An ailing health sector, a comatose economy, a galloping inflation rate, widespread insecurity, and worsening quality of life of the citizenry are all by-products of a profligate political class that thrives in hedonism, but pays scant attention to effective service delivery, writes ENO-ABASI SUNDAY.
One of the most sobering tales that wafted across the federation in the twilight of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government was the revelation that 63 per cent of persons living in the country, that is, 133 million people were multi-dimensionally poor.
That revelation was one of the highlights of the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey, which the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) made public. The MPI score shows the proportion of deprivation that citizens of a given country experience out of the total possible deprivations where everyone was poor and deprived in all indicators.
Besides the survey emphasising that over half of the country’s population is multi-dimensionally poor, it added that the intensity of poverty is higher in rural areas, where 72 per cent of people are poor, compared to 42 per cent of people in urban areas.
Having darted across the country with his team begging to be given the mouthwatering job of administering the country, and salvaging the remains of the comatose economy, many expected the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led new government to exhibit strikingly different attributes from the clueless one that it succeeded. They also expected him to affect their lives instantaneously.
But not only have those who nursed such hopes been severely traumatised by the heart-wrenching scenes that are playing out in the opening chapters of the new administration, but they are also equally shell-shocked at the glaring insensitivity displayed by its arrowheads.
Over the years, the political class has proven to be patently self-centred, and failing woefully in service delivery and a basic test of leadership. That notwithstanding, the key dramatis personae in government have gone ahead to calendarised and dutifully provide for their needs, while that of the electorate are paid scant attention.
Crass corruption has not only become a way of life, but nepotism, policy inconsistencies, mismanagement of resources, as well as poor service delivery have become the norm.
Indeed, rather than enunciate policies and programmes that will set the country on the path of development, all that their traumatised followers are witnessing now is a multitude of unsound, and unfriendly policies that breed unbridled hardship and induce poverty thereby turning the country into a cesspit of perpetual strife, unquantifiable hopelessness, and unending misery.
Worryingly, while all these play out, the country’s political leaders have continued to waltz around like vacationing millionaires, drive the latest automobiles, sip choice wines and champagnes, as well as devour the choicest meat portions.
Unending calls for sacrifices versus profligate lifestyle
APART from becoming proficient in tears-inducing policies and acting as if it operates from a different planet, the Tinubu-led government has repeatedly called on ordinary Nigerians to tighten their belts harder and be ready to make more sacrifices for the nation to stay afloat.
Since taking the reins, Tinubu has, on several occasions, appealed to Nigerians to “make sacrifices” to save the country from collapsing.
In his Democracy Day broadcast on Monday, June 12, Tinubu said: “Painfully, I have asked you, my compatriots, to sacrifice a little more for the survival of our country… For your trust and belief in us, I assure you that your sacrifice shall not be in vain.”
While vowing that his government would not discountenance or take for granted the sacrifice of Nigerians, he added on that occasion that the removal of fuel subsidy was necessary for a better country long strangulated by unnecessary expenditures.
“It is for this reason that, in my inauguration address on May 29, I gave effect to the decision taken by my predecessor-in-office to remove the fuel subsidy albatross and free up for collective use of the much-needed resources, which had hitherto been pocketed by a few rich.
“I admit that the decision will impose an extra burden on the masses of our people. I feel your pain.
This is one decision we must bear to save our country from going under and take our resources away from the stranglehold of a few unpatriotic elements.”
Only days after this episode, Tinubu again charged Nigerians to commit to making sacrifices for the progress and stability of the nation.
During an interview at Dodan Barracks, in Lagos, after the Eld-el-Kabir prayers, he said that it was important that both leaders and followers adopt attitudes that would take the nation to greater heights. “May our sacrifices turn to prosperity. We have to make sacrifices and that is clear,” he said.
Practice what you preach as an albatross
TINUBU’S charge at Dodan Barracks that both leaders and followers must adopt attitudes that would take the nation to greater heights appears not to have made any impact on the leaders, as the president and his lieutenants and state governors have failed to practice what they preach. This is indicated in the sheer absence of a strong drive for fiscal discipline among them and those in cahoots with them. The innumerable shenanigans that are going on in the polity lend credence to this.
Put differently, all appeals for sacrifice by the president pale into insignificance when juxtaposed with the fact that key players in his government appear to be exempted from the sacrifice-making galore going by their actions and inaction.
