A time is coming when the poor will have nothing to eat, and they will focus on the rich, the truth now is, if you seems to live in today’s environment, you surely might be a victim of this tragic time.
It’ use to be shoot at sight, but now it’s now eat at sight, the level at which the nation is regressing should be a concern to those who fought for it, but nay, everyone for himself, we were humans until politics divide us, religion differentiate us, wealth classed us, but somehow death would unite us, in one way or the other.
People Now die without anyone feeling deeply loss, and sometimes those who have given birth are Condemned for increasing the population of the country by an addition of a new innocent creature, that’s the level of our sorrows, it’s an unfortunate time to be a Nigerian.
This is a time when in the east, the baby factory stories no longer covers the front pages anymore, because it’s now a business, to eat at sight, go to the west, it’s rituals upon rituals, north is now about terrorism here and there and the current change mantra holder careless except for their interest.
All this has shaped the individual in Nigeria, to survive through whatever instinct he has within him, A.Nigeria where the police force, even before they decide to reform them, and after their reformation, that black uniform seems a true perception of their character, the protected seems their host, they are the parasites. They also would by all means make sure they settle ‘ll at sight before it goes out of hand. A Nigeria, your survival mode should switch to at the moment.
Nigeria, our public office holders, they the governor’s recently, find it hard to agree on a particular wage for civilians, who have decided under circumstances of no choice, to serve their fatherland, aren’t paid well, here are the words of minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, “I am the deputy chairman of the committee and I drive it. We have a timetable and we are expected to finish everything about it by the end of this August, but it is not attainable anymore because even in the committee, we have not agreed on any figure.
“We could not agree on a figure because of two reasons. One is that the state governors have not come up with a figure and the state governors are a critical constituent of this discussion. They have six governors in the committee, one from each geo-political zone.
“Therefore, the national minimum wage tripartite committee is still at work and it is until that body brings out its figures and recommendations pertaining to national minimum wage, that a bill can be sent to the National Assembly to process and send to Mr. President for it to become a National Minimum Wage Act. If that can happen in 2018, it becomes Act 2018.” these doesn’t affect the millions they take home monthly, why then should they disturb themselves over it, so pathetic, why then won’t the poor people eat whatever comes their sight.
Here is a breakdown of how our government is run, from the president to the lowest cadre, according to the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission. (RMAFC)
Based on the total package prepared by the RMAFC, the President’s (Muhammadu Buhari) annual salary and allowances stand at N14.4 million.
Find a further break down of some of the President’s basic salary and allowances:
Basic Salary: N514,705
Hardship allowance: N1,757,350
Constituency: N 8,786,762 and
Leave Allowance: N351,470
The Federal Government is to provide him with all his needs including vehicles, Special Assistants, Personal Assistants, entertainment, security, utility bills, newspapers, medical bills and clothing.
The President’s estacode (travel allowance) and duty tour allowance were not specified.
He is to receive 300 percent of his salary as gratuity upon successful completion of his tenure.
Salary of the Vice President of Nigeria
The Vice President is to receive an annual Basic Salary of N2,064,400; Hardship allowance of N1,515,786.25 and a Constituency Allowance of N7,578,931.25, bringing his total annual earning to N12.1million.
About 75 percent of his annual basic salary would be paid for vehicles and their maintenance if he chooses to buy his vehicles and maintain them.
The VP is to receive another 25 percent to hire his Personal Assistants;
75 percent for domestic staff; 45 percent for entertainment and
30 percent for utility.
He is to receive a separate 20 percent of his salary for monitoring;
200 percent for accommodation and
300 percent for furniture.
His duty Tour Allowance stands at N 35,000 per night and an estacode (travel allowance) of $900 per night.
He is also to receive 10 percent of his salary as Leave Allowance and 300 percent as gratuity upon a successful completion of his tenure.
Salary of the Senate President of Nigeria
Also, following a downward review of salaries and allowances of both the National and State Assembly legislators, the Senate President will receive a basic annual salary of N2,484,242.50 and allowance of N6.2 million, bringing the total to N8.69Million. His monthly salary is about N724,570. In addition, he collects 250 percent of his Annual Salary as Constituency Allowance.
However, his vehicles and their maintenance are provided by the Federal Government. Similarly, his domestic staff, entertainment, utilities, security responsibility, Legislative Aids, House Maintenance as well as a Special Adviser and a Personal Assistant are provided by the Federal Government. Similarly, his clothing and newspapers are provided for the also.
Other non-regular allowances include 300 percent gratuity for the Senate President; and estacode of $1,000 per night for foreign trips, as well as, a N37,000 per night duty tour allowance.
