2014 budget is wasteful, anti-masses – SSANU blasts FG

The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) branch, has described the 2014 Federal Government budget as anti-masses and characterised by wasteful spending.
Chairman of the chapter, Abdulsobur Olayiwola Salam, in Abeokuta, the state capital on Monday, expressed shock that despite the fact that 70 per cent of Nigerians live below poverty line, the governme, again failed to take steps towards reversing the trend in the budget.
The union, therefore, concluded that the budget as presented by the government “is one that insults the sensibilities of discerning mind.”
“The amount of wasteful and reckless spending being planned for by the Federal Government in 2015 is criminal and should be rejected by all well-meaning Nigerians,” he said.
SSANU decried that though there are 10 aircraft in the presidential fleet, the current administration still finds it not abnormal to appropriate N1.6 billion to purchase another one.
“We are pained that our common patrimony is being wasted on the frivolity of animals at the Aso-Rock zoo with a budget of N34.5 million. The President and his family shall be eating food worth N362 million in 2014, while Aso-Rock shall spend N834 million for power-generating sets.

“More than 70 per cent of Nigerians live below poverty line, yet our government is not thinking of how to improve the lot of these people; rather, luxuries of jets, exotic animals and food are their priorities. We also see the budget as a conduit pipe to finance the 2015 elections. We ask that Nigerians demand more service-driven and development-oriented budget from our government,” Salam said.
The senior lecturers further warned politicians against overheating the polity through their utterances: “We express our discomfort with the dangerous trend ahead of the elections, which is already being characterised by threats and violence.
“Our concern stems from the various incendiary speeches of our political actors at various levels. We state that it is unfair for those who seek to govern the country to first bring it down to its knees. Our politicians should address issues and not personalities, while the citizenry should reject the imposition of political office holders.
“Enough is enough of election rigging, violence and anti-democratic tenets in our landscape. We, the citizens of Nigeria, will not forgive and God will surely punish those who seek to prevent the democratic process from delivering the good or cause anarchy in our nation,”Salam added.