It appears that Nigeria’s 10th National Assembly is content to continue with a tradition of ostentation while comfortable to cling on to its reputation for insensitivity.
110 billion Naira. That is the amount penciled down by the 10th National Assembly for the purchase of bulletproof vehicles for Nigeria’s legislators and as palliatives.
The amount has hit Nigerians like a thunderclap at a time when they are reeling from the effects of the policies of a new government whose head many believe was the product of tainted elections.
But while Nigerians smart from the removal of the fuel subsidy in addition to the crunch economic conditions brought on by the eight-year-long incompetence of former president Muhammadu Buhari, it appears that those elected to represent them have other ideas.
The morning tells the day. That exotic cars top the list of priorities for the legislators rather than urgent policy-shaping legislations to bring respite to long-suffering Nigerians is an ominous sign that Nigerians are in for another long ride with avaricious do-nothing politicians.
Since Nigeria returned to the pristine path of democracy in 1999,debate over the cost of governance in the country have been heated.
The question of how much people make from supposedly serving Nigerians has always generated forceful feelings in a country that freely admits that corruption is one of its greatest challenges.
In these debates, harsh scrutiny has always fallen on the National Assembly, the second arm of government, with many Nigerians balking at what its members take home for seemingly doing so little.
While over a hundred million Nigerians wallow in poverty, the National Assembly has never had any compunction about legislating large welfare packages for its members.
The response of the legislators has been historically poor when confronted with accusations that what they take home belies the tragic poverty that torments many Nigerians. The simplest but most shocking response has been to say that the members of the executive take more.
There is hardly ever a reference to the judiciary in these conversations because as an arm of government, it remains shamefully underfunded.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the sum of seventy million Naira to the legislators as palliatives for the removal of the fuel subsidy. It was clearly a sop to the legislators whom the president needs on his side, in a cordiality many would interpret as a conspiracy against the Nigerian people.
In response to the decision by legislators to buy bulletproof vehicles, the Socio-Economic Rights and accountability group (SERAP) has asked the lawmakers to shelve their extravagant plans or face court action.
But, if the worst critics of the plan can take a deep breath and look deeper, they would see that hidden behind the determination of the lawmakers to buy themselves bullet-proof vehicles is a morbid fear of the insecurity which sweeps Nigeria like the gale of death.
For eight years under Muhammadu Buhari, while terrorists had a field day turning Nigeria’s most vulnerable communities upside down, the members of the 9th National Assembly were content to hide in Abuja and say very little.
Many of the legislators simply stopped travelling to their constituencies. In fact, some legislators even ignored the pain of their people to lick the toes of the Buhari administration. Apart from approving dubious loans, there were other inexplicable actions like in 2021 when the House of Representatives mandated its Committee on Youth Development to investigate the alleged refusal of the NYSC to reopen its orientation camp in Borno State which was shut down years ago due to insecurity. The reason was that peace had supposedly returned to Borno State.
For those who fought through thick and thin to be elected into the National Assembly, the entire talk about remuneration and perks may just be bollocks. But at a time of heightened national sensitivity as a result of poverty and insecurity, these billions which are poised to serve nothing but avarice batter Nigerians with the force of a bludgeon.
The fact that the legislators are yet to get down to business and work their socks off to improve the lot of Nigerians makes the money even more unjustifiable.
The easy and lazy argument Is that the legislators need the vehicles and palliatives to properly carry out their jobs, but it will not be the first time.
Nigerians have heard it many times over. Nigerians have also let many of those slide previously, only to see nothing.
It is an open secret that the National Assembly has become a little more than a retirement home for many expired and exhausted politicians who only go to the hallowed chambers to doze and drain the public till.
In many ways, Nigerians contribute to the corruption which has chewed their country to a pulp. Their easy attitude towards the perks of public office in the country has helped entrench corruption in the country.
But there should be accountability in governance and maybe, this time around, Nigerians can take a collective stand.
Ike Willie-Nwobu
