The leadership of the Trade Union
Congress has expressed worry over the decision of the Federal Government
to borrow $1bn to prosecute the ongoing campaign against insurgency in
the North-East.
The President of the TUC, Mr. Bala
Kaigama, in his Independent Anniversary speech made available to our
correspondent on Tuesday, said that it was disturbing for the country to
engage in external loans to funds projects.
He said that the $1bn foreign debt could lure the country to yet another debt trap not different from the ones in the past.
The labour leader said that the tendency
to go for foreign debts seemed to indicate that the country had
forgotten the impact of the burden of such debts on national
development.
“It is mind-boggling that we borrow to
fund projects in this country. Evidently, we have quickly forgotten the
huge external debt trap we were in until barely a decade ago, plus the
adverse consequences it had on both social and infrastructural
development in the country.
“Shall we now discard the relief that followed the negotiated exit of the country from the claws of the creditors?
“Much as we find Boko Haram and its
activities totally reprehensible and (we) look forward to the defeat of
the group, the Congress is aversed to the Federal Government’s plan to
borrow $1bn ostensibly to prosecute the anti-insurgency war, for that
could well ultimately lead to the country’s ensnarement in another debt
trap,” he said.
Kaigama called for a probe into the
operations of the Ministry of Defence since the commencement of the
Fourth Republic till date.
He wondered what guarantee was in place to ensure that the loan was used strictly for its purpose.
“What happened to the approximately
N1trn yearly budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Defence? There is
certainly the need to investigate the activities of the Ministry of
Defence from the inception of the Fourth Republic to date.
“In a country where senior officers of
the military are known to have suddenly turned billionaires overnight,
what is the guarantee that the solicited loan or a large portion thereof
will not end up in private pockets?” he added.
Kaigama, who also spoke on the issue of
the sentencing of 12 soldiers to death, called on the relevant
authorities to consider the issues that led to the soldiers’ protest in
the process of administering punishment
The TUC President, who faulted the death
sentence passed on the soldiers, restated the need to have their
sentences commuted to a maximum of two years imprisonment.
He stressed that the soldiers’ protest
against sabotage did not amount to criminal conspiracy, mutiny, attempt
to commit murder and other charges for which they were convicted by the
General Court Martial, under the leadership of Brig.-Gen. C. C. Okonkwo.
He called for an investigation into the facts of the case against the 12 soldiers.
