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The Price Of Bread And The House Of Representatives At 47 By Prince Charles Dickson Jos, Plateau Nigeria On the French Revolution historians disagree about the political and socioeconomic nature of the Revolution. Under one interpretation, the old aristocratic order of the Ancien Régime succumbed to an alliance of the rising bourgeoisie, aggrieved peasants, and urban wage-earners. Another interpretation asserts that the Revolution resulted when various aristocratic and bourgeois reform movements spun out of control. According to this model, these movements coincided with popular movements of the new wage-earning classes and the provincial peasantry, but any alliance between classes was contingent and incidental. However, adherents of both models identify many of the same features of the ancien régime as being among the causes of the Revolution. Among the many economic factors I would focus on one that is very evident in our nation today and we are all either neglecting it at best or worse just saying its not there. As we celebrate another independence I hope someone is listening. The French revolution was sparked off by a poor economic situation, an unimaginable national debt, both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation. Same can be said of the situation on ground today, it is against the backdrop of such an arrangement that members of the House of Representatives have chosen to display their insensitivity to the entire nation. Much has been written about their recent behaviour on national television but the truth remains that we are not surprised given the caliber of persons involved. The only frightening thing is that we seem to care less and move on like it is all nothing when it is not just something but plenty. We are brewing a Nigerian Revolution and one hopes there are persons out there that know the implication. I had told a friend of mine while discussing Etteh that in apology to the true practitioners of the saloon profession, one truth is that many a times when a hairdresser spoils your hair they have this tendency to tell you that the hair is beautiful and that you should not worry. And if you persist, in the light of further complain they often find refuge in either bad hair relaxer, the oven for frying hair, the comb, hot water, your sitting position and what not. The fact is that reasons are never far from them. So madam speaker tells us that she was misguided...no problem but I want us as we celebrate another birthday called independence we better ponder. One of the many triggers that fired the unrest and subsequent revolt in France was the Roman Catholic Church, the largest landowner in the country, which levied a harsh tax on crops known as dime. While the dime lessened the severity of the monarchy's tax increases, it nonetheless served to worsen the plight of the poorest who faced daily a struggle with malnutrition. It is really sad how we simply cannot learn from history, how we think in a slow motion and forget so fast as a people. It hurts that despite the 'numerosity' of examples to fall back on so as to avoid the pitfalls of the past we still fall into the same hole...why? Today we have rather than a Catholic Church, a PDP that has swallowed every other thing called a party in sight. Everything they say and do often has been tailored to suit the oligarchy, to suit themselves, it has remained one law for the rich another for the poor. N600M to spare for the rich and yet the poor cannot spare a nickel for bread. While prison congestion continued, and approximately 80% of inmates were awaiting trial, ex-Governors were sent to same Prisons and while there they flouted thier ill-gotten wealth without remorse. Every day, our leadership foist upon us different forms of hardship and the poor continue to battle malnutrition, thinking or imagining what the poorest suffer is sickening. However in the midst of these wants, N600M plus is used to renovate a property for two persons that are supposed to represent these poorest. These House of Representative members, their colleagues in the Senate, persons in the executive and other leadership position continue in their conspicuous consumption, despite the financial burden on the populace. They allocate mouth watering salaries to themselves, the monies ensure foreign schools for their dependents, GSM credit cards for their girlfriends, mistress and concubines, after all almost a N100M was to be spent on a massaager, indeed it most be difficult to be custodian of stolen wealth, and at best immoral monies, so the need for frequent massage. The House of Representative is yet to embark on any meaningful business, in the light of which I ask who is Etteh, Patricia, Felicia or cia to put a halt to the legislative business that these people were 'rigged' in to do. No doubt, the way and manner the whole saga has gone shows that we really do lack leadership. And quickly I add to those that keep the 'line' that this is all part of the political process, I do agree but we better be mindful of the import of our actions, likewise inactions. The entire National Assembly sits and conducts its business in a 'holy' manner but I beg to say that all the deceit do not remove the fact that today this nation is faced with high unemployment, and high bread prices. Talking about high bread prices, that prompted this reflection, the price of bread was a major factor in the French revolution. In Kaduna, Lagos, Jos, Abuja and other towns, bakers, dealers have in the last one year at one point or the other gone on strike, yet no one noticed. We are spending more money on food, and less in other areas of life, thus degenerating further to that level of subsistence existence, we live for food for a day and hope for the next day. We may count ourselves lucky as not being Sudan, or Somali but with the situation there, the indices seems better, our footballers go to Sudan to play soccer as pros and get paid in dollars, Sudanese wont even respect the Abuja peace deal. It is easier to do business in Ghana and Burkina faso and we are mopping. When the House of Representatives resume they would be debating on whether to remove Etteh or not, fact is that she exhibited indiscretion and threw caution to the wind, her acts were at best irresponsible and unexplainable, but then do they owe us any explanations. When will they debate bread, common bread, just bread, the same bread which they promised the people. There is a Christain denomination whose creed is embedded on the vision of "it is well" even in the worst of times. So, I dare say too that it is well, may the Almighty Allah give us bread but still importantly leaders that would know that we need bread. Prince Charles Dickson Assistant Editor/ Jos Bureau Head Leadership Newspapers Group |