By Kunle Sanyaolu. (The Guardian 17th June 2007).

THIS country could be 10 times better in terms of concrete development within a couple of years, if the governments of the day devote just a little bit of their time and energy to the Nigerian people.

What they do now is simply to focus almost entirely on themselves. If only they could spend a tiny fraction of that time to the common man and common good, eldorado will not be far from here. Their selfishness and greed is evidenced by regular news over the past two weeks, about their plans for their housing, transportation, entertainment, inconvenience and severance among others. One of the latest is the federal government’s plan to procure N3.7 billion car loan for federal legislators. Under the scheme, a Senator will get N8.1m, while a member of the House of Representatives goes away with N7.9m loan. Another recent example is the upward review of basic salaries of top public office holders, including the President, governors, ministers, lawmakers, judges, special advisers, commissioners and a host of others. A cursory look at the allowances of federal lawmakers reveals however that the so-called proposed loans by the Federal government are nothing short of free gift, with interest, to the lawmakers. Each of the lawmakers is entitled to monthly car maintenance (N126,650 for senators and N124,075 for representatives); yearly wardrobe allowance (N500,000 a piece), constituency allowance (senators N5m, Reps about N2m). Annual utility allowance (N400,000 a piece), annual entertainment allowance (N600,000) and severance allowance (N6m). It means that in a year, a senator earns at least N8 million from these allowances to pay for the loan. But he still has huge allowances for housing, transportation, furniture etc. And of course, his severance allowance is intact. The picture is almost the same for members of the House of Representatives.

Members of the National Assembly are only 469, compared with a national population of 150 million. It is not even logical to begin to work out the percentage of federal lawmakers to the national population. Yet, the salaries, allowances and other emoluments going to the lawmakers must be a sizeable portion of financial resources available to the rest of the nation. This is neither equitable nor just. And it is far from being fair. The country is never going to make anything near progress because a lot of the money meant to create jobs, build and maintain infrastructure and eradicate poverty is being tailored only at meeting the exclusive taste of a select few. It is not new of course, but it is certainly getting worse. Every beneficiary of this largesse is aware of it. If not for the media, the rest of the nation probably would not know. The people do not need any further proof that their lawmakers are living easy, opulent and ostentatious life. Enough evidence of that abound in the cars they ride, the houses they build, their dressing and so on, all within minutes of their assumption of offices.

With the reported new salary structure for top political public office holders, the first thought that came to one’s mind is that these people have again awarded jumbo salaries to themselves. During the expired tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the government fixed and reviewed salaries for public officials. Another review has just taken place and although it was initiated by the immediate past-government, members of the new government will enjoy it. By the new package, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, now in the person of Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, will earn N3,514,705 as his annual basic salary, up from N1,405,882.00 recommended in 2000 by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). The Vice President gets N3, 031,572.50 up from N1, 212,629. The Chief Justice gets N3,363,972.50; Ministers N2,026,400; Senate President N2,484,242.50; Speaker of the House of Representatives N2,477,100; State Governors N2,223,705 and the deputies N2,112,215. The largesse extends to other top public office holders. The last time salaries of public office holders were reviewed was in 2002. The RMAFC believes that package is no longer realistic in view of developments such as rising price of essential commodities. The commission’s chairman, Mr. Nwadala Wogu explained that at the time the 2002 package was being put together, pump price of petrol was N16 per litre. It was N65 per litre when the current package was being prepared, meaning that the new package could have contained higher figures had the current level of inflation, including the N75 per litre of petrol, been taken into consideration. At least, the RMAFC admitted that there is inflation in the country and that frequent increases of fuel prices contribute largely to it. That is much more than the Central Bank will concede when it stated that increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) from five to 10 per cent would not aggravate inflation.

