Amid grave economic realities and extreme belt-tightening measures experienced by the citizenry, the political class, especially the executive and the legislature appear detached from the country’s vicissitudes of fortunes. Aside from making adequate budgetary provisions for themselves, including robust retirement packages, their budgets are always “fully implemented.” Their work tools, as well as, odds and ends are equally provided for, while the citizenry continues to wallow in poverty. Amid poor service delivery as reflected in the worsening quality of life of the average Nigerian, ENO-ABASI SUNDAY interrogates the justification for elected political leaders living like vacationing millionaires, while the clan of multi-dimensionally poor citizens burgeons out of control. He also questions whether their service to the country is commensurate with the opulence that they are basking in.
After an earthquake and tsunami battered the Fukushima Nuclear Plant in the north of Tokyo on March 11, 2011, leading to a series of explosions and three meltdowns, the facility leaked radioactivity for a long while, and about 150,000 people were evacuated from around the plant. The surrounding land was cordoned off due to very high radiation.
According to the United Nations, the 2012 evacuation helped prevent rising cancer rates and other health problems among the local population, even as traces of radioactive contamination were found in rice, and even in the Pacific Ocean.
Touched by the plight of the people and what becomes of them and the future generations, a disturbed former actor and lawmaker, Taro Yamamoto, did what was considered a taboo, and capable of costing him his fledgling political career – he breached protocols and tight security to hand Emperor Akihito a letter, during a garden party, in which he expressed fears about the health impact of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The letter was hurriedly written on a folded “washi” paper with ink and brush.
Sacrilegious as trying to involve the emperor in politics, was, Yamamoto said he did what he did because of the cumulative consequence that the failure to act would have in the lives of the people.
Emperor Akihito, the 125th emperor of Japan was in office from January 7, 1989, until his abdication on April 30, 2019. Eighty years at the time of the incident, the monarch occupied a purely ceremonial role and remained above happenings on the political plane. Even as he tried to get the imperial family closer to the people, conservative Japanese revered him, and many more felt nothing, but pure affection towards him.
The conservatives specifically considered Emperor Akihito and his family divine, and to that extent believed that a commoner should not even talk to him, nor were they allowed to look directly at the emperor, talk freely to him, touch him, or hand him something without permission even though no specific law supported all that.
It was in light of all these “don’ts” that purists in Japan heavily criticised Yamamoto and called on him to resign from parliament, with some stressing that his action was “really low.”
“My behaviour was indiscreet for a place like the garden party. I wanted to directly tell the emperor of the current situation…I wanted him to know about the children who have been contaminated by radiation. If this goes on, there will be serious health impacts,” the anti-nuclear activist told reporters then.
While the then 38-year-old lawmaker, who was elected as an independent candidate, apologised for troubling the emperor, he rejected calls to step down.This scenario sums up the extent to which selfless political leaders in other climes are ready to take risks to push their peoples’ cases, give service, and offer good governance.
Since the return of democratic governance in 1999, many are of the view that considering the huge resources that have been sunk into governance, only marginal improvement has been recorded in the nation, which in their opinion, has suffered stunted development when compared to her peers and contemporaries.
Not only has the quality of life of the citizenry plummeted, but the quality of governance over the years is simply nothing to write home about.
Critics, both local and international are unrelenting in their claim that the political class, including the present government, has made the country a laughing stock in the international community by frittering tons of resources, and continually taking actions that defy commonsense and logic.
For instance, not being able to account for over 50 per cent of crude dug from the country daily; not being able to prosecute fuel subsidy thieves, and the removal of fuel subsidy without any of the nation’s four refineries working, among others, are several actions of the Federal Government that beggar reason.
They are also irked that simple, but very vital elements that strengthen a country’s democratic structure, like free, fair, and transparent elections have remained elusive to the Nigerian state, not as a result of a lack of resources or expertise to carry out credible exercises, but because the political class is consistently hell-bent on subjugating the people, by perpetuating themselves in public offices, and never allowing the will of the people to see the light of day.
Interestingly, even while they manipulate things in their favour, get into office, appropriate humongous salaries/allowances for themselves, and generally practice hedonism, they still perform far below expectations.
