The sing song in Nigeria today, is corruption; it has assumed such an important place in the national discourse, such that all tabloids in the country, like a religion, must give it a mention on daily basis no matter how small. To demonstrate how much hate it has garnered, it’s commentator go to the painful length of qualifying it with scary adjectives such as “endemic”, “crippling”, “deep-rooted”, “pervasive”, wide-spread”, etc. This is with a view to conveying the degree of its infestation. – But what is the point, if all the efforts will only end in mere talk without commensurate ‘will’ to act?
Like several issues in Nigeria, that has attained notorious heights in national discourse, policy makers response to them is simply to join the fray, their actions have never gone passed the display of eloquence and public show of disdain for such vices.
These vices, such as corruption, have been widely condemned by every Nigerian, yet it won’t go away. Keen watchers of activities in Nigeria will ponder why, but the reasons are not far fetched. – Our leaders inaction is not informed by ignorance, or want of ideas, rather it is a deliberate ploy to protect a cartel that ensures free and easy access to stupendous wealth. Else, tell me why very few live in absolute affluence, and the majority subjected to a life of hardship and pain?
How does one explain a situation where very few are unimaginably rich, and the majority walk around in penury? How do we explain a situation where about $47 billion is stashed away in foreign reserve, yet majority go on empty stomach. Or better put, using a very recent example, how does one explain a situation where an ex-president, just three months after leaving office bought a $33 m worth private jet, yet his kinsmen are starved of basic necessities of life, such as electricity, clean water, security, food etc.?
Rather than repair the roads, government officials and their cohorts, resolved to buying Hommer jeeps, SUVs, and high utility vehicles to help them cushion the effects of the ditches on our roads, leaving the majority with the only option of plying the roads in unserviceable vehicles and killing themselves in the process through road accidents resulting partly from bad roads and partly from decrepit vehicles. Last month alone, two very annoying accidents were widely reported in the national dailies, several go unreported, because they are no longer news. The first was about a Trailer that attempted dodging a ditch in the middle of the road and in the process smashed an 18 sitter bus, killing all the passengers on board. The second, also similar to the first, but this time the “Tanker” killed 33 people. The government never saw anything wrong in all these. Millions of people are killed in Nigeria yearly through this insensate carelessness.
If the government does nothing, except protect themselves with Jeeps and SUVs, rather than fix the roads; as an ordinary Nigerian, if you have the opportunity to steal money through corruption to protect yourself and your family, will you still be flying the flag of anti-corruption? Your take is as good as mine.
The flipside of these sordid corruption perpetuation tendencies is the “wage freeze” policy. Inflation figures in Nigeria since the 80s, has being on an upward spiral, yet remuneration system is treated with kid’s gloves. Average “Minimum Wage” across states in the country is about N3,500, meaning a civil servant on Grade Level 1 Step 1 will earn about N3,500 monthly in salary. This is absurd. Many have insinuated that the policy was shove down our throats by the IMF and World Bank. Agreed!! But are our leaders daft? Cant they see that the civil servants are losing their heads because their take home pay, stops at the first turn from their offices!!!
To help shade more light on this issue, let me give a real life account of a School Principal who is a friend of mine; he kindly availed me the data used in this write up.
Alhaji Kabir Gimba (name not real) has being in government service for 35 years. A graduate of Economics, who rose through the ranks to the position of a Senior Secondary School Principal 6 years ago, on Level 16 step 6. Level 16 is about the last level except for special levels, wherefrom retirement is eminent. Alh Gimba is due to retire in 8 months.
At level 16 step 6 Alh Gimba’s total monthly salary is N49,500 ($390). He has a wife with six children and three depends from deceased siblings. Alh Gimba and his family live in a government quarters and drives a 1983 model of Peugeot 504. Based on this data, I computed Alh Gimba’s salary that will qualify for a living wage as thus:
Details Total
Feeding at N10,000 per person per month x 11 people N110,000
School fees at N20,000 per child per quarter x 6 children
= N120,000 per quarter ÷ 3 months
(to arrive at the amount payable monthly) N40,000
House rent on his official Quarters N20,000
Medical bills at N5,000 per person per month x 11 N55,000
Transportation for the entire family per month N15,000
Clothing at N2,000 per person per month N22,000
Utility bills at N7,000 per month N7,000
Socialization for the 2 parents (not quantified) -
Demands from extended families (not quantified) -
General maintenance and repairs (not quantified) -
Purchase of security and payment for collateral damages (not quantified) -
Several other attendant monetary request by the family (not quantified) -
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Total N269,000
From the rough estimations above of what Alh Gimba’s real income should look like, a total of N269,000 was conservatively arrived at, as semblance of what should bring some degree of comfort to him and his family. But unfortunately, when this amount is considered against the backdrop of what he currently earns, a gulf of N219,500 will be left on filled.