Ordinarily, upward salary review should be seen as normal, not just to correspond with rising inflation and cost of living, but also to reflect an improvement in standard of living. A person living in a one-room apartment but with a family of three or four can move into a three-bedroom apartment, if his salary is increased. This is providing however that inflation is not moving up at a rate to render the salary increase nugatory. The problem with Nigeria is that while public office holders are wont to quickly adjust their emoluments to reflect the prevailing economic circumstances, they are less eager to take similar measures for the larger citizenry. We can always recall the tug of war between government and civil servants whenever the latter demand salary increase. If and when government buckles to the demand, it whittles down the increase considerably under one guise or another, leaving only a paltry for the poor servants. Government officials thereby show insensitivity to the plight of the average Nigerian, while displaying greed and selfish tendencies. In addition, the salaries public office holders award to themselves mark an unfair and uneven distribution of wealth, to the detriment of the gross majority of Nigerians. This is so not just because the amounts are very high compared with the salary of the average Nigerian whether in the public or private sector. It is high also because the public office holders enjoy regular and high allowances that are not ordinarily available to public servants in general. Nigerians are not deceived by the fact that it is the RMAFC that is preparing and packaging the salaries and allowances. The fact is that the commission’s officers are appointed by the public office holders and therefore have to do their masters’ bidding.

If the truth must be told, public office holders are not living in true reflection of the poverty in the land. Recently the legislators of the National Assembly worked out their allowances (furniture, housing and transportation) for four years and awarded several millions to themselves. Each senator is said to be entitled to N57m while member of the House of Representatives is said to be worth about N47m in allowances. This is to cover a term of four years in which the Constitution earmarked 181 days of sitting in a year, with a minimum requirement that each legislator sits for 60 days in a year. For such lawmakers to gross so much in four years (this is probably outside a jumbo severance package they awarded themselves) is grossly out of proportion with the reality of our economy. It is incongruous with the fact that the average civil servants who work for 35 years can hardly boast of a couple millions as his terminal benefits. Legislative work is supposed to be part time, but it is proving to be a lot more lucrative than full time work. The only effect this situation can bring to the country is to encourage corruption at the civil service level and to stamp political contest as a do-or-die affair. Unless the trend of helping oneself officially and plunging the country’s treasury is quickly checked, Nigerians can forget development of infrastructure, roads, schools hospitals etc.

This is yet another opportunity for President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to assure Nigerians that this country will not drift under him. There is no point in his keeping quiet and pretending that things are happening through due process. Nigerians will remember him for his action or inaction in the face of obvious adversity they face in watching a few people corner the country’s resources.

By Adeola Aderounmu. 

I love Nigeria and I think Nigeria it the greatest country in the world. But I am still at a lose how Nigeria has refused to find her bearing more than 46 years after independence. I want Nigeria to excel and this is why I have always picked on the Politicians because they are very selfish and unpatriotic. Happy reading!  

Nigeria is a country of 36 states and a federal capital territory called Abuja. It is no longer news that Nigeria is a country lacking in quality leadership and progressive vision. In addition, the low standard of living and the desperate means of survival in Nigeria reveals much about the inefficiency of the federal, state and local government tiers of governance.

I am not an erudite scholar on the history and geography of Nigeria but I should be able to discuss a few points on the burden of governance in my dearest country, Nigeria. 

With a population of over 140million people spread over a substantial land mass, more than 500 000 square miles, one can quickly come to terms with the burden that will be associated with the effectiveness of governance in Nigeria. This country is not only large, it is also distinctively diverse in languages and culture that a curious mind may begin to question the existence of the geographical entity called Nigeria.  The size of a country is not a determinant for progress anyway.

One thing is sure, Nigeria should remain one country. In so doing, the diversity can be used as a “plus” strength in many ways. What has been lacking over the decades since independence is proper planning and selfless service. Greed and corruption has eaten deep into the system that it became difficult to see the beauty and glory of this country and the heights that it could have attained if the proper brains had been in power.  

Over the years, what we have seen at the federal level has been complete idiots running shameless shows and recyling themselves in a cyle of idiocy. What we have also failed to point out over the years is that we have governance that is actually closer to the people than the federal government. In Nigeria, we have state governments and local governments. What has been the overall impact of the local government especially as it is the closest to the people?

 

I remember when Obasanjo’s militarised uncivilian government started in 1999. Very early in the day, we could see with our eyes how local government councilors or other officials became rich overnight. They quickly bought or built houses in the choicest part of the town. In no time, some of them have stolen enough money that they began to target higher political posts in their homelands especially. Suddenly, some remembered for example, that they are not actually Lagosians! The integration in Nigeria is unfortunately incomplete.

This is true also for state level of governance; politicians became rich and important in the twinkle of an eye as soon as they got into government. But the people who voted for them (the votes were rigged in many instances) became poorer.

