Minimum wage and “Constitutional luxury”

There is something nauseating and contemptible about our political leaders’ upholding a “constitutional right” to live in luxury at public expense. It tragically characterizes their over-inflated sense of self-importance. It’s nothing short of offensive, insulting and callous for any of them to propose that the solution to reduced monthly allocations from the Federal Government is […]

There is something nauseating and contemptible about our political leaders’ upholding a “constitutional right” to live in luxury at public expense. It tragically characterizes their over-inflated sense of self-importance. It’s nothing short of offensive, insulting and callous for any of them to propose that the solution to reduced monthly allocations from the Federal Government is to reduce the minimum wage.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines wages as a fixed regular payment earned for work or services typically paid on a daily or weekly basis. A minimum wage is supposed to be the least amount a working person should earn to access the basics of life. Realistically this amount is supposed to be predicated upon the cost of living, not the cost of governance.
Our so called “Minimum Wage” of N18,000 per month breaks down to N4,500 per week or N900 per day. Even those who earn twice this amount are hardly able to pay their house rent and utility bills, transport, feeding and clothing let alone medical bills. Quite preposterously the minimum wage is less than the monthly clothing allowance of a Nigerian Senator! In reality the main cause of government’s economic woes isn’t wages, its spendthrift behaviour. State Governors have perfected the art of looting public funds with reckless abandon.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) claims a large proportion of the monthly allocations to State Governments is regularly converted into foreign exchange destined for overseas accounts. Recent revelations of what has gone on in the name of State governance confirm that blind larceny is now the order of the day. Indeed we have become immune to stories of cash misappropriations running into hundreds of millions.
Top officials of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ruling party led Federal and State Governments should be under no illusion that their honeymoon is over and erstwhile supporters are increasingly disappointed by the delays in effecting positive change. Unpaid salaries, petrol queues, erratic electricity supply, armed robbery and insurgency are still rampant and simply revealing the depth of graft by a previous administration is nothing new in Nigeria, and doesn’t bring succour to the impoverished.
The APC will be making a grave mistake if they feel citizens will tolerate the austerity measures they are warning us about while at the same time their leaders refuse to emulate the un-ostentatious lifestyle and example of President Muhammad Buhari. They must appreciate that gallivanting round the nation and globetrotting the world to accept dubious awards, attend social functions, or insignificant conferences all at public expense only endangers public support.
If further evidence was required that they care more for their “constitutional luxury” than the plight of citizens it’s the plan to spend N4.7 Billion to purchase new Toyota Jeeps for the Senate, and a much larger amount on vehicles for members of the House of Representatives – all this at a time when government is failing to pay salaries or pensions and contemplating reducing the minimum wage.
It’s increasingly evident that the real reason why despite all our potentials Nigeria remains a third world nation, is because tragically those elected to uplift the lives of the “common man” are consumed by greed beyond comprehension and a love of ostentatious living. They believe they were somehow elected to enjoy on our behalf! Despite the majority of Nigerians living in penury below the international poverty line, our leaders refuse to waive their “right” to a life of luxury at public expense. Worse still, EFCC prosecutions indicate that rather than concentrate on improving the lives of citizens, our Governors spend their time providing for their life after office by accumulating more assets than they need, and more money than they could reasonably spend.
All the evidence points to the fact that the root of our problems are not economic per say but that so many individuals who are utterly unsuitable for leadership, and whose motivation is personal gain have found themselves in office. Most State Governments are caught in a quandary. Even if workers’ salaries were cut the fact remains that their economies would remain parlous.
While conventional wisdom says they should concentrate on increasing internally generated revenue (IGR) the truth is they can’t tax poverty.  Increasing taxes only makes sense where profits are being made, social services are working, and there is development.  Eventually the nation must come to terms with the reality that so many States are not economically viable and were only created due to political pressure and the fact the centre was supposed to permanently provide for the upkeep of the government machineries.
There is no sensible reason why any Nigeria citizen should be asked to earn less money and at the same time pay more taxes merely to sustain the ostentatious lifestyles of the political class.