Posted by By Sina Babasola on
NIGERIA's foreign debt profile now stands at $32 billion while it owes local contractors N1.3 trillion, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign and Local Debt, Senator Victor Oyofo said at the weekend in Ibadan.
NIGERIA's foreign debt profile now stands at $32 billion while it owes local contractors N1.3 trillion, a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign and Local Debt, Senator Victor Oyofo said at the weekend in Ibadan.
Senator Oyofo explained that the figures came from a recent meeting between the Senate committee, the Debt Management Office (DMO) and the Department of Debt Management
He also said that the nation's four refineries are not working "because of corruption" which he said has become endemic in Nigeria.
Oyofo speaking on Guest-of-the-Month, a personality programme of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) though acknowledged government's efforts to reduce the debt burden, lamented that Nigeria's foreign debtors have not been sympathetic to the quest to have her debts reduced or cancelled.
According to him, the debt portfolio has been having adverse effect on the rate of development of the country but he was, however, quick to add that the foreigners were not convinced of the transparency level of the government, stressing that "corruption has eaten deep into the fabrics of the Nigerian state."
Oyofo, who is also country leader of the Grail Movement, argued that the nations four refineries are presently not working because of corruption and enjoined all Nigerians to see corruption as a monster that must be tackled headlong ; it is only privatising the refineries that would bring them back to live
Oyofo lamented the state of events and regretted the quality of leadership in the country. He said that the "quality of leaders in the country has been on a descent for some time now. All the things that used to work in Nigeria before are no longer working and this is a sign of the decay that I am talking about."
He endorsed the agitation by the South-South zone to rule the country in 2007, noting: "That area has for long been forgotten and ironically it is the honey pot of the country. That is where we all derive our resources. I think it is high time we allowed them too. We have been using their resources to develop the country and I think it won't be a bad idea if we allow a person from the area to rule Nigeria."
Besides, he believes the present arrangement where the oil-producing states are given 13 per cent of the total oil receipts of the country should be improved upon, suggesting 40 per cent as the ideal derivation formula.
"These people need a lot of money for their developmental projects unlike what is obtained here. That area is a mass of marshy land and water which makes costs of road projects more expensive than that of this area, for instance. They need more money and I think if one of them is in power he will understand it more."