“Demands for equality need to be as complicated as the inequalities they seek to address. The question is: who do we want to be equal to?” —Anonymous
By Omoniyi Salaudeen
The ongoing dialogue between the Federal Government and organised labour over a new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers appears to be interminable. No feasible agreement in view anytime soon as the parties concerned have refused to shift ground on their positions.
Last week, the ensuing stalemate resulted in the two-day strike that paralyzed the nation’s economy. For the concern it has generated, there is now a preponderance of opinions about the appropriate figure that would not put undue stress on the economy to the extent of fueling the current inflationary rate in the country.
Renowned Catholic priest, Reverend Father Mbaka, joining the debate, spiced up the conversation with a comical proposition.
While addressing journalists, he said the N62,000 proposed by the Federal Government as the new minimum wage should apply to all civil servants, including governors and members of the national assembly.
To the no-nonsense man of God, it is unfair for lawmakers to receive large allowances while many Nigerians struggle to make ends meet.
Hear him: “If we decide to give labour N60, 000 or N62,000, why not generalize it to the House of Assembly members, senatorial members, House of Representatives members, and governors?
“They are all civil servants, so are the others slaves? I can’t understand why they are amazing billions as sitting allowance, wardrobe allowance, newspaper allowance, and suffering allowance.
“Looking at the level of inflation in the country, you will see that we are all not sincere in this country.”
Yes, insincerity is the bane of leadership the country has had to grapple with. The effect of it permeates all aspects of the economy, governance, and societal values. It is the primary reason nothing works. However, in practical terms, the application of the minimum wage proposal of N62,000 across the board sounds more like a barroom discussion. Simplistic! Who will bell the cat? Such can only work in democracies where the system recognises the people as the sovereign. Or better still, in a sane clime where individuals elected see public office as a service rather than a ticket for amassing wealth.
The tragedy of Nigeria’s democratic experience is the absence of essential social capital. Once an electoral process is over, there is always a complete disconnect with the people. Whether they won by crook or genuine means, those who get elected only appropriate power for the sole purpose of self-aggrandizement. It’s like a paradox. Those who work more, get less, and those who get less, work more.
Over the years, evidence has shown a total disconnect between what members of the National Assembly allocate to themselves in the annual budget and the responsibilities they discharge on behalf of the long-suffering people of Nigeria. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (now Emir of Kano Emirate) once made a shocking revelation that between 2000 and 2010, the overhead cost of the National Assembly gulped 25 per cent of the annual national budget.
In a lecture delivered at the University of Benin, he said: “If you look at the budget, the bulk of government revenue expenditure is on overhead. That is a big problem. 25 per cent of the overhead of the Federal Government goes to the national assembly. We need power, we need infrastructure so we need to start looking at the structure of expenditure and make it more consistent with the development initiative of the country.”
In another instance, a former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, was quoted as saying that less than 20 per cent of members of the National Assembly make useful contributions at plenary sessions by sponsoring motions or bills. These are the same lawmakers who are often enmeshed in one allegation of corruption or the other either by budget padding or direct kickbacks from agencies of government as compensation for the inclusion of certain fictitious figures in their budget proposals.
The situation at the executive level is much more appalling. Those at the helm of affairs of the country live in their own world. While preaching sacrifice to the populace, the president, ministers, and other government functionaries move about in a long convoy with a large retinue of aides, assistants, and assistants to assistants. Despite the public disclosure of the official remunerations of all political office holders, including ministers and members of the national assembly by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, controversy has continued to trail the amount of money the government draws from the federation account as expenditure for the settlements of all legitimate entitlements.
While Mbaka’s suggestion has gained resonance among notable figures like the Governor of Anambra State, Prof Charles Soludo, calling on elected officials to start earning minimum wage, the big question remains: Who will take the bull by the horns?
Noting that Nigeria’s economic woes had been worsened by the extravagant lifestyles of government officials being sustained at the expense of the nation’s wealth, Soludo added a clincher: “Let’s come clean and straight with Nigerians. Nigeria is very poor and broke, but the lifestyle of government and government officials does not show it, especially with the obscene flamboyance in public display.
“In this case, I agree with Reverend Father Mbaka, who said elected governors should also earn minimum wage. I agree that we should be paid that so that we can feel that as well.”
Ordinarily, the executive is in a better position to modulate the inflationary rate in the country. However, the obscene profligacy of those in government does not support the argument that the payment of a minimum wage higher than N62,000 will worsen the current inflationary trend. There is, therefore, a sense in which Mbaka’s call for a uniform national minimum wage application for all public office holders is seen as a patriotic way of ensuring justice and fair play for all and sundry. From all available statistics, the current level of poverty in the country is linked to the uneven distribution of the wealth of the nation.
As reports say, the combined wealth of Nigeria’s five richest men – $29.9 billion – could end extreme poverty at a national level. Yet, five million people face hunger and more than 112 million people are living in poverty. At the root of it all is a culture of corruption combined with the political elite out of touch with the daily struggles of average Nigerians.