A clarion call to Nigerian legislators

By Remi Adeleke

The legislature is to democratic government what the heart is to the human body. If the legislature is dysfunctional, democracy will be endangered. Therefore, to ensure that democracy does not collapse, the need to remind or sensitise lawmakers to their statutory responsibilities cannot be overemphasised.
Lawmakers always defend any public condemnation of malpractices or poor performance against them. The public or the citizens whose votes legitimise their election into the legislative chamber have right to complain and criticise them for any malpractices or malfeasance. Should teachers or health workers be blamed for insecurity in Nigeria? Of course, no. The security agencies would be blamed, being the statutory body charged with the responsibility to protect lives and properties.
Underperformance on the part of the legislature would not affect only the lawmakers, but also other arms of government, democracy, and the nation at large. Let the distinguished and the honourable be reminded of their statutory responsibility of watchdog over other arms of government ie executive and the judiciary. Is it not preposterous to hear a senator argue that there is nothing wrong in them engaging in crass profligacy of purchasing N160m SUV cars simply because ministers have six cars in their fleet, three of which could be land cruisers?
Another senator argued that its only N160m SUV car that can ply the bad roads to his senatorial district and appropriate for oversight function. Honestly, if these are the lawmakers we have to check the excesses of other arms of government, we are in trouble; our democracy is on the precipice.
How can a public officer buy official car of N160m when over 60% of Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor? This was the situation preceding the subsidy removal; more Nigerians are poorer than they were.
Nigerians are still groaning under the excruciating pains of subsidy removal as many have parked their cars including senior officers of the federal civil service, many have been laid off especially in the private sector, exodus of medical doctors to other countries due to poor remuneration and health facilities, millions of unemployed youths, the ones employed in the public sector are being paid with loans borrowed from other countries, bad roads nationwide, industries folding up due to poor infrastructure, national debt in tune of N87 trillion. Yet, politicians, some of whom have never driven a car of N5m and just school certificate or diploma holders, want to drive a N160m car. Habah! There is God ooo. It is dangerous for politicians to keep taking Nigerians’ simplicity for granted.
The primary aim of this piece is not to expose the faux pass and insensitivity of Nigerian politicians, but to protect our democracy and appeal to the conscience of politicians to serve Nigerians rather being served. Politics is not where you go to enrich yourself, friends, cronies, and relatives. Politics is service to the people, delivery of dividends of democracy that would bring about remarkable differences in terms of significant improvement in the social and material well-being of the people.
You go into politics to prove that you can serve the people better than those that were hitherto in power, not to amass wealth or live an ostentatious life at the expense of the people. That parliamentarians have power to appropriate does not mean they should appropriate so much to themselves to the detriment of other Nigerians.
National interest should dominate the consideration in the approval of any request/proposal from the executive arm of government. The way and manner the NASS approves the request for loans from the executive without scrutiny is not only a retardation in democratic order, but also antithetical to democratic norms.
In the interest of sustainable democracy, efforts must be made by politicians to deliver dividends of democracy. In this democratic adventure, only politicians seem to be enjoying democratic dividends as the gaps between the leaders and the led is getting horrendously wider by the day. In tune with the present economic reality, while the people are being asked to sacrifice and tighten their belt, in same socio-economic milieu, the politicians are living large. What a paradox!
In conclusion, parliamentarians should in the nation’s interest put on their garb of compassion and consciousness and shelve the SUV cars of N160m and opt for locally assembled cars in the range of N20m at INNOSON Motors or any other indigenous vehicle assembly plant to conserve foreign exchange.
Purchase of NI60m cars amidst economic doldrum portends insensitivity and indifference to the plight of Nigerians. This could erode the moral right of parliamentarian in checking the excesses of the other arms of government. Shelving the purchase of SUV cars for less expensive cars to reflect the present economic reality could buoy the waning respect the public have for the parliamentarians and stem the embarrassing cases of refusal to honour invitations to appear before the National Assembly.
God bless Nigeria!

Remi Adeleke writes in from PDP Quarters, Suleja, Niger state