Promise Adiele
Do you remember King Solomon? He was a Biblical character and last king of Israel before the breakup into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judea. Renowned for his immense wisdom, yet he married seven hundred wives and had three hundred concubines, what a man. I am not about to write a treatise on King Solomon, but he provides the galvanizing impetus for today’s Christmas piece. Ordinarily, I would have had a say in what Christmas represents to man, the myth about Christmas, the falsehood, the misrepresentations, and all the imputed mundane culture which men fervently associate with Christmas. But today, I am deeply worried and concerned with an issue that has kept me awake all night, bordering on relentless anxiety.
It appears that King Solomon, the wealthy, wise king came too soon, drawing his conclusions about life too early as well. In Proverbs Chapter 30 vs 18-19, the wise king admits that in all his wisdom, there are four things which defy his divine understanding. According to him, he does not understand “the ways of an eagle in the sky, the ways of a snake on a rock, the ways of a ship at sea, and the ways of a man with a maiden”. Perhaps, if King Solomon was alive today, he would have added to the list of things he does not understand. The first item on the list of his confusions would have been the N37 billion approved for the renovation of Nigeria’s National Assembly complex. Yes, last week, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a whopping sum of N37 billion for the renovation of Nigeria’s National Assembly complex. That is enough to confound the wisest and prudent in the world.
Following the approval of the humongous amount of money, many Nigerians have raised voices to protest what they see as a waste of money and misplacement of priorities. Unfortunately, the protests ended on the pages of newspapers and social media platforms. In expressing their angst, many Nigerians have stated in categorical terms that the release of the money is pure corruption, a way of siphoning funds, liquidating, and mindlessly violating the treasury. Indeed, there are things in life that one cannot explain no matter the level of academic or intellectual sagacity. Some things defy explanations no matter the theory applied, no matter the concepts used, and no matter the kind of rigorous investigation embarked on. One of such things is the release of N37 billion, over $100 million to renovate Nigeria’s National Assembly complex that was originally built with N7 billion.
One is bound to ask, what manner of renovation will gulp such a colossal sum? How urgent or imperative is the renovation in a country bleeding with poverty and infrastructural decay? Why would the government release such amount to renovate a National Assembly complex when all the University Teaching hospitals are in dire need of medical equipment, renovation, and rehabilitation? What kind of renovation is required at this time when many universities in Nigeria are grossly underfunded with empty libraries, empty laboratories, dilapidated classrooms, and lack of accommodation for the students?
Nigerian universities of technology are crying structures with little or no equipment for serious academic engagement. How about Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and even Federal Secondary Schools? They are all an eyesore and should never be counted among their counterparts in Africa. What manner of renovation does the National Assembly complex require now when most roads in Nigeria are death traps? It grates on one’s emotions that this administration will approve such amount amid a decayed and comatose electricity/power supply structure. Does the renovation bear any positive, direct consequences on the lives of millions of Nigerians lacerated by extreme poverty, caught in the vicious whirlwind of penury? Why must we spend so much to upgrade an edifice for the comfort of 109 senators for some hours daily while millions of Nigerians are homeless?
When one’s sensibilities and intelligence are insulted, there should be a limit to it, otherwise, the mind loses its hold on sanity and began to stray into the unchartered territory of psychosis. If N37 billion is required to renovate the National Assembly complex when our refineries and the Ajaokuta Steel Company have not been renovated, then there is a course to worry. Nigerians must be alive to these absurdities. Nigerians must be witnesses to this kind of asinine pillaging of their collective patrimony so that we do not all become victims of amnesia in 2023. We must be aware of the direct sources of our pain, poverty, and nebulous economic conditions. We should also be aware that when preference is placed on the wellbeing of a physical structure above the wellbeing of human beings, then tragedy is near.
This administration has borrowed more money in the last five years than the previous administrations borrowed in so many years. During the Bukola Saraki era as Senate President, the Senate turned down a request from the presidency to borrow $30 billion. Right now, under a new dispensation, that same request has surfaced and there are fears that it is as good as granted given the latest comment by the new Senate President Ahmed Lawan that “any request by the presidency is good for Nigeria and will be granted”. Some people have argued that approving the N37 billion for the renovation of the National Assembly complex is an incentive for the Senate to approve the $30 billion loan request from the presidency.
There is a course to worry about the future of this country given the way scarce resources are expended. The current government has made a caricature of wastefulness. They have made a mockery of all shades of wastefulness by previous administrations bringing to mind, T.S Eliot’s timeless poem, “The Wasteland”. This kind of brazen display of irrationality, this concentration of wealth in the hands of a few while millions struggle to make ends meet, must stop forthwith.
No one, not even the most trained and qualified economist can convince any sensible person that a whopping N37 billion is needed to renovate the National Assembly complex. I call upon Hermeneutical scholars, those grounded in the critical interpretation of the Bible, to add to the list of items that confuse King Solomon in all his intelligence and famed wisdom. N37 billion for the renovation of Nigeria’s National Assembly complex should become an item on that list.
It is easy for the powers in Nigeria to indulge in activities that tickle their obscene fancy and to use our collective resources anyway they deem fit because the populace is too lethargic. Our culture of holding public servants to accountability is anaemic and at best defective. We must all stand up to reject this kind of glaring dubiety from the wielders of power. Failing to do so, we would have outsourced our future, becoming complicit in the enthronement of a rule of conquer. Nigerians must have a voice, civil society groups, trade unions, and other organizations cannot fold their arms while our country is gradually led to the Golgotha for guaranteed crucifixion.
Dr Adiele writes from Lagos via [email protected]