Skip to main content

Perceptor 13...… Belt-tightening & Solidarity with the Masses

March 11, 2009
 
Image removed.“By doubting we come to question, and by questioning, we perceive the truth.”-(Peter Abelard, 1079-1142)

Three Questions on … Belt-tightening & Solidarity with the Masses
As Nigerians try to find their way through the thicket of the global economic downturn, suggestions are coming fast and furious about how we can beat the slump.  The best advice of course, comes from President Umaru Yar’Adua.  Some weeks ago he ordered a ‘cut’ in the salaries of people appointed to executive offices.  Next, at the 10th anniversary of the Shehu Yar’Adua Foundation, he talked about ‘belt-tightening’.  Then he used the occasion of Eid el Maluud to advise Nigerians to “collectively reflect” with a view to confronting present challenges.  Perceptor had been under the impression that the President had been reflecting on Nigeria’s problems since May 29th 2007, and that he had given himself a top-up two weeks of ‘vacation’ for even more reflection.  But apparently, one more day was needed.  So where is all this advice and reflection taking us?  It will come as no surprise to learn that Perceptor has some questions …


 

Who else is up for a pay cut?
Well, it’s obviously not our elected representatives in the legislatures across the country, particularly not the National Assembly.  Despite the millions, the hundreds of millions of naira that each legislator receives each year in terms of salary, and annual allowances for everything from clothes and transport to constituency offices and staff, there is no talk of belt-tightening in the third arm of government.  OK, Perceptor can understand that (not).  But how about doing some work in return for that largesse?

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });


    No, it looks as if the effective pay cut will be enjoyed by Nigerian workers, who have been told that the pay rise that they demanded isn’t possible because (a) we’re in a global economic crisis and (b) it isn’t in the budget and (c) they don’t deserve it and (d) we don’t want to pay our houseboys and housegirls that much.  OK, those last two weren’t actually voiced aloud, but the fact that some things are left unsaid doesn’t mean that that isn’t what is going on in the Distinguished and Honourable heads …  


    So that’s one group – Naija workers – that’s up for a pay cut, whether they like it or not.  It’s a group that includes teachers by the way: they thought they were getting some more money in accordance with the Teachers’ Salary Scale, but … well, see (a) and (b) above.  And possibly (c).  Who else … er, well, the Ogun State government has decreed pay cuts for its own executive officers and its own political appointees.  But see below.
    Now it’s possible that in the post-monetization world, legislators could argue that they, unlike a certain executive office holder, have to provide everything for themselves …

Given that he can hardly move out of ‘The Villa’ at Aso Rock, is there any way that President Yar’Adua can tighten his belt or show solidarity in the midst of the free housing that he enjoys, as well as the free electricity, free food, free petrol, free transport, free medical care … free everything actually?
Well yes actually.  The President has advised us to patronise our home made goods.  Now far be it from Perceptor to suggest that patronising home made goods is the same thing as tightening of belts or any kind of suffering and privation… No, Perceptor sees this advice as being more in the nature of showing solidarity.


    So how is Mr. President doing when it comes to following his own advice to ‘Buy Naija’?  Well, we can’t say for sure whether he is sticking to the ‘Buy Naija’ policy when it comes to HEALTH care.  The trip to Germany during the election campaign of 2007, and the extended ‘lesser hajj’ trip which turned into ‘attending to some minor medical matters’ were not much of an advertisement for the BN idea.  But although Mr. President has been canny enough not to take any health-related trips since the ‘lesser hajj’ fiasco, Perceptor can’t possibly know whether doctors who come in and out of Nigeria are coming to attend to Mr. President or whether they are just on holiday.  So on health, that’s a ‘maybe he is, maybe he isn’t’.  Is the free PETROL Naija petrol?  With the state of our local refineries, Perceptor can’t guarantee that he’s using Naija petrol or ECOWAS-refined Naija petrol or petrol of unknown origin refined by unknown non-Nigerian refiners!

