Perspectives on the Santiago Principles and the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund

Abstract

The process of nation building is framed around the effective management of resources by government and its equitable distribution to the citizens. The failure of many leaders to effectively manage the nation’s resources has left their countries at the nadir of development with high incidences of poverty, unemployment, inequality, illiteracy, women/child/drug trafficking, maternal/infant mortality rates and social vices. In resources rich countries like Nigeria, there is no correlation between the revenue generated by government and the standard of life led by majority of the citizens. Scholars have attributed this development to corruption and fiscal indiscipline. The poor culture of resources governance has undermined the efforts of government to create inter-generational wealth and a cushion for resources glut or resource inertia. The paper therefore examines the propriety of the sovereign wealth fund in addressing inter-generational inequity in Nigeria. The paper asserted that the effective management of the NSWF in line with the Santiago Principles will go a long way to bridging the inequality gap in Nigeria. The paper argued that the prudent management of the sovereign wealth fund would bring about job and wealth creation and sustainable development. The paper is however apprehensive of the danger posed to it by a corrupt oligarchy but asserted that the success of the policy lies on the political will to create the environment for the efficient management of the funds.

Key Words: Sovereign Wealth, Santiago Principles, Disclosure, Inter-generational Equity