SILENT NOISE

There is a noise going about in the country, the noise was birthed with a whole lot of pomp and pageantry, the noise has become omnipresent; having the ability to be present everywhere in the country simultaneously, it covers the nook and cranny of Nigeria and it comes with the dispensation of the new government, it is the right kind of noise some of us have long waited for, the much promising noise which comes with it the democratic goodies even for the common man, it is the noise of Change. The change from favouritism to meritocracy, from idiocy to competency, the change from mediocrity and nonentity to sagacity, indeed it is the kind of change Prophet Isaiah talked about; the kind of change that makes one eternal excellency where he had been forsaken, the kind of change that redeems one’s image, I mean, the change that brings the confidence to once again boast that one is a Nigerian!
Paradoxically, as loud as the noise is, it is still very silent, I mean, as the administration is so full of talks about ‘change’ agenda, it is still empty of its act, as clear as the picture was painted, it still looks blurry, this is the enigma that silenced the noise. Allow me explain.

Over time, I’ve heard complains about and criticisms of the present administration, especially on matters that are overtly obvious that may not be solved forthwith and I remember I had to comment on the social media that I’m one of the sane Nigerians who understands that the damages done to our dear country may not be fixed there and then, it sure needs time and would take time before the changes are evident, indeed, it may not be sudden but gradual. Having said that, I’m also aware that the past few months have been used to condemn the previous administration(s) and the ruination inherited from it, might I remind the incumbent that we are very much aware about this information, apparently the reason we voted it in and voted change. I once learnt that while driving, if we use the side mirror and focus on the rear, we may not get to move forward, it’s either we decelerate or we reverse. In the same vein, it does no good to keep blaming the past, to avoid much talk than action, I therefore recommend that we talk less about the past and concentrate on the present to make the future better, as it’s evident that blaming the past would not ameliorate the present, let’s save the story for those that will enrol to study Nigerian Politics.

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The silence of the noise is evident in the conspicuous consumption that continues in our governance. Apart from the well known celebrated barbarism by some politicians in the ‘Young opposition’ party, some statesman in the ruling party are also guilty of this. Although, to a reasonable extent, the outlandishness is being pursued with the anti-corruption campaign, despite the fact that some persons have referred to this near-feat as witch-hunt. A situation where embezzler is apprehended, questioned and the loot retrieved, I believe should be the norm in a sane environment, if therefore such is what is referred to as witch-hunt, then we need God to save our land. Meanwhile, a second look at it suggests that witch hunting would only hunt the witch or the witches as it were, and if witch-hunting is healthy for the survival of our economy, for the redemption of the image of Nigeria globally, for the restoration of sanity in our polity and for the survival of the common man, the government had better continue with the crusade!
I had to digress a bit to clarify that I recognize some of the good works of this administration, hence this piece is not seen as being subjective, as I’ve always believed that the best way to criticize something is to appreciate it first.

However, the anti-corruption campaign is just a part of the whole, if we retrieve what has been stolen and continue to lavish it, it would make little or no sense. This is what I’m saying, despite the much promising agenda of change, what is so conspicuous is the anti-corruption campaign, perhaps the same is blatant to the leftists (those in opposition). Meanwhile, I think this is just a part of the whole change system, it is just one of the much promising agenda of change .
To be candid, what motivates this write up is the fact that the cost of governance in Nigeria is seemingly inflatedly on the increase, before now I’ve commended the presidency for talking about cutting the cost of governance, and it indeed got commendable remarks from Nigerians for the declaration of assets, although not everyone in governance follow suit, this include some honourable members of the house, distinguished senators, ministers and the state governors of even the government at the centre, I wonder if the declaration of assets act do not cover their offices and this leaves one wondering if the real ‘change’ is meant to come from the presidency alone. In my Mother’s tongue, an adage says that ‘igi kan k’ole da’gbo se’, this simply translates that one tree cannot make a forest, just like the motto of my alma-matter, this is ‘indeed and in truth’ of our polity.

About the cost of governance I mentioned, I was unequivocally startled when I found out that despite the fact that this government preached change even cutting the cost of our governance, the same government is going to spend some ludicrous amount on superfluous consumption. I mean, it’s laughable when our 2016 budget reads that despite being ‘austere’ because of the fall in the price of oil, we are still going to spend 18.1Billion Naira on the Presidential villa! LOL!

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Statistically, this is 11.5Billion Naira more than what the former administration spent on the State house in 2015, although the latter also spent 12.2Billion Naira on the same in 2014. I sincerely do not know if they rebuild the state house yearly, perhaps the construction is still ongoing. After I took my time to check the 2016 budget, I discovered that 36.3Billion Naira is going down on BMW Saloon cars, 618.6Million Naira is going to be spent on the installation of electrical lightnings, apparently the electrical lightnings fixed last year needs to be changed for no reason other than it’s another year and another amount MUST be consumed in that respect, or perchance, the state house has been running without electricity.
The consumption speaks volume when 27.5Million Naira was budgeted on computers and 268.9Million will be spent on the computer software, that’s over nine times the amount that will be used to purchase the computers. I can’t imagine buying a personal computer for a 100 thousand naira and I spend about 970 thousand naira on software that I’ll install on the same computer, haba! In any case, this also featured in the budget of past administration, maybe the million dollar question is ‘where are those computers bought then?’.

While we complained that the past administration spent 542.8Million Naira and 526.17Million Naira on all meal related expenses in 2014 and 2015 respectively, the incumbent presidency has budgeted 445.5Million Naira to this course in 2016, although this is lower than what the previous administration spent on meal, yet it is still obdurate to spend almost 38Million naira on meal monthly. 764.7 million is to be spent on recreational activities, when we have thousands homeless internally displaced persons. Even the cooking gas gets 9.44Million Naira in 2016 alone, what a way to cut our expenses and beat down the cost of governance!

By and large, all I’ve been trying to highlight is the fact that we seem to have heard much noise about change and the deed to back it up is yet to fully manifest, I call on the ruling party to make amendments where necessary, the Ministers, state Governors, honourable member of the House and the distinguished Senators to support the presidency, cut down expenses and key in to the real much talked about ‘Change’, else, the impact of the real change we’ve all been waiting for might be like the thirty first day of February; certainly impossible!
I hope this serves as a clarion call and our Politicians make the necessary amendments. God bless Nigeria!

Damilare Psalmuel
@Expletandum

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