'N4,749TRN BUDGET BY FG, BUSINESS AS USUAL'

The Budget of Transformation and Job Creation presented before the National Assembly yesterday has been variously described as 'business as usual by those that spoke to Daily Sun. According to most of them, there should be a change of focus in the way of implementation being adopted by the leadership.

Reacting to the various allocations, Chief Emmanuel Akamobi, Chairman/CEO, Star Insurance Brokers Limited, said that the greatest problem militating against the jump of Nigeria's economy and per capita income of the citizenry is poor power generation.

Akamobi said that if government should give much attention to power generation all cottage industries and other small-scale industries in the country would be able to employ the teeming youth.

Another sector the government is neglecting he said is agriculture. According to him, agriculture is capable of employing 23 per cent of the unemployed youths.

On his part, Chief Ben O. Omanukwue, Managing Director/CEO, KRABO Nigeria Plc, said that the budget would be treated as usual.

'If the terms of implementation of the budget are followed to give impetus to those sectors that should be highlighted, then there will be hope for the common masses. It is not the sum of money budgeted that matter, rather the way and manner the money is expended,' he said.

He wondered how agriculture is given only N78.9 billion when it is supposed to get greater chunk of the budget.

'Nigeria is giving much attention to security because there are no jobs for the youths. Giving power sector N161.6 billion is good but will those to implement it tackle the menace head on? It is good to say no waiver or concession for importation of rice, but has the sector been given the attention it deserves? Because of no attention given to the teeming youths that graduate from our universities year on year, the money needed for beefing job creation is now directed to securing the lives and property of the citizenry,' he said.

In his financial analysis, Mr. Ben Bright, urged governors not to rely on monthly allocations from federal government rather develop platforms for generating money to sustain their expenditures.

Bright said that if the state governments should develop agriculture in their various states, Nigerian will not only have enough for internal consumption, create jobs for the populace, it will also export to foreign countries thereby increasing the foreign reserve.

'Agriculture is neglected because since the sector does not give quick money, lenders feel reluctant in giving credit to the farmers. If credit is given to the farmers, they will be able to fund mechanized farming which will' in other ways create jobs,' he said.