In many states across the country where citizens are enduring excruciating hardship occasioned by inflations and worsening standards of living, the prices of staples have also gone beyond the reach of a greater majority of Nigerians.
And mind-boggling statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), last week further painted a gloomy picture of the situation by informing that no fewer than 26.5 million Nigerians in Borno, Sokoto, and Zamfara states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory, may face a food crisis between June and August next year.
The Cadre Harmonise analysis was conducted in 26 states and the FCT to ascertain the food security situation and make projections for the future.
Speaking at the event, the FAO country representative, Dominique Kouacou, who was represented by his assistant, Abubakar Suleiman, said: “About 26.5 million Nigerians may encounter a food crisis in 2024.”
He explained that the situation became dire as a result of an unusually lean season that was characterised by the high cost of food and agricultural inputs due to high inflation, insecurity occasioned by insurgency, and banditry, and extreme dry spells in some states shortly after the commencement of rains.
In the health sector, the picture is no less grim, especially with the nation’s horrible credentials like being one of the worst in infant mortality in the world, second country with the highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS; the highest number of people lacking access to basic primary healthcare, as well as being home to the highest number of malnourished children.
Nigeria, apart from losing 2,300 under-five children and 140 women every day, also witnesses 840 maternal deaths in every 100, 000, and 143 deaths in 1,000 under-five-year-children.
In the education sector, the country has also fared horribly with a 2022 UNESCO report noting that approximately 20 million individuals of school age are not enrolled in school.
With the figure being about 20 per cent of the country’s population, experts say such an army of uneducated persons is a sure recipe for an uncertain tomorrow.
Conversely, well over one million Nigerians who are qualified for admission into tertiary institutions across the country do not get admitted owing to lack of carry capacity in state-run institutions, and neck-breaking fees in private varsities. This is in addition to multiple challenges facing the sector from the basic education level to the tertiary level.
Under the watch of the political class, the sceptre of insecurity has continued to loom larger; the unemployment rate is over 40 per cent; the inflation rate recently rose to 24.08 per cent (the highest in more than 10 years).
But rather than the political class exploring sustainable ways of improving the country’s fortunes, they have continued to take absurd steps that only retard progress, extinguish hope, and persistently treat the electorate with contempt.
The Presidency as a poor exemplar
“MORNING shows the day” best describes how Nigerians watched mouth agape as Tinubu’s 100-plus-vehicle convoy snaked through the streets of Lagos during his maiden visit to the state since taking the reins on May 29.
Not only did they make peace with themselves by concluding that the present crop of leaders, including the president, were not willing to make personal sacrifices, but they also concluded that this was going to be another presidency that is insensitive to the plight of the citizenry.
Having then braced up for a bumpy race on a tiger’s tail, the present government has not fallen short of a reputation as far as living in nauseating luxury at public expense is concerned.
For instance, while everyday Nigerians and their businesses are forced to adjust, the Tinubu-led government has found no need whatsoever to drastically cut the cost of governance.
Despite being ranked a distant 37th out of 52 countries on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance 2021, and 12th out of the 15 countries in West Africa, the present government, like the immediate past, has not found it expedient to take steps that would ease her out of the league of badly governed entities.
Nigeria’s rating as one of the continent’s worst-governed countries is partially based on the cost of governance, and sundry indices. But how previous and present governments have failed to apply, refer to, or implement recommendations in the Stephen Oronsaye report of 2012 remains a mystery.
Among other things, the report suggested the reduction of statutory agencies from 263 to 161 through mergers, abolition of 38, and reversion of 14 to ministerial departments.
Like his party man and predecessor, Gen. Buhari, Tinubu has so far found no reason to reduce the money-guzzling eight-aircraft Presidential Air Fleet. His son, Seyi, recently got one from the pack to fly him to watch a polo tournament in Kano. Hanan Buhari also enjoyed similar presidential luxury at taxpayers’ expense during her father’s reign.
For the umpteenth time, the Tinubu-led government drew the ire of Nigerians, when it declared its intention to spend N1.5 billion for the procurement of vehicles for the Office of the First Lady, an office that is not known to law.
The government is also to spend N2.9 billion on Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) for the Presidential Villa, and another N2.9 billion to replace operational vehicles for the Presidency as the widespread culture of extravagance continues to percolate.
