In Nigeria, the culture of impunity continues to assume frightening dimensions. We have enshrined mediocrity and selfishness as a nation. The majority of us don’t give a damn about our actions that may be considered offensive and perhaps irrational. Those who are privileged to occupy one position of trust or the other have seized such opportunities to glorify absurdities. Some practices hitherto considered alien to our system of governance and even to our lifestyles have become fads nowadays. These practices have crept into our system of governance, eroding values.
Particularly, state governors have since constituted themselves as purveyors of financial recklessness and perhaps scandals. I have always argued that state governors remain one of the biggest development challenges. One won’t be wrong to posit that most state chief executives instead of being their peoples’ ‘messiah’ have become great albatross.
Their ‘Excellencies’ have unarguably become clogs in the wheel of progress. They have become so powerful and utterly influential that they decide whatever goes on in their domain. The governors, many have argued, are even more ‘powerful’ than any other person in the land. They decide to lavish and perhaps waste states’ resources and federal share on stupendous and sometimes irrational ventures. Governors control so much money that some of them now buy jets as toys. Most of them are competing when it comes to the class of jets.
From records, no state in Nigeria receives less than N4 billion monthly from the federation account. Also, most of the states are making huge sums from their internally generated revenue (IGR) and other sources.
State governments’ craze for private jets is cause for concern. Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State on October 7, 2012, acquired a Bombardier Global 5000 jet with registration number N565RS for the state government. The jet was said to have been bought at the sum of $45.7 million, which is equivalent to about N7.4 billion. In 2012, the state’s Embracer Legacy 600 jet was traded off to the Cross River State government. Recall that in 2005, former governor of the state, Peter Odili bought two aircraft. One is an air ambulance and the other a private jet. The aircraft were procured in the name of the Rivers State government.
In June 2011, the Akwa Ibom State government bought a $45 million jet. The state-of-the-art aircraft with the number N224BH was manufactured in 2011.
Former governor of Delta State, James Onanefe Ibori was also enmeshed in a private jet case. At the moment, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is battling with the chairman of Bi-Courtney Wale Babalakin and others. They were charged N3.4 billion through Mauritius for ex-Delta State governor, Ibori to buy a challenger jet.
Elsewhere in Bauchi State, former governor Ahmed Muazu acquired aircraft for N3 billion. Taraba State Governor Danbaba Suntai also crashed the state-owned Cessna 28 aircraft into a farm near the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depot in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
Besides the purchase of these aircraft, most state governments have embarked on the construction of airports and airstrips. Even some states that are battling with road challenges have demonstrated their rather selfish mission of constructing private airstrips.
I cannot claim ignorance of the importance of travels and tours by the governors and other government functionaries. States acquiring aircraft to me is not wrong in itself but certain considerations must not be shoved aside. A society is defined by its priorities. A society must be able to weigh alternatives, choices and wants. But beyond these theories, there is the need to apply wisdom in our dealings.
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What is the justification for such outrageous expenditure on jets when the people are riddled with poverty? In states where the majority of the people are feeding hand to mouth and where living daily has been an up-heal task, ‘wasting’ millions of dollars on private aircraft is rather unwise, selfish and uncalled for. Some of these states have continued to cry against the injustices of the Federal Government because of the sharing of oil money.
What is the direct or even indirect bearing of these jets on the people? If the dollars used in one instance for the purchase of a private jet are diverted to poverty alleviation, employment generation, wealth creation and infrastructure facelift, won’t there be remarkable impacts on the people who own the money? In these states, many industries have closed down due to neglect and an unfavourable business environment. The majority of the people, especially those in the hinterlands don’t have access to water, electricity and other basic needs.
The state of schools in most of the communities is nothing but pathetic as the structures have become weak, out of date and could be classified as ‘death traps.’ Most areas of the economy are begging for attention whereas our governors are busy channelling monies to where they are not needed.
We must spare a thought on the use of these jets. Ordinarily, the jets should be for the use of governors and perhaps other functionaries for necessary trips. But this is not the case as recent events suggest.
In most cases, the jets are for the use of the governors, their families and whoever the governors deem fit to fly them. We have seen from recent experiences where states’ jets have been given to friends and associates of the governors for use during burial ceremonies, weddings and other occasions.
These jets are used to carry dignitaries to and fro on occasions without anybody daring to know how state resources are used. I am not an aviation expert but from my investigations, maintaining an aircraft costs much. It is not about buying jets alone that counts, the states incur a lot in maintaining these aircraft. Taking care of the pilots and crew members costs much. Also, the costs of aviation fuel and hanger charges are causes for concern.
Sometimes, the rebuilding of engines consumes a lot of money. Some accounts say that it takes nothing less than $80,000 monthly to pay a pilot. Also, it takes nothing less than $500,000 to keep an aircraft in a year. When all these figures are put together, one could imagine how much that is being taken from our treasuries in the name of maintaining aircraft used by our governors.
Of serious note is that monies meant for such purchase of aircraft are not usually budgeted. I have always posited that most state governments operate without budgets. A situation where some governors present their budgets towards the end of the first quarter of the year suggests that our system is fraught with unimaginable and absurd happenings.
For members to have allowed such irresponsible expenditure there may have been backhand deals or the lawmakers are simply bereft of ideas and are cohorts. This goes to show that the Houses of Assembly are still dependent and are at the mercy of state governors. Insane societies, such stupendous spending would have been subjected to rigorous and sound debates.
In fact, with our rather appalling situation here, buying jets will not be an issue for the lawmakers to debate.
Stanley Ibeku is a postgraduate student at the Africa Regional Centre for Information Science, University of Ibadan
