The demand for 82 billion pesos nets shocked many Nigerians, as it did to members of the Senate Local and Foreign Loan Committee.

Last Tuesday, Nigerians were again reminded of the deep-rooted financial recklessness in the state apparatus. The Ministry of Health’s budget for 2022 includes a mosquito net loan application of 82 billion pesos, which is just an embarrassment. This shows the Nigerian government’s appetite for waste. The Ministry of Health should not promote such a large-scale loan procurement to meet demand by reducing waste, but should purchase malaria vaccines. Loans should always be the last resort, and the president should encourage all federal agencies to adopt cost-effective methods to solve problems. 

The application of 82 billion pesos for mosquito nets shocked many Nigerians, as it did to members of the Senate’s Local and Foreign Loan Committee, especially since there is another 450 million pesos in the budget for the fight against malaria. The question that needs to be answered by Health Minister Osagie Ehanire is how many budget committees there are within the Ministry of Health. If duplicate proposals for malaria can be submitted to serious documents like the national budget proposal, there must be more than one. 

Indeed, buying mosquito nets is a way to fight malaria. However, how can a separate budget for mosquito nets exist and exceed the total required to fight malaria? Do Ehanire and his team believe that mosquito nets are the most effective mitigation measure against malaria (and other vector-borne diseases), so they put forward a requirement of 82 billion ₦82 billion? More importantly, since there are now a separate 82 billion ₦82 billion for mosquito nets, how are the other 450 billion ₦4500 used? Maybe, in addition to the cost of mosquito nets?

Confusingly, this absurd loan request was made when the World Health Organization celebrated its historic approval of the first malaria vaccine. This approval means that malaria vaccines should be available for purchase on the international market soon. Ehanire and his colleagues plan to spend 82 billion ₦82 billion to buy mosquito nets, while other countries are considering using similar or even smaller quantities to purchase malaria vaccines. This is a mystery. Or, is the news of the approval of the malaria vaccine unfamiliar to Ehanire and co? 

Does the Ministry of Health also plan to apply for a malaria vaccine loan, separate from the 82 billion yen mosquito net loan? If they know to approve in the country's weak economy but choose to be financially reckless, then Ehanire and his team should be forced to participate in project management and budgeting courses.

Sadly, public officials and national ministries are still trapped in a mentality of responsibility, and this mentality is primarily responsible for the country’s current economic chaos. One would think that Ehanil and others would look at Nigeria’s 13 trillion foreign debt and figure out how to work without exacerbating this alarming figure. Unfortunately, this is not the case. But I don’t think Nigerians’ job is to teach them cost-effective public health management when Ehanire and others have earned millions of dollars to lead innovation. Nevertheless, in order to reiterate the obvious, because it seems that borrowing rather than productivity is the slogan of many federal agencies: loans for welfare expenditures apply to countries with fewer income-generating methods, and loans must always be the last resort.

The millions of Nigerians who are struggling in poverty or those who struggle to send their children to school because they have no money are not asking for mosquito nets to solve their problems. Instead, they want economic reforms to make their lives better. Malaria kills, but poverty also kills. Nigerians cannot eat mosquito nets; they cry only for basic amenities, including water and food. 

The same poor Nigerian Ehanire and his department believe that the same Nigerians need mosquito nets, and their family has pensioners begging the government to pay for their benefits. If Einahir can pluck up the courage to ask these families what they prefer-mosquito nets or pensions to support the family, I am not sure they will choose the former. 

It is unbelievable how far the Nigerian government is from the people. If borrowing should be used to solve the welfare infrastructure problem, then it should be aimed at areas such as pensions and transportation infrastructure that will affect the economy in the long run. Not suitable for mosquito nets. 

Nigeria’s 13 trillion yen foreign debt is largely due to corruption because it has exceeded unnecessary expenditures. The 82 billion yen mosquito net loan required is another unnecessary expense, and if the country’s financial management history is taken into account, it will be corrupt and mismanaged.

Nigeria cannot afford more reckless loan acquisitions. After the Ministry of Health and other state agencies are paid, they should stop dragging the country into debt in order to find innovative ways to solve the problem through prudent financial means.

Ibrahim B. Anoba (Bàbátúndé Anọ́ba) is a Nigerian and Saharan journalist columnist. He is also an African researcher at Atlas Network. He tweeted via @Ibrahim_Anoba.

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