Our dear Reps’ precious gift

It should have just been ‘America, Their America’ but in today’s world called a ‘global village’, we are all watching ourselves live, and we see one another’s nakedness. J. P. Clark-Bekederemo left Princeton University midway into an unfinished scholarship and wrote America, Their America in 1964 to laugh at his experience in the country. He also didn›t fail to laugh at the Americans’ very poor knowledge of other cultures and their pride in this ignorance. But America will not leave our Nigeria for Nigerians because we are now in one village. That is why the smoke raised by some of the activities in the build-up to the November presidential election in the USA is stinging our eyes here. The noise of the election is rancorous enough in our ears, and now, the hoopla from the election hullabaloo has been justifiably exacerbated by that unfortunate failed attempt on Mr. Donald Trump›s life. Trump was shot at during a Republican presidential rally at Butler in Pennsylvania and he was very fortunate to have been saved by “God or luck”.

So, because we are in the same ‹village›, the smell of the Americans› fart is polluting the entire village even though the Democrats there, represented by President Joe Biden, are battling its varying effects the most. Well, let the Americans bear their Trump and their Biden, we have our own many troubles in our corner of the village. The Americans are lucky because they have successfully built strong, enduring and working institutions. So when they have a tramp or a Trump or a Biden to deal with, the established institutions would take charge.

In Nigeria, we don›t have such luxury. Our politicians are our institutions, they constitute the various shrines and temples upon which all our daily libations are poured. The institutions in Nigeria are merely by name and policy statements. When they want to work, the Nigerian institutions are what the strong men – our principalities and powers – say they should be and how. In Nigeria, it is often common to note that when the dog eats excreta, the goat will end up with rotten teeth. That is why the members of the House of Representatives have been expecting Nigerians to rise in unanimous applause of their monumental decision to ‹dash us› fifty percent of their salaries for a whopping six months.

Our honourable members, insulated in their fertile House of Representatives, gave us the gift on Thursday. It was something from the depth of their hearts and pockets to all of us suffering Nigerians. They have shown that they are feeling what we are feeling on the rough streets and prancy markets. While they will suffer the utmost inconvenience of that humongous gesture for six whole months, we are expected to break into a boisterous dance to welcome such wonderful, unmatched philanthropy.

St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was the one who charged humans, those the Bible says are blessed with a heart of flesh, to “give, give till it hurts.” Perhaps, our dear Reps’ action was because they peeled off their insulation temporarily to feel a little bit of, and understand what actually is going on in the life of the ordinary citizens who are also their constituents. However, unlike what Mother Theresa advised, the members of the House of Representatives did their giveaway out of some other reasons that appear parochial. What they did was not out of altruism. From their motion of “urgent national importance”, the Reps thrust the half-salary gift in the hands of Nigerians so we can allow them to breathe. They do not want Nigerians to protest against the hardship that is ravaging the country. They are taking these frantic steps to dissuade Nigerians from expressing themselves by taking to the streets. If there were no threats of street protests; if there was no fear of the possible Kenya situation in Nigeria; if there was continued docility and mum on the biting situation, there would not have been this move by the House of Representatives. The Yoruba refer to that kind of gift as something given to the witches to let us be… some unworthy sacrifice.

The monthly salary of each member of the House of Representatives is put at N600,000. There are 360 of them from all over the country. So, Nigerians expect the lawmakers to shed N300,000 each for six months. When the N1.8 million is multiplied by the six months they have given, there is an expectation that N648 million would be added to the national coffers. Who determines the wages of the Nigerian legislature? How much is the national minimum wage again? What percentage of N300,000 is the new national minimum wage of N70,000? How far from N600,000 is N70,000, the newly-approved minimum wage? These questions serve as a pointer to why ordinary Nigerians do not trust those Nigerians with the leash of the country.

There are questions also on how much are the allowances of the members of the House of Representatives per month. A former Speaker of the House, Mr. Yakubu Dogara gave an insight into a recent angry outburst. He said that Nigerian lawmakers were not receiving jumbo pay as trumpeted by the citizenry. He said his allowance as the Speaker of the House was nothing more than a paltry N25million, which he said he didn’t even spend because “everything that came to that account was used to cater to the needs of my constituents.” From what Mr. Former Speaker Dogara said, there cannot be any justification in the calls for transparency and accountability among public officials in the country. He warned that we should give the lawmakers “a breathing space.”

Well, let us still thank the Reps for doing something. A Greek gift is dangerous but it is still a gift. I think we should praise the effort of the person who picked up the sword because there are those among us who can›t pick even a knife.

But it is interesting how they would want to shake our hands with their clenched fists.

While we flounder in our thoughts, we should not forget to ask what would be the contribution of their ‘senior brothers’ in the Senate would bring to the table. Now that our Reps have made their own contribution to our national feeding allowance, what do the senators have in the pipeline for Nigerian poor masses? They should let us know as soon as possible because we are approaching the time set by the intending protesters. If the matter is of ‘urgent national importance’ to the Reps, it shouldn’t be far from that in the reckoning of the senators.

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