The Nation Newspaper

Category: Comments

  • ‘I feel very sad each time I hear the lawmakers are fighting in the hallowed chambers simply because of their pockets. The lawmakers should understand Nigerians did not vote for individuals rather, they voted for the party. If the interest of the country and those who voted for them cannot be protected, I see no reason why they should be called lawmakers or honourables. They should also remember that Nigerians will not take it lightly with them if the system collapses. The lawmakers should realise that the enemies are watching with keen interest and waiting to reap where they did not sow from the crisis. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos’

    For Olatunji Dare

                     

    lt will be ethically wrong for the emolument of Nigerian workers to be tampered with, because it is the corrupt political class and Oil glut that  caused the fiscal doldrums. But they killed the economy through bad economics and thievery. They should reduce their jumbo pay and return their loot and approve death penalty for corruption. From Chief Bobson Gbinije ,Mandate Against Poverty( MAP), Warri.  I think it is wrong to attack Buhari for saying something about the age at which he was asked to lead the nation. The age problem with him was there for all to see but you guys at The Nation newspaper pretended not to see it because you saw nothing good in Jonathan and wanted him to leave at all cost. I had repeatedly said that not every leader could be as lucky and physically fit to become the president of his country at the age of 72 as was Mandela, due to the stress that usually goes with the office. But even so, Buhari has so far been consistent and can’t be said to have faltered simply because he had refused to impose a senate president on the nation. We still believe with him as the president the country’s tomorrow is bright, except if APC wants us to now understand that the change Buhari assured Nigerians was only to be possible if the party’s leadership had equally produced the  senate president of its choice for the country. From Emmanuel Egwu.

    Sir, you have it. You are born to write, and so well you did it. One of a kind you are; you simply load it and power it. I have read so many of your write-ups, they simply enthrall. By your skill I am reminded of another Dare, but that is his first name, I mean Babarinsa of the then Newswatch magazine. And the master himself; Chinua Achebe. Keep it up! Anonymous.

    Re- Tortuous road to public disclosure. The Legislators seem to be the Culprits. They should legislate on asset – declaration for the Executives, the Legislators and the Judiciary. All civil servants must be included. Punishments on proofs to seize must be laid bare if disclosure is to be taken seriously, in Nigeria. Corruption will be minimised.    From Lanre Oseni.

    It is a wonderful write up, let keep watching. From Gordon Chika Nnorom,Umukabia,Abia state

    Thank you for the humour in “the tortuous road”, but all this fuss about assets declaration makes sense only if it is a before and after exercise. Do you know any public officer who completed the circle? From O. Lolomari.

     

    For Gbenga Omotoso

     

    My anger in all these is Saraki’s coup against the people the desired change, Saraki is PDP. Anonymous

    Yes- if there is a revolution, even at my age I will join to chase the bastards away. Otherwise they will chase us away. Anonymous

    My governor, good evening. What part of Western Region is Mid-Western (Edo & Delta) now South-South. Are they situated after Niger Bridge? They are now part of Ibo Region. Why? Prof. Obiyemi.This was earlier sent to Gov. Aregbesola. Anonymous

    President Buhari should not leave any stone unturned not to probe past government because looting was intentional to frustrate the government of Buhari and APC. We must recover all that was siphoned for the betterment of Nigerians and also lesson to other appointees who had intent to loot. From Gordon Chika Nnorom 

    You’ve obviously never heard of the Bell Curve Theory. Anonymous

    Your article is most educating and thought provoking. The Economist, to call you’ young man’ might have retired as Super chef from the Villa and is tired awaiting his pension and gratuity! Ogogoro saga-the Chronic liver, heart and persona deaths it causes among young people all thruugh Middle Belt compares only to other substance abuse in ‘sharia ‘areas! Yes, we should ban gluttony, hunger, and obesity by equity, ban also too many cars and jeeps in convoys! Re-distribute professionals to areas of need!  From Dr Sulai Danjuma

    Thanks for the article on austerity of June 26, however If I may ask, can I plan with you and “The Nation” for a national seminar and work shop for alternative revenue for the states and the fg. From Barrister Godwin Okorafor, Abia State

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

     

    Ahmed Tinubu fiercely led the battle in all ramifications to secure victory for the APC in the elections. He is tree that grows by the spring, and there is nothing any mortal can do about it. Mr. President should beware of a few but powerful ‘spoil joys’ and sycophants that may be telling him some unpalatable moonlight tales. Surely, Nigerians will soon see better days in a miraculous way under the Buhari administration. Those who have ears, let them hear. From Ch. Soji Oloketuyi, 18, Ijabo Street, Igbemo-Ekiti.

    What happened in the House of Representatives over leadership positions is indication that the lawmakers are there for themselves and not the people they claim to be representing.  There are pressing issues that they need to iron out in the interest of Nigerians but they abandoned them. It is shameful and an embarrassment even to the international community. Where do we go from here?  Nigerians would not tolerate this kind of thing again, or else, they may be forced to march on the National Assembly. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State. 

    A good number of those in the National Assembly today have corruption cases hanging on their necks. The president should realise that corruption is already fighting back even before he (president) starts the war. Indeed, corruption has taken the fight to his doorstep. Mr. President, remember we voted for change and not a continuation of business as usual. Every corrupt individual or group must account for their sins. From Alhaji Adeboye Lawal.

    Dear Mr. Adegboyega, I appreciate and congratulate you on your comment on page 13 of The Nation of June 21, 2015 about the self-centredness of Senator Bukola Saraki and those backing him who think they can take Nigerians for a ride. I can’t really blame them much; it is principally the fault of the APC who accommodated these PDP people. Where is the vociferous APC national publicity secretary, Mr. Lai Mohammed who had variously been active during the era of the disgraced PDP? I sincerely appeal to the founding fathers /leaders of the APC to stop Saraki and Co. before they exterminate the party. From Prince Adedoyin Adeniyi Emanuel, Oro, Kwara State.

    Those who limit the happenings in the National Assembly to intra-party affair have completely missed the point. It is about individual ambitions that harbour no inhibitions to set the nation ablaze. Dogara will do well to keep his sermonising to himself; if he meant it, his name would not be this prominent on the list of those giving this administration a bad start. As for Bukola Saraki, he would only be too willing to do anything to realise his ambition. But did it ever occur to him that the minority opposition will preside over the majority in his absence? From Simon Oladapo, Ogbomoso.

     

  • Artistes seek enforcement of piracy law

    Artistes seek enforcement of piracy law

    The Nigeria music performers and producers are appealing to government to help them enforce the law against film or music counterfeiting and piracy.

    Speaking at the zone’s World Music Day Anniversary in Lagos, the chairman of Alimosho zone of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Mr. Omosebi Abiodun (aka Omoba), said piracy, apart from engendering financial incapacity on the members, is the biggest threat to the music and film industry and their practitioners.

