Former presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party, Kingsley Moghalu, has said that for Nigeria to survive and thrive, it needs urgent restructuring back to true fiscal federalism.
Moghalu, also a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, stated this in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Sunday.
He also backed the call for decentralisation of the police system to tackle the raging insecurity in the country.
“I am a firm believer in restructuring Nigeria back to true fiscal federalism, ideally along the lines of regions, but with the existing states as well. Nigeria cannot survive and thrive without it. The police should be decentralised, but not the army and other security services.”
Speaking on the Federal Government’s plan to remove fuel subsidy next year and pay 40 million poor Nigerians N5,000 each, Moghalu said that the issue of subsidy was a complex one.
According to him, subsidies for consumption are generally not advisable.
He said, “Subsidies on production are better from an economic standpoint. The Buhari government should have removed it years ago when the impact of that action would have been far less difficult, but they took a populist approach.
“They were not transparent, claiming it had been removed at some points only for the subsidies to reappear. Subsidies take up trillions of Naira that would be better spent on health and education, so they are wasteful and contribute to the fiscal stress Nigerian governments have battled with for many years now.
“Petrol Motor Spirit is generally used more by the rich than by the poor, so the impact will be more on the rich if it is removed. But it will affect the poor because fuel price increases have historically driven inflation in Nigeria.
“The so-called plan to pay 40 million poor Nigerians five thousand Naira a month seems to me not well thought through. How do you identify the 40 million? Experience teaches us that this is likely to be another drain pipe of corruption. I think far more work needs to be done to prepare for the eventual and inevitable removal of subsidy.”
On the migration of best brains, including health workers to foreign countries, the former presidential candidate said the nation needs a comprehensive plan to keep skilled health professionals in the country.
“This should include huge and efficient investments in equipment, conditions of service and so on. I have always maintained that healthcare workers, teachers and policemen should be prioritised in our society and public service,” he said.
While he said that the government should apply science and technology in addressing so many economic challenges facing the country, he lamented that both federal and state governments were not prioritising but only paying lip service.
“The modern world is based on science, technology and innovation. The federal and state governments are not prioritising it. They pay only lip service. The federal budget for it is minuscule compared to what you see in more advanced economies. But it should not only be government-driven. The private sector and the education sector have a huge role to play. The key thing is for the government to create an enabling environment for them to do so,” he said.