Until After the Season of Locusts

EDIFYING ELUCIDATIONS BY OKEY IKECHUKWU

As I write, the Federal Republic of Nigeria stands in the season of locusts. The “season,” which has lasted for all of 20 years, took up a new burst of speed six years ago. Now it is at a deadly gallop, even ramping up more speed at incredibly sharp bends. Can a nation survive on the long term when distribution and consumption are the pillars of every government action? I think not. Thus, the Nigerian state of today lives like a locust. Locusts, by the way, are always a danger to every plant, every farmer and every habitat. They simply eat and eat. Their waste product is not known for great value as fertilizer, because a totally devastated environment does not have anything that can be fertilised. All you see is devastation in the trail of any self-respecting locust. Yes, it does not cultivate what it eats. It also does not water anything. It offers no supply of manure, no! It just eats, moving ever forward and consuming more; until there is nothing left to eat. Even as it is dying of hunger, having exhausted all viable food sources, it learns nothing. That is the profile and reputation of the Nigerian State today!

An Igbo proverb says that a person who borrows dancing clothes must be careful how he poses and dances in the village square. The reason and logic of this proverb is quite simple: Whoever borrows clothes to dance in the village square must avoid excessive displays, or that very vigorous swinging of certain parts of the body that may tear the material. Failure to be careful may force the lender of the dancing gear to take back his materials there and then. But does it look like the executive and legislative arms of our government are bothered by such a proverb today? We are still borrowing cheerfully. And we are spending noisily, even as we are announcing that we need to spend more. So, we are simultaneously priming for more borrowing; even as we cannot say what has been gained by the previous borrowings.

Apparently aware that capital consumption is not an ingredient for national development, the Senate President warned, last week, that we cannot keep borrowing just for consumption. But who is paying attention? The National Assembly, of which the Senate President is Imperator, did not blink about a supplementary budget of nearly one trillion Naira. And none of this is going into sustainable development initiatives and investments. That is why a national debt profile that stood below five billion dollars at the commencement of this government now stands at over thirty billion dollars. Petrol was less than a hundred naira per litre back then, but it is now a little short of three hundred Naira per litre today. Value Added Tax shot through the roof, among other costs as well. A bag of rice that sold for between five and seven thousand Naira, now sells for twenty-five thousand Naira; having come down from over thirty thousand Naira. Nobody seems to be paying the right type of attention to what is brewing in the land. To the fact than abject, unmanageable poverty, unemployment, insecurity and general collapse of Service Delivery across every sphere of life has laid the State prostrate. Not even the warning of the Sultan of Sokoto, three weeks ago, to members of the National Assembly to address insecurity instead of organising conferences about has made any lasting impression,

And let us note, for the record, that the stage was already set under the PDP government for what we are seeing today. An article which appeared on this page on December 2, 2019, praised the lawmakers of Zamfara State for putting “… an abrupt end to the rampage of political locusts in their land. They also did it with the type of speed needed in addressing a dangerous ailment.” The article, titled “Zamfara Says Goodbye to Locusts” commended “The bold step of repealing a thoroughly reprehensible piece of legislation, which allowed former governors and lawmakers to fleece the state for no reason whatsoever.” The piece spoke of “The rash of bogus severance packages for former elected officials of a certain stature…” as “…one of the many obnoxious legacies of the PDP government in its sixteen years in office. No matter what anyone may say about the painful poor performance of the APC government of today, it must be admitted that the PDP was not exactly leading us anywhere close to 21st century leadership paradigms, before it lost power due to its own bungling. Even today, as opposition party, it is hamstrung by the impunity of little men. No one who looks closely at it will feel that this is a platform with the prospect of leading anyone to the Promised Land. At least not immediately. It lacks internal cohesion, offers no real hope and gives no clear indication of a new national vision. If anything, there are renewed doubts as to whether it has learnt any lessons and is treading a new path. But we are digressing.”

