Our austerity; Their opulence

Creative writers can be very witty and stunningly insightful. On one particular occasion, the Somali writer, Nurudeen Farah was asked about the pains of exile. In his disarming response, Farah succeeded in turning the table by contending that he was not in exile. Rather and according to him, it was the Somali strong-man that was in exile.

In comparative terms, much of the foregoing could well be the status of our politicians and other members of the Nigerian elite.

And I tell you, it is very easy to be in exile, even though most of us are physically present here.

On this note, consider the life-style of this big man who lives in leafy Ikoyi and works in the expatriate bubble of Victoria Island and chauffeurs his children to school in the same area. Meanwhile, he hops to the equally serene Abuja for the occasional business trip, and for good measure, lives it up in a swanky five-star hotel in the capital city. And for the Sunday lunch, exotic places like the Southern Sun, Sheraton in Abuja and the like come in handy. With such an insular life style, exile is the code-word.

Incidentally, the recently released and disowned (?) budget speaks eloquently to this trinity: of exile, opulence and austerity.

Or how else can we really view the rather gargantuan provisions in the budget – particularly as these relate to the presidency. It is instructive here to appreciate that the vote for domestic spending has been put at 1.7 billion naira. Meanwhile, in the self-same budget, 4.8 billion naira has been earmarked for the clinic at Aso Rock. One can easily compare this with the budget of say, the entire Lagos University Teaching Hospital. As someone has remarked, our leaders have a way of creating exclusive zones for themselves to the detriment of the rest of us. In a sense and at the risk of sounding farfetched, this culture of well-heeled, isolated entitlement could well have been a carryover from the colonial days. At that point in time, some form of apartheid existed in Nigeria.  Public facilities were rigorously separated such that, some were designated exclusively for the white colonial masters. While the less-fancied ones were of course set aside for the natives i.e. our fathers, grandfathers and their wives. Thus, what we may well be seeing is an unconscious replication of this repulsive culture. Even then, we digress or appear to do so.

Therefore, we may as well also go on to reveal that another sub-head reveals that 3.9 billion naira has also been earmarked for the renovation of the Aso Villa. Yes, rub your eyes it is true.  And when you are still gasping, you may as well also take this in: there is also a 3.6 billion naira vote for the acquisition of BMW cars. I want to sigh here. Was this the change that we were promised? Probably so. This is because, what is not readily appreciated is that change is indeed an open–ended phenomenon. It could be positive change or negative change. I hate to think of it, yet it certainly looks as if Nigerians have been sold another false dawn. What is being said here becomes more reinforced by the fact that the opulence at the presidential villa has been effectively replicated at other levels/of Government. At the dawn of this (new?) dispensation there was a lot of talk about the need to cut down on the mind-boggling privileges of our legislators. But till date, it is numbing to point out that nothing has changed. The privileges as I write and as you read, remain intact.

On this note, I wish to crave the indulgence of the readers for reeling out figures like this. This is because such a gaggle of figures have a way of killing the mind. But then, the reader is urged to persevere. The real intent is to show that while claims are put out that Nigeria is broke, the political class continues to roll in the laps of stinking and revolting opulence. Thus, what we really have on our hands is a clear case of: our austerity; their opulence.

On this note, it is important to appreciate that as regards accommodation, each senator gets 4 million naira while each House of Representative member gets 3.97 million. As vehicle loan, each senator takes 8 million while House of Reps members collect 7.94 million. Meanwhile, the furniture allowance for each senator is 6 million and 5.956 million naira for House of Reps members.

Please note that severance gratuity for Senators for a four-year stint is 6.09 million naira, for Reps it is 5.956 million. Other allowances include those for motor vehicle fueling and maintenance for which Senators are entitled to 1.52 million naira each and their House of Representative counterparts pocket 1, 489 million naira. For constituencies, Senators get 5 million, Reps, 1.985 million, and for domestic allowance senators get 1.519 million each while House of Representatives members take 1.488 million naira.

Meanwhile, please wait for this: our plundered country also has to pay these legislators to rest. Thus, recess allowance for Senators, stands at 202,640 naira and 198,521 for HRM.

Even then, the binge is not over. Senators get ₦607,920 for utilities as against ₦397,042 for (HRM). For newspaper/periodicals, ₦303,960 goes to each senator, and ₦297,781 to each (HRM). House maintenance allowance for senators is 101,320, while for HRM it is ₦99,260.

Still, this is not the end of the road for this ravaged country. Members of the Executive also receive mind-blowing salaries and allowances. It is instructive to note here that our lawmakers are not the only public office holders whose allowances far outstrip their salaries. Ministers and Presidential aides are also entitled to various allowances, which are more than six times higher than their annual salaries. The ministers and presidential aides are entitled to 15 different allowances. For now, we must have to stop here. Still the point has been made.  When they say that the times are hard, we all know better.  Although the colonial master appears to have gone; the post colonial master has since replaced him.

Kayode Soremeku