It is public secret that the bureaucracy of the National Assembly is rooted in a rotten past. Yet it is far more appalling that in this era of change, selfish positioning has been the priority of our so-called representatives of the people. One may not be wrong to conclude that, having received huge allowances over the past six months without any commensurate impactful work rate, they have proven to be better at representing themselves than the people who voted them in. And you can take that to the market.
It is sheer waste of legislative time for the characters behind the laughable drama playing out at the House of Representatives to embellish the face-off over the sharing of committee membership with pretensions of party interest and patriotism. Nigerians are too politically perceptive to buy such bunkum. They know that pecuniary interest, more than any other thing, remains the chief propeller of all the hues and cries in the last few weeks after Speaker Yakubu Dogara announced the membership of the 96 committees that would perform oversight functions. Both the protagonists and antagonists underrate the intelligence of Nigerians to see through the ambiguous patriotic sentiments being put forward to cover up what is clearly a desperate scramble for raw lucre.
In plain language, the legislative business of lawmaking is gradually becoming a nuisance. The time to draw the lawmakers’ attention to this descent into the alley of infamy is now. Since the inauguration of the 8th Assembly five months back, it has not carried out any serious legislative duty that would meaningfully impact on the populace’ collective quest for change, neither has it shown any sign of doing business outside the usual dog fights over perks and perquisites that hallmarked the achievements of those before it. While we may not deny the fact that the present set of legislators, especially those of the All Progressives Congress, rode on the waves of the change mantra to occupy majority seats, nothing now suggests that they are poised to walk their talk of putting the nation and its peoples first. When they look in the mirror, they hardly see the gnawing anguish of millions of Nigerians as they relish their new-found status where the self defines a false sense of community.
From the look of things, most of the approximately 3000 aides who served them in the last dispensation and most of the new set of about the same number, already know how self-centred they are. Non-payment of the former’s severance allowances since May, 2015 does not bother them. That the latter group is yet to start receiving salaries since June, 2015 elicits no human feeling of concern. As long as nothing happens to the regular millions lodged in their accounts, why should they care about the stipends for common aides?
It is, to say the least, shameful that those entrusted with the task of formulating laws for the good governance of the country in an era that requires radical change have spent the better part of a legislative year fighting over what would benefit self while the country’s collective interest seemingly recedes into oblivion. In the last five months, nothing tangible has come out of the two chambers aside the successful screening and confirmation of presidential nominations. Every other process can be conveniently captured under two subheads: mastery of the art of treachery and wanton tomfoolery.
It is not just about the shocking political undercurrents that produced the leadership in both houses and even, the number of times that they have had to go on recess to calm their own frayed nerves. It is more about the billions of cash that had been shared by the false agents of change who simply cannot do things differently.
The joke will be on the present leadership of the two chambers if they assume that it is possible to cover up their dirty dealings with elevated language and pebbles of deceit. I was personally shocked to the marrow that Speaker Dogara, in his speech last Monday, made a light joke of a matter that could eventually consume not only his office but which also has the potential of damaging the fortunes of the ruling party in the long run. How could Dogara feign ignorance of what is meant by “juicy” committee or what some of his colleagues would rather dub “strategic or critical committees?” As a confirmed beneficiary of such juicy appointment in the past in the same House of Representatives, Dogara sure knows that the fight is not just about members enjoying “ample and equal opportunity” to function. It is much more than that. As a veteran, he should know that the lure in committee membership is the viability of the juice.
Pretence is one thing and sheer mischief is another. Unfortunately, none is useful in resolving the brewing crisis in the National Assembly especially in Dogara’s divided House. The graveyard peace that was achieved with the appointment of Femi Gbajabiamila as House Majority Leader may as well be ripped apart if common sense is thrown to the dogs. Already, two lawmakers in the opposing camps were said to have dealt each other hot slaps at the lobby of the hallowed chambers over what was alleged to be lopsidedness in the sharing of juicy committees to those that ensured Dogara’s emergence as Speaker, regardless of party affiliations. No doubt, quite a number of lawmakers would be holding clandestine meetings on how best to strike back from whichever camp they belong. With such scenario, I doubt if Dogara’s dream of leading a House that puts Nigeria first would not remain what it is: a pipe dream!
By the way, no one is carried away by the vigour with which some of these so-called ‘honourable members’ pounce in readiness for motor-park fisticuffs on the floor of the hallowed legislative chambers. For as long as they do that for pecuniary interests, Nigerians would continue to snigger at them even if limbs were broken or lives lost in the process. It would have been more ennobling if the lawmakers had, in the past, deployed their membership of the committees to truly and responsibly carry out oversight functions and tame corruption in Ministries, Departments and Agencies as pointed out by the President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki. I also wonder if Dogara truly believed his rant that the multiplicity of committees would check “corruption, impunity and executive recklessness”. Ha! Was Dogara around when these same lawmakers were busy going round MDAs collecting huge envelopes and contracts in the name of oversight? Would he also deny knowledge of the fact that lawmakers in various committees wring the hands of heads of these MDAs to sponsor ‘capacity-building seminars’ abroad, as well as wedding and funeral ceremonies of family members, including donations for political activities? Is this not tantamount to giving legislative imprimatur to sickening corruption?
If our legislature is ill-prepared for the arduous task of effecting the kind of change that would set the country on the path of real development, it can, at least, save itself from the harvest of public odium by packaging its slimy mess under its armpit. You don’t appropriate billions of tax payers’ money to service personal needs in five months without one single legislation to impact the society and then expect an applause. Clearly, the 8th National Assembly has put the wrong foot forward in its search for a juice in a sty.
Would Dogara halt the decay? Would he deploy his vast experience in handling the “welfare” of members and “ability to deliver on any task given him to lead” as a two-time chairman of the House Services Committee and as acknowledged by his predecessor, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State to call his colleagues to order? Surely, he would be making a ridicule of that testimonial should this fight over anticipatory filthy lucre arising from the headship of juicy committees get out of hand. If they cannot save Nigerians from a long-existing misery and disappointment, could they please apply a bit of decency in restricting their shamelessness within a House now being projected as a place to represent and forcefully present selfish ambitions rather than the people’s interest?
Very sadly, nothing in Nigeria’s political landscape today grossly contradicts the populist change that the Buhari administration and the Nigerian populace strive for, as much as the National Assembly. The entire nation thinks this is the time for selflessness and that we are on the cusp of history but regrettably, those folks at the National Assembly who feed on humongous quarterly allowances hardly think so. Will they change for true change to properly take off?
NATION
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The members of the Nigerian National Assembly continue to prove that their election to this house was NOT in the perceived interest of their constituencies BUT strictly and unapologetically for THEIR OWN selfish, self entered and extortionist interest. In the face of decimated national revenue as a consequence of tumbling oil prices for no valued added have blatantly refused to even consider a reduction in their obscenely packaged allowances and salaries.
For those who show no mercy for the nation in time of need, they themselves will not find mercy when their time in the valley comes. This is the law of Kama.