Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Ibadan on Thursday described members of the National Assembly as a “bunch of unarmed robbers”,
over their huge salaries and allowances.
Obasanjo, who hit hard at the National lawmakers, said the
current legislators are one of the highest paid lawmakers in the world, despite
the fact that an estimated 75 percent of
Nigerians populace live in poverty.
He added that the arm of government should be roundly
condemned.
The former president spoke at the book presentation of Prof.
Mark Nwagwu entitled: “I am Kagara, I Weave the Sands of Sahara”.
The event, which held at the University of Ibadan, had
Obasanjo as the Chief Host while the former Minister of Education, Dr Obiageli
Ezekwesili chaired the occasion.
Stressing that he is expecting another round of bashing from
the federal lawmakers, the former President said he would continue to lambast
them for constituting a huge percentage of the nation’s overhead cost.
He lamented that the nation would hardly develop when about
90 percent of revenue was spent on overhead costs, rather than on capital
expenses.
Speaking on the ongoing impasse between the federal
government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the 2009
agreement, Obasanjo, said government allowed itself to be stampeded into
signing agreements without full consultation within government.
However, he added that regardless of that, the government
was bound to implement whatever agreement reached with workers’ unions.
He said: “Government allows itself to be stampeded into
signing agreement particularly when one group or the other withdraws their
service and go on strike. After the agreement has been signed, without full
consultation within government, and implementation becomes an issue.
“But an agreement is an agreement whoever the agent is that
signed that agreement on your behalf, you are bound by it. You may now have to
renegotiate to have a new agreement but the agreement earlier signed remains an
agreement.
“The universities teachers go on strike, there is an
agreement; doctors go on strike, there will be a special agreement. And when
the universities teachers see that the agreement reached with the doctors is
different from theirs, they again go on strike and this is bad for our economy.
“The way we are going about spending all our revenue to pay
overhead, we will not develop. And we will have ourselves to blame. Ninety
percent of revenue is used to pay overhead, allowances, salaries and not much
is left for capital development.
“In a situation like that, we have to rethink.
“It is even worse for the National Assembly. They will abuse
me again but I will never stop talking about them. They are a bunch of unarmed
robbers.”
“They are one of the highest paid in the world where we have
75 percent of our people living in abject poverty. They will abuse me tomorrow
and if they don’t, maybe they are sleeping. The behaviour and character of the
National Assembly should be condemned and roundly condemned.”
In her remarks at the occasion, the Chairperson of the
event, Dr. Ezekwesili, remarked that the 289-page book, was a tool for Nigeria
to examine the extent to which she had lost her values and culture.
She decried the loss of community spirit, warning that
Nigeria must never negotiate her values.
According to her, the world was currently such that humanity
tried to figure out what happened to morality.
The book reviewer, Mr Nwachukwu Egbunike, in his remarks on
the book noted the theme of feminism and how women navigate life intricacies
towards achieving success in life.
Egbunike also lauded the author’s ability to weave around
different concepts in both the spirit and natural world.
Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Strategic
Partnerships, University of Ibadan, Professor Olanike Adeyemo remarked that
Nwagwu’s book was a veritable instrument to help the younger generation keep
touch with culture.
The event was attended by both academic and non-academic
staff of the university who were on hand to celebrate the author and his wife,
Helen
Comments
Post a Comment