Anti-Corruption Group Blasts National Assembly Over N5,000 Stipends

Posted by African Examiner Featured Contributors/Columnists, Latest Headlines, News Thursday, November 5th, 2015

By Ayo Balogun, Lagos

BALTIMORE, MD (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders CACOL, has lashed out at the Senators over the rejection of the motion for the payment of N5, 000 stipend to each jobless Nigerian and on the members of House of Representatives over the reported ongoing rift that is almost tearing the lower federal legislature apart in the past few days.

Debo Adeniran, the Executive Chairman of the Coalition on Thursday lamented over what he described as “a shameless display of sheer opportunism by the law-makers as it is disturbing seeing the frequency at which these people fight for issues bordering on their selfish gains. How very impressive it would have been if they take issues of national interest with the same zeal and seriousness.

“Thanks to members of lower legislative chamber; at least, we are now being made to know that certain committees are ‘juicier’ than the others. Are we not now beginning to understand better that all the claims by these people that ‘the driving motive behind their contesting for legislative positions is basically to serve the nation and to loyally represent their respective constituencies’ have been nothing but mere lip service; otherwise, why should they be selective and not just take whatever was given and get to work for the nation, in whatever capacity they find themselves?

“It’s getting clearer by the day that Nigerians still have to continue the long wait for that time to come when people seeking political offices would be doing so, strictly altruistic, out of the desire to serve the nation and not to please themselves,” he said.

Commenting on the senators’ rejection of the monthly allowance to the unemployed youth, Adeniran opined that “since the authorities know the number of graduates of different higher institutions in the country, they would have considered it as a burden to carry and should have created workplaces for them.

“This is the more reason why we want the government to create business friendly environment, encourage cottage industries for those with requisite capacity and establish more industries and central vocational centers that would absorb the unemployed graduates and competent artisans.”

Speaking further Adeniran stressed, “the fact that all these promises, the monthly allowance for the unemployed inclusive, were voluntarily made by the APC during its electioneering campaign makes it incumbent on it to honour the promises without any further excuses whatsoever, now that it is in power. No excuse will be good enough.”

As for the monthly allowance, the CACOL boss asserted that all that is now expected of the APC-led government is to begin to collate necessary data with a view to determining the accurate population of potential beneficiaries of this and all other of its campaign promises and the cost implication and commence the implementation without further ado.

“However, giving such paltry sum of money to Nigerian youths will not solve their problems outright. Government should be reminded that it has to create the enabling environment for employment generation and ensure that business set-up, maintenance and sustenance are enhanced by government policies, which will include provision of micro-credit, reduction in taxes and rates payable, and moratorium for new business loans,” he said.