By Abubakar Yunusa
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has expressed concerns about the recently proposed 2024 budget by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, asserting that it inadequately addresses the critical needs of the poor, unemployed, and youth demographic.
HURIWA contends that the budget lacks sufficient focus on key social welfare aspects, placing the vulnerable majority in a precarious position.
This assertion was made in a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, and shared with journalists yesterday in Abuja.
In a press statement on Monday, the association particularly highlighted the meager allocation of only 12.5% to the social sector, encompassing health and education.
“This allocation falls below international standards, including commitments made in the Abuja Declaration of 2010, where African nations pledged to allocate at least 15% of their budgets to the health sector alone.
The statement emphasizes that progressive nations, such as the United Kingdom, consider social welfare a cornerstone of their budgetary framework, allocating significant portions to ensure the well-being of citizens, including provisions for the elderly, the sick, and the unemployed.
HURIWA urges Nigeria to learn from these examples and strive to achieve similar standards in its budgetary allocations.
HURIWA criticized the allocation of less than 25 percent to the social sector, especially after the government removed subsidies on gasoline and floated the naira, causing the country’s misery index to rise sporadically.
The association is particularly concerned about the contradiction between President Tinubu’s manifesto promise of a 10% allocation to the health sector and the actual allocation of a mere 4.9%.
According to the rights group, the discrepancy raises questions about the government’s commitment to the health and well-being of the Nigerian people.
HURIWA points out that debt servicing and refinancing costs are taking 30 percent of the entire budget, with debt servicing practically consuming 94.8 percent of capital expenditure,while education and health, the two most critical sectors influencing GDP growth rate and per capita income, cumulatively received only a 12.5 percent allocation.
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