A traditional ruler in Borno, Alhaji Abba Kyari, has appealed to the state government to prioritise Lake Chad recovery funding in its 2022 budget.
Alhaji Abba, the district head of Dusiman, who represented traditional authorities at the 2022 budget preparation meeting, said the lake has shrunk by 90 per cent over the last 40 years.
He also said the 2022 budget should make adequate allocation to the agriculture sector for the establishment of a base for farmers and procurement and distribution of farm inputs.
The traditional leader further said more effort should be made to provide quality education and reduce the number of out-of-school kids through the employment of more teachers while vocational education should also be enhanced.
He further called on policy makers to address rising youth unemployment in the state by implementing economic empowerment policies.
Adam Gaji Bukar, the secretary-general of the union of Persons With Disabilities (PWD) in the state also concurred that though the government has been paying N15,000 monthly allowance to persons with disabilities to curb the menace of street begging, there are other pressing needs which the 2022 budget should address.
He said PWD face challenges in getting apartments to rent in most parts of the state because some tenants do not want to live with them and called on the government to build low-cost houses for them as well as provide education to their children free of charge.
He said government should also renovate the skill acquisition centre which had been temporarily used as shelter for people displaced by insurgency, for the disabled.
Bukar said more health services should be given to PWDs in various health facilities.
Dr. Umar Abdullahi Maina advised policy makers to make adequate provision in next year’s budget to rehabilitate and resettle repentant insurgents who are mostly young men and women. He said repentant insurgents should be encouraged to return to normal life.
The chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, Yusuf Inuwa, said annual and promotion allowances of public employees should be included in the budget.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Hajiya Maryam Shehu, said the meeting ensured citizens ownership of the budget as well as allowed people to follow its implementation “and by extension, follow their money.”
The Commissioner of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Adamu Lawan, said the input of stakeholders at the meeting will count in the budgeting process and that a budget working group had already been constituted by the ministry involving civil society and labour organisations. He said the ministry’s department of budget planning “will be alive to its responsibilities and produce a sound budget next year.”
Kanem Trust reports that the authorities in Borno State have since 2019 made the process of budget preparation open to citizens.
Stakeholders including community and traditional leaders, interest groups, journalists, youth, women and persons with disabilities were invited to a Town Hall meeting by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning in Maiduguri where they participated in the 2022 budgeting process.
The meeting examined government allocation and spending priorities and sundry issues that encompass the critical needs of the people.
Speakers at the meeting welcomed the process saying that demystifying the budget and the budgeting process has improved allocation and accountability as well as made certain that budget plans respond to the basic needs of the people.