Over the years, attention has been focused on the government at the center because of the excess power concentrated at that point. Many of our parents and grandparents are still convinced that Nigeria did better when there were no states but regions. Many people from western Nigerian thought they fared better under the old western region. The civil war has been used as an excuse for the formation of states after states and then local government after local government. What do we have now? We have proliferations that cannot be supported by statistics and logic. They call it Nigerian Politics or Home Grown Democracy. 

Some other people can discuss about the influence of politics on the uneven proliferation of local councils. What bothers me is how to draw the lines between what to expect from the local governments, the state governments and the federal government when it comes to reaching the expectations of the citizens. 

For example, we have seen where roads become deteriorated and absolutely impassable while these tiers of government continue to wait for another to fix the road. In Nigeria today, the common people don’t know who is responsible for what road, all they know is that many road have become death traps. Trunk A, Trunk B and Trunk C road are all jargons in the ears of the helpless masses. Tell those slangs to the winds and let someone stop using cement to fix the roads in Festac Town! What kind of nonsense is that?

I am still wondering who should have taken care of the National stadium in Lagos. I am confused if the federal government left it in care of the Lagos State Government or if the Lagos state government left it in care of Surulere local government. What we know of this formerly glorious site is that it is now like a den of robbers. It is desolate and it lies in ruins. This type of thing shows the recklessness of our administrators. They are simply bad managers. Maintenance culture was deleted from the Nigerian dictionary 47 years ago.  

Another obvious thing with the local government especially is that it seems that many of them have been created, just like Nigeria herself, without the thought of how they can run themselves. Their economic viabilities were not a consideration when they were created. In how many ways can the thoughtlessness of our leaders be expressed? You can get sick before you finish counting that.   

Everything in Nigeria is politicized including the number of people that we are. No one knows exactly how many people live in Nigeria. Lagos state government has a different census figure for how many people that live in Lagos compared to the figures released by the federal government. Isn’t it logical that Kano cannot have more people than Lagos after a state was carved out of it? I thought the era of counting goats and cows as humans were over.

On a lighter note, I think there are more people at Oshodi at 6pm than all the people and cattle in Kano put together. Has anyone tried to stand on Oshodi Bridge and count the oceans of human heads from all corners? Omg! There is also a joke that humans and ghosts trade together at Oshodi market. Maybe that is why Lagos has less people than Kano. There are probably more ghosts and less people in Lagos!

  

But seriously, local governments are created in Nigeria, for example, because of reasons such as first lady living in that area, powerful godfather wanted it so, funny millionaires want to show off, influential politicians will have their ways, important thugs threatened actions, ex-military administrator desired it and other crazy reasons. There are no administrative plans or functional models to look up to. Just like all the states government, the local governments are also like beggars picking up the crump and pieces that stray from the almighty Aso Rock Table.

In very bad revenue generation approaches, the poor masses are unnecessarily levied for almost everything except the air they breathe. The state and local government see this as a survival strategy. It is good that the people should pay for the services that are rendered by the state and local governments but the manner and approaches should take into consideration the economic realities that stare the people in their faces. Indeed with the money that are been squeezed out of traders annually, they deserve better stalls or shopping malls rather than the ugly environments in which many businesses are transacted.  

I was shocked to my marrow on the recent generator charges in Lagos. I hope that was a joke to feel the pulse of the people. I think the state government should take its power generation mechanisms more seriously and end the blackout in Lagos first before tackling people who are using generators to generate power for their businesses? Why are the politicians so senseless and heartless because they want to loot money to build their own mansions? I will not be surprised that they have already decided how to share this “expected income”: thieves!  

Generators do pollute the environment for sure but why not take away the need to use it in the first place? Does the Lagos state government think that anyone likes to use generators? If they cannot provide electricity to the people, they should ask Obasanjo to refund all the money that he spent on NEPA for 8 years without any slight improvement. Obasanjo left NEPA  as PHCN and made it worse than he met it notwithstanding that he allocated more money to it perhaps more than anyone else in the history of Nigeria and Africa. If we get that money back, we can give it to people who have the brains to fix our electricity problem and then there will be no more generators. 