    According to Omosebi, many music practitioners and producers have run into huge debt after they had produced music/film with millions of Naira. The worst, he said, is that these works are pirated before even they are released from the studio. This, he said, has caused severe loss of revenue, not only for the creative artistes, but also for the government which loses revenue in form of tax.

    Omosebi, appealed to government to assist the association by enforcing the law on piracy.

    He also urged government to encourage professional musicians both morally and financially. This, he added, will be a boost for the up-and-coming artistes.

    He urged government to empower the youth who are into music and film. This, he said, could be through granting them soft loans and building studios where they can produce their albums with minimum charges.

  • Dogara’s claim of Sultan’s support

    During his thanksgiving church service in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi State, on June 21, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara was quoted widely, as having poured encomium on persons and institutions that he claimed had been instrumental to his victory at the controversial June 9 election at the House which pitched him against the preferred candidate of his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC). Prominent among those who he claimed were instrumental to his victory over Hon Femi Gbajabiamila was the respected Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III.

    The linkage of the Sultan’s name to that controversial election which raised dusts that are yet to settle, has raised eyebrows across the country. This is mainly because of the respect and acclaim that he has gained across the religious and ethnic divides in the country due to the way he has comported himself with grace and dignity, by keeping himself and his exalted office above the murky waters of partisan politics.

    Having followed the activities of the sultan, since his early days on his exalted throne, it is not hard to chart his involvement in areas that are far-removed from partisan politics. Many who first encountered him through his activities as the co-chair of the Nigeria Inter Religious Council (NIREC) note his transparent and manifest passion for inter-religious dialogue and understanding which stood out and did a lot to bridge the gaps of religious and ethnic understanding, which were being created through the bigotry of some politicians and religious leaders, across the board.

    In concert with Archbishop John Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja as well as the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Sultan Abubakar’s roles in the promotion of peace and unity of the country was very evident.  The mileage gained in inter-religious understanding for the country through the cooperative efforts of the two men and the groups they led became deep and real. The trust that had started to build was so real that the Sultan became the first-ever Muslim leader to participate directly in a major Christian activity at the highest level.

    On April 20, 2010, the Sultan delivered a keynote address at the National Executive workshop of CAN in Abuja. The paper entitled, “You and Your Muslim Neighbour” sought to wipe out, by explaining any remaining vestiges of misunderstanding between the two major groups in the country. That sterling gesture was later reciprocated when Bishop Idowu Fearon, a top Christian leader also participated in and delivered a paper at a meeting of Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) in Kaduna.

    Even when these efforts by the Sultan seemed to have suffered a setback as Pastor Ayo Oritesjafor, who lacked the type of chemistry that existed between the Sultan and Onaiyekan, became the CAN leader, the Sultan was not fazed. Even when it became obvious that the gains of religious entente recorded by NIREC were being slowed down, or even derailed, the Sultan refused to be diverted from the path of search for religious and ethnic harmony which he had fervently committed himself to.  Onaiyekan continued to give their attention to other aspects of NIREC initiatives that had great impact of the lives of Nigerians, irrespective of their tongues and creed.

    In   2008 the Sultan and Archbishop Onaiyekan, as NIREC co-chairmen, had founded the Nigerian Inter-Faith Action Association (NIFAA), with funding support from the Nigerian government, the World Bank, the Centre for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty (CIFA), and other international funders, with the aim of joining the raging battle against malaria. NIFAA was an instant and resounding success, such that it was able to train up to 300,000 Christian and Muslim missionaries in malarial control activities that included the distribution of treated mosquito nets right to the remotest parts of the country. Tony Blair, former British prime minister, was among the many leaders that took direct interest in the project, having participated in NIFAA training initiatives in Nigeria in 2010. Today NIFAA’s activities which are being coordinated by Bishop Sunday Onuoha from Abia State have become so institutionalized that they are being copied by some African countries, like Liberia.

    If NIFAA has not become a household word in the Nigerian media, it is because both Sultan Abubakar III and Cardinal Onaiyekan are self-effacing leaders who do not court publicity for self-aggrandisement. Nevertheless, the international community had taken adequate notice of these phenomenal contributions by the two selfless Nigerian leaders, as they were co-nominated for Nobel Prize for Peace, in 2012. In fact, they were placed at the fourth position in the nomination list that had more than 100 nominees.  Significantly, it was after that the Catholic Church elevated the erstwhile Archbishop John Onaiyekan to the position of a Cardinal.

    If one has gone to this length, it is to show that the Sultan of Sokoto who had placed himself and activities over and above the limits of local partisan politics and had rather, in addition to his traditional and these adopted activities for peace of harmony in his Sokoto Caliphate and beyond, has had a timetable fully logged with premium intellectual and humanitarian activities at home and abroad. His intellectual and leadership qualities have been recognized far and wide, such that his views and ideas have been in high demand at the most important portals at home, but particularly abroad.

    Since the incidence of the Boko Haram insurgency, the Sultan has had his plate full with efforts to stem the tide. He has also had to contend with the frustrations of failed promises and multi-speaks of officials of government. But all the same, he has kept his eyes on the ball and has not failed to contribute his bit, covertly and in secret, to the many efforts to end the Boko Haram scourge. There is no doubt that he will continue to play such roles in the current dispensation.

    It stands to reason that because the Sultan has had his own loaded national and international agenda cut out for him, it is doubtful if he would have had time for partisan politics. Added to the fact that he cannot find the time for that, the Sultan who has been exposed to all manners of training in leadership and strategic planning is aware that in order continue to enjoy the respect and acclaim of all, he must be impartial and make himself available to all. That must have been why he has left his door open to members and leaders of all the parties, religions and ethnic groups.

    It was, therefore, a big surprise to many observers of the Sultanate that the same man was alleged by the Speaker to have helped him achieve victory in a partisan contest. It would not be hard to deduce that the Sultan would not be pleased to be dragged into the vortex of partisan politics after his manifest and honest efforts to stay far and above it. Hence, keen watchers are imagining that Hon Yakubu Dogara must have misrepresented the roles of the Sultan, if there was any.

    The Sultan of Sokoto is one of the few leaders in Nigeria today that have kept their heads high, over and above the fray of partisan and primordial politics of the country. That is why the Sokoto Caliphate has – and would for a long time continue to – remain relevant and enjoy the respect of all and sundry, because the likes of the current 20th Sultan has, through good and sound education and upbringing, come to appreciate the need to preserve the timeless legacies that were laid down by their great forebear, Sheikh Uthman dan Fodio. Sultan Abubakar III knows that the best way to preserve the institution is to keep it and himself away from partisan politics. He has done that very well to the admiration of all and sundry. It would be too late in the day for him to depart from that path now.