As a matter of fact, despite the much-vaunted efforts of the political class, the unemployment rate is over 40 per cent; the inflation rate last week rose to 24.08 per cent (the highest in more than 10 years), and 133 million Nigerians are now multi-dimensionally poor, while the country’s economy is gasping for breath. As all these happen, the living condition of Nigerians ebbs steadily.
A confirmation of the country’s pathetic living condition is found in the 2021 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index, where the nation is missing from the list of the first 10 most developed countries on the continent. The first 10 nations are Mauritius, Seychelles, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, South Africa, Gabon, Botswana, and Morocco. Experts insist that with the quantum of the country’s natural endowment, Nigeria should be leading the pack.
As citizens wallow in poverty, a reflection of how the political class makes elaborate plans to guarantee the comfort of its key players on/off work can be gleaned from the billions of naira that the National Assembly is spending on the acquisition of state-of-the-art automobiles, office furniture, multi-million-holiday packages among others for over 400 national lawmakers. The Presidency and state governments also make lavish provisions to aid their jobs at the expense of the masses.
All past administrations have promised to fix structural problems besetting the nation’s economy. But all that came to naught, as the country snowballed to the point of dethroning India as the poverty capital of the world, and also cementing its morbid reputation as a well-known corruption haven.
Consistently, political leaders have vowed to eliminate corruption, end poverty, reduce the size of government, fix electricity, improve ease of doing business/enhance trade facilitation, stop wastage in the government, standardise education, fight post-harvest losses and end insecurity, but none of these have they done averagely.
While the sceptre of insecurity looms larger by the day, parts of the country have, in the last decade or thereabouts, remained under the authority of outlaws, while insurgents continue to drive into schools and cart away learners unchallenged.
According to @save_children, at least 70 schools were attacked, and 1,683 schoolchildren were kidnapped across the country between February 2014 and December 2022.
As the country continues to sink politically, economically, and socially, patients in federal government-owned health facilities have continued to die due to common factors, including lack of blood, or oxygen.
Now, giving service means little or nothing to the average political leader who has perennially failed in his/her obligation to harness the resources of the nation, and promote national development.
Lessons From Other Climes
WHILE the country’s political leadership continues to fiddle with the destiny of over 200 million Nigerians, by foisting a reign of underdevelopment, and uncertainty on the hapless people, fellow African countries are diligently managing their wealth, improving the quality of life of their citizens, and also aggressively widening the developmental gulf between them and the largest black nation in the world. A few examples will do in this regard.
The outgone President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government promised to build additional middle-class, at least two million new homeowners in his administration’s first year in office, and one million annually thereafter. It also promised to establish a national mortgage system to lend funds at single-digit interest rates to prospective homeowners. It failed spectacularly to deliver on both promises.
But Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi not only opened 67, 000 housing units in new cities east of Cairo for $1 billion in 2021, but his government also built one million housing units in four years for $15 billion, and is working towards building 1 million housing units yearly.
To expand the economy, the Egyptian government in seven years built 10,000 new factories, and this got the industrial sector’s value increased from $22 billion (in 2014) to $60 billion in 2021.
In 2017, Egypt was outside the top 10 African countries with the best roads and was ranked 107th in the world. But in 2022, the North African country shot up to second place in Africa and 28th in the world by building 7,000km of roads at a cost of $211 billion in eight years, thereby reducing the rate of road accidents by 41 per cent.
While Egypt’s exports rose from $20 billion in 2014, to $45 billion in 2021, its GDP grew from $235 billion in 2017, to $476.7 billion in 2022. The immediate past government promised to put in place, an empowerment scheme that would employ 740, 000 graduates across the 36 states, and the Federal Capital Territory. It also promised the payment of allowances to discharged, but unemployed National Youth Service Corps members for 12 months while in the skills and entrepreneurial development programme. These two failed blatantly, but Algeria pays unemployed young people $96 monthly and has a minimum wage of $170 per month. Apart from having Africa’s highest average life expectancy (78 years), the country also has 100 per cent electricity access, and its people who earn below $216 monthly do not pay income taxes. Algeria is not Africa’s second happiest country, its $63.8 billion foreign reserves are good, and it is Africa’s third most developed country. Last year, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune increased pensions to at least $120 monthly.
