Rehabilitating Nigeria's refineries: The $1.5 billion story

If the Federal Government (FG) announced that it wanted to spend $1.5 billion to deepen Nigeria's social welfare program, Nigerians wouldn't bat an eyelid. 

There would be a few complaints about how efficient the government would be in ensuring that the funds get to the right recipients. But few would argue that the money is being allocated to the right problem. After all, Nigeria already allocates too little to social welfare. 

But even in the world of infrastructure, Nigerians wouldn’t complain about certain capital expenses. For example, let’s imagine the government announced that it wanted to spend $1.5 billion to expand the Apapa seaport. Many Nigerians would see the obvious benefit of this. Much business activity has been delayed for hours and days in the congested Apapa seaport. 

It would not be hard for the FG to sell such an initiative. 

The same could not be said of the FG’s