By Kelechi Anyanwu
Thomas Sankara, one of the greatest original thinkers to come out of Africa, summarized his vision for equitable resource distribution in Burkina Faso with the famous statement: “We must choose either champagne for a few or safe drinking water for all.
Sankara used this premise to criticize the priorities of elite politicians who hoarded wealth and luxury while their citizens lacked basic human necessities.
Driving through Ikorodu Road this morning, I saw over 100 people queuing for cooking gas at the Mobil Fuel Station close to Anthony. The sizes of their gas cylinders tells you their economic brackets. They’re the major demographic ruthlessly targeted by the hope marketing salesmen.
The court ruling this week against the shameless exhibitionism orchestrated by the National Assembly’s champagne thirst on a pauper’s budget” highlights the unbridled hypocrisy that has become a way of life in Nigeria.
The case exposed the rotting underbelly of the Nigerian political class and their comprador bourgeoisie friends whose economic interests are dependent upon the mindless cronyism that bedevils the Nigerian system.
Intriguingly, while the masses are told to tighten their belts on shrinking noodles, and mothers gnash their teeth over the cost of bread, gas, and food prices are bouncing on the roof, the political leadership who plead for “patience,” with the government are busy awarding themselves enough tax-free allowances to buy fleets of luxury SUVs.
They tell you to endure the pain of removal of subsidies, to wait for the elusive “dividends of democracy,” that things are going to turn around as every economic indicator is looking up for the country.
They brandish spurious PowerPoint presentations to razzmatazz you with figures without backup facts.
Nobody is asking why they keep releasing figures showing how fast inflation rates are dropping while in reality, the cost of living is at a historical crisis level.
Nobody is asking why the economy is growing on paper while the people have nothing to show for it. Nobody is asking why Nigerians are spending close to 70% of their incomes on food alone with nothing left for housing, or other expenditures at a time Nigerians are witnessing a historical rise in rents spiking close to 500% within a 12 months period.
The disruption the present economic situation in the country has wrought on the people is incalculable as wages have remained stagnant while cost of living has been on the rise.
Yet the members of the National Assembly are more interested in giving themselves 465 SUVs worth N40 billion and spending another N70 billion as support allowances for newly elected lawmakers.
These are all people who presently move about in convoys of vehicles, but they are still Oliver Twisting to ensure they milk the last drop of whatever is remaining of our collective patrimony.
And these are the same people going from constituency to constituency helping in distributing 10kg bags of rice and packs of Noodles to lubricate the engine of renewal of your hopes for a brighter future, while they enjoy a sumptuous present.
Unfortunately, a sizable number of intellectuals are zoned into this deception, working hard to deflect your attention from the real issues while necking with the political class.
Nigeria needs accountability, and a complete overhaul of a system that rewards hypocrisy and punishes virtue. The era of selling hope to hungry citizens must end.
Interestingly, there is no patience left in a starving belly. Sadly, a lawmaker who pockets N500 million for “vehicle maintenance” while a graduate who has been roaming the streets for two years without a job is busy hailing the same politicians because poverty and hopelessness has been pugnaciously weaponised.
What is happening at NASS is not governance; it is looting with a gavel. Will they return the stolen crumbs? I doubt it.
They will most likely appeal, delay, and continue their carnival of greed. Thank you SERAP for filing this public interest lawsuit that shows how insensitive the Nigerian political class is.