$30bn foreign loan will mortgage Nigeria’s future, Group warns FG
A division of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Christian Council of Nigeria, has advised the federal government to withdraw interest in borrowing $30 billion, saying the process of repaying the debt will end up mortgaging the future of younger generations of the nation.
The call, is the second coming against the planned borrowing which currently is stranded at the
The CCN said if Nigeria took the loan it would amount to “structural adjustment coming back to ruin us further and increase poverty” adding that instead, government should embark on policies that would put food on the tables of the masses.
The President of CCN, Dr. Benebo Fubara-Manuel, said, “The Federal Government should not be too much in a hurry to secure $30 billion infrastructure loan, but it should take time and ensure that we do not have a structural adjustment coming back to ruin us further and increase poverty.
“This kind of venture has helped some countries before and it has also destroyed some countries. We need a secured country and a country that is free from corruption because there can be no economic progress if the issues of security and corruption are not properly addressed.”
Fubara-Manuel stressed that Nigeria needed a secured country, adding that a country that is free from corruption can’t even have the thriving of the Churches.
It would be recalled that a day after the Senate rejected the loan request citing untidy presentation, leading financial pundit and Lagos Economist, Dr. Austin Nweze advised the apex government to shelve the plan, saying it is not good to borrow over and above the total annual budget, the loan is intended to fund.
He said such heavy borrowing will create rooms for abuse of fund at the expense of future generations who will face the challenge of paying back.
Besides, a statement by the Office of the DMO had last year noted that the benchmark for borrowing by the federal government is set at N22.8 billion, a marked departure from what the government is currently targeting.
