“Sovereign Wealth Fund Is A Jamboree”

Boniface Okezie, financial analyst and the National Chairman of Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN)

—Boniface Okezie, financial analyst and the National Chairman of Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), based in Lagos, Nigeria. He spoke with The Source on controversies surrounding the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) set up by the federal government
By Shedrack Ifurueze
The Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) is generating a lot of controversies, why are there controversies?
Well for me, the SWF has no problem. In fact, there is nothing actually wrong with it, if we are doing our homework properly. If Nigerians have being carried along in what we want to do. To save for the rainy day. To save against eventuality when the oil is no more flowing or when the oil price has come down. Then we can now fall back to this fund, but by the time the oil price rises, the additional or excess amount realised, what do we do with it. We know we have to save for the rainy day, but how do we save when Nigerians are dying of hunger. When Nigerians are going on the streets with empty stomach or what is the rationale of going to the bank to save money when you and your family are hungry. As at now, we have a serious case and challenge of infrastructural decay all over the country. There are no roads, and infrastructure. These things have history in the life of the nation and we are having a lot of money but not plenty of roads as we are not fixing the roads. The power sector is there. This has not been fixed. The education sector is in a mess and rotten situation. It is begging for attention. The health sector is nothing to write home about and you are saying that you want to save. What are you saving for when Nigerians are dying on the streets because of hunger? If you want to save, your citizens must be well fed. They must be well clothed before you can go to the banks. Somebody who is dead because of hunger and because he or she was not properly fed, how will the person come out to partake in what you are saving for the country? Let there be enough food and social amenities before you can save for the rainy day. Though, it is unfortunate that the governors shot themselves in the legs. This is because the state governors went back after meeting and agreeing on the SWF with the Presidency and probably discovered that this will not favour them hence the u-turn wouldn't have come in. The governors have given approval to the fund at the initial stage but now they are backing out from the earlier arrangement and support given to the SWF. The implication of what they (governors) have done is that they did not do their homework very well before meeting and agreeing with the presidency on the issue.
Why are the governors opposed to the SWF?
The opposition of the governors to the implementation of the SWF is because the governors are the ones the people are closer to at the grassroots and they are the ones who know what the citizens of Nigeria are feeling. If you look at some of the Federal roads in these states, they are being fixed or tarred by the state governors whereas the roads belong to the Federal Government even the roads linking urban towns have not been taken care of. For example, if you go to Anambra state, the major roads have been submerged by devastating erosion which is a serious natural menace to almost all the states in the country. These states cannot tackle these erosion problem alone and the Federal Government is not coming to their aid or to bail the states out. Some state government roads and the states are already cut-off from the link roads of the Federal Government. The state governments alone cannot tackle the problems and the federal government is not helping matters.
The fund is already an Act. Don’t you see the governors losing at the Supreme Court?
They cannot lose because in enacting such a law that concerns the masses, you must carry the governors along. The governors represent the people and the majority of the people in their states. How many of these people does Abuja control at the Federal level? So the National Assembly who enacted this Law should have taken into consideration the yearnings of the people from the state governors before making such a law.
The issue of trust and prudent management is another argument by the governors against the SWF. What is your take?
What is trust? Can the people trust the government? Even the states that are closer to the people cannot be trusted. The states and local governments are not accountable to the people they are governing in the rural areas. Even the chairmen and councillors that are elected by the people at the Local Government level don’t care about the people’s feelings and condition, hence they are not accountable to the common man in the rural areas.