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });


    Now, what about the other freebies?  When it comes to ACCOMMODATION, Perceptor has no idea whether the bricks and mortar that went to the building of ‘The Villa’ where the President lives and works at Aso Rock are home grown, but what one sees on television of the furnishings – the marble, the wall panelling, the leather and other luxury furniture – Perceptor would want to see the ‘Made in Nigeria’ label before acquitting them of being foreign-made.  As for TRANSPORT, well, even President Obasanjo didn’t bother with that ‘low profile’ made-in-Nigeria Peugeot 504 stuff when he arrived for his second coming did he? Remember all those BMWs that were bought for the All Africa Games?     ELECTRICITY … hmmmm.  No doubt when it comes from PHCN, it is made in Nigeria, with Naija gas, or Naija water.  But what about when it comes from private generators (you know, those generators that are going to cost some unimaginable sum to buy, service and maintain according to the budget for this year)?  Perceptor wonders whether the generators are Naija-made.  Perceptor wonders whether the diesel that powers them is Naija-made.  (We’ve already talked about petrol, just in case they are petrol-powered).  Perceptor can’t give Mr. President a pass mark on that, because if he’s enjoying constant power at The Villa, it means that someone else isn’t.  And that someone else will have to get their own generator …


    Perceptor is sure that Mr. President isn’t going to trade in his tuwo for any chips and hamburgers, so can we be confident that the menu at Aso Rock is all about promoting Naija FOOD?  Er, possibly not.  Perceptor has heard of ‘Baked Beans’ being offered at Aso Rock breakfasts.  The flour in the bread rolls … oh dear!  The rice in the tuwo?  The rice that isn’t made into tuwo?  What about the drinks?  Perceptor doubts whether Mr. President will impose his own abstinence from alcohol on all his guests, and frankly, even if he does, ‘Chapman’ is made with Angostura Bitters …  But even with our Naija tendency to call everything that sparkles ‘champagne’ and – whether the French like it or not – not just the stuff that actually comes from Champagne, Perceptor has doubts about whether the drinks menu is all Naija.  Still, Perceptor is sure that at least Naija-style cuisine is on offer at Aso Rock (a tip some of our embassies, which seem to think it is a good idea to offer their guests Chinese food) and looks forward to the head chef at The Villa sharing some of his choice recipes…


    In short, Perceptor suggests that rather than just advising US to ‘go Naija’, Mr. President should show us how HE does it!

How will the new belt-tightening ethos be reflected in presidential and gubernatorial nuptials?

Perceptor is not keeping track of the number of presidential daughters who are up for marriage, but if there are more (and possibly even some sons?), Perceptor is worried that any presidential children who are planning to tie the knot may feel hard done by if they too don’t enjoy the sort of  N300 million weddings that their elder siblings enjoyed.


    We all winced at the cost of the gubernatorial daughter’s wedding in Oyo State, but there is apparently still a bit of cash left over … or was the recent incident in which Mrs. Olamide Alabi was robbed of her Honda Accord car and an alleged sum of $56,000 (yes, fifty-six thousand United States dollars – which she has wisely denied having in her car) just the thieves way of encouraging the Oyo State First Family to lead the way in the belt-tightening stakes?  But even at today’s plummeting Naira exchange rates, that would be barely N10 million.  Now when we consider the N10 million, do we see it as belt-tightened because it isn’t N300 million, or do we look at it from the perspective of the worker or teacher who isn’t going to get their N56,000 monthly salary (or, if we’re honest, possibly even their N7,500 monthly salary)?


Fluctuating Power

Perceptor is ashamed (ASHAMED do you hear) of PHCN!  Imagine that they could not wait for even just a few days to elapse after the … er, ‘departure’ of Mr. Bello Suleiman before showing a marked improvement in the power supply situation in the country.  OK, at least, in the part of the country where Perceptor lives sha.  It creates the impression that people who suspected that power supply was being deliberately disrupted had a good point!  It makes Suleiman’s insistence that he resigned because he had completed the job of “revamping the ailing power sector” (as well as disagreeing with the Minister about how to reform the said power sector) look … well, a bit suspect.  PHCN ought to have produced the marked improvement BEFORE Suleiman and co ‘departed’, so that we could all have seen that they were responsible for the improvement.  Because honestly, producing the improvement AFTER they have gone, well … it makes it look as if … well …

Anyway, Perceptor can report that PHCN seems to have noticed their error, and have since resumed normal service.  Which is to say, no service at all!


