“Nigeria
is a richly endowed country whose people are mired in humiliating and mind
boggling poverty. It is a cursed land of horrendous corruption. It is a cesspit
of crime. It is a paradise of banditry. It is the den of kidnappers. It is a
kingdom of armed robbers. Hunger stalks the land. Millions of its youth wallow
in joblessness. It is a hellhole of suicide bombers. Its education system at
all levels is in shambles. Twenty million of her children are out of school.
The health sector has virtually collapsed and her wealthy elite routinely seek
medical succor abroad. Blessed with arable land, it is a major importer of food”
(The Nation, 23rd February, 2013).
Pardon the length of my quote but the above perfectly
describes Nigeria. Has it ever been
better for Nigerians? I have no clue. My focus is unraveling the mindset behind
corruption in the public service and what we need to take seriously if we are
ever going to have ‘even development’. Even development in my opinion means
development that flows through the federal, state and local government
(villages).
I have tried to understand what would make a public
servant have hundreds of millions of naira in her home. Or as to why another
public servant working with the police pensions office thinks it is fair to
steal billions of naira for his personal use. Alas I think I can explain it, I
think I understand why a Nigerian who has probably gone through most of the
frustrations an everyday Nigerian would encounter gets to the pinnacle of his/her
career as a public servant and rob the country blind. My theory revolves around the disconnect
between the pay structure and the standard of living.
This example perhaps explains it: Mr P a twenty eight
year old Nigerian gets employed as a graduate public servant on grade level 8
in Abuja, Nigeria. His salary will at most be seventy thousand naira (about 300
pounds) monthly if he is lucky. Abuja is the federal capital city of Nigeria
and along with Lagos rank as the most expensive cities in the country to live
in. If Mr A decides however to rent a flat after say a eight months of working
as a public servant in the city or even in the outskirts of Abuja city can he?
No is the answer, Mr P will need to pay a full years rent up front or maybe two
years rent in some cases. This simply means Mr P will need at least one million
naira (four thousand pounds cash) saved up somewhere to move out and get a
place of his own (the average cost for a house will be at least five hundred
thousand a year). Someday when he needs to buy his own place he is perhaps
going to be asked to have saved up 30million naira (120,000pounds) from his
salary which at most will have risen to 200,000 naira a month (800 pounds)
after say 25years of service. Without a stable mortgage system how will Mr P resist
a once in a lifetime opportunity at instant wealth, how will he pass a chance
to get rich in an instant, HOW? He is bound to steal money (although my Dad
doesn’t agree with me) so his kids will never have to go through what he went
through. Is he shortsighted, Yes- do I understand? Yes I do.
Back to the story so anyway even if Mr P saves up this
one million in two years and then decides to find a flat, I can assure you he
will not find one. Abuja seems to have been built without a thought that someday
kids will grow into young working class men/women and will need a place of
their own. Apartment blocks, flats built not with the intention of providing
homes for families but for young adults who have just started off life and need
some space from mummy and daddy. In the words of Chris Rock ‘I am not saying it
is right but I understand’.
My point is that it is almost logically impossible for
Mr P to survive like every other person even in the developed world on just his
salary. I mean there is a reason why mortgages are in place in developed
countries, there is a reason why there are alternatives to road transport and
those little things matter. Those little things matter because if Mr P had a
reliable option for securing a mortgage, if he had a better transport system he
is bound to be more fulfilled and less likely to loot when in a position of
authority.
The whole point of my silly thoughts is that if we had
a more responsive government who realizes that the inability of its citizens to
live off their pay is the major issue then corruption will never go away. THE
STANDARD OF LIVING IS ARTIFICIAL AND DOES NOT REFLECT THE AVERAGE INCOME!! I
mean in a country where one man can steal 2 billion naira or football players
can be given millions of naira for winning the nations cup I am sure there is
enough money to increase the minimum wage. The minimum wage is 18,000
(72pounds) a month for a full-time employee in a country where you have to pay
yearly rent, running water is a blessing, erratic electricity supply, poor
transportation, poor and expensive health system isn’t this a joke?
GETTING THE
BASICS OF EVEN DEVELOPMENT
How else can I explain the fact that a country with an
alarming population growth rate cannot beat its chest and say we are one
hundred and twenty million or we are one hundred and forty million? Even with
something as fundamental to development as conducting ‘a credible census’
Nigerian officials and Nigerians as a whole are glad to play politics with it.
If we do not know how many we are now how do we plan
for the future, how do we project what development initiatives to focus on? I
think the number one reason why the Nigerian youths are jobless, why a growing
population squeezes the life out of our infrastructure, and why we cannot protect
our citizens is that policy makers have failed to take our population growth
into consideration. Why do we think we cannot provide electricity?
Instead of sinking billions of naira into an
unimportant event like the yearlong amalgamation celebrations nonsense that the
federal government plans to do I think another census should be conducted (dare I say introduce population control).
President Goodluck Jonathan has to realize that wasting money on the above or
his planned re-election will be a waste of money and instead help build a
platform that the next presidency can work with.
I gave up on Jonathan when he was quoted as saying ‘there
is a cabal in government’ and openly shows his reluctance was unable to fight
them’ what the hell kind of douche president says that? Tsk!
The solution to our problem starts in 2015 let us all
go out and vote not based on sentiments but on the credibility and potential of
candidates. VOTE FOR RIBADU and FASHOLA!!!(lol!)!! It is my secret wish that we
have credible candidates in 2015 to pick from, lets do away with old cargos or
people like Jonathan who lack the political will.
N.B Regardless, I
will much rather be a Nigerian than a Congolese. Whew! (sorry Lysette couldnt let that pass)
MORE RAMBLINGS,
thoughts need organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment