It is regrettable, that the absence of a more salutary impact from partial implementation of earlier budgets, has seriously eroded public expectation to make Nigerians, nonchalant about this annual constitutional requirement. Unfortunately, the unfolding drama surrounding the 2016 version of this critical annual event, may not also inspire public confidence that this year’s plan will positively touch our lives.

Let me quickly credit the Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir el Rufai with the ingenuity of this headline.

NOTE: This article was written on March 8, 2016, two weeks after it was announced that President Buhari had agreed to organize an Economic Summit. Even then, it was clear to some economists that this government was not really interested in the summit. The summit failed to take off on Thursday, March 10, 2016 as scheduled and no new take-off date had been established. Obviously, there is no commitment; only an attempt to silence critics of government.

I AM a diehard opponent of bringing past military leaders back to preside over our democratic dispensation. Apart from the fact that they would always bring back the better forgotten memories of the 1966 coups, the Nigerian civil war and their evil aftermaths that leave a bitter taste in my mouth, they are singularly incompetent to correctly and successfully operate our democracy.

Nigerians elected President Muhammadu Buhari on his promise to lead the charge to eliminate corruption in public life, and move to bring those who “looted” the national treasury to book. This is a herculean obligation for which the current administration must be supported and given both cooperation and the benefit of doubt by the public. I am a supporter of this particular goal of the administration, and I have no doubts at all that a majority of Nigerians want the books opened and proper sanction meted on those who may be found culpable.