With an average life expectancy of 73, and 74 years for citizens, Seychelles, is a high-income nation and is also Africa’s least corrupt country. Placing second behind Mauritius as Africa’s second most developed country, it has Africa’s highest minimum wage of $426 per month, while its literacy rate is 95.9 per cent. It has Africa’s most powerful passport with easy access to 153 countries/territories. Free healthcare, 3.5 per cent unemployment rate, and 100 electricity access.
Abhorrent Five-star Retirement Packages
THE National Assembly (NASS), which is gradually becoming something akin to a theatre of the absurd is, without a doubt, a true reflection of what is happening in the larger political ecosystem.
While the NASS has failed in effectively over-sighting the many underperforming ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), it has by no means operated as a model arm of government that others should learn from. At least a dozen senators, including the Senate President, Akpabio are also not showing a good example as 13 of them earn N5.6 billion ex-governors’ pension and benefits. They also get regular replacements for state-of-the-art automobiles. This is in addition to their mouthwatering pay and bonuses as national lawmakers and as ministers in the President Bola Tinubu-led government.
Most elected officials, especially state governors allegedly manipulated the system to prepare for them, five-star retirement packages. Peeved by these worrying five-star retirement packages that former governors have organised for themselves, no matter how poorly they performed in office, and amid scarce resources, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged Tinubu to “publicly instruct the former governors who are now serving as ministers in your administration to stop collecting life pensions, exotic cars, and other allowances from their states while they serve as ministers.”
Politicians’ Insensitivity To Grim Economic Realities Height Of Insensitivity
ABUSUMO Bassey, a legal practitioner, insists that politicians failing to live by example when the country is on tenterhooks “is the height of insensitivity.”
Amid the multitude of new policies that have led to skyrocketing inflation, Bassey reckons that “the news coming out of the legislature, both as policy and gaffes, leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of many Nigerians. Not only was N70 billion voted for National Assembly members as part of the recent Supplementary Budget, but the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio announced on live television, a recess allowance to all senators to ensure that they enjoy their holidays! These are actions that are capable of inciting the citizenry at this time, and some circumspection, especially in the utterances of our politicians would be worthwhile going forward. Beyond this, the announcement of a cut in the allowances of legislators, more engagement with the constituencies, and a drastic reduction in the trappings of the office of these lawmakers will be a positive first step in the much-needed image overhaul.”
On the former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido II comment that Nigerians give politicians too much respect while they underperform, the legal practitioner said: “The very revered and respected Sanusi Lamido could not be farther from the truth. His position reinforces the widely held belief that a major problem with the Nigerian system is the weakness of its institutions. When this happens, privileged individuals fill the gap and manipulate these same institutions in a way that will ensure that their intransigencies are glossed over. And the failures of these institutions are so widespread that average Nigerians don’t believe that anything can come out of occasional pretences at fighting corporate corruption.”
He lamented that politicians who have benefited illicitly from the lucre of public office are adored and honoured by those that they so mindlessly rob. “This can only encourage these politicians to increase the brazen manner in which they operate; they then steal more money to sustain this lifestyle, rig elections to stay relevant, and subvert the system knowing that there will be no repercussions for their bad behaviour.
“And the judiciary, which should be the watchdog, the last hope of the masses hasn’t done much to help the situation. The best place to check is the number of convictions for the massive corruption we hear about. Most of these cases quickly fizzle out with little or no justification…No country makes progress with such reckless profligacy,” he added.
As the nation continues to flounder, talks about paying politicians so much is gaining currency. So, what does Bassey think? He said: “This issue can be approached from many angles. A good place to start is to examine the commensurate remuneration for legislators in other climes. How much are they being paid, and what exactly do they do? My position has always been that the Nigerian legislative institution is a total waste of resources. A parliamentary system, or at least a unicameral legislature would have served a better purpose for the Nigerian system. Moreover, most of the legislators at both the state and federal levels have no business being there. They lack the training, composure, and personal integrity to be anywhere near the hallowed chambers of the legislature. And to have so much money channeled to them every budget cycle is nerve-wracking. In light of the sorry situation that we have entrenched over the years, I will suggest a part-time system where legislators still do their normal work, but make part-time service to the legislature the norm, with an equally reduced remuneration package.
