It is quite obvious that a word like servant-master has been long lost in Nigeria politics – maybe Nigerian politicians can take a cue from former Uruguayan president, José Mujica – as what we see are moneybags who get all the more enriched from the treasury of a nation that is struggling to survive. It’s not that the laborer is not worthy of wages though but eyebrows are raised when he/she [while holding a public office] starts receiving extraneous wages that are not specifically tailored for any distinctive purpose.

Not long after the story of some Canadian doctors who were protesting about their overly increased salaries flooded the internet did Nigeria get an inkling into the exact remuneration package of senators – thanks to Senator Shehu Sanni. Senator Sanni has probably drawn the ire of his colleagues who would have loved to maintain the confidentiality of their remuneration but Nigerians are glad to know and also have a man of such integrity in the house. Looking into the case of the Canadian doctors; the protest was not just about their salaries; they also made the move in order to ask for a review of the welfare packages of the nurses and the need to ease off patients from paying exorbitant bills in hospitals – talk about fighting for others in a world ruled by selfish interest. On the other side of the divide – a rather contrasting scenario – are the Nigerian senators who are receiving mega pay in a country where N 18,000 minimum wage is even hard to dole out, not to talk about the huge debts owed.

The money that has brought the contention [after Senator Shehu Sanni’s revelation] is the N 13.5 million pay received by every senator on monthly basis, and the money is paid into their accounts along with N 750,000 monthly salary and allowances which means it is certain that every senator in the house receives N 14.25 million every month. By setting aside the N 13.5 million as running cost, it does appear that the money is meant for the purpose of holding the office together but since there is no specification as to what the money is precisely meant for, there is bound to be a propensity for lavish spending. Now I wonder how many of these senators will be able to give credible account of the money [i.e. summation of the running cost] they have received thus far even with whatever receipt they might have had to tender.

Again, how about the N 200 million fund meant for the development of the respective constituency each of these senators represents? Are we really seeing any far reaching development around our state of residence? And before we get carried away in the fray, it is good to remind ourselves that the national assembly does not necessarily have to be directly involved in the development of infrastructure within their constituency. According to the Nigerian constitution, the National Assembly is saddled with the responsibilities of passing bills, making laws, checking the conduct of government officials and institutions and overseeing the appointments of personnel into top executive [governmental] .

Brief Analysis
Back to the issue of the N 13.5 million; since every penny ought to count in Nigeria today, it will not be out of place to look into the [Nation’s purse] and see how much money is being gulped by our senators.

Basing the calculation solely of the 13.5 million; at the end of each term each senator would have taken home a cumulative amount of 648 million. This means over N 70 billion – N 70.632 billion naira to be precise – would have been allocated to the entire senate after four years. It is somewhat ‘unimaginable’ that a nation submerged in debt can afford to waste funds as such, and those that are benefiting from this, are the very ones that ought to be concerned about setting the nation on the plinth of greatness. Yes, the N 70.632 billion may be a ‘drop in the ocean ‘ when one considers Nigeria’s debt [which is now over N 20 trillion] but there is no doubting the fact that this amount can go a long way in reviving some of the industries that are now in fallen state.

Well, the senate’s remuneration package is all we know about at the moment, there are definitely other public offices that need to be brought under scrutiny. But then, now that we’ve known about the remuneration package of the senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; how do we bail the cat and stop our senators [as well as other top public office holders] from milking our beloved Nation dry?