Successive Nigerian governments have for many years continued to hold on to the selfish narrative that citizens must make sacrifices if they ever want to experience a difference in their lives or anything with the semblance of development. However, these same citizens who have had to endure years of bad governance have continuously watched their leaders do the exact opposite of what they preach.
Once again, ordinary Nigerians have been called upon to make fresh sacrifices. This time, for the removal of fuel subsidy. But the apparent reality is that these citizens would have been more willing to cooperate if the political leadership in the country weren’t living larger than Arabian princes and flaunting an outrageous ostentation in the midst of so much poverty and deprivation.
The members of the political class have completely ignored the fact that everyone, not just the citizens, needs to make this sacrifice. To remove subsidy, workers will need a pay raise, and political office holders will need to take drastic pay cuts in order to attain something close to equity, if not equilibrium.
For the newly inaugurated government of Bola Tinubu, it’s a big test. Wage cuts for the political class across all cadres, at least, should be a moral justification; a good place to start. It’s also a good bargain for the pro-subsidy crowd, as well as a good bargain for the labour unions.
Nigeria is such an unfair place. While political office holders become extremely rich as soon as they are sworn into office, wage increases for workers are hardly implemented at state levels where officials heartlessly loot huge sums of money as ‘security votes’. It is a known fact that before upgrading the minimum wage to N30,000 in October 2019, most states in Nigeria had not even begun the implementation of the N18,000 approved since 2011.
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These lazy and ruthless state governors who have continued to give several flimsy excuses on why they can’t increase wages have continued to live extravagant lifestyles while their citizens groan of bad leadership. The workers on the other hand, with compromised union leaders and lacking a fighting front then live with the grudge of seeing the unproductive political elite climbing the social and economic ladder for practically doing nothing other than having access to public resources.
It is generally expected that the leaders of poor countries like Nigeria ought to be humble and more prudent with public resources. Sadly, this is rarely the case. These leaders are frequently the ones who jet off to Western capitals with pomp and flair to solicit aid. They are more adept at wrong precepts and thrive in them.
There were few statesmen emulating the inspiring and exemplary precedence those were JJ Rawlings of Ghana, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, and Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso. And how much Nigeria needs such exemplary characters at every level cannot be overemphasised.
It defies every iota of logic that a country with a GDP per head of about $2,065 parades the highest-paid legislators in the world whose outlandish salaries and entitlements do not come anywhere near their output in terms of legislative performance of oversights and other responsibilities. This is something the Tinubu government must come to terms with and have a critical look at.
In a few days, a new National Assembly will be inaugurated and it would constitute a slap on public sensibilities if they set off with the usual provisions for luxury cars, housing and others while Nigerians cannot afford bread and other staple.
If truly he and his handlers are truly desirous of making any difference in the lives of Nigerians, President Tinubu must have to take a long and comprehensive look at how the cost of governance over the years has denied Nigerians the dividends of good governance.
The haphazard and unplanned removal of subsidy by the Tinubu administration is their best opportunity to address the age-long grievance by ordinary Nigerians about profligacy in government. Tinubu and his goons must understand that there has to be a deliberate attempt to prune the cost of recurrent expenditure that frequently leaves capital provisions bare while the lavish consumption of the political elite is exorbitant and for no justifiable reason.
What is perhaps more painful is the fact that whatever is left for projects is again raided by the same members of the political class and their collaborators in the public service, leaving the country broke and broken.
Despite Tinubu’s presidential legitimacy crisis, if he is able to spare a thought for the huge difference in income between elected leaders and the rest of society and takes positive action, he would have started on the right note.
It is no longer news that an average Nigerian senator earns more than USA president. In fact, Nigerian lawmakers are one of the highest-paid in the world. The truth remains that the government is not in any way subsidising Nigerians. The reverse is the case because, with such jumbo salaries, Nigerians are the ones subsidising them. Nigerians basically have to suffer just so their corrupt politicians can enjoy the good things of life.
Since no one is disputing the fact that Nigerian lawmakers receive much higher salaries than their counterparts in economically more developed countries, it is high time everyone agreed that removing fuel subsidy without a corresponding increase in the salaries of workers is an express invitation to chaos.
In Nigeria, a serving minister may have up to 10 cars, 10 special assistants, five personal assistants, or even more. Every special assistant also has an assistant; every special adviser has an executive assistant and a retinue of officials and cars. In the presidency, there are up to 100 government parastatals. Each has a chairman and directors, most of them doing the same thing. The speaker and senate president, each has over 100 people working under him. They should take the lead by first reducing their own costs
The United States has only 15 secretaries (equivalent to our ministers) that run a country of over 250 million people. The British cabinet is smaller than that of Nigeria. Spending on the public service in Britain is undergoing review to reduce the cost of running the country.
Tinubu must show his sincerity and concern for Nigerians by cutting his salaries and that of his appointees who basically live off the Nigerian people on whose lacerated backs they have ridden for many decades.
Tinubu must, as a matter of urgency, work towards adopting several austerity measures to stand with the Nigerian people who are going through very devastating conditions. He must restructure the county immediately to pull it away from the brink of collapse, which is imminent. The madness going on in Nigeria should and must have an expiry date.
