The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, said that the country’s burden was a necessary one, as the country could not sit back and do nothing.
He said this at a media briefing of the Ninth Senate’s second anniversary, stating that the government was responsible for keeping the country’s economy going.
Recently, the Debt Management Officer (DMO) disclosed that Nigeria’s total public debt stood at N32.915 trillion.
In defence of some of the loans that Nigeria sought, Lawan said that some of them “the bilateral ones particularly, are even zero interest rate concessionary so to speak.
“Since we don’t have better options and not to do anything is not an option at all, we have to bite the bullet and accept the request.
“We are not doing enough to educate Nigerians on some of these issues because many Nigerians feel the debt burden is too heavy. Honestly, it is, but I think it is a necessary burden.
“Because to do otherwise will be irresponsible of any government. To keep an economy that is stagnated, we have to move on.
“But we must ensure also that those projects, when completed are able to help in revenue generation to pay for the debts.
“Before us in the Senate are two requests from the executive arm of government. One is to construct and rehabilitate rail lines to different parts of the country. The other one is to boost the economy directly, investments in agriculture and other real sectors of the economy, including mining.
READ ALSO: New Terminal To Curb Illegal Refining Of Oil
“That also includes request for loans guaranteed by the Federal Government for some states. The N32 trillion you are talking about is not all Federal Government debts. Part of it belongs to the states, only that the Federal Government gives the guarantee.”
Encouraging Nigerians to keep the faith, Lawan said that Nigeria, like many other countries that had experienced the current persisting turmoil, and that “We should not despair because other countries had gone through this situation and had come out of it better, so Nigeria will get out of it better too.”
On what the Senate was doing, he said, “The ninth Senate has, for instance, been decisive in its interventions on the problem of insecurity. We minced no words in calling on Mr. President to inject fresh energies into our armed forces to bring in new initiatives in the fight against insurgency, banditry and kidnappings.”
Nigeria is beset by multi-faceted socio-economic issues, with insecurity and stringent policies paralysing many sectors.
Recently, the Federal Government announced plans to borrow N722 billion to address the issue of insecurity in the country, as citizens are killed and kidnapped in various regions.
“Fighting an asymmetrical war is different, and requires a multi-pronged approach, given the unconventional means of the enemies.”
“We shall continue to provide all legislative support to the armed forces, and be consistent with our constitutional roles of appropriation, legislation and oversight,” Lawan said.
