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‘Darling', Buy Me a Car: 109 Cars for the 'Ext'inguished Senators By Prince Charles Dickson Jos, Plateau Nigeria
The Senate last week
approved for itself 109 Peugeot a cars at N6.07 million Naira per one.
Nothing in Nigeria shocks me any longer because as someone puts it, we
were all created with a peculiar shock absorber, so there is hardly
anything a Nigerian cannot withstand.
Times are hard, the
government is pushing through its economic reform which we are told is
the reason for the untold hardship and poverty ravishing the land, the
electorates have been told to sacrifice a good life now for a better
future. Very few people can boast of a complete balanced and well
nurtured meal per day and what do our Senators, the men and women we
elected and others re-elected do? …decide to buy themselves new cars.
I recall with
nostalgia when I was young and then you could almost count the number of
people that had cars nationwide, each time my father was traveling and
asked from my mom what she wanted. My mom would answer “darling, buy me
a car”.
Darling Obasanjo has
not seen anything wrong in pursuing his third term suicide further,
instead of halting the unconstitutional act. He has further resorted to
buying gifts for his “wives” (Senators) to do his bidding. I may be
wrong on this but let us look at the issue dispassionately.
We are in the most
trying times in this nation, we have just been released from the Paris
Club debt one of the only achievements the government can boast of, but
only last week again it borrowed more millions from the World Bank for
the National Immunization Programme, it cited that the loan was interest
free, payable in 40 years and was necessary because of lack of funds to
tackle effectively issues such as education, health, transport etc.
Yet with the above
scenario there was enough to be coughed out by the national treasury for
just the purposes of buying cars for Senators whose only distinguished
act has been to extinguish to hope of the ordinary Nigerian.
In rationalizing the
buying of the cars which already has been ordered, the Senate
information source, senator Victor Ndoma stated that it was for
committee functions and that the cars would still be used by in-coming
Senators…I hear you extinguished senator.
What manner of leaders
do we have, in the face of poverty, scarcity of ordinary water, in a
time where Nigerians cannot enjoy regular power supply, education is
only for the rich and our senators do not know or have not heard the
word sacrifice.
These Senators if they
had the masses at heart would have suggested that they use their
personal cars and collect mileage allowances.
At least they have
said on a number of occasions that they were making sacrifices for the
nation with a boss that is willing to die for the nation, this is one
opportunity for them to really show that they can be counted upon to
make sacrifices.
Besides, it is simply
suspect that with barely a year to the end of the present tenure the
Senators suddenly realize that they need new cars to effectively carry
out committee functions, the question is before now, how did they carry
out the same function … by trekking.
Tell me a Senator who
does not have a personal pool of cars, some even have car assembly lines
with different types, models and colors, so why this monumental waste of
the nation’s resources at a time when the economy is undergoing a
so-called reform.
At the end of the
present dispensation, all these cars would be sold for less than half a
million under a yet to be invented ridiculous criteria, and the Senators
would buy the cars for themselves. Nigeria, what exactly is wrong with
us as a nation, why have our leaders mortgaged their conscience for less
a naira peanut.
I hear some Senators
have refused the cars calling it Greek gift, as far as I am concerned
this is more than a Greek gift, it is an ‘Owu’ gift (the homestead of
Mr. President).
Let us look critically
at this simply logic, if each Senator expended first 6 million Naira in
his/her Senatorial district for a project that would enhance the
socio-economic well being of his people, would we complain. I do not
blame a certain Mantu who decided to help himself by spending 40 million
on furniture in his personal house, after collecting rent for the same
house from the Senate.
Someone brought to my
attention that these days, it was more lucrative to be a legislator than
a governor or minister, as it was politics at the level of the highest
bidder. I recall it was Professor Jubril Aminu that without remorse
referred to his senatorial duties as a lousy job. For the lousy job
they all do, the senators would be given a car.
In some ‘obscure
village anywhere in Nigeria what the ordinary Nigerian asks for is a
bicycle that cost less than 5,000 to make life worth it... but even at
that the politician will award the contract to his wife who will
disappear with the mobilization and the Senate will not see it as a
matter of national importance…
At this point let me
say that even the federal revenue people in charge of monetization has
faulted the purchase of the cars, under any accurate reasons, since
monetization over two years now, the Senators have benefited immensely
from it unlike other arms of government. All their remunerations have
been monetized, so those who need cars, monies for same have been
provided. It is indeed sad that Obasanjo wants to make sure that by the
time he is living for Ota Farm, he would have emptied the national
treasury
From the days of
furniture allowance to committee cars nothing much seems to have
changed, the hope of the masses have been extinguished, our Senators
have not been able to pass any really serious legislation to our
collective benefit, each time they fought, it has been for their
benefit, each time the masses was involved their voices fizzle out.
Where is the hope …? It is barely their fault me thinks because we do
not have mass actions that draw public support from all, we just sit and
watch, believing and expecting that all will be fine.
If daddy buys mummy a
car, daddy should please remember to buy motorcycles for the children,
for some even bicycles would do. Almighty Allah help us.
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