Last Wednesday, the Senate passed the 2011 budget, clearing the way for the implementation of the budget from the end of March. The Senate had delayed the passage of the budget so far as a result of the decision to defer the implementation of the 2010 budget till the end of March 2011.

Details of the budget as announced by Senator Iyiola Omisore, Chairman, Senate Committee on appropriation indicate that the sum of N4.971 trillion was approved as the national budget. The Senate had raised the figure from the initial N4.22 trillion presented by President Goodluck Jonathan last December.

According to the projection, the Senate approved a benchmark of $75 per barrel of crude oil and a daily crude oil production of 2.3 million barrels. The exchange rate is fixed at N150 to the dollar. The budget set aside the sum of  $5.4 billion for Joint Venture Production and set a target of seven per cent Gross Domestic Product  (GDP).

While the sum of  N2,467,168,724,129 is for recurrent expenditure, the sum of  N1,562,999,158,775 is for capital expenditure. The lawmakers also set aside the sum of  N445,096,682,115 for debt servicing and N496,617,087,670 is for statutory transfers.

Senator Omisore said that the lawmakers decided to  deploy the surpluses in the budget to  reduce the deficit in line with what he called international best practices.

He also said that the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund would take the position of the Excess Crude Account, which is illegal in the first place.

The increase in the budget figure was also explained by Senator Omisore thus: “The Executive kept on sending additional proposals till last Friday, 11th March 2011, with  adjustment, differentials  to augment  the Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) key priority expenditures. Besides the extra funding, modifications were effected in the budget of certain MDAs due to re-prioritisation of their spending within the original ceilings.”

A peep at the breakdown of the allocations shows that the Ministry of Defence got the highest share of N311,692,345,592; Education  came second with N306.3 billion; Police formation and commands got N296,569,995,125; Health got N203,338,852,933; Interior got N152,310,965,961; Works got N86,684,115,362; National Security Adviser got N63,252,948,842, while Secretary to the Government of the Federation got N67,604,822,204.

The Youth Affairs Ministry got  N44,208,608,401; Foreign and Inter-Governmental Affairs got   N40,992,135,003; Petroleum Resources got N38,489,462,056; Agriculture and Rural Development, N34,213,326,513; Culture and National Orientation Agency got N17,916,793,825; Justice got N27,714,987,811; Information and Communications got N28,021,995,211; Presidency got N29,583,128,892; Science and Technology got N23,110,277,445 while Commerce and Industry got N10,601,160,220 while FCT got zero allocation.

Perhaps in line with its determination to make some impact in the infrastructural development of the country the Ministry of Works was allocated the sum of N188,976,911,405 as capital expenditure and another N100 billion for presidential intervention projects. Power Ministry got N99,071,180,886; National Service Adviser got N87,880,603,628; Niger Delta got N88,400,001,680; Water Resources got N73,725,333,674; FCT got N70,183,583,306; Education got N59,567,897,860; Defence/MOD/Army/Air Force/Navy got N68,784,705,571; Science and Technology got N60,249,988,273; Health got N63,393,418,568; Transport got N50,304,463,249; Lands and Housing got N52,468,474,724; Aviation got N33,741,977,785 while Environment got N17,993,615,642.

The figures appear in many ways similar to what Nigerians have read in the past. But whether there would be difference this time is left in the hands of the operating agencies, ministries and parastatals.

Will the budget work? That is a question for the executive arm of government to answer. But in a democratic era, much of the work rest on the determination of the civil service. The corruption in the system has assumed a threatening dimension in recent years unfortunately, the anti-corruption agencies still concentrate efforts on the political arms of public service.

Those who do businesses in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies(MDAs) have always come with tales of woes from the civil servants. Nothing is sacrosanct and it does not matter whether the project at hand will serve good purpose or not. The civil servants demand, especially those in the line of approvals demand their pay upfront and these days, its 25 per cent or more.

So, whether the figures we are reading will make any meaningful impact or not rely on the implementing hands, not just the minister, but the grassroots of hands in the MDAs. The government would do itself and the nation a lot of good by focusing attention on these hands right away.