As the Principal of a Senior Secondary School, Alh Gimba is the accounting officer of the school in charge of about N60 million school fees which he collects from the 4,700 students in the school quarterly and is expected to remit to the ministry of education on receipt.
Even if Alh Gimba chooses to be a saint, he will still be saddled with the responsibility of his family’s upkeep, and to function as the Principal, he needs to put in 100% of his time into the job. How is he expected to make up the balance between the N49,500 he receives currently as monthly salary, and N269,000 which is a close approximation of the real income he needs. Like every human, the options open to him will be to either ‘indulge’ himself with the school takings, or drench in a cesspool of misery. Most Nigerians, and am sure almost all sane beings, will choose the short route. Onlookers will call such action corruption, but I call it the after effect of insensate leaders.
Nations with near corruption free societies, placed priceless values on their citizens, the government of Nigeria cannot continue to debase its civil servants and expect them to be patriotic. Respect they say, is earned, the government should live up to its expectations by considering its citizens as important piece in the puzzle, only that way can it expect them to shun corruption. A hungry man, they say, is an angry man.
Corruption in all its ramifications, have motives, majority of such motives in Nigeria stemmed from implausible poor governance leading to decay in infrastructure, rule of law and security. Pay people well and fix these aforementioned problems and corruption will go away, you don’t need to fight it or give it demonic names. Corruption in Nigeria is simply a response to bad governance. Nigerians are law abiding sets, but like every human being they have needs.
This piece is meant as a wakeup call to those concerned and not to encourage corruption, please.
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1 comment:
Corruption indeed has been our bane, our stumbling block to development and of course the cause of our misery, backwardness and deprivation in a country richly and abundantly blessed with all components necessary for development... and ok even modernisation!
Yeah we have lived with this evil for decades. In time past we can only muse and grumble silently 'cause it’s “forbidden” to accuse leaders of stealing...remember the days of the guys in khaki and guns? Yes! Those guys really brazenly bestride this country as their personal fiefdom like the colossuses they were at that time, ruling with impunity and stealing us blind in concert with their civilian cohorts.
You say or do something they do not like you: are thrown and forgotten in gaol, mysteriously disappear or die under questionable circumstances. Look back and you would get what I mean.
Iam saying all this because now I can see some light on the horizon, evidenced by our newly acquired freedom of speech and expression. Thank God that what we were whispering about yesterday is now in bold print in our dailies, private news media are not left behind in talking and exposing the vagaries and ineptitude of corrupt leaders.
Suddenly I found a freedom that I an OCN (ordinary citizen of Nigeria) can write and speak in the radio expressing my mind and calling a spade? No, a thief a thief.
Iam of the opinion that stealing funds meant for education, health, road etc, etc is akin to a natural disaster. Natural disaster is even better as it happens once a while and reconstruction can begin. With resources, will power and political commitment it can be done as quickly as possible. But of course the lost especially if it involves loved ones cannot be forgotten in time.
But taking money for development rolls back a nation several years back as it creates; illitracy, poverty (with all its attendant effects) diseases and preventable death due to lack of facilities in hospitals and the death traps Nigerian government is proud to call roads.
Now a generation of illiterates created by exclusion from lack of education I say is the greatest catastrophe that can befall any nation.
Illiteracy has its spillovers: poverty, disease, and in the long run it will create an acute lack of indigenous manpower. The effect you would agree with me is rather imagined.
But now that we have began to say it as it should and a lot of leaders parading themselves as "saints" are now being exposed for what they truly are, and the Nouvue and emerging thieves are now treading cautiously. The fear of EFCC is becoming the beginning of wisdom. Some people have however opined that EFCC is an instrument of blackmail and witch hunting at least during the OO regime. Arguably yes, but I think selective justice or not we have to start from somewhere.
Once we stop this menace people like Alhaji Gimba and thousands others can at least start living a worthwhile life. Then we can start talking of moving forward.
The journey has just begun. We can only sustain it if we all make bold to say enough is enough.
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