Archbishop Emeritus of Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie has condemned the outrageous wardrobe allowances reportedly earmarked for the nation’s legislators, saying that the proposed national change will be impossible when National Assembly members live in contradiction to the moral, social and political aspirations of their fellow citizens.
In a statement titled; “The moral blind spots of the jumbo package”, made available to Sunday Vanguard by the archdiocesan Director of Social Communication, Monsignor Gabriel Osu, the archbishop argued that duty, honour, country: are the mandates the nation needs to rediscover at this hour, noting that the allowances and the jumbo package of the lawmakers are not only shocking, but outrageous and outlandish.
According to the statement, “they (the allowances) are hard to be justified in the face of widespread poverty and the socio-economic realities of our nation. It is highly unjustifiable that our national resources service a profligate class of politicians, but neglect the hope and welfare of civil servants especially teachers who build the engine of our nation’s future.
“It just does not make sense that, for instance, N200 million severance package could be approved for each state, whereas civil servants are told, when they asked for better terms of service that the nation’s economy cannot sustain their intended welfare. The issues have always ramified,” Okogie further argued.
He maintained that the proposed allowances are completely out of sync with the wider logic of our economy and society, arguing that the figures sear the mind and raise moral and political issues, issues that seem to escape the tunnel vision of their advocates and beneficiaries.
“What is mind-boggling is not just the fact that our lawmakers smile to their banks with millions of naira for wardrobe allowance at a time when most civil servants across the country have not been paid basic salaries for months,” he said, adding “this does not appear just in a situation where public servants are seeking for the enabling conditions to do their job and to serve the nation; it is about something else, which speaks to a larger systemic breakdown and paralysis of our nation.
“This is nothing but a projection of systemic corruption that has wrecked our ship of state and made the economy comatose and institutions of states broken and dysfunctional. That is why it is impossible to understand this reckless and insensitive arrangement without grasping the culture of materialism and decadence that have warped the nation’s moral climate.
“The average Nigerian wants to make it by every means, in a culture where success offers its own vindication. At root therefore is the ethos of “you-chop-I-chop” mentality, which ironically has made us a society of self-aggrandizing, self-absorbed, and self-interested people. A society that bends principle to ends, pathos (in the Greek sense) to ethos cannot secure its place in the comity of nations,” he noted.
After the victory on the change mantra, Okogie said he was not surprised at what is going on now in both arms of the government – House of Representative and the Senate, asking: “Has Nigeria true, sincere and genuine patriotic politicians? We wonder! The adage that says a chameleon cannot change its skin apply to our cross carpeting politicians.”
According to Okogie; “the unintended consequence of corruption or state dysfunctionality is huge. It creates a ripple effect and vicious circle of “authority stealing” and racketeering. The message in the street is loud and ominous: Nigeria is there for the plunder! Nigeria belongs to everyone and to no one!! And Nigeria cannot deserve an honorable service and patriotism. What an impression people have of us! This is both sad and sickening for the kind of society we want to leave for the next generation.
“More than the erosion of the value system, this is short path to ending any sense of public spirit. It is highly probable however that these jumbo packages of members of the National Assembly and indeed all public servants have been skewed without the collusion or negligence of other state institutions.
“While we blame the National Assembly for this situation, the harshest words must always be reserved for the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, which has the function of setting the wages of public servants. This is another case where the appropriate checks and balances that makes a healthy and functional government is lacking or destroyed by deliberate ploy to plunder the nation for prebendal and personal purposes,” he maintained.
Okogie concluded: “We need to get serious about fixing our nation, and that work must include reconstructing the norms and template of political actions and institutions that make for a healthy society. Lawmaking, representation and oversight, even though constitute the main thrust of the function of lawmakers, they are leaders as well.
“Leaders are not supposed to be on the backseat. This is the time that members of the National Assembly should realize that the hope of change in this nation is impossible when they live in contradiction to the moral, social and political aspirations of their fellow citizens. Duty, honour, country: are the mandates we need to rediscover at this hour,” he stated, stressing that success will depend on the quality and integrity of the members of the cabinet at both the national and state levels.
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