by Usman Alabi
Osun is one of those states in the southwest with a rural economy, also with great potential in tourism far more than the progress it’s recording in these area. The state would need to come up with policies that would encourage private sector investment to reduce her reliance on federal allocation.
Osun state’s 2019 budget is N154, 406, 541, 400. The capital expenditure is N93, 086,214,050. Recurrent expenditure is N61, 320, 327, 350. The government remains the largest employer of labour in the state. Osun state’s domestic Debt (As at December 2018) is N148,101,237,664.94. Her external debt is $99,085,406.37. Osun is one of the most indebted state in the country. The state’s population is 4,536,877.
The total federal allocation Osun received in 2018 is N22,837,305,434.52.The Internally generated revenue of the state as at as at Q3 2018 is N7,512,035,990.27.
The books are not in favour of Osun and there is no doubting the fact that the state would still borrow more to finance its activities this year. But in other to stop this vicious circle, the state must in partnership with the private sector develop industrial capacity. It needs to fully explore its comparative advantage in agriculture to seek alternative means for revenue generation.
But all these cannot happen of the government is not ready to go beyond the status quo, which is a lazy way of governing a state. Government must identify problems and solve those problems. It is the state responsibility to create enabling environment for capital generation.