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The Senate Vs FRSC: If Only...By Garba Deen Muhammad

 The Nigerian Senate and the Nigerian public have never been the best of friends. Since 1999 when the current democratic structures were cobbled together, the Senate had left no one in doubt as to what the priorities of its members were. It wasn't exactly the case of 'hate at first sight' between the senators and the rest of us; it was just the simple application of common sense.


 The Nigerian Senate and the Nigerian public have never been the best of friends. Since 1999 when the current democratic structures were cobbled together, the Senate had left no one in doubt as to what the priorities of its members were. It wasn't exactly the case of 'hate at first sight' between the senators and the rest of us; it was just the simple application of common sense.

It so happened that by the time all the 109 senators became known, Nigerians above the age of 20 years as at 1999 had a very clear idea of who they were and what to expect from them. Most of the people that had emerged as senators were ex this and former that, and only a very tiny percentage of them had a resume that could inspire hope or confidence.

Our premonition became real when the first serious issue the senators would discuss turned out to be their furniture allowance, at a time when public primary school children were numbering over fifty to a class while some were learning under trees. A ministerial nominee also directly accused the senators of extorting money from him before he could be cleared, removing all doubts over what was until then only speculative. Then to drive home the point about where they stood on the moral scale, the senators had five senate presidents in eight years, averaging just under a senate president every year. It was enough for all of them to resign, or at least offer a strong apology. I didn't mean in Nigeria.

By 2007, the Senate redeemed its image somewhat, when it rejected the infamous tenure elongation amendment that would have given former president Obasanjo additional one term in office. But even at that the credit was given to Divine Intervention, rather than the principled resolve of the senators. That was why, diehard cynics say, when the senators opened their mouth to say "Aye" to Third Term, God placed a wage between their upper and lower jaws, and their mouth remained open until the then Senate President Ken Nnamani, himself thoroughly shaken by the unusual  spectacle of open mouthed elderly politicians before him, dramatically brought down the gavel that crushed the Third Term debate forever, but not before exclaiming, to no one in particular: "Stop looking at me like that".

 No hate, just history 101 and common sense, that's the Senate we have come to distrust. And when you add the stupendous salary and allowances that the senators cart away per annum, which is somewhere in the region of N600m for the Senate president to a minimum of N300m for other senators, it becomes impossible for us to see them as anything other than part of our problem.

 But last week the Senators did something unusual. For a change they put aside their personal interest and other mundane and abstract issues and turned their attention to something that is of direct and vital interest to ordinary Nigerians. This was the cruel, inexplicable and totally incomprehensible decision by the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), to change the design of our vehicle plate numbers and drivers' license at a cost to each vehicle owner that is three times the minimum wage which even the federal government has been unable to commence paying in full. When that decision was announced, the only reason why Nigerians did  not match to the FRSC headquarters in Abuja and burn it down was because our energy has been sapped by the fuel subsidy removal struggle and terror attacks. Otherwise Nigerians hated that policy enough to lynch whoever is responsible for hatching it up. Virtually all the senators that spoke on the issue condemned the decision and supported the prayer of the motion that the FRSC should suspend the implementation of the policy until after public hearing is held on the matter.

 In this regard three senators deserve special commendation: (1) Idris Awaisu Kuta who sponsored the Motion; (2) Barnabas Gemade who spoke the minds of most Nigerians when he discussed other excesses of the members of the FRSC, which include flagrant disregard for the law and misplacement of priority; (3) But by far the best commendation would go to Smart Adeyemi. Speaking with his usual passion ( some would say emotion), Adeyemi called for a complete review of the FRSC Act and other government agencies that subtract, rather than add value, to the system by way of duplication of functions. In addition not many people are aware that when the attendance register was tabulated, Adayemi came first, having missed only four sittings since joining the Senate five years ago! Quite a feat at a time when some constituents are writing letters to newspapers " searching for the ware about of their senators".
 
That said, it is germane at this point to remind the boss of the FRSC, Mr. Chidoka that Nigerians are not as gullible or as stupid as he thinks. His manipulation of the media is not lost on Nigerians, it in fact reminds most of us of the antics of former NAFDAC boss, Dora Akunyili, who deceived everybody into thinking she was the best thing that ever happened to Nigeria through an unscrupulous manipulation of the media. Now Back in her home state, Dora, the self-acclaimed high achieving lady could not even win a Senate seat.

 As for the Senate, while appreciating this timely intervention on the cruelty that Chidoka and his FRSC were about to unleash on us, we urge them to be less superfluous in their choice of issues for discussion. It usually takes no more than commonsense and a little arithmetic to please the ever simple common man. This was how, with just a little imagination, Senator Bukola Saraki set in motion the series of events that culminated in the fuel subsidy probe, which has now led to the setting up of a task force to sanitize the system, and hopefully save the country some much needed extra cash, and maybe, just maybe, bring relief to Nigerians by way of a more transparent oil and gas industry operations.

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