by Usman Alabi,
Ekiti’s 2019 budget is one of the states in Nigeria that has its budget published on the official government website. Quite commendable when compared to the usual tradition. Oyo, Osun and even Lagos need to learn from the state.
Ekiti’s 2019 budget is N129,924,472,135.01. Recurrent expenditure is N72,709,580,376.29bn while the capital expenditure is N57,214,891,758.72. Ekiti still has a largely rural economy, with the private sector not as significant as the public sector.
The state is still largely dependent on federal allocation, which in one way or the other impedes government’s ability to think a way out of the economic conundrum that makes them the only sole or dominant employer of labour. Ekiti need to become economically competitive, this does not come in the absence of a well balanced market economy that gives capital the opportunity to thrive. The state also need to focus more on infrastructural capacity that draws private capital and increases the turn over on investment.
In the absence of a well thought out plan, Ekiti as presently constituted economically is not viable and can only be tolerated under a dysfunctional federal structure.