Former Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mr Felix Ogbaudu, has called on governors to tap into abundant agricultural resources in their respective states to boost their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Ogbaudu told the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in Abuja that with plans by the Federal Government to begin bailout deduction, governors needed to think outside the box to keep their revenues afloat to meet the demands of their people.
He said with the planned deductions, most states’ monthly allocations from the Federal Government might not meet up their needs.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, had on Sept.10, disclosed that the Federal Government would soon begin deduction of the N614 billion bailout fund it gave to 35 states.
According to Ogbaudu, the best option is for governors to key fully into the diversification plan of the Federal Government with special attention on agriculture.
He added that every state in the country was blessed with different agricultural produce that could significantly boost their revenue.
“We cannot continue with this idea of cap in hand by states. They look up to the Federal Government to run virtually everything in their states.
“As painful as it is going to be, it is a hard decision that really needs to be taken. We have been foot dragging over the years.
“Some of us are even of the view that we d-emphasise revenue sharing and emphasise revenue generation internally, within the states.
“A situation where states look up to the Federal Government at all times for funds is not the best.
“We have also talked on diversifying the economy and luckily enough, every state in this country is blessed with one resource or the other, which they can always exploit to generate revenue.
“Deduction of the bailout will no doubt affect a lot of things, some states might not even be able to pay salaries.
“From the days of N18,000 minimum wage some states had issues with that, now that it has been increased up to N30,000 and the money will be deducted from source. Where will that take us,” he said.
Ogbaudu expressed concern that rather than consolidate on the gains of agriculture, many states abandoned it for proceeds from crude oil, which he said was not enough given increasing population and other factors.
He further said, “in the past, in the West you talk about cocoa, in the North you talk about groundnut, cotton and all of that, then in the South South you talk about palm oil.
“Malaysia took palm fruit from Nigeria but now Malaysia has overtaken Nigeria with the production of palm oil and palm products.
“So, we really need to diversify the economy, go back to agriculture. We should have no business importing any food item.
“Rather, we should produce so much of it because we have large expanse of land that is very good for agriculture, with the capacity to produce so much to meet our internal consumption and and excess to export to generate revenue.
“So, we really need to look at the agricultural sector with a view to generating more funds from it and de-emphasiseing oil because someday the oil will dry up and when the oil dries up what happens?”
He called on states to make agriculture a priority to cushion the effect of the planned deductions.
He further called for measures to be put in place to tackle challenges bedeviling the agricultural sector.
According to him, there is a need for the Federal Government and all relevant stakeholders to intensify effort, to fix the country’s infrastructure and further ensure ease of doing business to encourage local industries, particularly agro based industries.
“One of our biggest challenges for now that everybody knows is power and power is key to having a vibrant economy.
“We also have to tackle security challenges. So, the environment has to be secured.
“We need dedicated and committed leadership at all levels of government. We should be focused. When we set our targets, there should be a time-frame within which these targets are achieved,” he said.
Ogbaudu also called on Nigerians to avoid preference for foreign products, saying, “in other nations, their products come first and those coming from outside second but here the reverse is the case.”
On partial closure of borders across the country, the former police boss said it was a good decision.
While empathizing with Nigerians at border communities for the hardship the closure had caused them, he said, it was a decision that needed to be taken for the overall interest and growth of the nation.
He said, “if you know the amount of illegal businesses going on at our borders, you will be shocked. For me, the closure was long over due.”(NAN)
