A Focus On The Nigerian Politician (2)
For a while now, the Nigerian legislator has been widely touted as the highest paid public office holder in the world. A report by the respected British magazine “The Economist”, citing data from the International Monetary Fund, suggested in a publication that the Nigerian legislator was the highest paid in the world, with a basic annual salary of N30.6 million. The National Assembly rejected the report, saying it was grossly exaggerated.
It is not yet certain whether the magazine or the National Assembly is correct. The various figures being juggled in the media about the Nigerian legislator’s take home pay don’t seem to add up either. It appears that no one has actually taken the pain to make good use or take advantage of the newly enacted Freedom of Information Law to get at the truth of the matter. So, the real earning of a Nigerian legislator continues to remain an enigma to the Nigerian public and to the entire world.
In other parts of the world, salaries of political office holders, especially at the top, are usually made public. We know, for instance, that Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China earns £14, 500 per annum. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India earns £19, 300. Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela earns £31,124. Pedro Pasos Coelho, Prime Minister of Portugal earns £51, 503.
Mariano Rajoy Brey, Prime Minister of Spain earns £58, 500. Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil earns £76, 481. Matteo Renzi, Prime Minister of Italy earns £79, 413. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia earns £86, 679. Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe earns £91, 776. Enrique Pena Nieto, President of Mexico earns £105, 983. Francois Hollande, President of France earns £123, 836. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan earns £129, 190. Recep Tayyip Edorgan, President of Turkey earns £131, 043. Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa earns £142, 447.
David Cameron, Prime Minister of the UK earns £142, 500. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the UN earns £144, 839. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany earns £149, 394. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada earns £165, 710. Cristina Fernandez Kirchner, President of Argentina earns £200, 822. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission earns £216, 591. Barack Obama, President of the USA earns £254, 939. Tony Abbot, Prime Minister of Australia earns £257, 305. Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore earns £1, 083,492.
In comparison, each Nigerian legislator has been widely touted as earning in the neighbourhood of £1, 100, 000. Tongues are wagging. Nigerians are worried. There are questions that need urgent answers. And I think Nigerian politicians should come public and speak for themselves. Transparency in the conduct of public office is one of the greatest virtues of true democracy. Therefore, it behoves Nigerian legislators to publish in details and for the sake of the doubting Thomases and confused Nigerians what their true earnings are. No one should do that for them.
As I have already said, the several figures being bandied about in the media about the wages of the Nigerian legislator simply don’t add up. And what that means is that, at best, these figures exist only in the imagination of the concerned individual. That is why Nigerian legislators should address this very vexatious issue officially through the institution’s mouthpiece and give the topic the closure it deserves.
So many unsubstantiated allegations have been levied against the Nigerian legislator. He is said to be collecting enormous sums of money as basic salary. In addition, he is said to be getting all kinds of allowances such as hardship allowance (whatever that means); constituency allowance; furniture allowance; newspapers allowance; wardrobe allowance; recess allowance; accommodation allowance; utilities allowance; domestic staff allowance; entertainment allowance; personal assistance allowance; vehicle maintenance allowance; leave allowance; severance gratuity and motor vehicle allowance that is paid once in every four years.
He is also said to be making huge sums of money “on the side” such as a quarterly constituency allowance which runs into millions of naira and is usually never accounted for; the fat envelopes he receives before he can give out a contract or pass a bill. He is said to own several cars at a time, in some cases, as many as 15 cars. Some of the cars are said to be bulletproof and custom built.
The impression out there is that so much money has been pumped into public office by the Nigerian system that the place has now become a safe heaven for rogue politicians and their co-conspirators in the business world.
This probably accounts for why, in many cases, the occupation of political office in Nigeria had become a do-or-die affair. The situation had remained like that until ex-President Dr Jonathan showed the way to true democracy by honourably accepting his defeat and publicly being the first to congratulate President Buhari on his success at the polls. In that way, Jonathan not only saved the country much bloodshed which would have trailed the election results, he clearly demonstrated to Nigerians and especially to the party faithful that politics in Nigeria should not continue to be a do-or-die affair.
Yet, the current practice of Nigerian politicians is not helping matters in this sense. Not in any way. A politician is elected governor of a state. He rules for two tenures of eight years. He then manipulates his way into the Senate where he may stay for another eight years. After 16 years as a public office holder, possibly with little or nothing to show for it, his children take over from him and continue from where he stopped. Thus, the mandate to govern in Nigeria is slowly but steadily becoming family issues. The general result is that rather than bridge the yawning gap between the very rich and the very poor families in Nigeria, the situation the politicians are now creating is helping to widen the gap the more.
