2016 BUDGET: Calabar-Lagos Rail Project that Was Never Listed, Triggers A Spat

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On December 22, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari laid the much awaited 2016 Appropriation Bill before a joint session of the National Assembly. The record N6.07 trillion budget, the first by the Buhari administration, was highly anticipated with millions of Nigerians hoping that it would provide the elixir to the floundering economy.

Predicated on an oil benchmark of $38 per barrel, oil production of 2.2 million barrels of crude oil per day, and exchange rate of N197 to the dollar, the budget included revenue estimates of 3.86 trillion and a deficit of 2.22 trillion which the executive arm of government proposed would be funded by a combination of domestic and foreign borrowings of N1.84 trillion.

Hinging the budget on increased spending on critical infrastructure projects, the executive increased the capital expenditure portion of the budget from N557 billion in the 2015 budget to N1.8 trillion in the 2016 budget. Effectively, for the first time in years, capital expenditure was to represent 30 per cent of the total budget.

But despite the emphasis on infrastructure, one project that was never included by the executive was the Calabar-Lagos railway project.

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Following Buhari’s

Fifty-Five (55) Nigerians stole N1.34trn in 8 years – FG

ABUJA —The Federal Government said, yesterday, that 55 well-placed Nigerians stole a whopping N1.34 trillion between 2006 and 2013, an amount that would have been enough to provide significant developmental projects across the country.

 

Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, gave the figure while addressing a world press conference in Abuja to mark the beginning of the war against corruption in Nigeria.

Out of the stolen funds, the minister said 15 former governors stole N146.84 billion; four former ministers took N7 billion; 12 former public servants both at federal and state levels stole over N14 billion; eight other Nigerians in the banking sector made away with N524 billion , while 11 businessmen cornered N653 billion.

Entrepreneurship and Banking in the Nigerian Economy Growth.

Entrepreneurs occupy a central position in any market economy. They serve as the spark plug in the economy’s engine, activating and stimulating all economic activities. The economic success of nations worldwide is the result of encouraging and rewarding the entrepreneurial instinct.

economy

A society is prosperous only to the degree to which it rewards and encourages entrepreneurial activities because it is the entrepreneurs and their activities that are the critical determinant of the level of success, prosperity, growth and opportunities in any economy.

“The most dynamic societies in the world are the ones that have the most entrepreneurs, plus the economic and legal structure to encourage and motivate entrepreneurs to greater activities”, said an analyst.

Countries go to great lengths to promote entrepreneurs because they realize that the best way to tell the story of their business environment competitiveness is by using the entrepreneurs themselves to tell the story.

Bi-Courtney signs flight agreement with FAAN

Lagos—Chairman of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services, BASL, operators of Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two, MMA2, Dr. Wale Babalakin yesterday said that the management of Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two, MMA2, has signed agreement with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, to operate regional flights. His reaction is coming on the heels of protest by some aviation unions that the terminal should not be allowed to operate regional flights.