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On 22 September 2016, Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu, made a call to apply reason to the economic situation of Nigeria.
In a passionate plea on the floor of the Senate, Sunmonu complained about the plight of her constituents as regards their daily lives.
Sunmonu’s conclusion was that no matter what the resolution, whether to dispose of state assets or not, the most important thing is for the public to benefit from good services and the creation of more jobs for the youth.
She also called for action to be taken expeditiously as Nigerians were really having a tough time. She called for the decisions to be in the best interest of the public.
A full transcript of her remarks is available below:
“President of the Senate, as we are all aware, the economic situation in the country is quite dire at the moment. We have heard the word ‘recession’ used countless times to describe the circumstances we face.
Personally, I spent the majority of the annual recess in my Senatorial District with my constituents. I held a number of Town Hall meetings in which I was able to feel the pulse of the populace, and as a result I can say that the overwhelming majority of the public are having a hard time at the moment.
Mr President, my constituents were not asking me what was going on with the economy, they were asking me what I, Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu, representing them in the senate was doing about it. They could not care less that I was not the Minister for Finance or Governor of the CBN. And they have the right to ask those questions because they voted for me!
I speak as not only a Senator but a mother. We have youths at home without jobs and our role as their representatives is to be their voice and let the government know their concerns. Mr Senate President, during my contributions on the 2016 budget I alluded to the fact that the public is not interested in rhetoric of theoretical prophesies about inflation, recession, exchange rate or other terms they may not understand. The public understands the bottom line, which is the money available to them to take care of their daily expenses. They only care about the immediate cost- the cost of petrol, food, education, shelter, roads and electricity.
We must also ensure the judicious use of Special Intervention Funds which are in place to boost growing industries. However, there are widespread complaints that some of these funds were either not utilised or not distributed as they were meant to be. For example, the aviation intervention fund, which was to assist the airlines was swallowed by the banks and used to offset existing debts, thereby defeating the objective.
It is the government’s job to protect the future because the public will not do it themselves. The public needs to be sensitised that Nigeria is going through a tough time and there will be more trying times ahead. However, in order for there not to be revolt they must trust the government that we have their best interest in mind. This can only be achieved if they hear positive things coming from all angles of the government, particularly those at the helm of affairs. We have made a push to patronise Made in Nigeria products, but we need information on the progress of this. What is the state of our exports, and what progress has been made in the Agriculture and Raw Materials industry? What is the investment in the future in terms of education?
There is also nothing wrong in acknowledging the monumental task at hand and the endemic rot in the system. Our President has intimated us of these challenges already. In 1984, when Margret Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, she realised similar problems in that country and the need of the people to have better services, she proceeded to sell off public enterprises such as British Telecom, British Railway, British Gas, British Airways, London Electric and the likes, to private equity, with the knowledge that they would be run as viable businesses for profit. Government’s role was simply to regulate the sectors in order to ensure that the public gets the best possible services, even if that is at a premium.
Mr President, the question we must ask ourselves is whether right now, today, the Nigerian government is capable of running these industries. If the answer is no, and we want the public to have access to better services then they must be sold. We must be mindful of the fact that offsetting industries does not mean that government necessarily sell all share holdings. There are a number of ways to structure such arrangements, for instance, we can opt not to sell at all with the hope that Government will somehow fix the industries. Secondly, we can completely offset Government’s controlling shares and open the industries to market forces, our role will then be regulators (like in the UK). Thirdly, we can engage private enterprises to manage the industries for us, but we will then be responsible for financing the cost and we must realise that it will be expensive.
Another interesting option to is to implement proper Public Private Partnership with Transfer of ownership after a certain number of years. The goal must be the best way of ensuring services to the people within the shortest possible timescale. Opening up these industries is not a bad thing. Mr President, it is widely agreed that the best airport in Nigeria is MM2 in Lagos. This is a privately run airport on a government concession. It is also a common fact that toll roads, such as the on in Lekki, are the best maintained roads because of the conditions attached to the concessions.
In the power sector we have the Generation Companies (Gencos) producing and the Distribution Companies (Discos) distributing. But the height tension transmission connection in the middle is failing because the grid is not properly structured. Mr President, it the TCN connection is controlled by government and is a major reason for the lack of power in Nigeria.
We can also use the telecommunications sector as a case study for the positive role private equity can play in the provision of services. The sector was opened up before and SIM cards cost as much as 50,000naira years back, now they are free. Calls are also cheaper than they were before. This is due to competition. Telecoms is private business run with government regulation. Lest we forget that the government run GSM and Landline companies could not compete and ended up folding, while the only ones that remain are privately run. What is to say the same can’t happen in other sectors?
Mr President of the Senate, the most important thing is for the people to have access to good services. That is the cardinal thing. We need to quickly boost these services so that our youth will have jobs. The sentiment of ownership is arguably secondary.
Other countries have been through recessions and got out of it, but the immediate, medium and long term interest of the people is very important.
However, I stress that there must be harmony. It is of paramount importance that the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary (to an extent) speak with one voice of hope and future prosperity for Nigeria. This is the only way that the public will have trust in the government. I therefore call for all arms of government to work together.
The senate should continue to pacify the public to have faith in this President Buhari-led government. However, we as the representatives of the people need to be sure of what the Executive is doing to better the situation, so that we can give factual information. Without this, no matter how much good work is done behind the scenes it may not be appreciated.
I therefore, charge the Senate to hold discussions with Nigeria’s Economic Planning team so that we can initiate further legislation that will assist to provide short, medium and long-term solutions to the challenges faced by the nation. In such a forum we can look at the causative factors and provide necessary solutions, whatever that may be.
Thank you.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu
Oyo Central Senatorial District”