An author and accountant, Mr. Wahab Shina Omoniyi has called for the inclusion of budgeting in the curriculum of secondary schools as an avenue to raise awareness on the need for this vital financial document from a tender age.
Omoniyi, a former Chairman of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), FCT Abuja expressed dissatisfaction that despite the huge importance of budgeting in families, associations, enterprises and nations, only a little has been done to drive a robust sensitization towards it.
At the public presentation of his book titled, “Budget As A Policy Instrument For Public Financial Management”, Omoniyi said many financial troubles could be avoided if budgeting knowledge is embedded in the consciousness of Nigerians from a younger age.
“Budget is very important but little is being taught about it in our schools. That is why I put this work together so that if it is taught as a subject in our secondary schools and the students are able to have basic knowledge of budgeting process, it will be in the interest of our country.
“The academia can make further efforts too, so that budget can attain higher relevance within the academic environment beyond what it is today.
“With this, I believe the orientation will be wider, the scope will be broader and the benefit we will derive from it as a nation will be appreciated”, he noted.
Earlier in his remarks, President and Chairman of Council of ANAN, Dr. James E Neminebor while extolling the roles of accountants in preparing and analyzing accounting statements underlined that budget is a crucial document to save enterprises and government from financial crisis.
He applauded the quality of research put in place by the author in the process of penning down his thoughts in the book.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, office of the Vice President, Dr. Tope Fasua while highlighting the significance of budget said Nigeria’s annual budget is one of the smallest across the globe.
With barely 15bn dollars for over 200 million population in the 2024 budget, Dr. Fasua said the country’s budget may even be the smallest in the world per capita.
“If you look at our 2024 budget of 15bn dollars, if we were 200 million population, it means each citizen will be getting just 75 dollars and that is what is budgeted for health, agriculture, security, education, work, for everything, it is grossly inadequate.
“The total budget of the 36 states is 15.9trn Naira, Lagos managed to cross 2trn Naira, Ekiti is the smallest with 154bn Naira, they can’t get anywhere”, he noted.
While emphasising that the country has a large informal economy, Dr. Fasua stressed that several Nigerian billionaires don’t pay taxes.
He called for a reliable data on the country’s population as well as the distribution of wealth.
Pictures from the event
