Nigeria’s former anti-corruption czar and National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has criticized the immediate past administration of Muhammadu Buhari, accusing it of leaving the country in a dire financial state before leaving power in May.

Ribadu made these remarks during the Chief of Defence Intelligence Annual Conference 2023 held in Abuja, where he addressed leaders on the theme, “Leveraging Defence Diplomacy and Effective Regional Collaboration for Enhanced National Security.”

In his speech, Ribadu did not mince words, stating, “Yes, we’re facing budgetary constraints. It is okay for me to tell you. Fine, it is important for you to know that we inherited a difficult situation, literally a bankrupt country, no money, to a point where we can say that all the money we’re getting now, we’re paying back what was taken. It is serious!”

However, Ribadu reassured the audience that despite the financial challenges, the Federal Government was committed to ensuring robust and viable defense management and security apparatus. He asserted, “This administration is doing its best to meet our requirements, particularly the armed forces, and I believe that you leaders will be able to testify to that.”

“I assure you that the Federal Government will not rest on its laurels in ensuring a robust and viable defense management and security apparatus to address contemporary challenges even in the face of enormous budgetary constraints.”

The conference, attended by key figures including the Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru; Minister of State, Bello Matawalle; Permanent Secretary in the Defense Ministry, Ibrahim Kana; and the Chief of Defence Staff, addressed crucial issues surrounding national security and defense.

Despite the pledge to navigate through financial constraints, questions have arisen about the continuity of fiscal responsibility within the present administration. Critics have pointed out the lavish spending patterns reminiscent of the previous regime. The focus has shifted to Bola Tinubu’s administration, alleging a parallel trajectory in financial management.

In September, reports surfaced that Tinubu spent over $500,000 during a luxurious five-day stay in a New York hotel. Furthermore, there are concerns about the president’s proposed expenditure of N13.5 billion ($16.2 million) for the renovation of official residences in Abuja and Lagos. Critics argue that this is an unnecessary allocation given the existing presidential mansion in Lagos, which is rarely used.

The supplementary budget of N2.17 trillion (about $5 billion) has drawn attention, particularly for including N1.5 billion for vehicles for the Office of the First Lady, an entity not constitutionally recognized. The budget also originally featured a controversial N5 billion yacht, which faced public backlash, leading the National Assembly to remove it from the allocation.

Additional allocations in the supplementary budget include N2.9 billion for Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for the Presidential Villa and another N2.9 billion for replacing operational vehicles for the presidency.

Renovations of the presidential and vice-presidential residences are also planned, with N4 billion designated for the president’s residence and N2.5 billion for the vice president’s residence. The proposed State House budget is N28 billion, with N12.5 billion allocated for the Presidential Air Fleet.

Young People, pains dropped on my eyes as I watched this young’s pains. It is really painful and I sympathize with all the young people in Nigeria. There is no debate: things were absolutely better in my time. There were jobs!

Yet, even in the desert with no oasis, and you are unable to find a job, please do not burn your certificates. The biggest mistake in life is the way people position the value of education. Right from the beginning, people see going to university to be synonymous with a job.

But if you understand the value of education, education does not mean or equate to jobs. Education is designed to be a system to liberate the minds, and not a system to get jobs. Jobs are just one of the benefits or features associated with education.

This young man might have gotten it all wrong because for him, certificates = jobs, and if those papers do not deliver jobs, destroy them. That is not correct. The real value of education is the liberation of the mind, and what it does is clear: it makes you stand over jobs, because education puts you in a position to become bigger than jobs. Knowledge is power and it is bigger than jobs. A good education brings knowledge, which is liberation.

If we have knowledge, we cannot be ruled by jobs. We cannot fear jobs because we will have the capacity to own our future. An Igbo proverb says that “ndu ka ihe eji azu ya” [life is bigger than whatever is required to sustain it], we need to seek knowledge over the fixation of jobs. If we get the knowledge, the jobs will come. I challenge us to develop skills and capabilities, and jobs, in different forms, will emerge. Find mentors and connect with people with visions, and stop a mindless act which adds no value!

Have a Mindset Shift

I have scanned responses on my last post on the young man who destroyed his certificates because he has been unable to get a job with them. As I noted, going to school or being educated is not just to get a job. The most important outcome of education is the liberation of the mind. I knew the day I left the village of Ovim, got to FUTO, and began my undergraduate engineering education. When I was done, I knew the transformation.