In Nigeria, the burden of governance is huge. We have spent too much time to blame the federal government but I think all the tiers of government are to be blame. Worse still, in the absence of a neutral regulatory body to monitor corruption and prevent it…nobody seems to care! I don’t like the EFCC because it selects those to nail. EFCC has not told anyone why past Head of states are still enjoying our loots! The legislative arm of government is also corrupt. They always cry for one allowance or the other and they think the governor, president or council chairman as the case may be is stingy when they don’t get a car each as presents. The Judiciary is one of our hopes but with such lukewarm attitude and indecisiveness sometimes, the stake for our hopes revealed by the burden of governance in Nigeria is not only hanging, it is swinging as well.

May the Glory of Nigeria come, soon!  

Adeola Aderounmu.

The situation in Nigeria requires a very serious appraisal. There is an urgent need for Nigeria to move forward progressively. It is very unfortunate that Nigeria continues to have unintelligent inputs from those who run the systems and all that seems like good policies never get beyond what I call “textbook versions”. There are hardly implementations in Nigeria and so words and promises have never been met with due actions.

A lot has been written on how Nigeria can move forward but still nothing has happened especially in the last 8 years. The implication is that any new legitimate administration that comes in next will still be saddled with abundance of criticisms for some time to come. The next 4 years will be critical to the future of Nigeria and whatever happens at the next elections whenever they are conducted will be a very interesting milestone in the history of Nigeria.

In the meantime, I wish to tackle Mr. Iwu and Mr. Obasanjo and challenge them on their reckless utterances concerning the 2007 widely condemned “election”.  To cover up for their ineptitudes and very unacceptable shortcomings, these 2 men have continued to use every available opportunity to tell the world that there are no perfect elections. Indeed and in truth, many of us will agree with them only because 1, 2 or more things may go wrong at every election due to human errors not because the election is programmed to fail.

What happened in the 2007 criminalised “election” in Nigeria did not meet the lowest or minimum requirements for such to be called an election.  Everything was wrong with the “elections” of April 14 and 21. It is as if these 2 men lack the basic comprehension of what happened at the polls and other places in Nigeria in connection with the voting exercises on these 2 dates. Obasanjo and Iwu seemed to us me as men with the heart of stones: men without conscious thoughts. Why are some leaders and politicians so thoughtless?

Mr. Obasanjo and Mr. Iwu are not only incompetent; they are also incorrigible and obstinate. They have failed to reason with intelligent minds that what they did in 2007 is not acceptable in the 21st century. It is a monumental shame and an insult to millions of intelligent Nigerians at home and abroad. As a matter of fact, these are men whose actions and comments regarding the “elections” calls for investigations  into murder, arson, underage voting, assault, molestation, deceit, lies, fraud, wastages and negligence of duties among other atrocities and vices committed before, during and after the “elections”. With the passing time, one just got tired to read about the reckless statements of the custodians of the worthless “elections” in Nigeria.

I wish to counter and very strongly too, the statements that there are no perfect elections anywhere in the world.  I think it is a duck excuse on the matter at stake. I will draw a few examples to drive home my points. In my own opinion, if an election has some shortcomings that may perhaps not have any effect on the final outcome, I think that it has the attributes of a perfect election. Furthermore if there are adequate regulatory mechanisms to detect errors or shortcomings, then an imperfect election can be made perfect by fixing the problem or simply calling for re-election. 

For instance, in Sweden you can cast your vote at some designated centers like the post office before the election date. There is also the use of “voting by messenger” for disabled people.  In the 2002 elections in Sweden, there were only 3 known instances of irregularities. The first was misuse of “voting by messenger” where 2 social democratic election workers acted as messengers/witnesses for some voters. The witnesses are supposed to be neutral persons. The total number of votes affected by this was 18.

The second instance was at a home for elderly people where some social democratic election workers presented a voting place for advanced voting, but only ballot papers for the Social Democratic Party were available. Finally, the third instance was one polling station where one of the tables had voting envelopes already containing ballots for the Social Democratic party. None of these instances were initiated by the Social Democratic Party. They were solitary decisions of the individual election workers.

These anomalies of the 2002 elections have been analysed by the Swedish Election Review Board and it has been unequivocally stated that they had no effect on the final outcome of the election. The Election Review Board may declare an election void and order a new election, either nationally or in a specific constituency, if an irregularity may be presumed to have affected the outcome of the election. Even the rival parties acknowledged that the incident did not have any significant effects on the outcomes. The control mechanism in the Swedish electoral systems detected the faults, and they were dealt with according to predefined procedures. In this write up, I hold the view that these minor occurrences cannot take away the perfection of that election or that of the control mechanisms.

