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‘Fire Them. Nigeria Doesn’t Need 100 Senators and 400 Reps to Make Laws’ – Lamido Sanusi

By on November 28, 2012

CBN Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi

The Nigerian economy and its leaders seem to be wallowing in a state of confusion, contention, and debate. Irrespective of the regrettable state of unemployment in the country, only yesterday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi advised Federal Government to sack at least half of its workforce to maintain a sustainable economy.

The CBN boss, aired out his magic formula at the second Annual Capital Market Committee retreat in Warri, Delta State, saying the government is spending over 70 per cent of its earning on salaries and entitlements, which according to him is not a sound economical principle.

Sanusi decried the high cost of running the government, he advised that the government should employ practices that will cut down the cost of running the government, which would reduce overhead and free up capital for infrastructure development.

In his words,  “At the moment, 70 per cent of Federal Government’s revenue goes for payment of salaries and entitlement of civil servants, leaving 30 percent for development of 167million Nigerians. That means that for every naira government earns, 70kobo is consumed by civil servants.

“You have to fire half of the civil service because the revenue government has is supposed to be for 167million Nigerians. Any society where government spends 70 per cent of its revenue on its civil service has a problem. It is unsustainable.”

He also lamented the amount of money spent on running the office of the lawmakers, adding that Nigerian does not need 100 senators and over 400 representatives to make laws. In his analysis, he said the government spends all its revenue on servicing the executives, lawmakers, and civil servants.

Furthermore, Sanusi condemned the monies used for the maintenance of 774 local government council chairmen and councillors, which he termed as “wastage.”

“Do we need 774 local governments, do we need 36 states some of which are unviable? Why not just remove them and have only state governments?”

“There are state governors whose monthly allocation is barely enough to pay salaries. I hear such governors complain and I say ‘why complain when the solution is simple?’ It is irresponsible to use all money to pay salaries and wait for another month’s allocation and pay salaries and after four years, you would have done nothing.”

According to the CBN Boss, the government should totally remove fuel subsidy but he said, first the government should hold those who stole from the subsidy money to pay back saying “People have the right to demand transparency. If you want to remove subsidy, you have to show what happened to those who stole.”

Sanusi also called on the government to leave investments on infrastructure to the private sector and concentrate on building of schools, health centres and other social services.

On the contrary, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the host governor, said Sanusi’s call for the mass sack of federal and state civil servants was very wrong.

The Governor said the country was already battling with mass unemployment, adding that going by Sanusi’s advice, the unemployment problem will be compounded.

In his keynote address, Uduaghan identified the capital market as one of the sources of procurement of fund for execution of good projects to uplift the social and economic lives of its people.

“Not that borrowing in itself is necessarily bad, but the management and deployment of such funds is crucial. In fact, I dare say that with the state of affairs today and the paucity of funds, government can hardly do without borrowing. What is at issue is what government and public funds managers do with the funds at their disposal for the good of all,” Uduaghan said.

6 Comments

  1. Olatunji

    November 28, 2012 at 4:53 pm

    Mr. Lamido Sanusi, I hope you come to this website once in a
    while to read up on some posts including this one. Headcount reduction in the
    Civil Services is not the problem but part of a solution to a series of
    problems facing Nigeria. One of the HUGE problems we face is unemployment,
    which Mr. Sanusi alludes to reducing if the seventy percent of the total
    available budget were not spent on salaries and allowances. Wrong! The western
    economies have been fighting unemployment for decades. With all the money and
    intellectuals they have, they have been unable to achieve full employment. Part
    of the solution should be the willingness to create jobs – good jobs (unlike
    graduates applying for truck driver jobs). If you can do that perhaps the Civil
    Service wouldn’t be so enticing to the masses. What makes Mr. Sanusi think the
    funds recuperated from the layoff of fifty percent of the Civil Service would
    go into meaningful projects that create employment and wouldn’t be siphoned and
    shipped abroad like the billions of dollars our former leaders and government-
    created billionaires do daily? What most countries lack, including Nigeria is
    the creativity it takes in creating employment in general, and meaningful ones
    that can benefit us as a society. I must say, the man behind graduates applying
    for truck driver jobs is trying, doing his part, but lacks real creativity in
    creating meaningful jobs. The Gov. of Lagos State, Tinubu, is also trying…