    From the foregoing, it is very doubtful that the Sultan would have had anything to do with Dogara’s fortunes. It was, therefore, wrong for the Speaker to have dropped his name so cavalierly in the manner he did.

    ‘It is very doubtful that the Sultan would have had anything to do with Dogara’s fortunes. It was, therefore, wrong for the Speaker to have dropped his name so cavalierly in the manner he did’

    • Ekeh, writer and political scientist, wrote from Abuja

     

  • Osun; metaphor for unpaid salaries

    About two months ago, a female retiree of the Osun State public service called to complain about unpaid workers’ salaries, and wanted this writer to wade in, as an advocate of the masses. After another caller came up with the same issue, it became imperative to find out what was going on in Osun State. Osun State truly owes about six months’ salary backlog, and the workers have become restive as a result.

    Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, attributes the unpaid salaries to Osun State’s dwindling revenue. For instance, he revealed, revenue from all sources in 2012, including the Federation Account; internally generated revenue; and other accruals, like Value Added Tax from the Federal Government, yielded N28.4 billion, whereas total wage bill only was N31.6 billion, leaving a deficit of N3.2 billion. The same scenario was repeated in 2013, with a deficit of N10.4 billion.

    It turned out also that dwindling oil revenue has made it difficult for the Federal Government, and 24 (some say 28)of Nigeria’s 36 states, to pay staff salaries. The initial cause of the palaver was the increase of minimum wage to N18,000, unilaterally entered into by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration with the labour unions. It became a kerfuffle when the price of crude oil plummeted, and reduced the revenue that accrued to the nation.

    The Nigerian Governors’ Forum, led by former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, alleged that another cause of the problem was the Federal Government’s squandering of funds due to the states from the Excess Crude Account. But former Minister of Finance, and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, countered that the money was actually paid to states. She asked governors who are in doubt to ask their commissioners for finance for the whereabouts of their allocation.

    Things have gotten so bad, as the traditional source of money got compromised, that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is unable to meet $2 billion cash call obligations to its joint-venture international oil corporations partners. Indeed an IOC source alleges that the Federal Government totally mismanaged available crude oil revenue, and misappropriated money meant to execute projects and activities that were not included in budgets approved by the National Assembly.

    The All Progressives Congress Progressive Governors’ Forum, led by Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, recently called on President Muhammadu Buhari to say that, “As it stands today, most states of the federation have not been able to pay (outstanding) salaries,” and expected that Buhari “will do everything humanly possible to bring about a bailout.”

    Some argue that some Nigerian governments embarked on ambitious projects. The governments, they argued, had thought that the higher revenue that accompanied increased demand for crude oil by China and other countries would continue forever. Most states, they added, became complacent, and failed to explore alternative sources for revenue.

    But you see, government is about providing services to the people—and paying some cadres of the citizenry to perform it. And there are some services that the people didn’t ask for, but must be provided nonetheless: You don’t ask for the military or police forces to protect you, before government provides them anyway.

    The same goes for social services, like hospitals, schools, and traffic control that will have adverse effect on society if not discharged. You will have a hard time faulting an Osun State Government that fulfills its electoral promisesby feeding about 254,000 pupils daily, and providing jobs for about 3,000 cooks, and giving farming and agribusiness a shot in the arm, through the ‘O’ MEALS Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme.  Neither can you really fight a plan to refurbish the old Osogbo Aerodrome, to provide a hub to freight agricultural cargo from Osun and adjoining states. The airport comes with a repairs hanger where military, private operators and commercial airlines can repair their aircrafts. The network of roads around the airport also makes for easy fight connections for passengers and farming cargoes.

    But the sudden drop of oil revenue scuppered the whole thing, bringing unpaid wages in its wake. Because the problem of unpaid wages of government workers is a universal phenomenon in Nigeria, many suggest down-sizing of staff. That fails to recognize that employment of workers is also a legitimate social service expected of every government.

    That explains why the salaries of civil servants are usually lower than those of private sector employees; and that the guarantee of tenure, gratuity and pension, are their compensations for accepting lower wages. It’s the same reason that it takes a longer time and more rigorous procedure to fire civil servants.

    This then brings up the argument that is making the rounds; namely, that states governments must be allowed to independently negotiate minimum wages with the labour unions. If the Federal Government will not pay the salary bills of states, it should not negotiate wages on their behalf. Allowing each state the autonomy to negotiate its minimum wage with labour goes by the name, ‘fiscal federalism.’

    But really the Federal Government is too big, to the detriment of states and (especially) local governments. The real interface between the state and the citizens is more at the local government level. Shouldn’t the revenue allocation formula be restructured to the advantage of local government councils?

    Indeed, the day for the argument for fiscal federalism is here. It is imperative for the Nigerian state to recognize that those who provide the resources must be first partakers in its yield. That must explain why the NigerDelta, whose soil provides the oil and gas that has provided the major source of revenue for the country, complainabout being schemed out of the returns from the petroleum resources.

    “Conscious of the fact that (the Niger Delta region) remains the most valuable physical resource for (national) development,” a recent summit of the Ijaw nation notes that “Ijaw… communities suffer the deleterious effects of oil and gas exploration and exploitation,” and regrets that the Nigerian state is unable “to address the concomitant negative impacts on the health, economy, culture, and environment of the Ijaw people.”

    The Ijaw have therefore expressed a desire for self-determination, having noted that the treaty of 1914, between the Ijaw and the British colonial powers, lapsed in 2014. They consequently empowered the summit ‘to initiate the process of renegotiating the basis of (Ijaw) coexistence with other ethnic nationalities (in Nigeria).”

    Fair-minded Nigerian patriots must not ignore this heart cry of the Ijaw—or other nationalities for that matter. All people of goodwill must strive to achieve a more honest interpretation, and implementation, of the protocols of democratic and federal governance in Nigeria.

    But more to the point: State governments that owe salaries must certainly demonstrate the will to pay. They could restructure payment schedules (the way bankers do), and then seek to re-negotiate more realistic minimum wage regime with labour. This way, accrued wage bills are settled, and a future without financial booby-traps charted.

    And yes, it is not enough to simply blame the governments for unpaid salaries, and leave it at that. The Federal Government may have to immediately initiate a rescue plan to pay the salary arrears, to stem the human sufferings, before asking the state governments to go and sin no more.

    ‘State governments that owe salaries must certainly demonstrate the will to pay. They could restructure payment schedules (the way bankers do), and then seek to re-negotiate more realistic minimum wage regime with labour. This way, accrued wage bills are settled, and a future without financial booby-traps charted’

     

  • Salary palaver: Nigerians, what happened?

    The hallmark transition of Nigeria from one democratically elected administration to another is a thing worth celebrating but this celebration of “CHANGE” has been tainted by the salary palaver. For, regardless of the rising democratic profile of our great country which has earned her no mean admiration from the rest of the world, her economic prospect at the moment are probably at its lowest ebb in the history of her existence.