To my knowledge also, in the recent elections in Sweden (2006) I have not heard of any shortcomings. I state without doubts that that election was perfect.  In the buildup to the election however, the Liberal Youth Association (the youth organization associated with the Liberal Party “Folkpartiet”) was discovered to have hacked into the computer system of the ruling Social Democratic Party. This is merely an issue of misuse of technological advancements and criminal investigations have since been conducted on the incident. The youth acted on their own accord and their delinquent activities have no bearing whatsoever on the wish or mindsets of the electorates and the FolkPartiet regarding the electoral issues at stake in 2006. This unexpected intrusion had no significance on the manifestos of the various parties. In 2006, as a result of the coalition of the rival parties, the Social Democratic Party was voted out of power. The election was clean and accepted by all.

Minor human errors do occur during elections. Does this render the election imperfect in line with the suggestion of Mr. Iwu and Mr.Obasanjo? The answer is NO.  The anomalies of the Nigerian “elections” were not minor anyway! It has been adjudged as the worst election in the history of mankind.  An election becomes perfect when the errors (if any) are detected by control mechanisms and rectified, if necessary by re-elections. On the real Election Day in Sweden in 2006, there were no riggings, no fighting, no killings, no intimidation, no late voting, no absenteeism for electoral officers, no stuffing of ballot boxes, no delay in arrival of electoral materials, no stealing of ballot boxes, no underage voting, no threats to human lives and no police or armed personnel on the streets. Ballot boxes did not get into homes of lawless citizens. What I saw, experienced and participated in was a perfect voting day exercise in 2006.

Many will be quick to indicate the Florida case and the Bush Family. Again, I agree that there were serious irregularities in the US Election that brought George Bush (Jnr) to power. I acknowledge that that was not a perfect election and as a matter of fact the United States (to those who know) is highly hypocritical as a nation. One hopes that Nigeria will never look forward to the failures of a country such as the US. That will not be a parameter to the success that still eludes Nigeria as a nation. I state clearly here that Nigeria does not need to use failure as a yardstick to measure her own progress. The world has moved on and Nigeria cannot afford to stay behind in what the Mr. Obasanjo calls the “electoral culture of Nigeria since 1959”.

I challenge anyone who has detected anything wrong with the Swedish election in 2006 or 2002 (beyond the allegations that were cited here) to come forward and state their course. A perfect election will be that whose results reflect the wish of the people and the losers have no grudges in congratulating the winners.  A perfect election is characterized by peaceful display of voters’ lists, peaceful voting and respects for the rights of everyone. In some countries democracy is no longer a journey, it is a destination. They have arrived and it seems that nothing will shake the foundations on which these democracies are built. There has not been any major report yet that could taint the perfection of the French election which was held in 2007, a few days after the show of shame in Nigeria. In recent weeks, there have been acceptable elections in some African countries.

Nigeria is a country that many Africans looked up to on the African continent and beyond and therefore she needs restoration to that enviable position as a true giant. The annulled 1993 election in Nigeria was a success while the 2007 election was a charade. In the future, we look forward to an election that will further portray decency and civility. Nigerians need to be able to choose their own leaders without being under duress or aggression. I look forward to the proper enfranchisement of the populace. My hope for Nigeria also lies in the evolution of individuals who will discuss issues rather than personality and individual egos. My eternal hope is that a time should come in Nigeria when all Nigerians can describe elections as free, fair, successful and perfect. Democracy cannot be an everlasting journey. It is a system and it works for many countries. This is the 21st century! Nigeria, the sleeping giant of Africa should wake up with the heartbeat and conscience of a role model.

These are my personal opinions and this is the way that I see it! 

Adeola Aderounmu

 Do Africans know that the development of Africa beyond what it is today rest solely on the shoulders of Africans? It has become a ridicule really to see African leaders looking up to what has been called the developed countries for salvation of the ugly situations that they have put the African continent into.  

It is very unfortunate that African leaders have used their corruption and ineptitudes to confine the continent to a lag growth phase of perpetual comatose. Now, they are stooping and begging some units called G-8 to help eradicate poverty or HIV. This is part of the ridicule. 

