In 2005 I worked with a health care NGO, tasked with providing advanced surgical procedures in Ghana. Their service was geared to patients who would not normally stand a chance in the free market. Though my time with this organization was limited, I quickly realized that this organization was over funded. At the end of each quarter the staff had to come up with creative means to push programs through the pipeline. Otherwise we would be stuck with leftover funds on our books. What is wrong with extra cash you may ask? in the case of these NGO a whole lot. The providers of these funds, no questions asked would immediately write the extra cash off as an indicator of the NGOs inability to meet its goals, regardless of the fact. This would in turn hamper the organizations access to cash for future programs. Needless to say I found this quite alarming and I thought about it much I has stopped working with the NGO. Imagine how many more children could have been saved with improved management and smart expansions.
As part of the celebration of Nigeria’s 48 year of self rule, the Nigeria’s president announced that his government, in 16 months of rule, has recovered $3 billion of unspent money from government departments and parastatals. The article pointed out that departmental heads were apprehensive about spending funds on projects that were unapproved by the presidency due to fear of getting in trouble with the countries anti-corruption agencies. I would like to state that I support close monitoring of Nigeria public servants. But now there is the unintended consequences of over regulation and tight control. Sure, there is a positive side to this story as some funds that would have lined the pockets of public official have been recovered and returned to the nations coffers. However this also shows that many projects have been left undone. In a country with a large poor population yearning for proper infrastructure this may be a cost too much to bear. I am not sure which is worse, corrupt official or scared officials who would normally have been corrupt but can not seem to reach funds for basic projects.
This also goes to show depth of corruption in Nigeria’s public service. Public officials would rather sit on a pile of money, when they can not line their own pockets. Not because this individuals are pious and upright but because they remain clueless about how to honestly carry out government work. While President Yaradua deserves praise for reining in some of these corrupt officials, I would like to point out that the job is not yet complete. Next we need dear president to restructure Nigeria’s public service. Oh! I foresee some blood letting.
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Tags: Government, nigeria, Umaru Yar'Adua