    Last count, arrears of unpaid wage bills across the 36 states of the federation plus the federal government itself was reportedly put at over N150 billion while the construction industry alone is being owed over N600 billion for jobs already completed.  A tale of getting and spending gone wrong?

    If we must refresh our memory, the global economic meltdown between 2008 and 2010 had an adverse effect on our economy. The demand for our crude oil, our main source of foreign exchange till date fell. The price of crude in the international market also fell as low as US$38 per barrel. This meant that states were receiving less money from the federal allocation.

    Between 2011 to 2014 however, Nigeria entered into another cycle of oil boom like we had between 1970 – 77. The price of crude within this period averaged US$105 per barrel. On sighting the oil boom, many of our political leaders at the state level started doubling the size of their government houses, town halls and conference centres. Some commenced the building of general hospitals in every electoral ward. Cost-centred projects along highways sprang up like mushroom.  The organized labour took it from there and commenced the usual struggle leading to massive increase in salary of workers across the country.

    Today, none of the states is able to pay salary of workers. So, what happened? The answer is simple; we mismanaged the boom that was witnessed between 2011 and 2014. We forgot Keynes’s central dictum which admonishes us that: “The boom, not the slump, is the time for austerity”. We failed to save during that period. Instead, we went on spending spree on mostly populist projects without economic value in order to earn “groundless applause” from the people. To put it in a more familiar parlance, nobody thought of the rainy day.  For example, most of the states that cannot pay salaries today were only a few months ago showcasing their numerous “achievements” on national TV. Now the bubble has burst.

    In addition to non-payment of salaries, contractors are not being paid, leading to the on-going layoff of more than 60% of construction industry workers. A polity that has more than 50% of its youths unemployed but with their parents now without salary is not only a time bomb; it is also a harmattan fire. When it starts, it spares no one. It destroys everything it casts its glance on.

    It is a fact that cannot be over-laboured that most state treasuries are lean due to reasons we need not go into here.  Some stakeholders have chosen to characterize the situation with the phrase “empty treasury”. But my view is that we should downplay that ascription because both in content and form, the phrase “empty treasury” does not portray a true understanding of fiscal practice in a democracy.

    Even where an outgoing administration leaves behind some money, it does not amount to free money to be spent because ideally, such funds are already committed to ongoing projects. And the moment the new administration puts such funds into something else, there is a big problem.

    Let me illustrate this with a personal experience. My administration as governor of Imo State, for example, left the sum of over N26.6 billion by the time we handed over in May 29, 2011. Of this amount, N13.3 billion was the balance from Imo Development Bond which was earmarked for projects that were ongoing by the time we left office. Unfortunately, the new administration saw the N26.6 billion as money that was there for spending and went on a binge: it embarked mostly on cost-centred projects such as first lady’s office complex, new multi-purpose hall, new exco chambers, new international conference centre, over 80 road projects, 27 brand new general hospitals and the building of squares and roundabouts, etc while abandoning the uncompleted projects left by us. The result today is that in most cases, neither the new projects nor the old ones for which those funds were initially earmarked have been completed.

    It is this penchant for mismatching funds that has led to non-payment of salaries and abandonment of projects which has become the rule rather than the exception. In my view, it is high time we took deliberate steps to tackle the issue of abandonment of projects started by previous administrations by new ones.  It is evil and it is a major root cause of our economic calamity.  It leads to nothing but wasting of resources.

    Abandoning projects started by a preceding administration is a product of the “what did you achieve mentality”. This mentality makes it almost impossible for a new administration to think rationally. Instead of completing projects that will have huge multiplier effects, new administrations merely go for quick wins by duplicating mini road, electricity, water projects, brick and mortar structures etc which it can quickly complete in order to earn immediate applause from the people who are not in position to understand the tragedy of such idiosyncrasies.   According to Talmud: “It is not up to you to finish the work. But you are not free to desist from it”.

    If we do not act fast, non-payment of salaries may assume the status of official policy. It is something that we must stand up against in Nigeria. It leads to economic and social calamity. I call on the legislature to come up with a bill stipulating that salaries not paid as at when due should attract interest on prevailing bank rate until paid. Salaries should be a first line charge for both the federal, state and local governments.

    Quite often, you would hear some state governors pride themselves for not borrowing money from banks, even while they owe their civil servants several months of arrears of salaries in addition to non-payment to contractors for jobs duly done. By not paying workers and contractors, the government is indirectly borrowing from them without paying interest.

    This notwithstanding, I do not agree with the view that only the state governments are responsible for the current crisis. Let me also state that it is not also true that state governors merely cart away the funds into their private pockets. Such a blanket view is dangerous because it makes it difficult, if not impossible, for us to look at the issue through the proper political prism.

    There are suggestions to the effect that government should embark on austerity measures and even sack workers. This is dangerous. On the contrary, what we need is more spending that would arise from a well-articulated economic stimulus package for the states and local governments. But since the federal governments itself is also in a financial distress, it means that the country should source for funds externally once the necessary caution is applied. The funds so sourced will then be directed at stimulating economic activities through increase spending.

    Now is the time for the government to spend more, not less, until such a time that the private sector will be in the position to stimulate the economy. On the whole, there is something we cannot run away from: The arrears of salaries owed civil servants across the states must not only be paid but also measures put in place to make non-payment of salaries a thing of the past. It is evil and it needs no emphasis to state that non-payment of salaries poses the biggest threat to our democracy.

    ‘There is something we cannot run away from: The arrears of salaries owed civil servants across the states must not only be paid but also measures put in place to make non-payment of salaries a thing of the past’

  • Boko Haram: Amnesty and the military

    Amnesty International, the world’s foremost human rights campaigner, must be surprised at the energetic reaction of the Nigerian people and organisations to its report of June 3, on the conduct of the Nigerian armed forces in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists. In the report, Amnesty charged Nigerian soldiers and their commanders with gross human rights violations, including execution of some 7,000 innocent people for not producing Boko Haram members who killed their comrades in arms in their villages and towns. Even the Nigerian human rights community reputed for its criticisms of the Nigerian state was in the forefront of the denunciation of the Amnesty report which also calls for the arrest and prosecution of soldiers, middle and senior military commanders, including the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim, and the erstwhile Chief of Army Staff,  Lt Gen Azubuike Ihejirika, and their successors. Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to look into the allegations and treat them with the seriousness they deserve.

