Nigeria at 50: Celebrating Corruption

This year Nigerian independence marks fifty years of nationhood and what grammarians would call golden jubilee even though some of us, dye-in-the wool skeptics believe that for the past years, majority of my patriots are in the gutter of poverty and destitution. It is even more offensive to note that despite the lack of progress in all departments of life in the face of nature generous endowment, those in Abuja are walking in the sky deluding themselves that the celebration should be marked with a ten billion naira bash. This amount is not only staggering but makes me to quake. That Nigeria shall spend ten billion naira to celebrate its independence anniversary. True, that there are many things to celebrate inspite of the not too pleasant history of the nation. The nation had survived many coups and counter coups, a civil war, the June 12, 1993 crisis and the religious and ethnic strives. But to use ten billion naira to celebrate that is simply absurd and outlandish and shows that this government is in short supply of ideas on how to grow the economy and improve the welfare of the people.

My arithmetic is very poor and you do not have to blame me because of my background in English and Journalism. But my little knowledge of arithmetic is enough for me to know that ten billion naira is a lot sum of money and that some of the less endowed African nations yearly budget do not add up to that figure. It is more amusing to note that the same federal government has budgeted ten billion naira to construct the second NigerBridge. The logic is that if the ten billion naira is invested in the provision of water for the nation, many Nigerians will be exposed to potable water and that could reduce the risk of water borne diseases. If you pump ten billion naira into NEPA, the electricity body and the money are well utilized, that may end the epileptic nature of electricity supply in the nation. If the same government can use that amount in the building of health centres, a lot of local government areas would benefit. The government should not give us the unfortunate impression that it has no idea on what to do with the money at its disposal. That is why the government should listen to the views of the Nigerian Labour Congress that the expenditure is not worth it and that the money should be used to improve the state of social infrastructures in the country. This is coming on the heels that budgets in the nation are hardly implemented and that such monies end up in private pockets. What is the guarantee of the Jonathan administration that this ten billion naira would not go the same way as previous expenditures?

In deed and in truth, the Jonathan administration has made some giant and laudable strides that sit well with majority of Nigerians. The fight against corruption has received new vigour and that due process is followed. But it would be tragic for a government that is fighting corruption to embark on moves that can be read as encouraging the same virus. The proposed ten billion naira expenditure for the 50^th anniversary of the nation independence is cast in the unfortunate shadow of growing the vice of corruption. That is why the government is duty bound to tell us how it intends to spend the ten billion naira. The government must convince us that the money shall be actually used for the celebration and not to make the bank accounts of some government officials more buoyant. The people of this nation, the real owners of that ten billion naira are entitled to know how the amount shall be expanded. Come to think of it, the celebration shall be about march-past of schools children, youth corps members and some voluntary agencies and the traditional taking of salute by the president. May be there shall be cultural display and grand command performance at the State House and you cap it with a dinner where friends of Nigeria are invited. How much does it take to organize a presidential dinner at Aso Rock? This unfortunate notion of treating those of us outside the cozy confines of government offices as dummies does not make sense and the earlier; the government officials abandon that, the better for the development and progress of the nation. All Nigerians are stakeholders in the Nigerian enterprise and should be carried along. If the government goes ahead and spend the ten billion naira for the independence celebration, it would be the clearest message that the war against corruption is a ruse to lead some of us through the garden path. And that does not paint the government in good light. The government should not exhaust the political goodwill it is currently enjoying among the mass of the people.

And true to type, the leadership of the National Assembly is silent about this expenditure and they are yet to tell us if that amount was included in the 2010 budgetary allocations. The senators and the members of the House of Representatives can afford to play the ostrich because recently a jumbo salary was approved for the workers of the national assembly. And when you add that to the increase of the legislators’ salaries and allowances, you just shake your head in sorry with the knowledge that these lawmakers believe that spending ten billion naira to celebrate is economic prudence on the part of the executive arm of government. Thus those who are supposed to check the excesses of the executive arm of government are in the same murky waters of unexplained expenditures. That is the more reason the living standard of the average Nigerian is nose diving under their charge and they do not see anything wrong with that. If this ten billion naira is shared among all Nigerians, I am very confident that I will get at least a hundred thousand Naira and that could make a lot of differences in my life.

I therefore appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan with passion that he should not give us the faintest impression that he is part of the past administration that plagued this nation with misrule. It is not too late for the government to slash down the money to five billion naira for the celebration and use the remaining amount to improve the social infrastructures of the nation. Leadership is beyond the locale of pontification, it has more to do with practical deeds that would affect the welfare of the people. Using ten billion naira to mark independence anniversary is a loud pronouncement that the welfare and security of the people do not matter and that merry making is the hallmark of governance. I may be wrong but this is the message the proposed ten billion naira independence celebration is sending. .