Lawmakers as the epitome of extravagance, wasteful living
Further confirmation that cost-cutting measures do not have a place in the luxurious lawmaking template operated by the 10th National Assembly can be gleaned from the humongous 2, 563 aides, which the lawmakers are working with, and who are to be funded under the 2023 Appropriation Act.
Expectedly, this army of legislative aides has, over the years, joined forces with the lawmakers to gulp some substantial amount from the country’s fiscal spending each legislative year. With the Senate made up of 109 members, and 360 in the House of Representatives, most Nigerians are perplexed that taxpayers still have to maintain all appointees by the 469 members of NASS.
The National Assembly Act empowers each lawmaker to appoint aides who are recruited by the National Assembly Service Commission, based on the recommendation of each lawmaker.
The Act empowers each lawmaker, excluding principal officers to have five aides, which comprises one senior legislative aide, two legislative aides, a personal assistant, and secretary.
The Senate President is entitled to 45 appointees, his deputy 30, House Speaker, 33, Deputy Speaker, 15, and Principal Officers, 10 each.
As many struggle to find justification for the unwieldy retinue of lawmakers’ aides, the Senate President weeks after informing the lawmakers that their holiday bonuses (running into hundreds of millions of naira) have been funneled to their accounts, further riled the nation with his revelation that N5.550 billion has been budgeted for the purchase of luxury cars to aid their jobs.
Civil society groups and over 6, 000 concerned Nigerians, who could not stomach the bizarre arrangement promptly filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court to “restrain, prevent and stop the National Assembly Service Commission from paying or releasing the sum of N5.550 billion budgeted for purchase of luxury cars for principal members of the ninth Senate, and to restrain and stop the Senate from collecting the money until the downward review of the amount proposed by the Senate.”
But before long, the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, sprang up and condemned the controversy surrounding the SUVs’ purchase, stressing that the status of a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not undeserving of an SUV.
“What is the problem there? It is an insult to say that a senator of the Federal Republic cannot ride a jeep in Nigeria. It is an insult. The N5.5bn is from the National Assembly fund and it is budgeted for every year, which they will pay back at the end of the tenure.
“I was a permanent secretary. I know what ministers get; we cannot even compare ourselves to ministers because we are higher than the minister(s). For you to say that a senator of the Federal Republic cannot drive a Jeep today-come on, that is an insult.
“Go and tell the people that the work that we do is more than the work of ministers. The weight that is on me today; there is no minister of the Federal Republic that has it. The collapse of the local government areas across the country had placed a burden on senators who carry loads outside their purview,” he said.
As the lawmakers continue to act outside the lines of integrity, and in line with contemporary realities, Kammonke Abam, a former Director of Communication for Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realisation (POWER), and a two-time special assistant to the governor of Cross River State is of the view that the Tinubu-led government has not weaned itself off campaign season, hence the failed integrity test.
Asked to give his perspectives on the present government’s failure to practice what it preaches in terms of belt-tightening measures, as reflected in billions of naira worth of cars for lawmakers, the Presidency, and the Office of the First Lady, he said: “It is purely a failure of integrity test. It is now obvious that the government hasn’t yet weaned off itself from the campaign period, or has forgotten that elections have been ‘won’ and ‘lost’ and it’s time to implement the “Renewed Hope” mantra beyond the rhetoric that it seems it is. Members of the ruling elite in Nigeria are completely alienated from the harsh economic realities faced by the average Nigerian. They are just about protecting their selfish personal interests at the expense of the common man. Government has proven that it doesn’t care about the people that it is supposed to be leading. How do you explain a situation where a government that stopped fuel subsidy (with the attendant consequence) is appealing to the masses to tighten their belts, only for its key officials to be living super luxurious lives at the expense of poor taxpayers?
“We had thought that with President Tinubu’s acclaimed political sagacity and much-vaunted experience in governance, we would witness a drastic shift from flagrant abuse of power and waste of taxpayers’ money to prudent and judicious use of the country’s lean resources at this time. I’m appalled that the debris of decay is still mounting. Do we want God to come down, and break the heads of the people who call themselves leaders and stuff in good reasoning? It’s just unbelievable that we are going around the same cycle of inefficiency and waste again. We had thought that with President Buhari and his people gone, we will witness the responsible, people-focused leadership that will put smiles on the famished faces of Nigerians, he said.