I am beginning to wonder that perhaps Africa would have been a better place if snow does fall on our heads. Perhaps we would have seen the need for technological advancement and our leaders may not have had the need to squander our wealth. The people may have been more vocal than they are now; imagine snow falling on a Nigerian road (characterized by pot-holes) for example and no one is clearing them after 24 hours! Imagine that kind of scenario and a senator pocketing 50 million naira before assuming office. I think the situation would have been different! 

Imagine those helpless market women trying to sell their commodities while the snow is falling. Imagine the policeman taking care of traffic in heavy downpour of snow. With temperatures at the negative end, I think such duties will be considered suicidal. If we had snow in West Africa for example, maybe there will be decent markets and supermarkets where we can shop for food and materials. If the traffic lights are sustained and power supply is constant in Nigeria, we will need policemen on the streets only in emergency situations.   

The absence of snow is not an indicator for “underdevelopment” or third world as African countries are commonly addressed. The greatest single cause of underdevelopment in many African countries is the lack of good governance. Africa is a continent of sit-tight leaders. On the African continent, you have a system that turns ordinary men into wolves as soon as they get to the helm of power. At that point, reasoning seems to depart from these men.  We can read stories and we can see for ourselves how some men have fought for the independence of their countries only to turn around and make slaves of their own people. From Zimbabwe to Nigeria, we see anguish and despair. We see how hopelessness has crept into the lives of people.  

Some African countries are devastated by war simply because of selfish interests, not for any moral or logic. Brothers killing brothers and neighbours eliminating neighbours in the name of tribes! There is a country in Africa that has been without any government for more than 10 years. What difference does it make anyway? Nigeria is governed and yet more than 70% of her 140m population is confined to life time poverty. That is a classic example of failure of governance for more than 40 years!

African leaders and politicians are the obstacles to growth and development in Africa. Majority of them steal money and loot public treasury. Many of them are bad managers and they have no clear vision of where they are taking the people.  

It is very wrong to start looking for help from ordinary unit called G-8 or an imaginary organisation called the International Community. To solve the problems of Africa, African leaders must look inward and begin a soul-searching adventure for their nations.  

Many African countries have fertile land for agriculture; how well have they used this to promote food production and eliminate hunger from the continent? Are Africans not tired of seeing the dehumanizing photos of their babies on NGO and SOS posters worldwide? What a cheap blackmail anyway?! 

The abundance of minerals in Africa cannot be matched by any other continent in the world. How many of these natural deposits have been used for the optimum purpose? Instead African leaders are behind the concept of blood diamond, an evil act that is corroborated by the same international community that they are running to. Are they too blind to see or too daft to reason? I felt sorry for Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka. He was trying to make a case about the selection (there was no election) that took place in Nigeria in April 2007. He met a brick wall at the US congress. I thought Soyinka should know that the US is more concerned about the oil in the Niger Delta than the progress of Nigerians! Did I hear “To hell with those niggers”!  

African intellectuals have continued to participate in the skilled migrant program and the visa lottery program of the developed countries. They have moved away in hundreds and thousands to continue to help the developed countries to develop further. Is it eternally impossible for Africa countries to create the enabling environment for the work force that they trained to stay put in Africa? Why can’t the Africa continent establish institutions that will match and compete with the ones that are used to lure their work force away under the disguise of research collaboration? Have African leaders not yet realized that the best brains in the world come from Africa but they are been utilized by the US and other fast-thinking nations?   

Why are African leaders so devilishly possessive materialistically? Why do they live in mansions and sentenced their fellow citizens to a life in slums? Why do they act like demigod? Why have most of them fail to use the resources of the continents to a good end? In my opinion, I think that the Africa and Africans should start looking for long term solutions to their man-made problems. The earlier we realized that help will not come from outside, the better for us. The sooner we realize that external help is receiving 10 dollars with the right hand through the front door and losing 50 dollars with the left hand through the back door, the better for our own good and that of our children. 

Africans should sit down and think deeply. The world has moved into the 21st century and we need to leave the Stone Age behind. We need a critical examination of our situations and a clear cut approach to our everlasting goals. Africa with the help of their leaders and intellectuals need to move away from “too much talk” to “non-stop action” until we reach the goals and further.   

