Nigerians in small houses and mansions
June 25 2015 By Abi Giwa
Buhari and his governors
Evangelist Felix Umoru is a minister of the God of the Church of God Mission in Nigeria, and a regular feature on the Facebook. On Tuesday, he posted a message on the Facebook saying that it is better to live in a small house with peace of mind than live in a secured mansion, where one is not able to sleep with eyes closed.
The branch of the Church of God Mission where Umoru ministers is in a part of Nigeria that happens to be my parents' place of birth and my hometown called Ugbekpe, in Ekperi local Government Area of the country. I know there are more small houses in my village than mansions, just as it is in Ile-Ife, my birth place and where I grew up, and in Lagos where I later worked and raised a family, just as it is everywhere in the world, because small houses far, far, outnumber the mansions.
The society's setting shows that apart from the novea-riche who lives in mansions, the only known people who lives in mansions like the novea-riche are the government officials, especially in Nigeria, where being a politician or senior government official amounts to being wealthy.
There is an inference in Umoru's statement which currently applies to many government officials in Nigeria, especially concerning state governors who live in mansions and have been unable to pay their workers salaries, running to seven or more months. How can a governor sleep with two eyes closed in a mansion, when workers's salaries are unpaid?
At a recent meeting with President Muhammed Buhari, the governors were disappointed to hear that the Federal Government would not bail the states out of the unpaid salaries quagmire. The governors undoubtedly sought other means to obtain money from the government at the center. But the government at the center said it has inherited empty treasury and that the country is in debt to the tune of trillions of Naira.
What is the cause for the unpaid salary? The Osun State governor, Aregbesola had said that the unpaid salary arose from a drastic fall in the federal government's allocation to the states. But members of the public had countered him that the money that was supposed to be for workers' salaries had been used for the electioneering campaign for their party, the president's party.
The issue about living in a mansion cropped up again in Buhari's meeting with the state house media corps, when he said that the government would require the help of the media to prevent the public from marching on government. It is the height of recognizing that what constitutes a situation about living in mansions with fears.
Some days later after Buhari had revealed that the treasury is empty and the country is wearing a toga of debt, he said his government would use the next three months in pursuit of how to get back money stolen from government coffers by his immediate predecessor.
In a response to the accusation from the new government that its predecessor had emptied the treasury and that the country is in deep debt, the former minister of Finance, Ngozi Eweala said that the country's debt is not as high as the new government had revealed, and that most of the debts were incurred by the state governments.
In this case, observers are saying that Buhari's appeal to the media to not allow the public descend on them in their state house mansions shouldn't be what he should have done. What should have been expected of any responsible government in the shoes that Buhari's government finds itself is seek means to pay the workers their salaries, because as a presidential candidate , Buhari too may have benefited, directly or indirectly from the campaign, which most of the governors diverted the money meant for workers's salaries.
It is the governors' choice to leave the small houses to go and live in mansions. No one forced them into it. They campaigned and asked for the job. They should have known that to have peace of mind living in mansions requires prudent management of resources, and that you don't play jackpot or lottery with money meant for workers' salary.
(Coming: Buhari and the media)
The branch of the Church of God Mission where Umoru ministers is in a part of Nigeria that happens to be my parents' place of birth and my hometown called Ugbekpe, in Ekperi local Government Area of the country. I know there are more small houses in my village than mansions, just as it is in Ile-Ife, my birth place and where I grew up, and in Lagos where I later worked and raised a family, just as it is everywhere in the world, because small houses far, far, outnumber the mansions.
The society's setting shows that apart from the novea-riche who lives in mansions, the only known people who lives in mansions like the novea-riche are the government officials, especially in Nigeria, where being a politician or senior government official amounts to being wealthy.
There is an inference in Umoru's statement which currently applies to many government officials in Nigeria, especially concerning state governors who live in mansions and have been unable to pay their workers salaries, running to seven or more months. How can a governor sleep with two eyes closed in a mansion, when workers's salaries are unpaid?
At a recent meeting with President Muhammed Buhari, the governors were disappointed to hear that the Federal Government would not bail the states out of the unpaid salaries quagmire. The governors undoubtedly sought other means to obtain money from the government at the center. But the government at the center said it has inherited empty treasury and that the country is in debt to the tune of trillions of Naira.
What is the cause for the unpaid salary? The Osun State governor, Aregbesola had said that the unpaid salary arose from a drastic fall in the federal government's allocation to the states. But members of the public had countered him that the money that was supposed to be for workers' salaries had been used for the electioneering campaign for their party, the president's party.
The issue about living in a mansion cropped up again in Buhari's meeting with the state house media corps, when he said that the government would require the help of the media to prevent the public from marching on government. It is the height of recognizing that what constitutes a situation about living in mansions with fears.
Some days later after Buhari had revealed that the treasury is empty and the country is wearing a toga of debt, he said his government would use the next three months in pursuit of how to get back money stolen from government coffers by his immediate predecessor.
In a response to the accusation from the new government that its predecessor had emptied the treasury and that the country is in deep debt, the former minister of Finance, Ngozi Eweala said that the country's debt is not as high as the new government had revealed, and that most of the debts were incurred by the state governments.
In this case, observers are saying that Buhari's appeal to the media to not allow the public descend on them in their state house mansions shouldn't be what he should have done. What should have been expected of any responsible government in the shoes that Buhari's government finds itself is seek means to pay the workers their salaries, because as a presidential candidate , Buhari too may have benefited, directly or indirectly from the campaign, which most of the governors diverted the money meant for workers's salaries.
It is the governors' choice to leave the small houses to go and live in mansions. No one forced them into it. They campaigned and asked for the job. They should have known that to have peace of mind living in mansions requires prudent management of resources, and that you don't play jackpot or lottery with money meant for workers' salary.
(Coming: Buhari and the media)
