I cant fully express my feelings on the failure of Goodluck Jonathan thus far. For the good things, he has done since he assumed office on May 29th, he has spoilt it all by coming up with the idea of the proposed "single term tenure" and also the drama following the minimum wage law. I will take them one after the other.
First, the single term tenure
President Jonathan, why are you distracting the nation with an issue that affect you and other public holders when there are many other issues of concern that the electorate voted you into office for? The proposal by Goodluck is that public officers be held to a single 6 year tenure rather than the 2 terms of 4 years each. The reasoning is that it not only reduces the cost of electioneering in the Nigeria, which can be used on other things, but it also makes the political wars between running candidates reduce. Sir, Im sorry to say but this is the biggest nonsense I have heard since Obasanjo announced a third term.
Yes, you have made it clear that this propose bill does not affect you and Sambo. Great. But truth be told, did you realize that your bill would mean 6 years of the likes of Akala in Oyo, Doma in Nassarawa, Gbenga Daniels in Ogun et al? What is the incentive to offer good governance when I know I do not need the people to vote me in for a second term. This is even worse when the country has the worst record for battling corruption with Waziri and EFCC, just making noise without doing anything. (Anyone knows what became of the Dimeji Bankole story?. Just thought I'd ask).
The solution is not what you have proposed but for you to propose a bill that makes public offices less attractive. Nigeria pays her public officers the highest earnings in the world, and this is not matched with a good job or the country's earning. Why wouldnt I kill to be a governor if I know I can get as much as wealthy as 100 Indian office holders combined? Gone are the days when a lot of public offices were part time jobs as seen in the case of people like Abraham Adesanya in the early 60's: Court in the morning, House of Assembly in the afternoon on a peanut pay. People who made personal sacrifices to make Nigeria a great nation. I have statistics to back all my claims.
Another cure to this problem is efficient tools of combating corruption and bad governance. EFCC is just a joke. ICPC is an even bigger joke. The judicial system is an even worse joke.
It is quite sad but sometimes I prefer the military. We all know what the likes of Rawlings did in making Ghana what it is today.
Goodluck, work on the issues that affect the average man and not how your thieves in public office can stay in office longer. We do not care, sir.
Next is the drama that followed the minimum wage passage.
What kind of government makes a rule which is meant to be followed and then sits again with its citizenry to explain the rule when the rules are made to be obeyed by all and sundry. Its only in Nigeria that senators who work like 50 days in a year get paid tens of millions of Naira, while faithful hardworking civil servants are told they cannot be paid more than 18,000 naira a month. Governors are naming stupid portfolios such as adviser to the 1st lady on women affairs, and so many others, and they say they cant pay 18,000.
Im an economist and understand that things are not always as they seem. That paying 18,000 is not as simple as that. It becomes simple when many projects go abandoned, when billions of naira is stolen by politicians. A good government would cut unneccesary expenditure such as large cabinets and use the excess funds on nation development, not filling their pockets.
I and many of my fellow youths, love my country and we plan to get all you evil mongers out. So be prepared as this is my home and I will not let anyone ruin my home.
Shoutout to my friends at www.omojuwa.com, as they are part of this crusade to give meaning to our nation, because as it is now, Nigeria is a joke.