    Nigeria shouldn’t have high unemployment like we currently
    do with the type of revenue we generate and the amount of money coming in
    yearly from Diasporas. As bad as we are as a society with TRUST (or lack of),
    at least the masses know if they work for the Civil Service, they’ll get paid most of the times. JSo Mr. Sanusi, the next
    time you are going to make such a bold statement about firing of workers,
    please think a little of the big problem/big picture. Another which is the lack
    of Trust in the system. It comes from poverty ridden minds. That’s why our
    former leaders and so-called billionaires need to stash money in foreign
    accounts. I’m sad to say that most of the monies are unaccounted for when
    theses thieves die. Most of their families don’t know where all their loot is
    stashed and even if they knew, would not have the proof to claim their father’s
    loot.

    Perhaps it is easy for me to criticize this one public utter
    of yours. However, I have read some good speeches from you when you talked
    against the thieves, some of them your friends that put you in office.
    Nevertheless, it would be unkind of me not to leave you with some change or loan you some advice. I would
    argue that your team at CBN can also do more with less. That would be a start –
    looking inward. I’m sure you are asking yourself how can you? Good question.
    Well, I suggest you create a “Think Tank” within CBN and work with the list of
    billionaires we have in the country that have more than $1 billion dollars in a
    foreign account to create projects at home and drive down unemployment.

    Contact me through this forum if you want more information
    on what this “Think Tank” should
    look like.

  2. Sahfeeyah

    November 29, 2012 at 9:21 am

    Tell them the truth SLS. The Civil Service has a lot of people doing nothing. Some only make photocopy, some are the bribe collectors etc. Members of NASS should be reduced. Sack all their SAs who are mostly fended for by Private Sectors forcefully. And some selfish people are craving for more states to be created.
    SLS has told everyone the truth, and doesn’t care. Being CBN Governor isn’t a lifetime thing. I am very sure he knows how Nigerians will react, and was ready for the outcome, but knew the truth had to be told. He also said FG shouldn’t let all those who stole in the name of subsidy go free..why isn’t anyone seeing that? The man has boldly said what needed to be said. It’s left for Nigerians to leave their sentiments and emotions aside, so as to see the truth in what he said. I am totally with him on this one!! Kalas!

    • Slimdels Samuel

      November 29, 2012 at 11:28 am

      SLS is a very bad economist all he cares about is risk management and not economy growth, see how small businesses die everyday and umemployement is on the rise, just see it and know that he got to be a CBN chairman by the Cabal

  3. Oracle

    November 29, 2012 at 5:08 pm

    Nigerians agitated for Freedom from the Colonial Masters and became independent.Ironically,we have been celebrating our independence every year without knowing it that our people have been selling our freedom to different foreign countries by their greed and ignorance in wrecklessly transferring our money overseas with impunity.The Whiteman came to Nigeria worked with us and transferred our money to their country,but now they relax in their “easy-chair”at home;we kill ourselves,ravage our economy,starve our people and stash our money in foreign banks for the Whites to use to develop themselves.What other form of slavery is more than this?SLS,please talk about creating employment than reducing the workforce.These people you want to sack are part of the common wealth of Nigeria which is being looted out of the country by only a handful of Devil incarnates called senior citizens.

  4. diamond

    November 30, 2012 at 6:51 pm

    ℓ̊ grave U̶̲̥̅̊я boldness SLS, though τ̲̅ђe truth is better but must be told,spending 70% of total revenue on salaries while τ̲̅ђe remaining 30% will end up being embezzle. ℓ̊ wish τ̲̅ђe FG can can equally be bold enough to face τ̲̅ђe facts and see reasons with SLS.

  5. K. Boy

    December 3, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    There is element of truth in your speech Mal. Sanusi, I personally agree with the opinion to reduce the number of the legislative body, as mush they say two heads is better than one, also too many cooks spoil the broth, therefore, that’s is a good suggestion. But my question is, do you sincerely mean it for the growth of the country or you are saying as a counter attack for the suggestion made to reduce your powers? What are your suggestions on how to make our economy grow, is it by giving us technology we are yet ready for? I think you are all the same, selfish, you think only of your office, nothing else.
    But, as i said i support the motion to reduce the number of those guys wasting our resources with no contributions made.