Already the wind has started to blow. Very soon, and I mean very soon, it will become the trend. And with that, the inadvertent legalization of impunity will definitely come back to haunt the Nigerian society. My prayer is for God to prevent that day from dawning on Nigeria.
Nigerians need to know that what is happening in their country today had its roots from the inability of the ruling families of the last few decades to foresee the future as the hurricane of social change came, blowing furiously, bulldozing all obstacles on its way. Before the advent of that hurricane of social change, only few rich and widely influential Nigerian families controlled the wealth of the nation. They were known as the ruling families. They were, in essence, the law. No one dared cross them.
But somewhere down the line, some poor families began to send their children to school. Many in the Northern parts of the country who were not educated at that time seized the opportunity. Through their education they realised that for too long they had simply been, as it were, foolishly subservient to the whims and caprices of the rich, ruling families. University education opened the eyes of families which had hitherto been subjected to poverty and want for so long. That was when the new revolutionary era dawned.
Characteristically, many in the ruling families did not see the revolution coming. Basking in the euphoria of their wealth and influence, they were not aware of the social changes that were coming on hard on their society, like the harmattan wind. The new social elite, equipped with university education, had also discovered the need to become rich as well. After-all what should stop them, given their academic qualifications? Education had opened their eyes and their minds. They had clearly seen that they had been the underdogs all those years. Gradually they determined to fight their cause which they saw as just. Nothing would stop them.
So, some went into business. Others went into politics.
Up till this time, the ruling families still had their clout. They could still command. They could still intimidate. They could still boast. But when an attempt was made on the life of one of the most revered monarchs in the country by assassins, it became obvious that “the game was up” and that the social revolution had started in earnest. It meant that the ruling families had to be more careful from then on.
What I thought of the future of Nigeria at that time was published in SUN (Nigeria) newspaper of 24 February 2013, and was appropriately titled: “Warning the ruling families”.
Understanding the facts will perhaps help the legislature find closure to this desire by the Nigeria’s nova riche families to “square up” for lost years.
Only a few years ago, it would have been possible to halt the trend by strengthening Nigeria’s middle class which traditionally bridged the gap between the very rich and very poor in the society. In one of my articles then, titled: “Chrislamism: the way forward for Nigeria”, I addressed that need to get back the middle class into the system, a middle class which was destroyed mostly in the 1980s by overzealous Heads of States who were eager to please their Spiritual Masters from the ruling families. It didn’t happen then and now there is just one more chance before the keg of gunpowder explodes in our face.
What the politicians should be doing now is to formulate policies which will change the country into a welfare state. Let there be free and compulsory education at primary and secondary school levels. For the institutions of higher learning, government should encourage financial institutions and loan companies to loan money to students (Students’ Loan’ programme) to go to universities.
In such a way, Nigerian politicians would have ensured that no Nigerian child is wilfully denied the basic right to higher education. When such students graduate and secure jobs, a certain percentage of their earnings will be deducted at source and paid back to the loan company (with the accruing interest) so that the financial assistance can continue to revolve.
In addition to that, every local government must establish a Welfare Office at its headquarters where some money would be dispensed weekly to registered adult and unemployed indigenes of the local government area to help them cushion their personal problems. About two thousand naira would be ideal, so that those who feel it is too small for them to be coming to the local government headquarters every week would have judged themselves.
In summary, what I have said is that Nigerian legislators should come public with their true earnings. It is the standard practice in other democratic countries. If the public truly feels that their pay is unmerited or that it is too fat, then they should do something to change public opinion that they are in public office to serve the interests of their personal families and not those of the voters whose mandate they have.
I have pointed to the reason why there is an inevitable shift in the power base, which is responsible for the social friction that seems to be brewing in the country. I have said that to diffuse the inferno before it consumes the nation, state actors in the public arena must make a serious move towards turning Nigeria into a welfare state. If Nigerian political leaders can summon the political will do this, the benefits will be enormous.
Crimes will be considerably reduced. Socio-political tension will be greatly minimised. Politicians will be left to concentrate on their responsibility of improving on the living standards of the citizens. Nigeria will once again be a happy place to live and work in. Perhaps, some of the nation’s sons and daughters in the Diaspora will find a reason to return to help build up the nation they so much love into a great force which they will be proud to be associated with.
The APC government of Mr Buhari must make determined efforts to make public offices unattractive to rogue politicians and their co-conspirators from the business class. The wages attached to public offices must be deliberately made low and unattractive to them. In such a way, only those who sincerely want to serve the interest of the citizens without fear or favour and carve out a name for themselves when the history of the country is written will be encouraged to vie for political offices. The others will be forced to swell the number in the private sector as they invest the money they have already made. That, I think, is what my state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, once defined as “ohashirism”. And I think Nigeria will be better for it.