    Nigerians, irrespective of their differences and political leanings are united in the criticism against the Amnesty report. This is one of the rare instances in our recent national history where national consensus has been reached so easily. The reason is simple: Boko Haram is a national embarrassment of profound proportions. All of us are casualties, to use the language of J.P. Clarke, the outstanding Nigerian poet, playwright and essayist. In other words, those who used to think that the insurgency was a north-eastern affair were in grave error. One of the first officers to be felled in the war against Boko Haram was a young gallant captain from Ozubulu in Anambra State in the South-east. The highest ranking officer to be gunned in the battle against Boko Haram was a brilliant Lt Colonel from Uke in Idemmili North Local Government Area, also of Anambra State, a veteran of the Liberian and Sierra Leone civil wars who had just returned from China where he underwent an advanced course in guerrilla warfare. Various Igbo communities with their sons and daughters in the north lost quite a number of them when Boko Haram terrorists on occasion opened fire on them in places like Niger State and Adamawa State. The most senior officer being tried right now for cowardice in the war against the terrorists is Brigadier General Ransome-Kuti, from Abeokuta in Ogun State. To state the obvious once again, we all are in various ways casualties of the Boko Haram menace.

    Nigeria may be far from being a united political entity, but the war against the insurgents is bringing the people together. Bertrand Russel, one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century, has called our attention to how crises tend to unite people. In his BBC prestigious Reith Lectures, Russel argued that passengers on a bus may not be talking to each other because they are strangers, but they would definitely come together to fight an enemy if any of them is attacked by an external force. Nigerians have been denouncing the Amnesty report like one man because, among other things, the report would seem to provide a tremendous propaganda weapon to the terrorists. The report is ominously silent on the unspeakable atrocities committed by the dangerous sect daily against defenceless members of society, a development which brings to mind the ongoing savagery in the Middle East by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which interestingly attracts strong condemnation from all and sundry around the world. The new Amnesty report which demands the prosecution of top military officers for war crimes is reminiscent of the report by the same human rights organization in 2009 which strongly condemned the Nigerian police for killing the founder and leader of extremely the dangerous Boko Haram sect, Mohammed Yusuf, and demanded severe punishment for the security men but said nothing about the scores of policemen butchered like animals in an unprecedented orgy of violence which rocked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, for days. Consequently, Nigerians often wonder if Amnesty International is on the side of terrorists.

    True, the Nigerian military is fighting the terrorists from a disadvantaged position. Our soldiers are trained to fight in conventional war where the enemy has a known territory, wears a uniform and to some extent obeys rules of engagement. Boko Haram is composed of sheer terrorists, and the brainwashed membership engages in guerrilla warfare. While the military takes its time in firing against the enemy so as to minimize collateral damage as much as possible, terrorists do not give a hoot if innocent persons are felled down by their bullets. Like armed robbers under siege by security men, Boko Haram members just spray bullets on all and sundry, delighting in collateral damage. As far as they are concerned, women and children are targets, a fair game. They routinely disguise as pious Muslim women and frequently strap improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on callow eight-year-olds, turning them into cannon fodder.

    Soldiers who fight in such circumstances anywhere in the world are bound to be edgy. They could tamper with human rights easily. The truth is that even in the best of conventional wars, there are always gross human rights abuses. As any American soldier who has been on a duty of Iraq since 2003 can tell you in confidence, the reported human rights violations by American soldiers which Washington reported are only a tip of the iceberg, the least of such awful abuses which occurred on a grand scale. The concept of espirit de corps compels commanders not to escalate the reports to higher authorities. War is no tea party anywhere. Thousands of innocent lives are at stake every minute. In most cases, the political authorities turn a blind eye to such reports because they do not want to demoralize the young men and women in the firing line. Both President Richard Nixon and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, were aware of the terrible things which American fighters were doing in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s against the locals.

    Still, the Amnesty International’s allegations of improper conduct against the Nigerian military should not be dismissed with a cavalier wave of the hand. All soldiers, including those fighting in wars, must abide by the Geneva Convention, the rule of law and due process. The lives and dignity of fighting soldiers are as important as those of civilians. What riles most Nigerians about the Amnesty report is that the human rights body seems to be on a mission to demoralize and demonise the Nigerian military which has over the decades given a wonderful account of itself in various countries of the world. Our past and serving top commanders appear to have been marked down for ruination, accusing them of complicity in atrocities even when all evidence suggests they have been absolutely ignorant of the alleged human rights violations. The Amnesty report seems to have provided Boko Haram a propaganda stunt which former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously called  the oxygen of life for terrorists the world over. Nigerians deserve better.

    • Mustapha, a retired naval officer, sent in this article from Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Business as usual

    I am not happy. And I am almost certain that most Nigerians are not happy. In fact, as for many Nigerians, they are not only sad but confused. Seriously confused. I am not confused but very sad.

    I really do not know what to make of our present circumstance in the face of a National Assembly that is poised to foist business as usual mantra on the country. And I must quickly exonerate members of the National Assembly on the excuse that whatever may be happening in the hallowed chambers is not entirely their own making. It is the game they met on ground that they are playing.

    Millions trooped out in March and April yearning for change. And the change they wanted was not just merely substituting Jonathan with Buhari. It was not just substituting the PDP with APC. As far as Nigerians are concerned, and this has been proved several times, it does not matter who is leading them. Nigerians do not care whether their leader wore a heavy turban, an abeti-aja, a bowler hat or feathered cap. What they are interested in are provision of security, electricity, quality education, robust health care delivery, jobs, good roads and enhanced transportation infrastructure. They want also transparent leaders who, by personal example, will stamp out corruption which has defaced the nation and has made Nigerians disrespected all over the world.

    This piece is not concerned about who the leader of the National Assembly is or the procedure that produced him or her. Political parties and key players in the parties know how they do their thing. What is however crucial and critical is that Nigerians can no longer tolerate or endure the character of the previous legislatures in the National Assembly. Nigerians no longer have stomach for the kind of legislators that would rush over a hundred bills in less than 10 minutes after fritting away four solid years.

    A National Assembly is sometimes more purposeful and more powerful than the executive arm of government. I dare say that no executive arm of government can succeed without a strong and articulate and knowledgeable legislature.

    What we have got in Nigeria has always been a mixture of the good, very good, the bad, very bad, and the ugly, extremely ugly characters populating the National Assembly and the legislatures in various states of the Federation.

    There is no way we can separate the characters in our legislatures from the many ills that have plagued and continue to plague our polity. The simple oversight function which is a key component of the duties of a legislative assembly is criminally ignored. All that we hear are squabbles over salaries and perquisites of office.

    If state assemblies and National Assembly had been thorough in the mandatory oversight functions, all the stealing, looting, brigandage and gross misappropriation by the executive arm of government could not have taken place. But alas! The legislature and the executive have been arms in glove in perpetuating frivolous fraud in government.

    The cry now is about lipstick and powder allowance, or money for agbada, babanriga, coat and tie with bowler hat to match. National Assembly members are up in arms about their so-called wardrobe allowance. It does not matter if the wardrobe allowance is N1,000. The truth of the matter is that a government that has not been able to pay the minimum wage of paltry N18,000 to its workers should not be talking of paying for the dresses of their legislators. Were the legislators going about naked before they were elected into the house? Is it now a sin that the poor masses that voted them into power should now be burdened with providing clothing for them? It is immoral and ridiculous to be talking of wardrobe allowance.

