Everywhere you turn on the radio, the television or social media, there are folks discussing the N40 billion spent on SUV cars for senators and members of the House of Representatives. I’ve read articles and watched videos in which people have criticized the action, calling it unnecessary and a massive smack in the face of the general public while some folks are also arguing for ignorance.
Have you read Wole Soyinka’s response to internet trolls after they demanded that he rip up his American red card in the wake of Donald Trump’s 2016 victory? Internet trolls were characterised by Soyinka as noisome creatures and the nattering nitwits. I believe that individuals defending ignorance in favor of the N40 billion spent on SUVs for senators and House of Representatives members are only noisome creatures, and nitwitting nitpickers.
Their justification for the N40 billion move is simple. These noisy creatures contended that these utility vehicles were provided to federal parliamentarians for an oversight function. They added that it is a tradition. Every four years since 1999, parliamentarians have received brand-new utility vehicles. Instead of focusing on how much each vehicle costs, we should be more worried about what they plan to do with it. They went on to say that we must maintain the system’s operation at any costs.
They aren’t wholly off base, of course. Their understandings cannot be more profound than their opinions. This nation is intentionally absurd. There must be responses to every act, usually motivated by feelings, interests, and affinity. In reality, purchasing SUVs for N40 billion is a problem, but certain Nigerians’ arguments are the bigger issues. No country can advance without intelligent, self-reliant inhabitants. The majority of Nigerians serve opinions and are loyal to their interests and feelings. The greatest issues facing our country are, in fact, ignorance and a lack of judgment or the capacity to form unbiased opinions.
Utility cars are necessary for legislators doing oversight duties. A SUV is it a utility vehicle? Yes. Are there any reasonably priced utility vehicles? Yes. Need we spend N40 billion on SUVs? No. Why do we buy the newest SUVs every four years for 360 House of Representatives members and 109 senators? The SUVs from four years ago are nowhere to be found. Are they faulty or already doomed? Did their occupiers take them away? Are these SUVs owned by the government or by private individuals? The prior SUVs should be passed along to the current senators and representatives if these are actually being used for oversight purposes.
Members of the National Assembly are avaricious people. Whether or not this country is grounded is irrelevant to them. As long as they have access to the national treasury, they are willing to act as a rubber stamp and support ideas that would destroy this country utterly.
The basic fact is that they see fancy automobiles for taking their girlfriends to clubs and parties while we view utility vehicles for supervision purposes. Because of this, a senator would rather have his or her head cut off than have their SUV taken away after leaving office. Due to system permissions, they are able to cart these SUVs away.
Function of oversight? When did members of the National Assembly last perform an oversight duty? Just plainly don’t. If so, what justifications do they have for the numerous projects across the nation that are either abandoned, depreciating, or dilapidated? What specifically have they done to remedy this circumstance? Nothing but arguing about the regulations to further their own interests. The National Assembly would be left empty if we changed it to a part-time body. They didn’t come to serve; they came for the cash and the power. And they are having fun on their mission to find the prize.
I don’t believe the National Assembly needs to set up a tent, invite Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, Wizkid, Davido, and other well-known performers to play, and then dance in celebration of the hardship of Nigerians made worse by the withdrawal of fuel ubsidies. The purchase of SUVs for their members for N40 billion seems to be worse than throwing a celebration to honor the hardships of every Nigerian.
It is nauseating and quite aggravating that a government would spend N40 billion on SUV purchases while removing fuel subsidies on the grounds of a lack of cash and wishing for people to suffer. If SUVs are absolutely necessary, why can’t we purchase the considerably less expensive ones for committees rather than for individuals to reflect the nation’s current economic situation? It irritates me greatly and is truly pitiful that the Nigerian people are being made fun of.
You cannot grow yam and harvest maize simultaneously. If we elect people like Akpabio, Abbo, Yari, and Oyewumi, among others, we cannot expect the nation to resemble America or Canada. They are unable to go inline. Those who help to grow poor seeds will undoubtedly get bad fruits in return. You cannot elect avaricious people and then be shocked by their behavior. Unfortunately, we also have a president who is portrayed as being full of economic ideas that can lead this country to prosperity but who is either overrated or ineffective.
I don’t believe in doom and gloom. I have no advantage in the terrible status of the country, but I also don’t have any hopes or trust to throw away. It is an insult to intelligence to imagine a better country in the future if there are currently no evidence of progress. As Nigerians, our worries have progressed from “not being static or average worse like Buhari led administration” to “completely worst.”
By the time Tinubu’s term is over, some Nigerians are even speculating that we might not even be a sovereign country anymore. I truly want to think differently, but there are no indications, and the greedy, pot-bellied men we lock up in robbery pens are also making us proud of their nefarious deeds. It’s quite difficult. I ask God to assume the helm of Nigeria instead of Tinubu for the benefit of Nigerians. At the very least, it can’t be for nothing that we remain the second-most pious nation.