Salary of the Deputy Senate President of Nigeria
The Deputy Senate President enjoys the same benefits as the Senate President except that his annual basic salary stands at N2,309,166.75, total allowance N 5,772,916.8, bringing total annual salary to N8,082,083.63 and a monthly pay of N673,506.97.
The Deputy Senate President gets N32,000 per night as Duty Tour Allowance. Senators receive $ 1,000 as estacode and a duty tour allowance of N23, 000 per night.
Salaries of Other Senate Members
The Senate Majority Leader receives a salary of N12,968,960 . The Minority leader receives a total annual salary of N12,908,168 . The Whip receives N12,867,000 . The same applies to Committee Chairmen. Incidentally, in the last administration, almost all senators were chairmen of various committees.
The allowances received by the members of the upper legislative chamber is far more than their salaries indicate.
For instance, each senator receives 75 percent of the annual salary as the allowance for a vehicle and its maintenance. They collect another 75 percent of their salaries for domestic staff; 30 percent for entertainment; 30 percent for utilities; 25 percent for clothing; and 250 percent as constituency allowance. This is on annual basis.
Others include, an unspecified allowance, which stands at 53 percent; newspapers 15 percent; Personal Assistance, 24 percent; and House maintenance 5 percent.
In addition, the Majority Leader receives 10 percent for Responsibility; Minority Leader 7%; while the Whip and Committee chairmen receive 5 percent for the same purpose.
Ordinary Senators receive a basic salary of N2,026,400.00; annual allowance of N10,739,920.00, bring it to a total of N12,766,320.00.
All the senators who have just finished their terms at the 7th National Assembly are therefore entitled to 300 percent of the annual salaries as gratuity.
In Professor Sagay’s (SAN) perspective, this is the breakdown of the annual salary of the Senators. Some of the items here are not listed above.
Basic Salary N2, 484, 245.50;
Hardship allowance, N1,242, 122.70;
Constituency allowance N4, 968, 509.00;
Furniture allowance N7, 452, 736.50;
Newspaper allowance N1, 242, 122.70;
Wardrobe allowance, N621,061.37;
Recess allowance N248, 424.55;
Accommodation N4,968,509.00;
Utilities N828,081.83;
Domestic staff N1,863,184.12;
Entertainment N828,081.83;
Personal Assistant N621,061.37;
Vehicle Maintenance Allowance N1,863,184.12;
Leave Allowance N248,424.55;
Severance Gratuity N7, 425,736.50
Motor Vehicle Allowance, N9, 936,982.00.
Salaries of House of Representatives Members
At the House of Representatives level, the Speaker receives a total annual salary of N4,334,942.50.
Just like the Senate President, the Federal Government provides his vehicles and their maintenance. His domestic staff, entertainment, utilities, security responsibility, Legislative Aids, House Maintenance an, as well as a Special Adviser and a Personal Assistant are provided by the federal government.
Similarly, clothing and newspapers are provided for the Speaker by the Federal Government. He receives 75 percent of his salary as constituency allowance. He receives $ 790 estacode per night and N32, 000 per night for domestic trips.
The Deputy speaker whose annual salary stands at 4,002,309.94 enjoys similar benefits as the speaker. He receives $750 and N30, 000 for estacode and Duty Tour, respectively.
The Majority Leader of the House, the Minority Leader, the Chief Whip and Chairmen of Committees receive annual salaries of N6,352,680.00 . In addition, they receive 50 percent of their salaries as Vehicle and Maintenance allowance; another 50 percent for domestic staff; 10 percent for utilities and another 10 percent for House maintenance.
In addition, they collect 75 percent for constituency allowance, 25 percent for Personal Assistant. Other members enjoy similar allowances. Members receive $550 and N21,000 for estacode and domestic trips, respectively.
Salaries of Federal Ministers
The annual basic salary of a substantive minister is N2,026,400 (N168,866:66 per month).
Each of the ministers is also entitled to N6,079,200 as furniture allowance, which is paid once in four years. If any of the ministers desires, he or she is also entitled to N8,105,600 as motor vehicle allowance. However, the motor vehicle allowance is a loan repayable by the end of the tenure of the minister.
Other allowances include;
Motor vehicle fuelling and maintenance allowance of N1,519,800 (annual value).
Domestic staff – N911,880 annually
Entertainment – N607,920
Utilities – N405,280
Monitoring allowances – N303,960
Personal Assistant allowances – N506,000
Newspaper allowances – N303,960
Leave allowance – N202,640
Tour duty – N35,000
Estacode allowance – $900 per night
Housing allowance – N4,052,800
The summation of these annual allowances is N13,374,240 for each minister excluding the optional vehicle allowance.