    Whoever put the clause of wardrobe allowance in whichever law that created it should expunge it today! Today, not tomorrow!

    We knew that unless the reputedly no-nonsense Buhari put in place machinery that will trim the huge salaries and benefits of the National Assembly members, his government would easily be overrun by the gluttony of the assembly. As I wrote in an earlier article titled The Shape of Things to Come, old members of the National Assembly are too wealthy and too powerful for the majority new comers. When it comes to Ghana-Must-Go politics, the old members in the assembly will overrun not only their Johnny-just-come colleagues but the executive, if care is not taken.

    It will just be business as usual!

    The thrust of this piece is actually about the so-called Constituency Allowance. Legislatures are given huge sums of money to provide amenities for their constituencies. We hear the legislators boasting about boreholes, motorcycles, sewing machines and sundry articles for their constituents. What is the business of the legislator providing transformers and generators? What is the business of legislators providing blocks of classrooms? Are legislators contractors? Are they elected to steal the functions of the executive or to replace the Minister of Works?

    It is the greed and confusion in the polity that created room for this serious money guzzling anomaly. And once the legislators are bribed with these huge sums, they invariably turn blind eye on the looting that goes on in the executive and in the agencies of government.

    The Constituency Allowance must be scrapped.

    Quite frankly, what Nigerians wanted were part-time legislators that would be entitled to sitting allowance. And such part-time legislators are not required to meet for more than once in a month and 12 times in a year unless there is an emergency situation. Nigerians wanted legislators that have their own careers and businesses. Not jobless men and women who have turned political jobbery into money making venture.

    Now we have legislators who even employ about four or five advisers/assistants/bag carriers! All these frivolities are paid for by citizens who can hardly feed their families.

    Something urgent must be done to radically change the face and texture of the National Assembly and its sisters in the 36 states of the federation. Unless this is done, and done very quickly, the Buhari government will just be a continuation of the Jonathanian continuity. I must add that it will just be the continuation of the 16 years of looting, looting and looting. 16 years of incomparable waste.

    May this government, voted in with the greatest enthusiasm not end up as a disappointment and betrayal!

    Uncle Sad Sam taught us how to be sad!

  • Governors and those unpaid salaries

    It is a tough time to be a governor in Nigeria. Many lost the April 11 election because they could not pay salaries. Those still in office are scratching their heads trying to think up a way to pay to save themselves from embarrassing strikes and the bad press surrounding their insolvency.

    A number of governors have blamed their inability to pay on the dwindling amounts they receive from the Federation Account. Their internally generated revenue (IGR) is miniscule – leaving them between a rock and a hard place.

    So you would think the rank of the debtors would be filled mostly by the ‘poorest’ states. Amazingly, some that receive the highest amounts from Abuja and have fairly high IGR are on the list of debtors – the likes of Akwa Ibom and Rivers!

    Meanwhile, some states that receive the lowest amounts from the Federation Account have been meeting their obligations to workers faithfully. It just goes to show that life’s not about what you have but what you do with what you have.

    So what did the debtor governors do with have they have received in their time in office? There are those that can point to physical developments, while others have only ill-thought out and abandoned white elephant projects to show.

    One often heard plaint is that after paying salaries they have very little left to fund development activities. In other words most states are not viable. If they were business entities they would have long filed for bankruptcy.

    In spite of this stark reality the 7th Senate spent valuable recommending the creation of more states who expect to survive on the handouts from the Federation Account. But this is no longer a sustainable model for doing government business.

    Governance is more than just receiving a cheque from Abuja and sharing it among workers as salaries. It takes more than that to be a governor. That high office requires its occupants also to come up with creative solutions and when necessary take tough decisions – even those that come with a political cost.

    Governors now know that not paying your workers is a killer. But continuing to carry a bloated civil service is equally a crushing burden. They also know that the federal cheque would never be enough to meet their needs.

    Many may have to bite the bullet and reduce their workforce. If they don’t have factories to provide jobs for the unemployed, there’s always the land. Some of the richest countries in the world got where they are simply by prioritising agriculture. When this alternative economic path kicks in it would open possibilities for widening the taxation net for more revenue.

  • Osun State, metaphor for unpaid salaries

    ABOUT two months ago, a female retiree of the Osun State public service called to complain about unpaid workers’ salaries, and wanted this writer to wade in, as an advocate of the masses.

    After another caller came up with the same issue, it became imperative to find out what was going on in Osun State. The state truly owes about six months’ salary backlog, and the workers have become restive as a result.

    The Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, attributes the unpaid salaries to the state’s dwindling revenue. For instance, he revealed, revenue from all sources in 2012, including the Federation Account; internally generated revenue; and other accruals, like value added tax, from the Federal Government, yielded N28.4 billion, whereas total wage bill only was N31.6 billion, leaving a deficit of N3.2 billion. The same scenario was repeated in 2013, with a deficit of N10.4 billion.

    It turned out also that dwindling oil revenue has made it difficult for the Federal Government, and 24 (some say 28) of Nigeria’s 36 states, to pay staff salaries. The initial cause of the palaver was the increase of minimum wage to N18,000, unilaterally entered into by the President Goodluck Jonathan Government with the labour unions. It became a kerfuffle when the price of crude oil plummeted, and reduced the revenue that accrued to the nation.

    The Nigerian Governors’ Forum, led by former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, alleged that another cause of the problem was the Federal Government’s squandering of funds due to the states from the Excess Crude Account. But former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, countered that the money was actually paid to states.

    Things have gotten so bad that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is unable to meet $2 billion cash call obligations to its joint-venture international oil corporation partners. Indeed an IOC source alleges that the Federal Government totally mismanaged available crude oil revenue, and misappropriated money meant to execute projects and activities that were not included in budgets approved by the National Assembly.

    Some argue that some state governments embarked on ambitious projects.

    But government is about providing services to the people – and paying some cadres of the citizenry to perform it. And there are some services that the people didn’t ask for, but must be provided nonetheless: You don’t ask for the military or police forces to protect you, before government provides them anyway.

    The same goes for social services like hospitals, schools, and traffic control that will have adverse effect on society if not discharged. You will have a hard time faulting an Osun State Government that fulfills its electoral promises by feeding about 254,000 pupils daily, and providing jobs for about 3,000 cooks, and giving farming and agribusiness a shot in the arm, through the ‘O’ MEALS Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme.

    Neither can you really fight a plan to refurbish the old Osogbo Aerodrome, to provide a hub to freight agricultural cargo from Osun and adjoining states. The airport comes with a repairs hanger where military, private operators and commercial airlines can repair their aircraft. The network of roads around the airport also makes for easy flight connections for passengers and farming cargoes.