Much Ado About … Raggy Tags

Perceptor thinks that there’s a lot of wisdom in the old saying: “The best revenge is living well.”
    With Central Bank of Nigeria statistics showing that apart from 1992, the incidence of poverty in the South East has been the lowest in the country since 1980, Perceptor is beginning to suspect that all this huffing and puffing over soon-to-be former Ambassador Oluwole Rotimi and his ‘rag-tag’ comments is designed to prevent people from noticing how well the South East is doing …

You can take the man out of the party … (1)

Perceptor hopes that his sojourn in the People’s Democratic Party hasn’t turned Governor Segun Mimiko, now of the Labour Party, into an anti-democrat.  What’s all this about just removing elected officials by gubernatorial FIAT?  It gives the impression that (like his counterparts all over the federation) he isn’t going to tolerate anybody who isn’t in his pocket having access to power in his own state.  Removing all elected local government chairs and councillors suggests that he isn’t ready to be bothered with instilling proper principles of good governance and accountability into government in Ondo State, only that he wants to put his own people there to chop.


    Apart from giving an unnecessary hostage to fortune (the State House of Assembly is already labelling his actions an ‘Act of Gross Misconduct’.  And we all know what that means, don’t we?) if the basis of his action was that he has a case in court, why didn’t he – now that he IS the government of Ondo State – just go back to court and say that he’s not contesting the action by his Labour Party which sought to prevent the elections from going ahead?  Imagine holding the knife and the yam and still throwing a hissy fit just because you can’t have iyan yesterday!


You can take the man out of the party … (2)

Atiku Abubakar will probably say that it was the party that went out on him, and that now that it is returning to its original (supposedly democratic) condition it’s coming back around him.  But Perceptor wonders how all those people who lined up behind him in the AC feel, now that he has come clean and admitted that he’s running for President in 2011 “either on PDP ticket, opposition or as an independent.”
    That bit about running as an independent is wise.  As they say in Hausaland: A man who puts his feet in two canoes splits arse.  Or as we elsewhere, apparently reflecting our less hygienic circumstances, more delicately put it: A man who chases two rats at once ends up with no rat …
    Perceptor must confess to some surprise at the idea that Atiku still has any political currency, having been roundly trounced in polls (presidential, gubernatorial, legislative – name it) in his home Adamawa State, but supposes that it is a reflection of the despair within the PDP at the thought of Umaru Yar’Adua as candidate in 2011.  (At least, unless Attorney-General Aondoakaa has anything to do with it!)  And of course, you can take the man out of the party … and you can put him right back!

Committeewatch
The COMMITTEE (headed by Attorney-General Aondoakaa) set up by the Federal Executive COMMITTEE (chaired by President Yar’Adua) to look into the report of the White Paper COMMITTEE (headed by Dr. Shettima Mustapha) on the report of the Electoral Reform COMMITTEE (chaired by former CJN Muhammad Uwais) … has submitted its report to the Federal Executive COMMITTEE but they … haven’t made up their minds yet.

An Unexpected Silence
As she was so vocal in condemning the maternal and infant mortality figures in the UNICEF Report on the State of the World’s Children which showed that Nigeria has the second highest rate of maternal deaths in the world after India (though India of course, has re-branded so we’re going to get all the bad press), Perceptor had expected that First Lady Turai Yar’Adua would have had something to say about the terribly unfortunate death in hospital of Mrs. Ajoke Amuda Bello, the day after she gave birth to sextuplets at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu.
    But then again … maybe not.

In the Spirit of ‘Aunty’ Dora

Perceptor promises to look for some material to enter here next time.  It could have been the improved power supply, but PHCN didn’t wait to allow Perceptor to go to website before reverting to type.

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });