Indigenous Contractors Gasp For Air

One apt mode of explaining the concern of indigenous contractors successful Nigeria, specifically those handling national authorities projects, is that they person been strangled by indebtedness and are gasping for breath.

And to ideate that this is happening nether a authorities that claimed to beryllium championing the efforts to promote the acquisition of locally made goods and services done its much-touted Buy Nigeria inaugural smacks of hypocrisy.

The caller protestation by the All-Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN) has erstwhile again emphasised the urgent request for the authorities to honour its contractual obligations. According to AICAN, the national authorities is indebted to its members by N4 trillion for completed and verified projects.

AICAN’s president, Jackson Nwosu, dismissed the government’s claims that payments for 2024 superior projects had been disbursed, insisting that lone astir 1 per cent of indigenous contractors had received funds.

Broader Implications

The non-payment, however, goes beyond the contractors alone. When the authorities fails to conscionable its outgo commitments, whether to contractors oregon workers, the consequences ripple done the broader economy, affecting millions of Nigerians.

Denying contractors their outgo aft task completion and verification sends a disturbing signal: the authorities cannot beryllium trusted successful business. Such a perception, reinforced by agelong delays, discourages investors and undermines confidence.

Essentially, the government’s hold successful outgo is simply a important disincentive to businessmen, peculiarly those who perpetrate sizeable resources to nationalist projects. More worryingly, it depicts a authorities whose actions tin cripple indigenous contractors and stall the nation’s economy.

Most contractors trust connected slope loans and different sources of financing, often astatine exorbitant involvement rates, to present these projects. With delayed payments, these loans accumulate interest, importantly eroding imaginable profits and, successful galore cases, forcing contractors retired of business. Some contractors whitethorn person adjacent died waiting for payments, portion others person gone bankrupt. Companies person closed down, workers person been sacked, and families person been near stranded.

In an system already plagued by precocious unemployment, which has an attendant interaction connected transgression and societal unrest, the government’s deliberate enactment of owing contractors lone compounds the crisis.

It is besides hard to recognize wherefore the government, the biggest spender successful the economy, owes contractors for this long, knowing afloat good that paying them volition person a multiplier interaction connected the economy. This is adjacent much bewildering fixed the administration’s assertion that it exceeded its gross target, generating implicit N20 trillion from January to August.

Failing to wage contractors contempt improved gross procreation sends a incorrect awesome to those wishing to bash concern with the government. This intelligibly shows that the authorities does not prioritise them. Otherwise, wherefore contradict them outgo erstwhile the gross basal has expanded remarkably? No individual, organisation oregon federation enjoys dealing with a authorities that fails to honour its obligations.

Revenue oregon spending problem?

Increasingly, the managers of Nigeria’s system look to beryllium telling the satellite that the nation’s occupation lies not successful gross but successful reckless spending. How other tin 1 explicate a concern wherever contractors stay unpaid, Nigerian embassies overseas cannot settee rents and salaries, and ministries, departments, and agencies are starved of funds for superior expenditure, contempt the authorities boasting robust gross inflows? The lone logical decision is that Nigeria has a spending problem, not a gross one.

However, the plight of indigenous contractors is lone 1 successful a agelong database of grievances by Nigerians. Police retirees person protested implicit unpaid entitlements, soldiers who voluntarily disengaged from work person raised their voices, and respective different groups person repeatedly lamented non-payment oregon delayed outgo of their dues.

Rising indebtedness burden

At a deeper level, the protestation by indigenous contractors speaks to the country’s rising indebtedness crisis. The Nigerian government’s appetite for borrowing remains insatiable, with small transparency regarding however erstwhile loans were spent. The country’s home and overseas indebtedness has present risen to astir N150 trillion, a staggering and frightening figure.

Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio presently stands astatine 52%, acold supra the 40% statutory ceiling acceptable by the Debt Management Office. The opaque absorption of nationalist finances makes this concern adjacent much worrisome.

The authorities often justifies its borrowings by citing the request to code infrastructure, fund deficits, and financing s...