    But the sudden drop of oil revenue scuppered the whole thing, bringing unpaid wages in its wake. Because the problem of unpaid wages of government workers is a universal phenomenon in Nigeria, many suggest downsizing of staff. That fails to recognise that employment of workers is also a legitimate social service expected of every government.

    This then brings up the argument that state governments must be allowed to independently negotiate minimum wages with labour unions. If the Federal Government will not pay the salary bills of states, it should not negotiate wages on their behalf. Allowing each state the autonomy to negotiate its minimum wage with labour goes by the name, ‘fiscal federalism.’

    But the Federal Government is too big, to the detriment of states and (especially) local governments. The real interface between the state and the citizens is more at the local government level. Shouldn’t the revenue allocation formula be restructured to the advantage of local councils?

    Indeed, the day of argument for fiscal federalism is here. It is imperative for the Nigerian state to recognise that those who provide the resources must be first partakers in its yield. That must explain why the Niger Delta, whose soil provides the oil and gas that have provided the major source of revenue for the country, complain about being schemed out of the returns from the petroleum resources.

    The Ijaw have therefore expressed a desire for self-determination, having noted that the treaty of 1914, between the Ijaw and the British colonial powers, lapsed in 2014. Fair-minded Nigerian patriots must not ignore this heart cry of the Ijaw – or other nationalities for that matter. All people of goodwill must strive to achieve a more honest interpretation and implementation of the protocols of democratic and federal governance in Nigeria.

    More to the point: State governments that owe salaries must certainly demonstrate the will to pay. They could restructure payment schedules (the way bankers do), and then seek to re-negotiate more realistic minimum wage regime with labour. This way, accrued wage bills are settled, and a future without financial booby-traps, charted.

    And it is not enough to blame the states for unpaid salaries. The Federal Government may have to immediately initiate a rescue plan to pay the salary arrears, to stem the human suffering, before asking the state governments to go and sin no more.

     

    •Oke works for the Osun State government.

  • Comments

    For Segun Gbedegesin

     

    Re: 10 posers for NASS. Good point. Keep it up sir. Anonymous

    I think Nigerian should ask our members these questions, let them give us the answers. We need change. Anonymous 

    ’10 posers for NASS’ God bless you. We need them on part time basis. Anonymous

    “10 posers for NASS” The long and short of the story is that: Only Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission should fix, regulate, review, remuneration of all the public office holders from the highest office of the President to the lowest office of the cleaner. Senators should never be allowed to fix remuneration for themselves or any other office. In fact, the senators’ offices should be expunged from the political system. House of Representatives to Executive is just adequate to run good governance in the system. Two (2) layers  of governance. It will not only cut down cost but also remove bottle necks in the system. From Elder Gbadegesin Adeoye.

    Sir, your ‘10 posers for NASS’ in The Nation was just like a mirror searching the minds of our legislators. The leadership should forward answers to the posers. May God bless you. Anonymous

    Dear Sir, your ’10 posers for NASS’ of Friday, June 19, 2015 refers. As long as reactionaries and ultraconservative elements are at the helm and dictating the pace in the National Assembly, I won’t be surprised if all of the posers are treated with scorn and spitefulness. I have started to be pessimistic since June 9. I pray that I’m disappointed over my view. From Olu Ajayi, Abeokuta.

    10 posers for NASS in your  column made interesting reading. It is the best comment on change since. I pray you live long. Amen. From Alhaji A Abubakar

    I just read your write-up now on the back page of The nation. May God Almighty continue to bless and use you for His glory and our Nation. From Noah O.A, Lagos.

    Well done sir with your detailed thought provoking posers raised. I recommend a maximum of usa $150,000/per annum total pay for any nass member as opposed to $2,18m current pay. It has been too outrageous, that’s why the cover-up eversince. Thanks. From Engr Jm Ajuwon (JP)

    We need a law that will not allow ex-political office holders like Senator David Mark to contest again. Anonymous 

    Mr Gbadegesin, you are carrying “change” too far. ‘Change’ is for other people. It can never include modifying the salaries and allowances of NASS members. We need wardrobe allowance.  Appearance shows who you are. We are Senators and Reps of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We need to dress well. We have to recoup our investments. Do you know some of us sold choice properties in Maitama and Asokoro (Abuja), in Ikoyi, Banana Island and Lekki Phase I, in Lagos to fund our elections? Please, put your searchlight for ‘change’ elsewhere. Nigerians are happy with their legislators. You journalists should stop putting your nose in our pot of pepper soup! Anonymous

    The first step taken by our legislators does not portend good tidings. Any lawmaker that defies his party and align with conservative opposition cannot implement in good faith most of the points raised in your article. The evil alliance was to perpetuate the oppressive privileges. Sanity of the body depends on the sanity of the head. President Buhari on the long run may have to depend on the public to implement his programme through mass action backed by the civil society. From Tunde Bankole.

    Re-10  posers for NASS.  You did a very good job on your write-up. You hit them below the belt, in truth if they’ll listen. However, you are expected Sir to do a – 10 poser request for both the Executive (Federal Government and states) as well as the Judiciary ( lower, high and the supreme court). We can then fully assess the government in the next four years. Again, you are appreciated in the above write-up for your love for the masses and the downtrodden. From Lanre Oseni.

    Thank you for your wonderful piece, but I want to say that National Assembly is not an agent of change, rather it is a watch dog of change, and that change should come from the presidency as a policy, and if the presidency thinks that National assembly’s cut in their remuneration is part of the Change he promised Nigerians then. Let the President write letter to the National Assembly requesting that their remunerations be cut, then Nigerians will know that really he who sends a child to carry a tortoise will give him water to wash his hands. From Nnanna, Enugu

    Sir, you’ve done very well in your today’s write-up in The Nation newspaper. More grease to your elbow. From Yakub Mustapha Ayinde

    President Buhari’s government  stand discredited for accepting to work with Saraki and Dogara against the interest of the party and majority of Nigerians. Can we now say that Buhari would have accepted the PDP presidential candidacy if he was offered ? Those who doubted the sincerity of APC’s change slogan had been proven right. Mr President, is this the change we voted for? Certainly not. From Alhaji Adeboye Lawal.

