Nigerians’ 53 years of lamentation

President Goodluck Jonathan
| credits: File copy

As Nigeria marks its 53rd independence anniversary, OLUSOLA  FABIYI writes about the lamentation of Nigerians  over  the inability of successive leaders to improve their lot

Members of the National Assembly are not supposed to be among Nigerians who lack contentment as they rank among the highest paid in the world.

With an annual salary of about $189,000, as equivalent of N30 million, the lawmakers are arguably listed among privileged Nigerians that live in affluence.

A survey carried out by the influential The Economist magazine a few months ago, revealed that salaries collected by Nigerian senators and members of the House of Representatives were far ahead those of their counterparts in the 29 countries surveyed.

In terms of volume of cash earnings, the Nigerian legislators surpass their counterparts in Britain who take $105,400 yearly, as well as those in the United States ($174,000), France ($85,900), South Africa ($104,000), Kenya ($74,500), Saudi Arabia ($64,000) and Brazil ($157,600).

Only Australian lawmakers, with $201,200 annual salary each, receive higher than Nigerian legislators.

Other annual salary details published by The Economist are those of lawmakers in Ghana ($46,500), Indonesia ($65,800), Thailand ($43,800), India ($11,200), Italy ($182,000), Bangladesh ($4,000), Israel ($114,800), Hong Kong ($130,700), Japan ($149,700), Singapore ($154,000), Canada ($154,000).

Others are New Zealand ($112,500), Germany ($119,500), Ireland ($120,400), Pakistan ($3,500), Malaysia ($25,300), Sweden ($99,300), Sri Lanka ($5,100), Spain ($43,900) and Norway ($138,000).

But as Nigeria marks the 53rd anniversary of its Independence from Britain, our federal lawmakers are among those accusing successive governments of failing the nation.

Perhaps, it is their belief that if the leaders had done better, their take-home pay might have surpassed what their counterparts in Australia earn.

Since they do not consider themselves among leaders who contributed to the poor state of affairs, the senators on Thursday unanimously submitted that apart from those who fought for our independence, the nation’s leaders have failed to provide the required leadership to make the nation socio-economically independent.

They also admitted that the nation’s leaders since the return to democratic rule, 14 years ago, failed to take serious steps to tackle corruption, unemployment, rot in the education sector, decayed infrastructure and nepotism.

However, while some of them argue that the situation could be improved upon through a change of attitude by the leadership, others believe that a total takeover of government by progressive politicians in 2015 would save the country from the current mess.

The senators were contributing to a motion moved by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, asking the Senate to congratulate President Goodluck Jonathan, the government and people of Nigeria on the nation’s 53rd independence anniversary.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang, in his contribution, noted  that the crisis in  the nation’s educational sector and the reduction of Nigeria to a mere raw  material provider for manufacturing firms in other countries were not good enough for a truly independent nation.

He said, “A truly independent nation is measured by its quality of education and economic sustainability.  A situation whereby our universities are shut for months and manufacturing companies are relocating daily to neighbouring countries is not good enough for an independent nation.

“How can we claim to be an independent nation when all we do is just to produce raw materials for processing firms outside the country and nothing serious is being done to address the high rate of unemployment.”

A former National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and now a senator, Barnabas Gemade, urged the nation’s leaders to  improve on the social infrastructure, power supply and develop its agricultural potential as a strategy to tackle unemployment.

A former Governor of Kano State, Senator Kabiru Gaya, said, “Nigeria always takes one step forward and several ones backward whenever there is a change in government.” He also noted that a deliberate attempt to improve the agricultural sector and a commitment to fighting corruption were required to tackle the social and economic challenges facing the country.

But to a former National President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Senator Smart Adeyemi, the problems confronting the nation were selfishness, greed and absence of nationalistic spirit in the nation’s leaders.

Adeyemi expressed regret that while current leaders were self-centered, the leaders who fought for the nation’s independence were selfless and made national interest their  priority.

To some of the senators, the lamentations would continue unless the progressives were allowed to lead the nation. A politician like Senator Gbenga Ashafa (ACN, Lagos) who belongs to this school of thought, expressed the opinion that only the progressives know the problems confronting the nation and its people and also have the antidote to clear the mess.

Ashafa equally lamented that successive leaders  had mismanaged the nation’s resources, expressing  confidence that the situation  would change when the progressive politicians take over  power in 2015.

His position was supported by Senators Ayoade Adeseun, Ganiyu Solomon, and Akin Odunsi, who in their submissions argue that Nigerian leaders have failed the citizens. The three senators are members of the opposition political party, All Progressives Congress.

Rather than condemning the APC senators, the Chairman Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, noted that since there could be no democracy without democrats,  Nigerian leaders should encourage different shades of opinion because those with contrary opinions also love the country.

The President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, said he and his colleagues were worried about the state of the nation. Mark, who was a former military governor, a minister and has been in the senate since 1999, commended Nigerians for their patience and urged public office holders to live above parochialism by seeing every Nigerian as their brother and sister in line with the contents  of the old national anthem.  “Nigerians have every reason to be anxious and to be impatient. We are endowed with abundant human and natural resources but our people are still suffering. We have to congratulate them for their patience,” the former minister of communication added.

To a former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Nigerians have lost confidence in their leaders. He said, “Grand intentions without vision mean nothing. Leaders must work with greater zeal and focus if democracy is expected to produce the envisaged impact on the lives of the people. Nigerians have lost faith in their government because of the lack of vision in the management of the nation’s political, economic and social affairs.”

Reviewing the state of affairs in the country under democratic order, Abubakar, who served as Vice-President under former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, stated that leaders should not seek elective offices simply for the sake of power if they lack the vision to push economic growth, which in turn, creates employment and greater prosperity for the citizens.

According to him, “The economy is central to everything and demands vision-driven leadership to move forward.” He lamented, “Our economy has been weakened in the past few years with crippling unemployment, especially among our youth.

“Nigeria has become unable to deliver the goods and services to give our people a decent standard of living and dignity.”

Atiku noted that as an oil-rich nation, Nigerian leaders had no excuse to fail, adding that inexperience; lack of adequate preparation for office and drift should not be allowed to stand in the way of the country. He also argued that challenges like attracting and sustaining foreign direct investments, improving education, boosting the manufacturing sector, enhancing power generation, improving security, tackling poverty and unemployment had direct relationship with the quality of leadership a country has.

According to Atiku, vision doesn’t exist in a vacuum, as  performance levels could not be separated from the quality of elected leaders. The former Vice-President said one of the challenges facing democratic governance was the lack of emphasis on issues and the promotion of sentiments over substance.

Throughout the world, he said, the citizens base their choices of leaders on their proven abilities. According to him, democracy is too important to be left in the hands of those seeking elective offices without the vision to deliver the country from its present quagmire.

Away from the lamentations, governors from the northern region have urged Nigerians to exercise patience with its leaders in their bid to transform the country, assuring citizens that the nation will overcome the myriad of challenges currently confronting it. Chairman of the forum and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, made the call in an Independence anniversary message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Danladi Ndayebo.

The governors said the country might not have fared well in all the critical sectors of the economy but had nevertheless made remarkable strides, especially in steady march to freedom and respect for the rule of law.

The governors said, “Daunting as our security and developmental challenges may appear, we are confident that the nation will emerge from this trying times stronger, more united and more prosperous.” They also urged Nigerians to live above sectional tendencies which could only compromise the growth of the nation, begging the citizens to imbibe the spirit of selflessness which the nation’s founding fathers preached and practised. Before Nigerians make up their minds on what to make of the homily,  lamentation continues.