The latest media report that lawmakers in the Green Chamber have started taking delivery of their Sports Utility Vehicles, has again confirmed as true the argument that history cannot ordinarily repeat itself; rather, it is the people that are in the habit of repeating history.
According to reports, the Prado SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles), worth ₦130 million per unit and given to lawmakers, Rotimi Akin, the spokesperson of the House of Reps, n a statement noted that for the duration of the 10th assembly, spanning 2023 to 2027, the cars remain the property of the National Assembly and tied to lawmakers’ oversight functions in the discharge of their duties within the standing committees..
Essentially, the above explanations look good in principle particularly as there is no question that high-offices such as the National Assembly needs operational vehicles to facilitate their responsibilities, but there exists some indicators that amply qualifies the present happening as a deliberate re-enactment of similar action by their predecessors. .
Aside from the fact that this is coming at a time when the country is witnessing slow economic but high population growth and in a period when excruciating poverty and starvation daily drives more people into the ranks of beggars, also troubling is the awareness that legislator in the Red Chamber will receive the first batch of the SUVs in no distant time.
More intrinsically, there are reasons that the happening in NASS perfectly postures Nigerians as people that are in the habit of repeating history.
First and very fundamental, in the year 2019, at a time when Nigerians were waiting for the enactment of laws that will assist uplift the life chances of Nigerians, the now rested 9th NASS contrary to expectation, abandoned the masses and got preoccupied with quality of car to use for official and other related oversight functions.
Even as Nigerians lamented such stunning misguided priority as it were, the 9th House of Representative, similar to the character that is currently exhibited by the 10th Assembly, added more insult to the injury, by refusing to patronize locally assembled vehicles by Innoson Group that was reportedly recommended for them. And in its place, opt for the 2020 edition of Toyota Camry which not only doubled the price of the initially recommended but will cost a whooping N5 Billion of Taxpayers money to purchase 400 of the Toyota Camry model needed by the house.
Essentially, seperate from rejection of Innoson brand of SUVs initially recommended for members, and in its place, went for 2020 edition of Toyota Camry, that will gulp about N5 Billion of taxpayers money, what, however, made the development newsy is that the house by that singular action not only contravened, but totally abandoned the Local Content law which it had earlier promoted.
As we know, the Local Content Act 2010 governs Nigeria’s content matters and among other things stipulates that Nigerian contents must be mandatorily considered as a key element of project development in the country.
Looking above, this piece holds the opinion that the strategic implication of the 9th and 10th NASS flagrant disregard for existing laws of the land and non consideration of the poor masses in their choices and quest for affluence partially explains why what is today said at the floor of the National Assembly hardly matters that much more to the people and sheds more light to communication from the lawmakers are not only self defeating but roundly promotes cynicism among the masses.
While the ongoing action within the NASS in my view signposts a practical demonstration of a leadership devoid of prudence and mercy for the masses, and the more bitterly each round of this situation is remembered, the deeper the pains, it also raises the question that centres on conscience, empathy and decorum of the Honourable members.
Take as an illustration, How will the wider world look at us as a nation that we are spending billions of naira on SUVs in a country where over 10.5million are reportedly out of school? In a country where those that are in schools are not learning anything as a result of over crowded classes and poor learning facilities? In a country where infrastructural and democracy deficits are so glaring and alarming? Where youth unemployment has become the order of the day and industries are daily folding up and relocating to other neighboring countries as a result of lack of electricity and other facilities that support industrial growth?
Amusingly, some Nigerians have since absolved the lawmakers of any wrongdoing. While some described their demand for the choice of cars as a befitting reward for their office and position, others argue that politics is an act of promoting and protecting one’s interest and not largely a question of the masses, party or faction-noting that every individual, among others, is a political creature seeking to secure his/her own position-and hence, should not be scolded for using public office as an avenue for private gain.
Regardless of what others may say, that the Assembly spent such huge amount on operational vehicles in a country that has recently become reputed for borrowing sends wrong signals to the watching world and tells a story of a country ‘blessed’ with bunch of public office holders that are neither ready to make sacrifice or diligently implement the tasks of nation building.
For me, one point the public office holders such as our lawmakers failed to remember is that hearing the sound of thunder does not translate to a keen ear. They seem not to be aware that people’s support is the greatest asset they enjoy. They appear unmindful of the fact that what binds every follower to their leaders is unwavering fate built on trust.
And no one seems to have reminded the lawmakers that as leaders, they are watched closely, that people are noting every move they make, that their followers are learning a great deal about them and what they really believe is as opposed to what they say. This time to my mind is both a trying and defining moment for these lawmakers.
Since we cannot predict the future, we must start from the present. And we can do this by reminding the lawmakers and other public office holders that greed, personal aggrandizement and selfishness among other things, share two sorrowful characteristics with borrowing. First, is the time-honoured belief that when one is possessed by any of the above, it becomes hard to break. Based on this fact, chances are that we may see more mindless spendings come from the Assembly in the near future. Secondly, in borrowing, one’s reputation depletes. Invariably, in the estimation of Nigerians, these actions taken by the lawmakers are depleting their hard-earned reputation.
‘Finally, ‘the greatest problem of man is that man is the problem’. If we make a decision to manage what we have well, we can do so much with it. And we need not go searching for the solutions to our national problem in the wrong directions.
