The People Talk

Political parties in Nigeria have commenced the sale of nomination forms to aspirants for various elective positions.. However, the prohibitive cost of the forms is already a threat to the aspirants' hope of serving their people.

In this interview with Federationews2day, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke insists that the high cost of the forms has made political aspirants lose fate in the political system in the country. Excerpts :

Political parties in Nigeria are already selling nomination forms to aspirants for various elective positions, but the cost of the forms are on the high side. What are your views ?

The high cost of opportunities in the area of service is not new in the history of Nigeria's political travails.

This is part of the fundamental  heresies which ought to be corrected. 

Wasteful spending in terms of political office holders salaries compared to that of civil servants is too much of a gap, in a country where the people patronize the same market. For example, the N13.5 million package for Senators per month, put side by side the N18,000 monthly wage of the least paid worker is ridiculous. 

Wasteful spending equally manifests in the number of Personal Assistants for political office holders such as Governors and their entourage who escort them  to public functions, at home and abroad, regardless of the fact that we make so much noise about government's inability to execute and complete projects, revive comatose infrastructure and ensure the prompt payment of senior citizens' pensions and gratuities.

Buying a piece of paper for as much as N45 million,N22.5 million, even N5 million, will not only scare away the just, but will pave the way for a new generation of treasury looters.

Apologies for the high cost of  nomination forms, but the political parties may have two things in mind, one, pruning down the high number of aspirants and secondly, raising money to manage party primaries which they believe is necessary , because the culture of members financing party activities is yet to be in place.

This is another challenge for morality in a Democracy.

The said amounts are large in the eyes of the poor masses, but it is not, to the elites in the game of institutional indiscipline, corruption and self-enrichment syndrome, this is because several individuals have so much in their bank accounts that can finance the budget of Nigeria.

Their problem is on how to spend such to oppress and dominate, rather than on poverty alleviation.

This is a nation where rhetorically we say what is good, but lack the political will to do the right thing.

If not that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) is not really independent, the source of money from all the money bags ought to have been queried.

This why we must change the game, by finding those who have the ability to establish strong institutions for us, rather than strong individuals.

The ''Not Too Young To Run'' law has been proved to be ill timed by Mr. President, who is always candid and down to earth, that is why he told the youths to wait till 2023, when people like him would have exhausted their tenure.

In the real sense, the National Assembly that passed the bill, only did so, to checkmate Mr. President, based on age and this is why he immediately  declared his resolve to run for a second term, despite the threats to his life by his detractors and his health condition.

Many All Progressives Congress(APC) members cross carpeted to other parties in search of greener pastures, with the intentions of having the opportunity to contest for the presidency.

The youth in Nigeria are already disabled, through the dysfunctional educational system and a diluted and polluted religious system, that lack the ability to teach, but to clone therm into monsters, as well as throwing them into the ocean of economic savagery.

Suffice it now to say, that if government is serious about the ''Not To Young To Run'' law, there ought to have been serious investment in the empowerment needs of the youth, the the spirit of the United Nations clarion call on all nations to run legacy driven programmes and projects, while activating Democracy for sustainable development.

Sadly, till date successive governments have failed to meet up, not to talk of doing, for posterity to judge us aright.

On the issue of building a virile nation, all the minimum set standards, through international instruments must be domesticated and put into action. For example the workforce/population ratio, such as the police, military and other security agents must be met, while education and health, for example, UNESCO and WHO standards of  26 per cent and 15 per cent of the national budget respectively, must be met.

There is no magic in continuing to borrow, more so, when the impact would not be felt by the society.

We are all stakeholders anyway let us all get determined to build a virile nation.

Residents of Oyo state have expressed reservations over the decision of the Oyo state Government  to introduce  an annual security levy of N60,000 on religious organizations in the state. Although religious adherents pay the compulsory monthly tax, this is not the consideration of the state government, just as residents express unhappiness about the state government's decision. Watchers of the development call on the  state government to give a detailed  explanation on the purpose of the the monthly security vote to the

state Governor. They also insist that the decision is suspicious, coming at the twilight of the eight year  uneventful tenure, while expressing hopes that the fact that the General Overseer of a religious  organization as the Chief of Staff to the State Governor will probably save the worrisome situation.

In this interview with Poverty Line, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that Nigerians are daily and fervently praying to God to remove those who have  afflicted them with hunger and poverty. Excerpts :

 What is your reaction to decision of the Oyo state Government to introduce N60,000 annual security levy to be paid by religious organizations in the state ?

The pronouncement is ill timed, if we consider the coming elections and may spell a draw back for the All Progressives Congress(APC)  as a party in the state. This is because the majority of the people who attend religious services, in the true sense of it, do not have any other prayer than the fact that poverty and other hardships been inflicted on them by government should be removed by God.

If the pensioners are yet to be paid their pensions including their gratuities and workers's salaries are not regular and they live by the alternatives of incurred debts with attendant trauma of the generosity

 of friends, families and lender houses give them pittance as loans for survival, while they wait for government;s payment time to come.

Government needs to realize that the poverty in the land is growing worse, with the attendant hardships on the people, trailed by the high unemployment rate and the prohibitive prices of foodstuff and other commodities, which are highly essential for the survival of the masses. The majority of the masses attend religious houses.

Government also needs to realize that there are four categories of religious worshipers in the land.

Houses of God founded through legitimate purposes are  run through  legitimate contributions because they want to be scripture compliant.

The second category are the political apologists, whose leaders feed fat on government and enjoy the patronage of government officials, such Houses of God may not feel the pinch of the poverty in the land.

The third category, are the commercial driven Houses of God, which collaborate in the sins  and crimes been committed by the business class and government kleptomania, such people lack the spirit, they are only buoyant in material wealth.

The fourth category are the ''voodoo'' driven Houses of God which cheat on people in the name of miracles, but in the real sense of it they are neither true religious adherents because they live  by magic wands.

All the categories are expected to have corporate social responsibilities.

However, if government has been able to tax the religious organizations with respect to venture contributions, the next taxation of government would only amount to a game of double taxation.

My advice to government is that they should avoid  taxing the spirit which directly belongs to God, but the body, only through single taxation system for the ventures been embarked upon as their corporate social responsibilities to the community.

If we want the nation to be re branded for good, religious houses must be made to teach the scripture only, as a way of implementing the vision of God for mankind. And they must separate this from the economic ventures which are supposed to be the source of fulfilling the obligations of charity in religion. The APC government must beware of the of the ides of time, because what they need as at this time, is to put into use effectively the SWOT analysis, whereby their strength and opportunities must be garnered together to amend the areas of their weaknesses and threats, not to allow a repeat of the sad history for the progressives in the west : 1) The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) swept away the government of the Alliance for Democracy(AD) except Lagos, due to the unnecessary carelessness in governance. Tai Solarin's write up in the 70s, ''The Beginning of the End'', saw to the eclipse of Gen. Yakubu Gowon's  government in 1975.

The APC government disappointed the people in relation to the Paris Club refunds through the state governments. Any policy that may add to the hardships of the people by now, must be considered to be ill-timed.

The palliative measure of the Gen. Babangida economic formula considered payment of workers' salaries, through the increase in some allowances, would always mean the circulation of currency  in the states or country, because the people would always go to the market places to satisfy their fundamental physical needs-food, shelter and clothing.

If government is to have a breakthrough at all, let each of the state Governors in the 36 states, transparently analyse how each of them have spent the security votes allocated to their state till date.