Nigeria has suffered perennial infrastructural deficiency. From bad road to a near comatose rail transport system. Former President Goodluck Jonathan started what looked like a revolution in the rail sector. When President Muhammadu Buhari took over the mantle of leadership in 2015, He placed priority on infrastructural development, with a special interest in the railway, airport and road sectors. Under his administration, the transport sector (Road, rail and airport) gulped more loans than every other sector and every other government since the advent of the current democratic experience.
There are currently ongoing road projects across many parts of Nigeria. There is as well the 2nd Niger Bridge within the South East axis. There are massive road constructions within the Southern and Northern axis in Nigeria. As beautiful as all these seem, the question Nigerians have failed to ask is the cost of borrowing to fund these projects. Are these loans worthwhile? Are they deployed for the same purpose for which they borrowed? What are the terms and conditions of these loans? What are the sovereign collateral and guarantees? Are the projects for which they were borrowed feasible to bring enough returns to repay these loans? What are the qualities and life spans of these infrastructures that we are obtaining loans for? What effect do these untamed loans have on the economy at least within the medium and long terms? These are questions every patriotic Nigeria should genuinely ask.
Unlike under previous governments when construction giant like Julius Berger was majorly patronized by the Federal Government, China construction companies are currently dominating construction projects in Nigeria – from rail to road, from airport to other infrastructures. The reason for this shift is not far-fetched. Most of the funding for these infrastructures is a “China Loan”. China would not avail of a loan that would benefit other construction companies. Thus, Chinese Government-owned companies are having a field day in the construction sector in Nigeria.
President Buhari is currently the Nigeria President with the highest loan-take. While many praise him for several infrastructural projects across Nigeria, others hold the view that the president’s penchant for loans may plunge Nigeria into collecting loans that may never easily be paid back. China’s loan largesse is not limited to Nigeria. Report has it that so many other countries have stretched to China for loans, nay, for more loans. Loans are collected with collateral and other forms of securities and guarantees. Nigerians see roads and other infrastructures, but most Nigerians do not know the terms under which those loans were given to Nigeria.
President Buhari APC-led government does not seem to understand jack about wealth creation or how the abundant human and natural resources Nigeria has been endowed with could be optimized for national growth and development. The floral and faunas, the enchanting landscapes and rocks in the North Central region, the green allures of the South-South lands that stretch from land to sea, including the bodies of water that dot up that region, the historical monuments that could create research and historical tourism among countless other touristic elements lay waste without any efforts at exploring and exploiting them as major revenue earner. What about the arable land that stretches from North to South? Despite claims of food sufficiency, Nigeria still imports most of the food it consumes. Where locally-made foods are available, the prices tower higher than the reach of an average Nigerian. Truly, things have fallen apart and all thanks to clueless leadership that have continued to plague Nigeria since her independence.
President Muhammadu Buhari is an expert in negotiating and collecting loans. His advisers seem to always urge him on. Former Minister of Transport, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi stood out as one of President Buhari’s ministers who saw China loan as the be-all and did not seem to remember that loans are loans and are repayable. President Buhari believes the only way he could out-perform his predecessors is by collecting more and more loans for infrastructures. Today in APC, infrastructural development have become a campaign slogan. They tell Nigeria to embrace roads, and rails that have been built for them. They however fail to tell Nigerians that their future have been sold for loans.
One of the sectors that has engulfed many loans is the railway facility. Amaechi has severally and shamelessly portrayed the inevitability of loans for more rail tracks, including running a rail track from Nigeria to the Republic of Niger at no cost to the government and the people of the Republic of Niger. But any right-thinking Nigeria knows that the rail sector is not viable enough to repay the massive loan that has so far been obtained from China. I do not think that the proceeds from rail transport will ever be enough to run the overhead costs, let alone repay the loans collected to build them.
Only time will tell the damage these suspicious loans have dealt to the economy of Nigeria. Only time may prove that these loans and the arrangement behind them were laden with corruption, and manipulation for purpose of self-aggrandizement. Some of these loans were taken to be stolen. Time will tell.
But do these loans have a long-term effect on the collective fortune of Nigeria and Nigerians? It does. A disastrous effect. Creative leaders are not those who resort to loans to bridge infrastructural deficiencies. But they are people who optimize resources for growth and development. Creative leadership provides an enabling environment that attracts the private sector to take infrastructural development. What President Muhammadu Buhari, his aides and ministers have succeeded in doing in the name of infrastructural development is simply mortgaging the future of Nigerians, including an unborn generation. I am not enthused by several roads, rails and bridges built with Chinese loans, I am rather worried that Nigerians will pay dearly for the greed of a few who sold out this country by collecting loans for which their repayments do not look feasible. …. To be continued.
Light I. Shedrack is a communication strategist, public issues analyst and an SME ideation specialist. He writes from Abuja and can be reached via lightsheddie26@gmail.com