Africa leaders should stop talking about G-8 and International community. The continent of Africa can be great on her own, but not in isolation from the rest of the world. What about promoting fair trade for our commodities? What about the oil rich countries using their oil resources and agriculture to boost their economy and standard of living and spreading the goodwill across? What about putting a stop to looting and then coughing out all stolen wealth and dedicate that to the good of all? It is possible that some individuals in Nigeria have more money than some state government. This implies that some people in Nigeria may have wealth that surpasses the budget of some smaller countries in Africa! I think this is another aspect of the whole ridicule.  

Some African leaders and politicians loot their national treasury and keep the monies in foreign countries like Switzerland. They make other developed countries richer and spread poverty and hopelessness on their own continent. Is it not possible for Africans to demand justice from those who misrule them and put them on trial for corruption especially?  

Has anyone been following the bad examples from Zimbabwe and Nigeria? All the past leaders that are corrupt in Nigeria are still breathing air of freedom and lavishing stolen wealth and yet some people eat only once a day or not at all. Zimbabwe is a delicate issue and it seems the problem is made complicated by the influence of the British. The sympathy is to the ordinary people of Zimbabwe, they are trapped between the devil and the Dead Sea.    

From Niger, to Ethiopia, to Eritrea, to the Gambia, to South Africa, to the sleeping giant-Nigeria, to the recuperating Liberia and Sierra Leone and to the North of Africa, we should all wake up and stop thinking that we cannot develop without the help of the developed countries. We need them as much as they need us to buy our goods and services on a fair trade level. We need them in the concept of the benefits of international trades, for multilateral co-operations and so on.  

What we don’t need is to go begging when we have not done our homework properly. There will be no need for begging when we do our homework. We don’t need the international musicians to sing into the ears of the unit called G-8. We can make Africa G50+ and we can make ourselves the envy of the world in no time if we define our purpose of existence with the concept of common good. The future of Africa depends on what we decide and what we allow our leaders to do or not do. What we must not allow them to do is to continue to play into the deceitful and invisible hands of the international community. Our hope lies within!            

Adeola Aderounmu

Way back in 2002, I have discussed extensively why politicians steal in an article that was published by the Guardian (September 9 2002).                                     

http://www.geocities.com/nigeriansinsweden/article1.htm

The story is still the same. Nothing has changed, instead the poor have become poorer. 

In less than one month after the new illegitimate governance came into existence in Nigeria, one can begin to count the addition to the members of the new billionaire club in Nigeria. The new members are the politicians who benefitted from the criminalized “selections” (there was no election) of 2007.

 

“Each Senator in Nigeria is getting as Furniture, Housing and Car Allowances a sum ofN53.7 million. A member of the House of Representatives gets N17. 9 million”.

 

As far as I am concern, this is another chapter of classic madness in Nigerian Politics. This is why our politics will always remain a do-or-die battle forever and ever until we make drastic changes by discussing what public service entails. This is systematic looting.  Stealing by tricks is a fundamental aspect of Nigerian politics. You get rich immediately you are in government and the alternative cost is that you push other people further down below the poverty line.

 

Groups of people who have not performed any duty and who are yet to settle down to work are already having their bank account fattened up. For the next 4 or 8 years, they will come up with one type of imbursement or the other plus their basic salary, they will live comfortable lives and they will travel round the world. They will be rich forever because they will cut from the national cake. It is not unexpected. It is a norm for Nigerian Home Grown Politics.

  

On the other hand, the masses will continue to suffer and grumble. Their votes do not count and their voices are forever silent in a ganged up modern slavery. I insist that there is slavery in Nigeria (Slavery without trade).

 

It is difficult to imagine why riches and rich people are worshipped in Nigeria. The consequences are very devastating for the common people. Sometimes I wonder if our politicians and their wicked accomplices sleep on more than one bed at night (if they sleep at all). I wonder if they use more than one towel at a time and if they eat more than 6 times a day. Do they watch 2 tvs at a go? Of course they can change their shoes and clothes but do they drive more than one car at a time or is it fanciful that all their children and wives add to the carbon monoxide in the environment?

 

What does a man need to live a decent life and why would he acquire so much that he would have unbelievable excess left after a natural or sudden death? Would it be wrong to spread the common good and let everyone benefit from the fruits of the land? Will it be wrong for those idiots to discuss issues for 4 weeks before they begin to fatten up their accounts?

 My heart is bleeding!