A pan-Nigeria political movement, National Consultative Front (NCFront), youth wing, says it is worried about that 97 per cent of the nation’s revenue generated from January to May 2020 is spent on debt servicing.
It expressed regrets and reservations that despite the fact that the youths have a greater stake in the repayment of the outlandish loans in future, the impact of public borrowings among the youth demography was critical and distressing.
The Head of Youths Relations Bureau, Mr Jude Feranmi, said in a statement on Friday that it is equally worried that the borrowing still continued as occasioned by the unfortunate economic situation in the country.
A national daily had reported on August 20 the Budget Office disclosed that the federal government generated a total revenue of N1.62 trillion out of the N2.62 trillion projected for between January and May 2020, and that within the five months, N1.58 trillion, representing 97.5 percent of the N1.62trillion generated, was expended on debt servicing.
“We demand a real change in government policies that reinforce their sufferings through misappropriation of Nigeria’s common patrimony.
“We are crying out over the mortgaging of the well-being and future of Nigerian Youths by the government’s non discretionary debt servicing and penchant for loan taking,’’ Persecondnews quotes Feranmi as saying in the statement.
The body noted that the poor funding of youth’s education and the low budgetary allocations received by the education sector had continually foisted industrial actions on the sector.
It said: “Again with the International Monetary Fund, IMF, projecting that debt servicing will gulp all revenues in Nigeria in 2020, and a possible fiscal deficit of 5.1trillion is envisaged in 2021, NCFront is compelled to disagree with government’s resort to imposing ridiculous taxes and charges over already impoverished Nigerians, who are currently pauperised by callous policies of government and unconscionable looting of the treasury by public officials.
“A large percentage of the country’s economy is still largely informal – more than 70 percent, however the government has chosen to overtax the youths who set up a majority of the SMEs trying to make ends meet within Nigeria’s failing economy.
“Today, we suffer and tomorrow is not assured as we are presently being short changed by debt that has to be repaid by us”.
The NCFront youths urged the government to block revenue leakages within Nigeria’s economic system and make judicious use of accruable funds at its disposal instead of having the Transportation Minister, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, exercising fears about China not approving Nigeria’s loan requests if the National Assembly continues with its ongoing probe of the loan agreements between the country and China.
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