Like the foetus of John The Baptist leapt for joy when it encountered Jesus in the biblical tale of Mary and Elizabeth, Nigeria’s health and agriculture sectors bore signs of rejuvenation after it recorded its highest budget allocation in the history of Africa’s biggest economy.
Dataphyte’s review of the 2023 proposed budget shows that the federal government earmarked N1.1 trillion for the ministry of health and N228.4 billion for the ministry of agriculture.
If approved, the allocations to the sectors would represent an increase of 47.8 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, over what was allocated to them in the 2022 budget.
The allocations, nevertheless, are still below the 2010 Abuja Declaration and the 2003 Maputo Declaration, respectively.
On October 7, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari presented before the two chambers of the National Assembly a proposed budget of N20.51 trillion for the 2023 financial year.
The planned amount for the health sector in the 2023 fiscal year is N1.1 trillion, according to the budget breakdown.
It will be the highest financial allocation to the sector and the highest percentage increase year-over-year, notably under the Buhari administration, if the current budget for 2023 is approved by lawmakers in December.
In 2015 when the current administration assumed power, budgetary allocation to the health sector was N237.1 billion.
The following year, it increased by 5.48 percent to N250.1 billion and has grown every other year since then. The 2023 proposed budget is N1.1 trillion, a 47.8 percent increase over the 2022 approved budget.
Despite these annual increases, Nigeria has never met the 15 percent share of budgetary allocation to the health sector that it committed to in 2001.
In April 2001, the African Union (AU) member states met in Abuja. The AU member nations’ heads of state and government, including Nigeria, agreed to devote 15 percent of their yearly budgets to health.
Among others, this agreement was premised on the need for more resource allocations to address pressing health challenges such as Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Malaria, and Tuberculosis in the individual countries of the AU member states.
According to a report, some member states, such as Rwanda and South Africa, have keyed into this commitment and raised their budgetary allocation.
In 2020, it was reported that Ethiopia, Gambia, and Malawi have surpassed the 15 percent Abuja target despite being lower-income countries. But Nigeria, the Giant of Africa, still lags in this commitment even though the proportion of expenditure allocated to health has increased.
In 2015, Nigeria had a total budget of N4.49 trillion. Of this figure, N237.1 billion was allocated to the health sector, representing only 5.28 percent of the entire budget. So far, it stands as the highest share of the budget that has been committed to the health sector under the Buhari administration.
Suppose the 2023 proposed budget before the consideration of the National Assembly is passed, and the amount to the health sector is approved. In that case, it will overtake the 2015 record as the highest share of the national budget that has been allocated to health in the country. Nevertheless, it is below the Abuja declaration benchmark.
It is the same story for the agriculture sector. A review of the budgetary allocation to the sector in the same period under review shows that the country has also failed in its commitment.
In July 2003, at the Second Ordinary Assembly of the AU in Maputo, African Heads of State and Government endorsed the “Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in Africa.”
Among other pertinent agricultural decisions that are contained in the Maputo Declaration stipulates that member states should commit/allocate at least 10 percent of their national budgetary resources to agriculture and rural development.
Dataphyte’s review of the agriculture budget from 2015 shows that Nigeria has never met that benchmark.
In 2015, Nigeria’s total national budget was N4.49 trillion, out of which N40.66 billion was allocated to the agriculture sector, representing a meagre 0.9 percent. Although this increased between 2016-2019, it still fell below the 10 percent benchmark. The highest proportion of the national budget that has been allocated to agriculture was 3.61 percent in 2019.
In 2020, it dropped to 1.51 percent. It increased in 2021 but dropped again to 1.25 percent in 2022.
If the sector’s 2023 proposed budget is approved, it will mean a further reduction in the share of the national budget to the sector. It will be the second lowest proportion of the country’s total funding to the agriculture sector in the period under review.
Samuel Atiku, a budget expert and the Technical Coordinator at the International Budget Partnership (IBP) blames the lack of prioritisation on the part of the government as the core reason Nigeria has not attained these benchmarks.
He stressed that the two sectors are important to the socioeconomic development of the country, and for Nigeria to start seeing gains, then the government needs to make them a priority, particularly in allocating the needed resources and aligning with the stipulations of the declarations.
Atiku ended by saying that Nigeria signed up for these declarations, and if she is unable to meet the obligations, then an explanation is necessary stating the reasons for not being able to meet benchmarks.
He stated that for Nigeria to meet these recommended benchmarks, there might be the need for some sort of advocacy, particularly on the Abuja Declaration, and he hopes that the candidates for the 2023 presidential elections will see the need to align with the declarations.