Abam, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Profiles & Biographies also lamented that the apparent over-bloated appointments so far contradict Tinubu’s pledge to run a lean government, adding that so far, there are no signs of financial frugality from a government that is leading a country with a comatose economy.
“How do you talk about financial frugality with all that is happening? Look at the bogus number of ministers, and hordes of aides that have been appointed; look at the vehicles that the National Assembly is buying for lawmakers; look at the fixing of residential homes of the president and his vice. It’s really sad. Sometimes, one is tempted to think that we have just moved from “frying pan to fire.” Only God can help this country, and he will,” he stated.
Government, lawmakers’ parasitic lifestyle concerning
A former National Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, is in tandem with those who insist that the acquisition of sophisticated vehicles worth N5.5b for just over 400 lawmakers shows that there is misplacement of priorities.
According to him, “The National Assembly members were elected to serve and not to be served, and it is serious political corruption to see persons who canvassed for votes and mandate from Nigerians to make good laws, provide constitutional oversight to ensure functionality, transparency and accountability in the running of government’s businesses arrive in Abuja and become parasitic to the resources of the people, by siphoning a reasonable chunk to buy exotic and highly expensive jeeps for themselves…This is a highly sophisticated legislative crime. It is legislative terrorism for legislators to take public funds to buy expensive cars for their selfish use.
“The majority of Nigerians have spoken out against the shenanigans of the lawmakers and their cravings for things that are fanciful and very expensive at public costs. This is despicable, outrageous, and amounts to a political crime.
On the use of aircraft in the Presidential Air Fleet by scions of the president for private purposes, Onwubiko, who is the National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) said: “Misusing public assets such as presidential jets for personal affairs, is ethically wrong and amounts to abuse of office on the part of the president or the vice president as the case may be. The constitution states that the state must eradicate abuse of power and corruption such as these abuses of state/national assets.
Secondly, the presidential fleet costs taxpayers so much to maintain, and with eight jets in the presidential fleet, this high number is uncalled for. The office of the president and the VP do not need more than four serviceable jets for the use of the president and his VP only for official duties. Selling off these jets will reduce the high costs of governance, which is eating deep into our commonwealth. On no occasion should such national assets be put at the disposal of, or be subjected to misuse by children of the president or vice president. The wife of the president is not an officeholder, so she is not also qualified to fly the presidential jet.
On options available to Nigerians Considering the sickening level of profligacy displayed by the political class, Onwubiko said: “The typical Nigerian should endeavour to understand the laws, become actively involved in monitoring what elected members of their state assemblies and the National Assembly are doing and promptly report any developments around them that offend natural and constitutional norms.
“Citizens must also make up their minds never to be bribed by politicians ab initio, especially during campaigns for elections, and then ensure that there are transparent elections that are not encumbered by bribe-for-vote. Voters must never mortgage their consciences and debase their dignity as citizens by accepting bribes to cast their votes. Doing this makes you a slave to thieving politicians who win offices by hook or crook,” Onwubiko said.
He added: “It is the lack of knowledge of the rights and privileges of citizens by the greatest percentage of Nigerians that has allowed politicians to behave anyhow since they know that their people are bereft of the strategic knowledge of what their rights and privileges as taxpayers and as legitimate citizens are.”
To end profligacy in governance, Ibezim Chukwuani, an economist said: “To end profligacy by the political elite in Nigeria, Nigerians must push for transparency in government finances and demand that elected officials be accountable for their actions. This can be achieved through protests, public demonstrations, and active engagement with government agencies. Nigerians can also advocate for, and support the implementation of effective anti-corruption measures. This includes supporting institutions like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to tackle corruption at all levels.
“Importantly, they must encourage their political representatives to prioritise fiscal responsibility and prudent spending. This can be done by engaging with elected officials through town hall meetings, social media campaigns, and lobbying for the passage of fiscal responsibility bills.”
According to the economist, more Nigerians must show a willingness to actively engage in local politics by participating in grassroots organisations and community-based initiatives. This helps to build strong political networks that can hold elected officials accountable for their actions, just as it is also important to actively monitor government projects to ensure that they are executed efficiently and with minimal waste. This includes studying project budgets, tracking progress, and reporting any irregularities to appropriate agencies.
