By FIDELIS EGUGBO
According to Wikipedia, “a budget is the sum of money allocated for a particular purpose and the summary of intended expenditures along with proposals for how to meet them. It may include a budget surplus, providing money for use at a future time, or a deficit in which expenses exceed income.”
In Nigeria, we are used to hearing people say, “you know there is nothing we can do until the budget is approved.” This is majorly as a result of the fact that it was impossible for the national or budgets of different states of the country to be ready for implementation till the month of March and in some cases June. But, the coming of Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa as the Governor of Delta State changed the narrative on assumption of office when in 2015 with early presentation of budgetary provision for the 2016 fiscal year and in the first week of January, 2016, he assented to the budget as approved by the Delta State House of Assembly.
Just last week, Governor Okowa in his typical style of knowing what to do, how to do it and when to do it, presented the budgetary provision for the 2019 fiscal year to the Delta State House of Assembly. Obviously, he is the first state governor in the country to do so for the upcoming year.
The governor presented a budget proposal of N367, 095,083,451 for the 2019 fiscal year, saying capital expenditure will gulp the sum of N209, 999,054,198 which is 57.21 while the sum of N157, 096,029,253 or 42.79 per cent of the budget would be spent on recurrent expenditure.
That more money would be for capital expenditure is another good development because, in the past, more money was spent on recurrent expenditure.
Pundits may attribute the early presentation to the fact that 2019 is an election year but, while one can confidently say that early passage of the budget will lead to early implementation, one cannot lose sight of the fact that since the coming of the governor in 2015, he has shown commitment to the development of the state through well thought-out programmes that are well executed to the benefit of Deltans.
Giving breakdown of the budget, Governor Okowa disclosed that the transport sector would gulp the sum of N79.6 billion while the Education Sector would gulp the sum of N26.8 billion.
“Our job creation programmes are having verifiable positive impacts on the lives of previously unemployed Delta youths and on the economy and development of the State. Across the state, there are testimonies of successful small businesses by those who were trained and established under STEP and YAGEP.
Some have grown to become employers of labour and are training other youths to become self-employed. Others have innovatively diversified into other businesses/trades or entered into business partnerships and relationships to enhance their incomes. Still, many have achieved greater employability through these programmes and are now gainfully employed in the industrial and other sectors. Through its partnership and collaboration with private sector training centres, the job creation scheme is also impacting positively on the growth and development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the State.
In the 2019 fiscal year, the state government will give emphasis to consolidating on the gains of the past three programme cycles, strengthening programme implementation and enhancing beneficiary sustainability.
The sum of N1.1 billion is being earmarked for the Office of the Chief Job Creation Officer in 2019,” Governor Okowa said.
The sum of N2.9 billion is earmarked for the activities of the Ministry of Agriculture in the forthcoming fiscal year, while the sum of N3.9 billion is being proposed for the sub-sector in the 2019 budget.
N1.6 billion was budgeted for the water sub-sector while N8.6 billion was proposed for the health sector in the 2019 fiscal year.
Christened, “Budget of sustainable growth,” Governor Okowa at the presentation of the budget, said, “despite the fluctuating fortunes of the economy in the last three-and-half years, I humbly note that our State has continued to forge ahead. Workers are paid regularly, thousands of previously unemployed youths are gainfully employed, and many of our people now enjoy better facilities in terms of roads, water, education and health. Agriculture has received a strong boost with many cluster farms springing up in different parts of the State and, even more importantly, our people remain committed to peace and harmonious living.
We shall build on this stable growth to position Delta State as a dynamic economy for the future. Indeed, a stronger Delta beckons,” he stated.
There is no doubt that with the submission of the budget proposal, Deltans are confident that it can only be better
(As published on page 10 of The Pointer Newspaper of today, October 21, 2018)