This may not be news to the older generation, but I read about it only a few days ago. The first and only Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had only 25 pounds in his account after serving our great country. And he had no personal house to show for all his labours in office. That should sound very strange to this generation of leaders. I had also read of a serving President of the United States of America borrowing money from his father because he was broke sometimes. But that is in America . In Nigeria , and in our days, it seems an anathema to occupy a public office and not earn a fantastic salary, and most often help yourself to public funds.

The unfolding case of the recently retired Inspector General of Police, Sunday Ehindero is a case in point. Although the investigations said to have been ordered by President Umar Musa Yar’Adua are still going on concerning what he did with the several billions of naira meant for his men and the Nigeria Police Force, we can almost hazard a guess as to what the conclusions will be. What gave him out is the millions of naira one of his aides was trying to move out of the Force Headquarters on his behalf after his retirement. It is almost certain that he meticulously followed the footsteps of his predecessor, Tafa Balogun, who was convicted for stealing over 17 billion naira belonging to the Force he presided over.

And these are two of the key men who helped former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, in prosecuting his anti-corruption campaign. It has even been rumoured that Obasanjo wanted Yar’Adua to keep Ehindero in office for at least three months after his own tenure. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. But it might just be more than a befitting reward for his infamous role in the botched elections.

It may not be so obvious, but I strongly believe that there is a divine finger that is moving the forces that have plundered this nation against one another. Or how else would a top police boss commit so much atrocity, without successfully covering his tracks? And why is Yar’Adua bent on probing Ehindero? Reports in one of the newspapers today have it that officers of the Police Force are threatening fire and brimstone if investigations into the case are muddled up.

Add this to the number of former state governors who are being quizzed right now by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for looting the treasuries of their respective states. One can only then conclude that the idea of selfless service has been lost on our leaders. Or maybe, they never really understood the principle of service before setting out to seek public office.

When the nation was shouting rape and murder over the ridiculous furniture allowances our federal legislators were allocating to themselves in the last dispensation, little did we know that they were going to secretly increase the 2.5 and 3.5 million naira by an additional 1 millions naira. And when it came to the open, only their leadership suffered the consequence. Yet there were people in the two legislative arms who had conscience. They must have asked at some point to be allowed to serve the country and her people.

There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigerian public officials are among the best paid people in the country. All you need to do is consider how much the average Nigerian earns a month. In a country where some still earn as little as N10,000 (or less), even public officials in the developed world will be green with envy when they see the remuneration of our so-called public officials. Below is a story, with figures, released in the June edition of the Economic Confidential magazine.

NEW REMUNERATION FOR LEGISLATORS IN NIGERIA

As outgoing members of the National and State Houses of Assembly receive huge amount, more than 150% increase in Severance Allowance, as parting gift, the new legislative members also at all tiers will be receiving millions of Naira as their new salaries and allowances which have been increased by the constitutional body responsible for their remuneration, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). By the report of the Commission, the package is with immediate effect (February 2007). These detailed tables are exclusively brought to you by Economic Confidential, factual, authoritative and accessible monthly magazine. More detail will soon be provided. You may also view packages for members of judiciary and executive arms as provided in our April edition from this link: Jumbo Pay

Do you see why every election in Nigeria will necessarily have to be a do-or-die affair? And what is the qualification of the average public official to warrant such bloated remuneration? Why should school drop-outs earn so much while some PhD holders are roaming the streets, jobless? If our public officials do not steal while in office, I believe they earn enough to be comfortable. Yet what we have seen over the years is that they pledge to serve selflessly but look for ways to milk the country dry. That is why they ride the best cars and are able to send their children to the best schools in the world. That is why they can also afford to fly abroad for treatment if they bite their tongue while eating.

Can we for once have people who know what leadership is all about and are genuinely interested in serving occupy public offices? As a first step, let me appeal to the powers that be to give those a chance who are willing to serve without collecting any ridiculous salary or allowances. And I believe there are thousands of Nigerians who are willing to do just that!

Robot  Villager

# 1 var sbtitle2907=encodeURIComponent(I beg to se...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 15.06.2007 15:04