If today we are complaining about the mindless borrowing of a clearly sleepwalking APC government, let us remember that a letter from former governor Yari of Zamfara State to his successor demanding the payment of certain entitlements came from the “Office of the Former Governor.” My questions concerning the above were: Is there such an “office”? If yes, who created it? Where is it provided for in the constitution? Who can educate us on whether it is an elective, appointive, or presumptive one? Where can we get a manual on the duties of the occupant of this imaginary office? Who will explain what makes it lawful for a citizen to arrogate to himself a title that presumes to represent a state function? What makes it proper for anyone to put the national Coat of Arms on paper, any paper whatsoever, and use same as the crest for his private correspondence? Should anyone, using such a contrived persona, and who presents himself as having the authority of one who represents an institution of state, not be apprehended? Should an otherwise responsible adult who prints a letter headed paper using our national symbols and who presents himself in the guise of a government functionary after he has left office not be called to order by the security agencies?”

As symptomatic of a national malaise gone viral with the ruling elite of the last 20 years, Yari’s letter was “…an attempt by a private citizen to secure personal advantages for himself under false pretenses.” It was even signed “in the usual ink colour used by Nigerian government functionaries of a certain stature. … the former governor had no doubts in his mind that he was within his rights. So, unfortunately, are many other former governors who collect unmentionable entitlements. Yari was angry that the state had not paid him his pension and monthly upkeep allowances, because he removed himself from the realities of his environment. That this unlawful entitlement should be his priority, requiring an angry letter, in a state where he left no commendable legacies and where he did not perform any miracles in the payment of the paltry entitlements of pensioners while he was in office says a lot”
The article under reference here went further to point out that “…this is not a Zamfara matter, as a quick inventory of the record of other state governments in this regard shows that this is a national malaise. Jigawa lawmakers had justified their own law on the grounds that granting huge severance packages to former office holders was a way of discouraging them form corrupt self-enrichment while in office. Pathetic! Akwa Ibom State under former Governor Akpabio provided for an annual pay to ex-governors of N200 million, in addition to pension for life, a new official car and utility-vehicle every four years.

This is in addition to one personal aide, adequate security, a cook, chauffeurs and security guards at a sum not exceeding N5m per month. The governor and spouse are also entitled to free medical services for a sum totalling N100m per annum, as well as a five-bedroom mansion in Abuja and Akwa Ibom. Gombe State offers a N300 million executive pension benefits to its ex-governors. Kwara State gives 300 per cent of his salary as furniture allowance, to its former governors. This is in addition to two cars and a security car replaceable every three years, a well-furnished five-bedroom duplex, five personal staff, three State Security Services personnel, free medical care among other humongous figures. Edo State is no better, under its Pension Rights of the Governor and Deputy Governor Law of 2007, which gives a former governor a 200 million naira house plus 100% of the salary of the incumbent governor for life. He is also entitled to an officer not above Salary grade level 12 as Special Assistant, a personal secretary not below grade level 10 who shall be selected by the former governor from the public service of Edo State.

Osun State law stipulates that former governors and former deputy governors shall be entitled to pension at the rate equivalent to the incumbent office holder. Lagos State, under its Lagos Pension Law, gives a former governor two houses (one in Lagos and another in Abuja), estimated to cost between N500m and N700m, respectively. This is in addition to six brand new cars every three years, furniture allowance of 300 percent of annual salary every two years, among other frills. Rivers offers 100% per cent of annual basic salaries for ex-governor, one house anywhere of his choice in Nigeria, three cars every four years, 300 per cent of annual basic salary every four years for furniture and ten percent of annual basic salary for house maintenance, among other frills.” That is not all. “Kano State provides for 100% of annual basic salary for a former governor, a furnished and equipped office, a six-bedroom residential house, free medical treatment within and outside Nigeria where necessary, two drivers and a provision for a 30-day vacation within and outside Nigeria.”

Yes, not much will change for the better in Nigeria; until after the season of locusts. But it is not just an APC matter. Leaders who have their post-service entitlements fully provided for by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocations Commission, but who act in clear violation of these provisions are also locusts of s certain species. Do they know that their season is heading towards its evening?

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