2014 budget: Outrage over allocations for zoo, new jet

There was outrage on Sunday over some allocations to the Presidency as well as ministries, departments and agencies  of the Federal Government  in the 2014 budget.

 The anger was expressed by the Arewa Consultative Forum, the  Northern Elders Forum and the Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre and the Anti-Corruption Network and activists.

They  condemned  the allocations for the Villa Zoo  and  the amount budgeted for President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice-President N

amadi Sambo’s local and foreign trips.

According to them, the allocations are not only wasteful, they boldly signpost government’s    insensitivity  to the plight of Nigerians.

The groups were reacting to media reports that the Presidency had budgeted N1.6bn for a new jet;  N34.5m for two animals  for the Villa Zoo; N2.4bn for  Jonathan and Sambo’s foreign and local trips; N362m for meals and refreshment and N834m for fuelling generators in  the Presidency and the  MDAs.

 Condemning the allocations,  the ACF said  Nigerians must insist on service delivery.

 It  cautioned the government against frivolous expenses in 2014, saying  the nation’s education and  health sectors as well as the labour market, needed urgent intervention.

The  forum’s Publicity Secretary,  Mr. Anthony Sani,  in an SMS  to one of our correspondents said,  “Nigerians  need to insist on how much the implementation of  the budget will affect specific socio-economic indices like poverty rate, infant and maternal mortality, life expectancy, enrolment in schools, literacy rate, unemployment, or education  which have  misery indices.”

 To the   NEF,   the 2014 budget tells a sad story about the situation Nigeria has found itself today.

In  a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, its  spokesman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said it was sad that those in government were more concerned about their personal comfort than they were  about the suffering  of ordinary Nigerians.

According to him, every aspect of the budget shows how inconsiderate government could be.

He said a close look at the budget revealed  that those in government had  no regards for improving the living conditions of Nigerians. This, he said, was exemplified by their resolve to spend   public funds on frivolities.

Abdullahi said, “If you take the N2bn that is supposed to be the empowerment initiative for the entire North-East zone where this insurgency is greatest, it is about the same amount of money that is being wasted on an aircraft.

“And the aircraft is just part of the overall cost of the official travelling of the Executive branch of government which amounts to about N7bn.

“Yet, we have a situation where 70 per cent of the country does not enjoy more than 10hours of electricity supply and  virtually 70 per cent of the country does not see clean, safe drinking water from their taps.