Nigeria: When Public Service Becomes Personal Profit
September 14th, 2007 | Published in Governance, Nigeria | 8 Comments
Hardship Allowance: A Dissenting View (Guardian, Sept 14) an op-ed written by Reuben Agati is a must read. He questions the proposed allowance increase for top public officials in Nigeria. Here are some of the recommendations:
- Part-time Members of Federal bodies are to collect a sitting allowance of N500, 000 per meeting
- Newspapers/periodicals allowance: ministers will get N303,960 per annum
- Ministers of state N293,637
- Special advisers N291,431.25
- Senators N303,960.
And a hardship allowance!:
“As part of the proposed package, the RMAFC is recommending an increase in what is called hardship allowance( a strange creation which first showed up in the recommended package of 2002). The idea is that the President, the Vice President, the Governors and their Deputies and Judges undergo a lot of hardship in discharging the responsibilities of their office. We are told that they work “seven days a week, even when they are on holidays…
Plus constituency Allowance!:
Consider also, the proposed Constituency Allowance which is put at 250 per cent of annual basic salary for the President, the Vice President, the Governor and the Deputy Governor; and 25 per cent for Local Government Chairmen and Vice -Chairmen of Local Councils - 15 per cent. Constituency allowance is one of the most abused sub-heads in the pay package for public officials, including lawmakers. Another is the Legislative Aides allowances (for PA, SA, domestic staff). Ordinarily, political office holders are expected to serve their constituencies, set up offices and help to bring government closer to the people through projects, networking efforts and identification/communication of the people’s priorities. In eight years, however, we have witnessed a situation whereby the politicians once elected turned their back on their electoral constituencies. Many of the Abuja lawmakers no longer wanted to identify with the electorate.
I discovered from the writeup that “members of the National Assembly - Senators and members of the House of Representative - had been paid jumbo allowances (in the region of N48 million each) to take care of their pressing needs; to enable them settle down in Abuja.”
If you feel this is a joke, please see reuben-abati__hardship.pdf for full text .
September 15th, 2007 at 12:22 am (#)
Is this a joke? Tell me these people are not serious about their “hardship allowance†proposal. Such allowances shouldn’t exist in the first talkless of seeking to increase it. How can we stop these old bats from squandering all the national wealth? This is absolutely ridiculous and we can’t just sit back and watch them squeeze Nigeria dry. Somebody do something!
September 15th, 2007 at 9:52 am (#)
If anyone deserves hardship allowance in Nigeria, it is the downtrodden poor masses that cant even boast of one full meal a day, cant buy drugs for their dying relatives/children, cant send children to school for no money to pay fees, cant even afford a decent mat to sleep on the floor any longer. Why should the rich get richer at the expense of the poor and then we sing “Nigeria yi ti gbogob wa ni” i.e. Nigeria belongs to us all, yeah right. Does this not explain the increase in robberies etc in Nigeria? Its a crying shame. Misi calls out for someone to do something. Maybe we bloggers should write and sign electronic petitions to the powers that be in Nigeria, starting from Yaradua himself, communicating our disgust at these flagrant abuse of all abusables in Nigeria. Nigeria belongs to everyone, poor and rich, young and old, not to just a chosen few who have dabbled into politics. Psalm 14 reminds us that it is only the fool that says in his heart that there is no God.
September 15th, 2007 at 2:05 pm (#)
Hheheheheh, ah ah! why una dey talk like this, una no say woman work na hard work? ehn? you think say to carry all those small small girls na easy matter? no be small work be that oh! Seven days a week, including weekends!haba!
September 20th, 2007 at 9:06 am (#)
Lol! I was laughing the first time I read Reuben’s article and am laughing again. Politics is and always will be the most profitable business in the new Nigeria.
Our DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED RULERS forget that service should be the mantra. At the least PRETEND TO SERVE should be their mantra. But in a system where accountability does not exist, what can I expect?
So, they work 7 days a week and on the weekends? That is their job and if it is too hard for them, they should quit and allow someone else to serve. So, they need allowances to read newspapers? Let’s be honest, those guys don’t read! OBJ himself told us he doesn’t read newspapers and I am quite sure none of the political elite do, either. Why should they? Newspapers are for the masses, who, may I add, cannot afford them.
The RULERS should go online and read the news like I do. You never heard me asking for an allowance. Oh, I forgot, I am not a ruler. I am just one of the nameless, faceless, masses. Woe is me!
Wonders will never cease.
September 20th, 2007 at 9:09 am (#)
@ Misi & Omotaylor: Stop by nigerianlighthouse.org and participate in the SPEAK UP NIGERIA campaign. Or stop by the Facebook page for the event. Join us in sending a message to Nigeria in commemoration of its Independence.
September 20th, 2007 at 1:11 pm (#)
@Solomonsydelle - thanks will check this out
September 26th, 2007 at 10:26 am (#)
Imnakoya, what’s happening to this site. It’s been quiet.
September 26th, 2007 at 9:06 pm (#)
[…] If the excuse for the rotten infrastructure is funds, then the government need to consider downsizing first before taking on more loans that some idiots will steal again. The events in the national assembly and presidency since the 1999 at the beginning of the fourth republic and recently have shown that there is just too much money being used to service federal legislators and presidential staffers. Bookmarks:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]