June 18, 2010
For more than one month after the swearing in of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as president of Nigeria I remained uninspired to write on any issue about Nigeria, except the article titled, “On President Yar’Adua’s Death: Where Do We Go From Here?” I should suggest the reader read my article, “Nigeria: Interpreting Times and Events.” In this article, I wrote about what I saw concerning the deceitfulness that would characterize Jonathan’s presidency. President Jonathan has less than one year of the late president’s original mandate to serve out. Dr. Jonathan does not lack advisers, and lack of advisers is certainly not his problem.
What we lack is a national leader who is courageous enough to use the many pieces of intelligent advice that have been put forward by Nigerians who know. I have written copiously about what government should do; specifically, I have written about what President Jonathan should and could do. He should know about those things. But knowledge is one thing and the courage to do is another.
WASTE AND TASTE: I call on President Jonathan to forthwith rescind the decision to spend N 10 billion on celebrating Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary. If he does not, I make bold to tell him now and then that he will meet his waterloo. He could ignore me to his hurt. I look forward to him acting with speed to stop this humungous waste. Besides the outlandish waste that the money voted represents, what exactly are we celebrating on October 1st, 2010? Are we celebrating our decrepit health and education institutions? Are we celebrating our death traps called roads that have claimed many lives since 1999 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? Are we celebrating electricity power crisis in Nigeria that has worsened since 1999? Are we celebrating the lack of power of choice of the Nigerian electorate, who cannot have their votes count? Are we celebrating mediocrity in governance in most states and at the national level?
I have written and talked on television with a burdened heart about the injustice in Nigeria’s reward system. Less than 18,000 public officials in Nigeria (including Nigerian judges) earn more than N1.2 trillion a year in salaries and allowances. I have figuratively screamed hoarse about immorality of this. Last year, the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) pretentiously made noises about slashing those allowances. The senate protested; I wrote a detailed article, showing clearly from our nation’s constitution how no public official had power to decide what they earn (Read my articles—“On salaries of Nigeria’s public officials: Stopping the bleeding” and “Our wealth in their hands”). The RMAFC has gone silent on the issue. The Nigerian news media has followed suit. Now, the nation’s legislators are asking for an increase in their constituency allowances, which allowances I had deplored in my previous essays. See what happens when a conspiracy of silence gains currency in a nation. President Jonathan and his party must rein in their insatiable lusts and spare the nation this waste. The minimum wage in Nigeria remains a joke (even with the rumoured intention by government to increase it); and when juxtaposed with the salaries of Nigeria’s public officials, it becomes an obscenity that President Jonathan should take hurried steps to correct if he has a conscience. The taste of President Jonathan, his party, and our rulers has become a waste of our resources.
2011 GENERAL ELECTIONS: I don’t expect 2011 elections to hold without full completion of the review of our electoral laws, constitution, and voters’ register nationwide. The tripod review must happen if crisis must not occur in next year’s prospective elections. If any of the three is left undone the table will be overturned. Yes, the nation has scarcely survived the Yar’Adua tension that happened between November 2009 and May 2010. We are not yet out of the woods. Those who read must understand that the lion must yet swallow the tiger. The deaf must die the death for venturing on the highway without a guide, and being handicapped by nature that they can’t heed the warning.
Should Dr. Jonathan run for the office of president in 2011? Frankly, it is not my personal business who runs or who doesn’t run. Rather, it should be my business who I vote for. But if the vote of the Nigerian is not guaranteed a voice in our elections, we don’t have a democracy.
Consequently, people shall worry about some people’s expression of interest to run for some political offices, fearing, not least, their inability to stop them at the polls. Let me ask this: Why must Nigerians vote for the PDP in any future elections? From 1999 to date, what has the party fetched Nigerians? Has the quality of life, education, and health improved in Nigeria? Has the state of national security been made better? Are our killers easily fished out? Has Bola Ige’s killers been found? Have the killers of Funsho Williams, Harry Marshall, Sa’adatu Rimi, etc., killed between 1999 and now been found? But what alternatives do we have? Well, we must look to individuals and not parties, at least until political parties evolve discernible identifiers.
But this is what I have seen. General Babanginda shall die soon; I am not hard on Atiku Abubakar. Dr. Jonathan is yet to convince me. All rulers in Nigeria who have gone to shrines to obtain power shall be brought down. Regionalism as a factor in choosing presidential candidates has already died the death. Pretenders must awake from their dreams. Our eyes must be trained on the ball. It becomes clear in the last quarter.
