A DEMAND FOR SHARED SACRIFICE  

Leaders should lead by showing good examples. We are yet see these

The long convoy of vehicles that ushered in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Lagos from Ogun State last weekend has continued to generate debate about the cost of governance in Nigeria. While democracy is expensive everywhere, it is scandalously more so in our country due largely to the personal aggrandisement of the average political office holder. But given the dire economic situation that has in turn forced the federal government to remove fuel subsidy with the attendant implications for majority of Nigerians, should public officials at the state and federal levels still retain all their undue privileges? That question agitates the minds of many Nigerians and should concern those in authority at all levels.  

In more than 25 states of the country today, salary arrears are mounting and so are pensions obligations. And with unrestrained official profligacy, many of the states and local governments are already almost bankrupt while the federal government is finding it difficult staying afloat. Yet, even at a time like this, public officers in the executive arm of government still allocate to themselves jumbo travelling allowances or estacodes while our legislators remain among the highest paid in the world. Besides, after collecting allowances for vehicles, which are already monetised, federal legislators almost always place orders for the purchase of exotic cars. Former governors allocate jumbo pensions to themselves at public expense while incumbents go about in expensive bullet-proof vehicles.  

Does democracy have to sack the treasury to serve the cause of freedom? Can a democratic polity led by an unproductive elite promote development? Where the laws and rules for the appropriation of public funds are made by the same people responsible for the high cost of government, who will bring the system to order? At a period that Nigerians are told to sacrifice more with policies that make their lives more difficult than ever, should government officials not be sensitive to their plight? But much more importantly, how long can the nation continue to sustain this gruelling rip-off at the expense of the poverty-stricken people of Nigeria?   

Up till now, no tier of government in the country has taken steps to reduce the expensive costs of running the public service. No government has reviewed projects that constitute a drain on public treasury. Over 70 per cent of the budget still goes for servicing our parasitic bureaucracy. To worsen matters, across the country, there is no sign that we are going through tough times. Governors travel so regularly to Abuja and other places in private jets paid for from the treasury. Many of them still move around in long convoys while retaining hundreds of idle aides.  

Some ministers, senators and other public officers earn double or triple salaries while no state has reduced the scandalous pension package for ex-governors in terms of salaries for life, houses in the state capitals plus Abuja, medical, vehicle and other allowances. At the federal level, some officers serve for four or five years and retire at less than 50 years of age in some agencies only to be paid an exit package of between N200 million and N500 million.  

We believe there can be no better time than now to review the structure of government in Nigeria. If the ordinary people on the street must sacrifice to keep the country afloat, those elected or appointed to serve them cannot continue to live in obscene opulence. President Tinubu must understand why many Nigerians are angry by his long convoy. He has promised that it would be ‘business unusual’ under his administration. The only way to demonstrate that is to lead by example. The same is demanded of the 36 governors and other public officials, at all levels. What the time calls for is shared sacrifice.