With that transformation and associated mindset liberation, I became BIGGER than any job in the world, by focusing on my CAREER, and not jobs. Yes, a career is not a job.  This is where I blame the university system; we spend years being prepared to run, manage and operate in organizations and governments with nothing for our Personal Economy (yes, how we can run our own lives). Had the school provided directions on those, many young people will not just trust their futures on firms and governments, because with a mindset shift, we can strategize better.

If there is a non-profit which is open to run an open webinar on this, I am available to be a speaker. Young People, it is important to understand that the best time to prepare or audition for a job is when there is none. In other words, it is not just sending CVs and cover letters. Companies hire you for the value you bring to them, and not the certificates the university printed for you. I write this with respect to young people looking for jobs!

If you develop your skills, the jobs will come. Over the last few weeks, I have focused on Personal Economy in Tekedia Mini-MBA, teaching on Webinality (web + personality), Career, Mentoring and Coaching. My goal has been how young people can have that mindset shift.

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: Education is the liberation of the mind.

A nation cannot rise beyond its educational system. For nations to rise, they must invest to build mines of knowledge.

And for young men and women, they must work to channel the acquired knowledge to liberate themselves, and their society.

Comment 2: Well said. Very inspiring. I got a sage advise to be come best at a subject (after graduation) and strive to be a master. The job goes to the competent with time and not certificates.

Young People, pains dropped on my eyes as I watched this young’s pains. It is really painful and I sympathize with all the young people in Nigeria. There is no debate: things were absolutely better in my time. There were jobs!

Yet, even in the desert with no oasis, and you are… pic.twitter.com/voSj9xQir4

— Ndubuisi Ekekwe (@ndekekwe) November 14, 2023

There is this erroneous position that Nigerian civil servants or public servants are prohibited from participating in active politics in Nigeria. I recently had an argument over this with a colleague who went ahead to quote the public service rules for me which purported to have prohibited civil servants from participating in active politics. I most times also see folks argue blindly, especially on Twitter faulting civil servants who engage in political party activities claiming that such a civil servant ought to be disciplined. 

This position that civil servants are not allowed to participate in politics or be card-carrying members of a political party or actively engage in the activities of the political party he/she identifies with is erroneous and false.

By the Supreme Court decision in the case of Independent National Electoral Commission v Balarabe Musa & Ors (2003) 10 WRN 1, the apex Court faulted the civil service rules which restrict the participation of civil servants and other public servants in the politics of the county. The court is of the opinion that freedom to express one political thought, join and participate in a political movement and express your political thoughts as have been constitutionally provided for in chapter five of the constitution is available and is for everyone with no exception of being a civil servant or not. 

In fact, his Lordship, Honourable Justice Ayoola JSC while reading the leading judgment in this case postulated that, 

“There is nothing reasonably justifiable in a democratic society in the interest of defense, public safety, public order, public morality or public health in prohibiting a member of the public service or civil service … from eligibility to be registered as a member of a political party. The submission that the restriction is a valid derogation from section 40 by virtue of section 45 (1)(a) of the Constitution was erroneous.” 

In his concurrent judgment, Honourable Justice Uwais CJN (as he then was) posited that “The provisions of section 40 of the 1999 Constitution are clear. Their purpose is to allow ‘every person,’ including public office holders and civil servants, the freedom to assemble freely and associate with other persons to form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests. 

By the implication of this apex court judgment in the case of INEC v. Barabe Musa & ors, the position still stands (until it is reversed) that civil servants and public servants are not prohibited from participating in active politics, what they are prohibited from is being partisan in the discharge of their civil service duties. 

We should also pay attention to the fact that the position of the Supreme Court did not repeal the provisions of Rules 030422 and 030423 of the Public Service Rules (2008 Edition) which stipulated that a civil servant who wishes to participate in the nomination exercise or the party primaries or contest in an election must resign 30 days before the date of such election. This entails that a civil servant is constitutionally allowed to participate fully in a political party activities but if that civil servant wants to take his political participation to another level by contesting in an election or getting nominated in party primaries, that civil servant must reign 30 days before the day of the election as provided in the civil service rules.