In the comfort of his most private moments, that is, if he finds comfort anywhere or in anything these days, Abdul Ningi, the senator representing Bauchi Central in the National Assembly may be forced into a rethink. With the aid of a sober reflection, he may be compelled to lament the situation where he levelled allegations of budget padding at Nigeria’s premier legislative institution.
Could he have shown more respect? Did his fidelity to his constituents in Bauchi Central and the Senate where he is a ranking member warrant that he show more respect to authority?
Now that he has cupped himself a three month suspension from the powers that be in the senate, he will surely have enough time for introspection and circumspection.
What did Ningi say that has not been said previously? Budget padding used to be a taboo word, but not anymore. It was discovered long ago that some Nigerian legislators with extensive networks in the National Assembly, and nothing but loyalty to their private pockets had perfected the art of manipulating the chief instrument of public finance.
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The leadership of the Nigerian senate may feel embarrassed by Ningi’s utterances. Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President has described his actions as defying the authority of the Senate. It may be. But lest the senate argues that Ningi’s chilling revelations are an in-house matter, issues surrounding Nigeria’s budget, bogged down over the years by corruption, are very much public issues. Indeed, they take the nature of a public emergency.
Nigeria’s flawed federalism has done nothing but cause problems for the country since a triumphant return to democracy in 1999. The executive has often proven itself grasping and greedy. The legislature has been all too easy to cow and manipulate. The judiciary has often seen its independence eroded by corruption and a lack of financial autonomy. All these have shaped into a coup against the Nigerian people.
Nigerians have come to be defined more by hope than expectation. They barely expect anything good to come from their government. They just stay and hope that something good happens to them. This has become the fate of many people in Africa’s most populous country.
This propensity to find purchase more in hope of the rare goodness of those who represent them in government than reasonable expectation of good governance has been the undoing of many.
There is docility powered by resignation to a phantom powerlessness. This in turn emboldens those in positions of authority to act with irritating impunity, safe in the knowledge that nothing will happen to them.
This approach and counter-approach will colour the conversation over Senator Ningi’s weighty allegations in the next few days. From past experience, observers can conclude that the uproar will yield nothing in a country where impunity is the intimidating insignia of public office.
In a country where some of the most patriotic citizens have given up hope of things getting better, maybe Senator Ningi should have played it safe. He should have known that it pays to play safe in Nigeria or maybe, the passage of time has made such a veteran politician uncharacteristically careless. Time will tell.
