One point the managers of information in this government must come to terms with is that government policies would, on the short run, be unpalatable. Many citizens would therefore resist and denounce them. It is therefore imperative for the information managers to provide the required information, regularly, accurately, precisely and timely, lest they find themselves always coming behind to deny rumours and speculations. That means they have to focus on the important issues, rather than dissipate energy fighting unnecessary 'wars' on social media and making unwarranted comments such as referring to critics as 'wailing wailers'.
It is more than two full weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari presented the proposed 2016 budget to the National Assembly. Yet, the full document has not been uploaded to the appropriate websites of government. This is a marked difference from the previous years when the detailed breakdown of the budget proposal was often in the public arena for debate.
The widespread debate and discussions of public budgets in the past were made possible by the increase in economic literacy facilitated by various civil society groups since the present democratic experience began in 1999. The country has, in fact, benefited from in-depth analyses of budget proposals over the years, even if some of the discussions may seem pedestrian to some, especially as the budget had been demystified by the civil society. Even the legislature has, on many occasions, had to rely on the expertise provided by many within the civil society. This is because such experts often draw attention to anomalies in the allocations, query the necessity of some allocations, and raise questions about some apparently spurious and dubious proposed spending. To be useful, such analyses must be based on official documents, not those obtained through unofficial means or arrived at by ways of speculation.
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