State Houses of Assembly Members Salaries
Speakers of the State Houses of Assembly enjoy all the benefits as their federal counterpart where virtually all they need are provided with public funds. However, their annual salaries stand at N2,049,843.75 and a Constituency Allowance of 25 percent of their Annual Salaries.
Deputy Speakers receive N1,807,478.13 and 25 percent of same as constituency allowance.
Members of the House of Assemblies receive annual salaries of N2,473,866.25.
Further analysis by Economic Confidential reveals that an average Nigerian worker with a minimum wage of N18,000 a month will have to work for four years before earning the utility allowance for one legislator. Unless the remuneration package is reviewed downward or upward by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the legislators will continue to enjoy the current official salaries and allowances.
Needless to say more, because nowhere around the world politicians are treated the way we treat them in my own fatherland, and we need an urgent solution to this, or else, the already pregnant clouds of trouble would fall on us all, and this means nothing but more chaos.
Walking across the shores of my home, beside the slumps of Orile, it’s so hard to take that youths nowadays in their discussion, have forgotten what we call Nigeria, it’s now regarded as a place where one just live and struggle for survival, and make a living irrespective of how it comes, I overheard when even one said, “who Nigeria history help, shey Nigeria history go help me get the dough” it’s a very bad route we have walked through, but in practical this individual seems right, because if we truly go by history, Nigeria might not be where we are today, perhaps a better Nigeria we truly would have, as promised by the early Nationalists, in whose hands our independence was delivered. They already learned the act of eat at sight before us.
Gone are the era , when by the mention of Nigeria been the giant of Africa, all other countries tremble economically, call that name outside Nigeria, you might as well be ask if you are referring to niger our sister country.
There’s hunger in the land, if not worse than the plagues of former lives which only religious scripts made us know, it’s no longer news that my fatherland now has become the capital of the poorest countries across the world, but we still survive through data input information.
Today, I can almost categorically tell you, that illegal business and political thievery now rules across the land, the increase in the unemployment rate and the fact that theirs nothing to be done about it, and those with little or nothing to do, end up in the tragic scenario of been used with reckless abandone, through the clutches of the foreign investors, But who would blame them, only if you know how much it cost to own a business in lagos, my focal point
We are in an era where we eat at sight, people no longer care how it’s gotten but however way, we must survive, I am spoilt of which area to pick my point as sad as it may sound, for all corners of my country is filled with corrupt practices that’s not new anyway, from the zenith point of power down to the lowest.
Investors also now seems to be wise, they no longer come and pick staffs in our land, rather they push for the bill or contract staff to be approved, even though that’s already the other of the day, as companies like mtn, Virgin atlanta, with more but not less than in the overall staffs of their company’s 70% as contracted staffs, this only means there’s no security of job except as a government worker where the moral laxity has no part two.
I have never heard of the Nigeria police force since its formation in the early 1930, gone on strike, you can as well remind me if they have they gone on strike, even though it’s glaring of how ill equipped those task with the security of our lives and property are, how poorly trained they look. The police that detained people illegally, or the police that now drags between them who’s yahoo boy and innocent civilian is, simply because he’s putting on a laptop bag.
Nowadays we no longer complain about theft anywhere, all we do now is to hope our time would come out of the blues, without work nor even trying to get a job done, well don’t blame us, even the little job a Nigerian youth seems to lay his or her hands upon is trampled upon by numerous law enforcement agencies, if you doubt my words, you should try speak with a calm taxi driver, or a bus conductor in lagos, I refer to them as the most taxed workers in lagos, from NURTW, union money, “Agberos”, lastma, vio, and even the police, the chief of them all.
If the nation’s budget has a 20%, allocation for the welfare of those who seem to care less about the survival skills of those who stand under the sun to vote them in, would I be wrong to term them as political thieves, If the senators are so enriched to a point where sitting allowance is now added as per their renumeration for gathering in a hall, where majority would only sleep and be woken up by bank alerts how then would the ever increasing poor masses not take advantage of both the illegal and legal means of survival.
I hope someday if not my time that we recover from this plague we have inflicted on ourselves, 2019, is around the corner, don’t just vote for party but vote for personalities you know, one you could approach, though we have been disappointed many times but right now, which waypleases fforward, while in the meantime, we can only eat at sight whatever comes our way.
Kareem Itunu Azeez
Ikareemazeez@yahoo.com
Solacewrites.wordpress.com
Fact writer keep it up.