21/11/2020
Go big or Go home: A Response to Senator Ahmed Lawan, Ph. D.
President of the 9th Senate,
The Nigerian National Assembly,
Three Arms Zone, Abuja, Nigeria
From one member of the academe to another, I must say that I am profoundly disappointed in the statements attributed to you during your presence at the ongoing retreat put together by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) and the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC).
I have followed your political career since 1999 and I must say that I find in you prior to now a ray of hope and when you lost your bid for the senate presidency to Dr. Bukola Saraki in 2015, I shared in the angst that Nigeria lost an opportunity to elect a philosopher king.
Your recent statements at the ongoing retreat have shown that my enthusiasm for your leadership potential may be misplaced. I know that I will not be the only one who feels this way.
You raised two germane issues in your remarks. One is about the call in certain quarters of Nigeria that the Nigerian senate should be scrapped, the other was about the jumbo salaries and allowances that you and your colleagues at the National Assembly earns at the expense of over 200 million other Nigerians.
On the two issues, the statements attributed to you was condescending, lacks philosophical depth and unbecoming of the number three citizen of Nigeria. As a Senator of the Republic of Nigeria, you do not get to talk to Nigerians in a condescending tone. We the Nigerian people are your employer and not the other way round.
Back to the substance of the issues, the question is:
Is the Nigerian Senate relevant to the Republic? Depending on whom you asked, this may be a yes or no question. My view is that the Nigerian senate, just like the Nigerian House of Representatives has not returned value for money. For the purpose of this intervention, I will stick to discussing the Senate.
First, the Nigerian senate did not emanate out of the Nigerian experience. It was copied from the United States and decreed into existence. You, Dr. Ahmed Lawan know this.
Because the senate did not emanate from the Nigerian experience, it has not evolved to solve the many pressing issues facing the Nigerian people. Presently, Nigeria is witnessing a level of criminality that is unprecedented. Where is the contribution of the Nigerian Senate towards safeguarding Nigerian lives?
Why are you and your colleagues not moving expeditiously to legislate into existence – state and local government police divisions? Why haven’t you and your colleagues deemed it necessary to merge the FRSC, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, and some other allied security apparatus with the Nigerian police in order to strengthen the present federal police force? For a nation of over 200 million, we are terribly under policed – the result in recent time has been a level of criminality that is more brutal than anything we have seen.
What about the state of the economy? Have you and your colleagues proffered practical solutions to our economic problems? Have we had robust and engaging debates on the state of the Nigerian economy on the floor of the Nigerian Senate? Besides pandemic relief, have you and your colleagues passed other relief measures to assist indigent Nigerians struggling to survive on an 18, 000 Naira monthly wage?
On all these and more, you and your colleagues have not assisted the Nigerian people but yourselves and allies only. As a member of the All Progressives Congress myself, I am particularly appalled at my fellow members serving in the legislature and in particular, the Nigerian senate for not rising to the moment. How do we justify the level of anguish, criminality, severe malnutrition and pain in the Nigerian street today?
The solution.
I am in favor of creating a different upper legislative chamber that will emerge from our own peculiar experience. As an example, instead of the Senate, why don’t we have an Elders’ council? This is not to be confused with the present unelected council of elders.
Essentially, what I am proposing here will be a council of elders elected directly by the Nigerian people through either party affiliation or independent candidacy. Other criteria would include; part time representation, a minimum 50 years age requirement, and must have spent a minimum of 25 years in a previous career.
This proposed deliberative body could be expanded to five persons per state bringing it to a total of 180 truly distinguished individuals with a track record of previous achievements. The federal capital Abuja can have shadow representation without a vote because the FCT is not a state and the present arrangement is a misnomer.
This proposed body will reduce the cost of governance as members meet on a part time basis and it has enormous potential to deliver value for money because of the combined experience of its members.
Dr. Ahmed Lawan also commented on the criticism surrounding present National Assembly salaries, allowances, and emoluments. He was quoted to have reeled out statistics that the almost 150 billion Naira National Assembly budget is less than 1 percent of the total 13 trillion Naira Nigerian budget. That may be correct but the pertinent statistics is: what percent of 200 million Nigerians is the entire Nigerian National assembly? This is inclusive of legislators and their support staff. You will agree with me that the number pales in comparison.
Out of a population of over 200 million people, a few of you carved out cushy salaries, allowances, and emoluments for yourselves and still complain that Nigerians do not have a right to voice concerns about how their money is being spent!
So instead of telling Nigerians to put up and shut up, I will advise my fellow member of the academy, Dr. Ahmed Lawan to advise himself and his colleagues to either go big for the Nigerian people or go home.
Dr. Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia
Ph.D. Indiana, USA
Ronin Research Scholar
The Ronin Institute
Montclair, New Jersey, USA
Phd Fellow in Public Policy
Department of Sociology
University of Ibadan,
Ibadan, Nigeria
November 21, 2020