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Uyi Edogamhe
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Edogamhe

What a shame that you can’t even get to chat, or send an email to your representative in the national assembly or even make uninterrupted telephone call to register your displeasure at this folly and crass stupidity, despite the huge sums that is being charged for such lousy services. Our elected representatives have never thought it wise to hold a public hearing on something as minimal as this gross exploitation of Nigerians.

 

THE FOLLY OF A POLITICAL CLASS.
 by Uyi Edogamhe
 

Nigerians are a unique breed. The can do, never say never, nothing is impossible innate disposition, is an inalienable trait of  the average Nigerian. The Nigerian has a natural disposition to excel, in a non constraining non restricting environment. The Falconets have once again proven that. The Nigerian is imbibed with a yearning urge to leave a mark wherever he or she threads, and loves to be the centre of attention. He is self consciously confident and exude and relishes that with no qualms.

Contemporarily, our avaricious and ravenous political class  are a thriving segment of this spectrum, with an overbearing and over bloated ego;  a preposterous propensity for self serving and self deprecating monstrosity. These befitting  applaudable traits have become an attribute extrapolated  indecorously  for ignoble and  mind debasing exploit.

We seem to have taken the recent brouhaha, about leadership corrupt practices in the Nigeria national  assembly; the house of representative specifically, on our stride and  moved on to the  next level, without much ado about the implicit and explicit implication of the bare face scam on  the national body politic.  A crude display of brigandage and anti social hostility by some conmen politicos, engineered by a complicit house leadership in front of scandalized school children, who were on familiarisation visit to the national assembly has barely been thoroughly discussed. The cause of these whole fracas and ensued milieu have been swept under the rug, it appears

Nobody is scandalised that the Nigeria House of representative and the Nigerian political clime, have become something of a gangster paradise - for perfidious political adventurers - where anarchy and not intellectually stimulating and national problem centred dialogue reins. The people's business have been subordinated for political survival and self preservation. Laudable selfless service most importantly, have been substituted for financial cut throat adventurism. The battle for superior pragmatic political ideas is reduced to a wild west battle of survival of the meanest and deadliest, and a high price have been paid in terms of human lives and lost of constructive time for nation building in this democratic learning process.

The political class and it’s habitual propensity for the jocular, instead of real  progressive hard work and life impacting legislation,  have become a fixture in a  lugubrious societal ailment  that needs to be rectified. They have so badly depreciated in the general public impression that, the elected political class, no longer inspire any kind of confidence or whatsoever in the generality of the Nigerian people.  It is a generally accepted view that the political class is a fiefdom of marauding  self conceited, uninspiring, dubious and avidly corrupt lot. Any such representation is factually in tandem, with what obtains, as what is generally speculated is what you get.

Unfortunately, the public trust deficit, is of minimal relevance and of no importance in policy formulation and enforcement. The political experimentation thus far have been self gratifying for a political class that is entrusted to bring the so-called democratic dividend to their constituents. Political representation have become a self gratifying odyssey, a financially rewarding and abundantly fulfilling engagement. The general welfare of the vote wielding electorate is of minimal importance as such votes have had little or no bearing on the  electoral process.

There is a representational disengagement, that lucidly explains why the elected representative of the people are completely shot out of  the ranging political imploding debate about zoning, that some people are unambiguously exploiting to foment confusion in the polity. These are the same set of people, if our guess is right, who during the late President Yar’Adua’s health crisis unabashedly invited the military to come take over.

The political representatives of the people, it is self evident, have completely relinquished, their supposed constitutional responsibility of policy formulations, enactments and preservation of national unity and cohesion. These elected representative of the people at all levels, have become constructively docile and visionless.  They are no longer sure what their billings are and are at a dangerous cross road.

In the meantime, the political space, have been usurped and hijacked  by self imposed and self anointed leaders of all stripes, bigoted demagogue  and undisguised ethno religious fanatics  who are purely the enemies within. The elected political class is a hapless spectator in this unfolding drama. The political trajectory right now is being propelled by  an “ethno fascist” group, with the complete exclusion of elected the representatives, whose duty, it beholds to debate and decide on issues of national importance.

The national and states assemblies these past weeks have been stealthily supplanted by a political  self seeking and self adulating  feudal gerontocracy.  This is the sad folly of a political class that has shed it’s responsibility in search of the usual pecuniary incentives.

The major preoccupation at this critical junction is how to pocket the so-called Constituency allowance ( a first in representative democracy lexicon).

What a shame that you can’t even get to chat, or send an email to your representative in the national assembly or even make uninterrupted telephone call to register your displeasure at this folly and crass stupidity, despite the huge sums that is being charged for such lousy services. Our elected representatives have never thought it wise to hold a public hearing on something as minimal as this gross exploitation of Nigerians.

These political class of elected officials have chosen to remain at the periphery, instead of taking the centre stage in this bizarre unfolding political scenario. It is clear to all, that their stipends and outrageous allowances are not at stake here, and their corrupt dealings even though exposed, is still a safe secret.  It will be nice to be told why we are being held hostage to the whims of some rogue “statesmen”, while our elected representatives have remained taciturn.


 

 

 

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