ONDO 2018 BUDGET BEYOND POLITICS
However, the proposal for the education sector isn’t bogus and are realisable. Rather than building new structures, attention is paid more on rehabilitation of all existing structures to create a conducive learning environment.
The political will to do this was expressed in the step taken so far “to access some UBEC funds for the purpose of intervention in our primary schools. Within the limit of budgetary constraints, over N7 billion will be committed to renovation of primary schools in the State in 2018. In addition, 18 secondary schools, six in each senatorial district, will be renovated in 2018. Aside from this, six other secondary schools, two in each senatorial district, will be completely overhauled in the next fiscal year.”
Above all, the contents of the Appropriation Bill covered all the three senatorial districts in the state, giving everyone a sense of belonging.
However, it has sadly become a tradition in Ondo State for annual fiscal plans to be unjustly attacked by the opposition. In spite of the hope this 2018 budget elicit for rapid improvement in social and economic enhancement, with the expected budget implementation, these perennial critics still described the budget as bogus and too ambitious.
In this 2018 budget therefore, Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu did something unprecedented in the history of Nigeria by presenting a budget that would spill over the next two fiscal years. The 2018 budget was prepared in the context of the 2018-2020 Mid Term Expenditure Framework(MTEF) which looks at the projections for 2018-2020, using the year 2017 budget as the base year.
This budget should be seen by all as an expression of a genuine and realisable hope for the people of Ondo State, having all the ingredients for successful implementation.
The APC-led government in Ondo State has heralded a change in policy as potential game changer.
Steve Otaloro is the Director, Media and Publicity, All Progressives Congress(APC), Ondo State chapter.
