By Ochonu Ochonu -
President Bola Tinubu unveiled a visionary 2025 Budget Proposal, dubbed "Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity," before the Joint Sitting of the 10th National Assembly on December 18, 2024. This ambitious proposal allocates approximately 49.7 trillion naira to various sectors, aiming to revitalize Nigeria's economy.
At the heart of this proposal lies President Tinubu's optimism that the budget will curb inflation from 34.6% to 15% in 2025 while improving the exchange rate from 1,700 naira to 1,500 naira per US dollar. This bold vision is underpinned by a projected increase in crude oil production to 2.06 million barrels per day.
The budget's sectorial breakdown reveals significant allocations for Defence and Security (4.91 trillion naira), Infrastructure (4.06 trillion naira), Health (2.48 trillion naira), and Education (3.52 trillion naira). These strategic investments are poised to drive economic growth, enhance national security, and improve the overall quality of life for Nigerians.
President Tinubu's administration has shown a commitment to empowering the nation's security forces, recognising them as the shields and protectors of Nigeria. This empowerment will motivate them to decisively defeat and annihilate insurgency, banditry, and all threats to the country's sovereignty. As a result, citizens will no longer live in fear, and President Tinubu's confidence in restoring peace and productivity has already started to yield positive results.
The president's vision has revived businesses and rebuilt communities, with notable achievements in key projects such as the Lagos-Calabar highway and Sokoto-Badagry highway. These developments are transforming the lives of affected communities, driving economic output, and stimulating growth.
To sustain this momentum, the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund will continue to play a crucial role. By leveraging private capital, the fund will support consistent improvements in investments in energy, transport, and public works. This strategic approach will facilitate the completion of viable projects, drive growth, and create jobs for Nigerians. The fund aims to address Nigeria's $878 billion infrastructure gap by deploying up to $35 billion yearly until 2040.
The 2025 budget proposal prioritises education and healthcare, recognising their critical roles in shaping Nigeria's future. A significant allocation of 826.90 billion naira is dedicated to infrastructure development in the educational sector, covering the Universal Basic Education (UBEC) and nine new higher educational institutions.
In the healthcare sector, the government has allocated 402 billion naira for infrastructure investments and an additional 282.65 billion naira for the Basic Health Care Fund. This strategic move aims to revitalize the health sector, providing Nigerians with quality healthcare services. The allocation is consistent with the federal government's plans to procure essential drugs for public healthcare facilities, improving access to healthcare and reducing medical import dependency.
The Universal Health Coverage initiatives are expected to strengthen primary healthcare systems across Nigeria, ensuring that citizens have access to essential health services. By investing in education and healthcare, the government is laying the foundation for a brighter future for Nigerians.
Increasing agricultural production is crucial for Nigeria's food security, social stability, and security of lives and properties. It's also a key aspect of the Renewed Hope Mandate, aiming to ensure every Nigerian has access to food. However, insecurity has severely impacted agricultural production, crippling this vital sector.
To address this, the federal government plans to support farmers with strategic funding and inputs, reigniting productivity. President Tinubu has emphasised that ensuring food security is non-negotiable, requiring bold and deliberate steps. This fiscal strategy aims to tackle infrastructure gaps and development challenges, making it commendable and achievable.
The government has anticipated potential economic growth and well-being challenges due to the dollar's impact and has set plans in motion to mitigate them. Notably, the naira is gaining value against the dollar, a trend expected to continue. The focus on agriculture is critical, given Nigeria's reliance on food imports, with agricultural imports rising by 12.7% to N959.5 billion. By prioritizing agricultural production, the government can reduce reliance on imports, enhance food security, and drive economic growth.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, has been proactive in addressing potential challenges to the 2025 budget. He has identified key factors such as revenue generation, debt management, effective execution, inflation, and exchange rates as crucial to the budget's success. To mitigate these challenges, Senator Bagudu has taken a multi-faceted approach, engaging in collaborative efforts with revenue-generating agencies and private institutions to boost federally generated revenue.
His strategic efforts have already yielded positive results, particularly in the oil sector. Nigeria's oil production, which had dropped to 1.4mbpd in October, has increased significantly due to Senator Bagudu's collaborative efforts to combat theft and pipeline vandalism. Achieving the 2.06mbpd target in the short term now seems likely. Additionally, his engagements have led to clear loan repayment plans, positively impacting the nation's debt burden.
Senator Bagudu's expertise and achievements in the budget and planning ministry have been exceptional. His deliberate advocacy and strategic planning have been geared towards increasing revenue growth and mitigating deficits. The minister's efforts demonstrate a commitment to addressing the root causes of economic challenges, such as fluctuations in global oil prices, fiscal deficits, and structural imbalances in the economy.
Conscious of the fact that the effective implementation of the budget is sine quo non to the government’s ability to carry out the proposed projects efficiently, ensuring proper oversight, monitoring, and institutional reforms to minimize corruption and waste, Senator Bagudu has also deliberately collaborated with the National Assembly towards effective oversight and enforcement and compliance to legislative directives. He has also risen to the challenges of rising inflation and currency depreciation which is capable of eroding the purchasing power of the budget, undermining its effectiveness, particularly for essential imports and capital expenditure.
Inflation and Exchange Rates Inclusive Growth: his focus now and deliberate strategy is to enhance the prioritization of certain initiatives such as job creation, poverty reduction, and social welfare programs which are imperative for growth, sustainability and inclusivity and capable of benefiting the greater society.
With the overarching framework and collaboration of bodies such as the EU, World Bank and other associated like-minds desirous of the cooperation in development, economy and trade, and mutual political dimensions of member States and a strong internal mechanism aimed at achieving the proposal, Nigerians budgetary expectation will surely be met
As Nigeria embarks on this transformative journey, the successful implementation of the 2025 budget will depend on the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders. With Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu's expertise guiding the process, Nigerians can expect a brighter future, driven by sustainable economic growth, improved security, and enhanced quality of life. By harnessing the nation's vast resources and potential, Nigeria is poised to emerge as a beacon of hope and prosperity in Africa.
Ochonu wrote this piece from the National Assembly, Abuja.
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