The Chairman, Senate Committee on
Foreign and Local Debts, Senator Shehu Sani, on Friday pleaded with the
governments at all levels to always consult with their citizens before
taking loans either from local or foreign sources.
He said the people and not the
government functionaries usually suffer the hardships and pains as
direct victims whenever the loans were being repaid.
Sani stated this at a retreat organised
by the Debt Management Office in collaboration with his committee in
Minna, the Niger State capital.
Sani described foreign debt as new
colonialism and new form of slavery and therefore urged African
countries and developing nations to thread with caution while applying
for loans from external sources.
He claimed that the global politics and
economics were using loans to chain African nations to reverse their
political independence and sovereignty.
The senator said, “There is the need to
create a citizen advocacy on debt awareness in order to sensitise the
public on both the relevance and implications of borrowing since they
are the ones to ultimately pay for it.
“African nations, including Nigeria,
must free themselves from the debt trap and think of alternative sources
of funding their developmental activities.
“If we pile up debts without justification for them, our children will walk pass our graves covered with weeds.
“Foreign loans given to African states
attached with political conditions which undermine their political
independence and sovereignty should be rejected.”
Sani, however, expressed confidence that
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would prudently utilise
loans it secured on behalf of the country.
He said, “In as much as Nigeria and
other developing nations need to borrow from local and foreign sources,
we must be careful not to pile up debts for the future generations
without commensurate and visible infrastructure and legacies to justify
such liabilities.
“Africa is still in the orbit of
imperialist economic grip. Africa’s ruling political elite still live in
the illusion that foreigners will still come and build and develop
their countries.
“The moral and economic scores of any government are not about the wealth it created, but the poor it lifted out of poverty.
“If we continue to legitimise borrowing
without caution, we will end up buried in debt because each time a
nation borrows, it morally parts with a potion of its dignity until such
loans are repaid.”
Meanwhile, the Senate President, Dr.
Bukola Saraki, on Friday asked the Senate ad-hoc Committee on
Constitution Review, led by his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, to consider
every opinion and allow as many ideas as possible for discussions.
Saraki, in his speech at the retreat
organised by the committee in Lagos, said Nigerians were looking up to
members to provide a new direction towards cementing the unity of the
country through their recommendations.
He expressed confidence that deliberations at the retreat would be robust, courageous and vibrant.
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