    Thanks for the piece 1O posers for NASS if  I may ask how long have you been sermonising.  Sir it’s the foundation that is faulty. No amount of sermon will correct it.  However, for the NASS, those God want to kill, he first made deaf. They have invested to massively therefore they just have to recoup the capital cum interest and adjust for inflation and for unborn generation. Anonymous

     

    For Olatunji Dare

    You appeared to be blowing hot and cold in your “Re-thinking Nigerian political parties” piece of June 13. One major drawback to the country’s political system to date, is the much-talked “a winner takes all” mentality still in operation here. Buhari’s refusal to impose the Senate president preferred by the ruling APC leadership on us like others before him did, is a welcome development and not a sign of weakness on his part. Godfatherism just has to be done away with in our political system for good. How legitimate the process by which Saraki/others emerged, and how qualified are they for the posts, should be considered more important than the party or region of their origin. Party decentralisation however seemingly attractive in our polity this time, shouldn’t take precedence over leadership by merit. Nigerians voted for APC in the interest of Nigerians, and not for APC and its leadership to toss us up and down the way they like. From Emmanuel Egwu,

    Of a truth, no constitution, however flawless or sacrosanct, can work in the country if the operators remain corrupt and would always want to govern according to the dictates of their temper, instead of leading by the rule of law. Conversely, an imperfect constitution such as ours could easily produce the best people-oriented government and for the advancement of the country, if the managers of the existing order would behave differently and lead by the rule of law. But this hasn’t been the case with us here. Our leaders, it’s common knowledge, would rather want to capitalise on the defects in the constitution to commit all manner of impunity against the people, besides the debilitating structural imbalances in the country, which all added, make the constitution amendments quite imperative. There are obviously so many inadequacies in the constitution as it stands today, that can’t be effectively dealt with without effecting the needed amendments first. Anonymous

    Democracy day observed on May 29 as an alternative to June 12 because June 12 gave birth to democracy few Nigerians are enjoying now. Senator Saraki emerged as Senate president in a controversial manner is very unfortunate and sad despite allegation of mismanagement of funds level led against him. It is unacceptable and a slap in the face of other senators. Anti-graft agencies are not doing enough to jail some politicians who empty the treasury. From Chika Nnorom.

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

     

    Re: Nigeria’s own ‘Rotten Parliament’? Did it take the Kaduna and Kano executives a month to slash their pay by 50 percent when they are ready to serve? No. With pays like the national, state assemblies and many state executives’ (except Kaduna and Kano) states), some governors would take jamboree to Mr President for ‘bail-out’. From which purse? From Lanre Oseni.

    Tunji, well done for your messages. Thank God we saw our president reading The Nation, so he too hears. Please all these Anambra emergency millionaire politicians are still patrolling with armed escorts. Check where the Ubahs, the Offors are going in the villages you would think it is Buhari that is passing. From Innocent, Nnewi.

    It is change deferred. The new leadership of the National Assembly has shown it is not different from the PDP. Anonymous.

    Tunji, should our legislators be clothed by us at all? If we get houses for them, they should furnish the houses themselves. Above all, they should become part time. From Pastor Remi.

    There is no explanation from the leadership of the National Assembly that Nigerians expect other than that the jumbo pay be cut in the interest of majority of Nigerians who are in abject poverty. At the country’s age, Nigerians should not be living from hand to mouth; the country should not be without infrastructural development. It is uncalled-for that our legislators should be collecting such jumbo pay. Nigerians should come out to condemn this. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

    I was a member of the then Ondo State House of Assembly in the Second Republic. My monthly salary and allowances inclusive was under N2,000. No oversight function; no constituency projects. Ajasin showed good example. The present salaries and allowances of all legislators in Nigeria should be reduced by 75 percent and there should be no constituency project and oversight functions. Hon Bode Thomas Babatola, Efon Local Government, Efon Alaaye, Ekiti State.

    In Nigeria today, one of the most guarded secrets is the total emoluments of our legislators. They disagree along party lines, but they never disagree to the extent that any of them would spill the beans on their total take home pay. Just last week, they almost brought the roof down on the whole nation in their quest for the leadership of the National Assembly. This week they are all united and speaking with one voice when it came to raping the nation’s treasury and robbing the common man. From Simon Oladapo, Ogbomoso.

    It is very unfortunate that those that our legislators are the same people causing abnormalities in the country over their personal aggrandizement. How on earth can a civil servant  who has not received his or her N18,000 salary per month  be happy when a law maker is taking over half a million naira for wardrobe allowance? Is this sweet melody to the ears? It is very painful that our leaders are still living in the past, contrary to the change they all clamoured for.  If by now the leadership of the National Assembly is still helpless, I think serious prayer is needed. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.  

     

    For Ambassador Fafowora

     

    I appreciate your write-up, “Reducing the cost of governance”. Our problem is our legislators in the green and red chambers. I pray that Buhari would achieve the change that all Nigerians require. He should cut his own pay and erase all other allowances, cars, aides, ministers, etc. Workers who are 60 years and above should retire in all the ministries, corporations, the judiciary, etc. Then, cut down the number of workers in all the establishments; pay them up to start jobs on their own. Look at Osun, workers in the civil service only consume over 70 percent of the federal allocation to the state. Pity Ogbeni Aregbesola dearly! Let the old hands go; then employ new hands , create farm settlements  and give loans to new graduates to start own jobs. Our legislators should not block Buhari. Nigerians are watching them. I wish Nigerians the best of luck. Anonymous.

    It is necessary for President Buhari to cut the pay of political appointees; he should also reduce the number of ministries to save cost for development. What we need now is developmental infrastructure and not ’stomach infrastructure’. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

    Sir, your analysis is analytical and to the point. Our problem is deep-rooted and part of it abundantly provided in the very edition of The Nation in which your brilliant article was published. Sir, turn your mind to pages 2, 3 and 6, and see mindboggling scandals. A nation that allows such scandals go unpunished cannot record meaningful progress. For instance, the RMAFC and the Speaker of the House of Representatives did not see anything wrong in billions of naira allocation to the lawmakers when most of the states owe months of unpaid salaries. Buhari cannot solve these problems; we are definitely heading towards a class revolution. It can only be delayed for some time as this ruling class is incapable of reforming itself. From Tunde Bankole.

    “Reducing the cost of governance in Nigeria” is a very good piece. But to do that will involve a silent revolution of all the citizens in case the National Assembly refuses to reduce its outrageous allowances and forget wardrobe allowance and constituency projects, etc. Thank you. From Wale Adeoye.

    Thanks sincerely for your article. Your concern for the less privileged, especially public service salary earners is worthy of note. It is however expected, sir, that people of your caliber will continue to mount pressure on the new government to make matters affecting the common people of utmost interest. From Gboyega Roberts, Akure, Ondo State.

    Well done for your well researched suggestions/advice. God bless you. Anonymous.

    God bless you for this piece. To deal with reality, a good citizen needs to be worried about the situation of our state. Equally, Nigeria’s leaders need a rethink on this change of attitude expected from them, by reducing their outrageous and expensive allowances and others. They should perform their functions with a high sense of honour and exhibit the highest level of professional excellence in all their official engagements without being extravagant. The functions of law makers should be on part time as was done in the past. Ninety-five percent of the people who were born the same way as our leaders are wallowing in poverty simply because they are not among the ruling class. Mr President should deal with this matter urgently. From Amidu Saheed, Ifo, Ogun State.