Between Governor Obaseki and the Finance Minister

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has blown the whistle on the Federal

Government for printing money to supplement Allocation to be shared by the three tiers of government.

Governor Obaseki should save his energy and face other more important issues of governance in his state.

It is all well and good that the Minister of Finance had denied it.

Not too long ago, BAT who is a qualified accountant had made a similar suggestion at the height of the Covid - 19 scourge in Nigeria.

Like the Finance Minister, BAT too denied it, in the face of criticism from the public.

Normally when issues like the above arise, I like to imagine if advanced countries do it, since we are a developing country and the world is a global village.

As a student of Economics, I am aware it is one of the ways of borrowing money by Central Governments and for the avoidance of doubt it is called borrowing ' through ways and means'.

Truthfully speaking it is supposed to be a loan with conditions attached. If the Governor had bothered asking the egg heads of the Economics department of University of Benin perhaps, he would by now be pointing out that the Central Bank of Nigeria are breaching their own rules in that respect.

Much as the practice is legal, it can be abused to the point of bastardizing the Economy hence the politicians are denying. There are strict rules guiding the practice.

On a last note, it may not be the first time of lending money by that means but as sure as day follows the night, more are bound to follow if not soon but much later.

What the Governors should do is to boost the Economy, depend less on allocation and watch the country get better.

The lever is in the hands of the Federal Government but the states can do much better.