Leonard Karshima Shilgba is an Associate Professor of Mathematics with the American University of Nigeria and president of the Nigeria rally Movement (NRM)— www.nigeriarally.org
TEL: +234-8055024356; Email: [email protected]
What we lack is a national leader who is courageous enough to use the many pieces of intelligent advice that have been put forward by Nigerians who know. I have written copiously about what government should do; specifically, I have written about what President Jonathan should and could do. He should know about those things. But knowledge is one thing and the courage to do is another.
WASTE AND TASTE: I call on President Jonathan to forthwith rescind the decision to spend N 10 billion on celebrating Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary. If he does not, I make bold to tell him now and then that he will meet his waterloo. He could ignore me to his hurt. I look forward to him acting with speed to stop this humungous waste. Besides the outlandish waste that the money voted represents, what exactly are we celebrating on October 1st, 2010? Are we celebrating our decrepit health and education institutions? Are we celebrating our death traps called roads that have claimed many lives since 1999 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? Are we celebrating electricity power crisis in Nigeria that has worsened since 1999? Are we celebrating the lack of power of choice of the Nigerian electorate, who cannot have their votes count? Are we celebrating mediocrity in governance in most states and at the national level?
I have written and talked on television with a burdened heart about the injustice in Nigeria’s reward system. Less than 18,000 public officials in Nigeria (including Nigerian judges) earn more than N1.2 trillion a year in salaries and allowances. I have figuratively screamed hoarse about immorality of this. Last year, the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) pretentiously made noises about slashing those allowances. The senate protested; I wrote a detailed article, showing clearly from our nation’s constitution how no public official had power to decide what they earn (Read my articles—“On salaries of Nigeria’s public officials: Stopping the bleeding” and “Our wealth in their hands”). The RMAFC has gone silent on the issue. The Nigerian news media has followed suit. Now, the nation’s legislators are asking for an increase in their constituency allowances, which allowances I had deplored in my previous essays. See what happens when a conspiracy of silence gains currency in a nation. President Jonathan and his party must rein in their insatiable lusts and spare the nation this waste. The minimum wage in Nigeria remains a joke (even with the rumoured intention by government to increase it); and when juxtaposed with the salaries of Nigeria’s public officials, it becomes an obscenity that President Jonathan should take hurried steps to correct if he has a conscience. The taste of President Jonathan, his party, and our rulers has become a waste of our resources.
2011 GENERAL ELECTIONS: I don’t expect 2011 elections to hold without full completion of the review of our electoral laws, constitution, and voters’ register nationwide. The tripod review must happen if crisis must not occur in next year’s prospective elections. If any of the three is left undone the table will be overturned. Yes, the nation has scarcely survived the Yar’Adua tension that happened between November 2009 and May 2010. We are not yet out of the woods. Those who read must understand that the lion must yet swallow the tiger. The deaf must die the death for venturing on the highway without a guide, and being handicapped by nature that they can’t heed the warning.
Should Dr. Jonathan run for the office of president in 2011? Frankly, it is not my personal business who runs or who doesn’t run. Rather, it should be my business who I vote for. But if the vote of the Nigerian is not guaranteed a voice in our elections, we don’t have a democracy.
Consequently, people shall worry about some people’s expression of interest to run for some political offices, fearing, not least, their inability to stop them at the polls. Let me ask this: Why must Nigerians vote for the PDP in any future elections? From 1999 to date, what has the party fetched Nigerians? Has the quality of life, education, and health improved in Nigeria? Has the state of national security been made better? Are our killers easily fished out? Has Bola Ige’s killers been found? Have the killers of Funsho Williams, Harry Marshall, Sa’adatu Rimi, etc., killed between 1999 and now been found? But what alternatives do we have? Well, we must look to individuals and not parties, at least until political parties evolve discernible identifiers.
But this is what I have seen. General Babanginda shall die soon; I am not hard on Atiku Abubakar. Dr. Jonathan is yet to convince me. All rulers in Nigeria who have gone to shrines to obtain power shall be brought down. Regionalism as a factor in choosing presidential candidates has already died the death. Pretenders must awake from their dreams. Our eyes must be trained on the ball. It becomes clear in the last quarter.
Leonard Karshima Shilgba is an Associate Professor of Mathematics with the American University of Nigeria and president of the Nigeria rally Movement (NRM)— www.nigeriarally.org
TEL: +234-8055024356; Email: [email protected]
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