of June justifies the arduous cleansing work the regime of President
\nMuhammadu Buhari has undertaken since it came on stream on May 29, 2015.
\nThe cash-starved tiers of Nigerian government were still smarting and
\nbleeding profusely from a combination of scorching corrupt acts that
\npractically crumbled the country before Buhari came, the astronomical
\nslump in the price of oil; the mono commodity that has fuelled Nigeria’s
\neconomy as well as its legendary profligacy and the vengeful actions of a
\npolitically-tainted war of attrition by the so-called Niger Delta
\nAvengers. The monthly monetary sharing\u00a0 ritual that serves as fuel to the
\nthree tiers of Nigerian government, had, in the sequel, became a mirthless
\nexercise where paltry amounts were shared for attending to the mounting
\nmultifarious challenges\u00a0 of governance in Nigeria. At one of such sharing
\nexercises, a state ended up with a mere N6 million which was reported as
\nnot enough to pay the monthly electricity bill of the government
\nministries in the state.\u00a0 With the combination of the factors above, it
\nseemed the world had crumbled for many States as their dependence on
\nmonthly revenue allocations continued to fail them badly.<\/p>\n
But the June allocation was different. A princely sum of N559 billion, These puzzles were addressed by the details that attended the June – 70 per cent of the revenue shared in June comes from non oil sectors. Gleaning all above, there is the message embedded in the exercise that But did Nigeria hit a jackpot? Yes and that jackpot is the cleansing works The question to the scoffing cult of die hard nay Sayers who are yet to We know the victims of Buhari’s winnowing fork are many and these are the All said, Buhari’s winnowing fork with which he is parking the dirt and Peter Claver Oparah<\/p>\n
\nN200 billion more than the previous months allocation, was shared to the
\nthree tiers of government. Governors wearing wrinkled faces as the
\nchallenges of paying workers salaries mounted, must have had their faces
\ncreased with smiles at that pleasant development. Hopes must have been
\nre-activated that indeed governance in Nigeria which had been threatened
\nby insolvency, is on the rebound. Reports said that the June allocation
\nremains the highest in two years<\/span><\/span>! When we note that these two years
\nincluded the period when oil sold up to $140 per barrel and Nigeria
\nexceeded its OPEC supply quota, there is need to ask what magic came into
\nplay in June. What happened? Did the country hit a jackpot? When we note
\nthat the foolish actions of the so-called avengers have even halved
\nNigeria’s oil production quota and oil price is sluggishly climbing\u00a0 just
\nabove the budget benchmark, more puzzles gush out. Just pray, what really
\nhappened?<\/p>\n
\nallocation. These formed the indexes for the exercise as well as answers
\nto the question attending this spurt of good fortune. When we probe
\nfurther, there is a silent optimism that Nigeria is on the part of
\nrevival-thanks to the frugal, accountable, cleaning, sanitisation efforts
\nof the Change government of President Buhari. Here are some of the details
\nattending the June revenue allocation, as has been enumerated by the
\nFinance Minister and further accentuated by the boss of the Federal Inland
\nRevenue\u00a0 Services;<\/p>\n
\n– This is the first time in Nigerian history of oil politics that the
\ncountry achieved that hefty feat.
\n– The allocation was 83.2 per cent more than the previous allocation and
\nkick started the process of rescuing Nigeria from insolvency.
\n– By December, 2016, the country projects to have over 90 per cent of its
\nbudgetary revenue from non oil sectors.<\/p>\n
\nNigeria is irrevocably on the mend through deliberate acts of facial
\ndiscipline, cut in the humongous cost of governance, entrenched anti
\ncorruption template; all integral and critical parts of the Buhari
\ngovernment. There is a deeper message that Nigeria can survive the curse
\nof oil which governments before Buhari’s have entrenched and which fuels
\nthe nay saying orientation of the agnostics that believe that President
\nBuhari’s government will not take Nigeria out of the woods the previous
\ngovernments ran it into. Still in the lessons of this cheery development
\nthat Nigeria can rightly be recovered from a seemingly certain path of
\ndoom past regimes prodded it to with their uncurbed profligacy.<\/p>\n
\nPresident Buhari’s government has done to governance since that regime
\nberthed. Despite the deadly onslaught of those who see no future with
\ncessation of official corruption, the Buhari government had been
\nunflagging in dealing this cankerworm a red eye. Outright stealing and
\nprimordial looting of the commonwealth that surged to a dizzying height
\nduring the Jonathan regime Buhari succeeded, has stopped. Taking
\nuncensored liberty with public fund has been stopped, running innumerable
\nfonts for siphoning public resources by political office holders, their
\ncronies and civil servants have been plugged. It is no more business as
\nusual. Fly in the night party bogey men who become instant millionaires
\nafter one pilgrimage to Aso Rock have become things of the past. A
\nsybaritic cult of predators and political loafers who do nothing than
\npimping in the verandah of power and getting a huge cut of the national
\npatrimony has been annihilated. Buffoons and layabouts that feed off state
\nresources, trading in dubious contracts and receiving illicit concessions
\naimed at stealing public funds have been ran into extinction. A culture of
\npadding government payroll with millions of phantom workers has been
\nbusted and carefulness, discipline and frugality have been brought to save
\nas much as possible for the Nigerian people.<\/p>\n
\nheal from the drubbing\u00a0 Buhari gave the old rotten\u00a0 order and who have in
\ntheir entrenched bitterness grown incurably blind to the revival the
\ngovernment is doing in Nigeria remains; would the unbelievable scenario of
\ngovernment getting more revenue to share in a period of austerity be
\npossible if not for what this regime has been doing since it came to
\npower? Could the wailing wailers, inconsolable beneficiaries of rot and
\ndirt wager that continuing what they know best would have navigated the
\ncountry out of the Sheol when oil price nose dived to $28 per barrel?
\nCould those raising dubious baleful cries of hunger today tell us the
\npossible scenario we would have been faced had Buhari not come to do what
\nhe is doing today? Today’s Venezuela would have told a more cheery picture
\nof what Nigeria would have been had Buhari not come and had he not
\nemployed his winnowing fork to sweep off the accumulated dirt that has
\nhobbled Nigeria for several decades.<\/p>\n
\nhordes of beneficiaries from the rot and dirt that was brought in to
\ndefraud and wreck the country before he came. They are so riled at the
\ncleansing work going on today that they are virtually on the brinks of
\nmental breakdown. They are the sons and daughters of\u00a0 filth who would
\nrather the old stale order from which the stole, revelled and partied at
\nthe expense of the country, is left unscathed. They are those who have
\nnaively invested in the continuation of the same jaded ways for their
\ncontinued survival but who lost all their deposits with the coming of
\nPresident Buhari and the measures he had taken to recover the mileage
\nthese locusts have devoured of the country. They have become mortal
\nenemies of Buhari who are wont to develop instant paranoia with the
\nmention of his name but they are eating themselves up in vain. The
\ncleansing of Nigeria is an idea whose time had come for that holds the
\nchord for the continued existence, health and growth of the country.<\/p>\n
\ndebris that have accumulated for decades remain the only way Nigeria will
\nmiss total bankruptcy. There is no alternative to what he is doing; not in
\nthe least, the culture of Byzantine brigandage and free loading that
\nBuhari succeeded. His winnowing fork remains the reason why the country is
\nbeginning to reap bountifully in an era of recession. His cleansing acts
\nhave ensured that our collective patrimony remains intact for our
\ncollective well being and not to serve the self-serving interests of a
\ncult of political profiteers and swindlers that live off the life blood of
\nordinary Nigerians. Most importantly, his winnowing fork is navigating the
\ncountry away from the lazy route of total dependence on oil to harvesting
\nthe fruits of our hands. His winnowing fork is trashing out the chaffs,
\ngathering the grains and most importantly redirecting Nigeria and
\nNigerians to the paths of rectitude, transparency and frugality; a path we
\nlong departed from and landed where we are today.<\/p>\n