Asked whether there are lessons for Nigeria as four West African nations fall yet again to military rule, the legal practitioner sounded this way: “I agree that poor governance is a major reason why four West African nations have fallen to military rule, but to suggest that there are lessons for Nigeria to learn is an anathema. Nigeria has absolutely no lessons to learn from these episodes. History shows that we are veterans in the theatre of coups, counter-coups, and attempted coups. These have resulted in the spill of so much blood of talented citizens from every part of the country. At least one of such coups caused the only civil war this country has experienced
Ruling Class Manipulating System To Create Chaos, Choke Nigerians
AS the political class continues to waltz almost without a care in the world as over 130 million Nigerians swim in multi-dimensional poverty, the Chief Executive Officer of Profiles & Biographies, Mr. Kammonke Abam says to say that citizens are frustrated with what is happening “is an understatement because the Nigerian environment is increasingly toxic, acidic, and it chokes as people aren’t breathing well anymore. The agony that Nigerians are going through daily manifests in markets, filling stations, hospitals, and even in churches, where fewer people are attending services because of cost of fuel for those that have cars, and for those who don’t (and they are in the majority), transport fares have gone beyond their reach. Yet, in all of these, politicians occupying public offices have the temerity to throw verbal garbage at us after squandering our commonwealth. They’re lucky that the patience level of Nigerians is elastic.
He lamented the fact that the political class has deliberately made the Nigerian system not work, as it operates best in such a milieu. “They (politicians) operate best in a ‘system-less’ system; they don’t like order because they know that it’s only here that misdemeanour gives you a ticket to political office. The more questionable a character you are, the more you are more likely to be patronised by the establishment with a political office.
Abam averred: “It’s only here that politicians get into office without knowing exactly what they plan to do. Once there, they take almost the entire tenure trying to figure out what they think is good for the people.”
Abam, a former Director of Communication for Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realization (POWER), and a two-time special assistant to the governor of Cross River State observed that most actions of the political class negate democracy.
“Politicians in Nigeria mouth democracy, but virtually everything that they do negates democracy. Look at the general election that just held; look at the cabinet put in place for a country that is as good as bankrupt; look at the convoy of President Bola Tinubu and state governors; look at how they spray money at parties. Look at their private jets. Look at the frequency of their international trips among others. All these to a large extent indicate that we are not just serious. Sometimes, I wonder if we will ever get to the point where erring politicians are brought to book.
“Look at the United States and see how the system there has caught up with former President Donald Trump; look at South Africa; see how their system has sent their former president to prison. If we had an operational system, most politicians would have spent the rest of their lives inside the Kirikiri Maximum Prison or other prison facilities for their legacy of a misdemeanour, which ranges from electoral fraud to looting of the public treasury. Sadly, they are still the ones in the driver’s seat. What a country!”
With a gamut of unfulfilled promises made to Nigerians by political leaders, Oluwafemi Aderemi, an economist thinks that Nigerians pamper their elected leaders too much.
“With the light-heartedness with which the Senate President Godswill Obot Akpabio, handled the “Let the poor breathe” saga; the regular purging of offices at the National Assembly Complex of four-year-old furniture sets and electrical appliances, and replacing them with brand new ones, among others absurdities, not many are left with the remotest inkling that national lawmakers understand the depth of the misery that their constituents are enduring. Not many countries in the world indulge in such engage in wasteful spending the way that Nigeria does.
“How can the entire government be appealing to Nigerians to bear the pains associated with difficult decisions that are being taken, only for political leaders to operate as if they belong to another planet? Aderemi asked, stressing that politicians are indifferent because Nigerians appear to be docile.
He continued: “Over the years, the political class has done a great job of running down the country while being very well paid and working in plush offices, but with no defined key performance index.
The National Assembly’s capacity to make laws to improve the conditions of Nigerians is now really suspect, as they appear to be more interested in their working conditions and huge pay at the expense of the ordinary citizens who barely feed these days.”
