*Says Nigeria Will Benefit From Japa
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The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, Thursday, slammed the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) over its proposed 114 per cent raise in the salaries of elected politicians, including the President, vice president, governors, and lawmakers.
RMAFC has come under heavy criticism over its recommendation for an increase in the basic salaries of public office holders in the country.
Chairman of the commission, Muhammadu Shehu, who was represented by RMAFC commissioner from Kebbi State, Mrs Rakiya Tanko-Ayuba, announced the proposal on Tuesday in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, while presenting the reviewed remuneration package of political and judicial office holders to the State Governor, Dr Nasir Idris.
Reacting, Obi in a Twitter post, described the recommendation as “insensitive,” warning that it should not be the priority of a nation still struggling with minimum wage with over 133 million Nigerians currently living in abject poverty.
He tweeted, “I learnt with great reservation, the approval of a 114% increase in the salaries of elected politicians, including the President, vice president, governors, lawmakers as well as judicial and public office holders by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
“This is not the appropriate time for such a salary increment if it is at all necessary. We are living in a time when an average Nigerian is struggling with many harsh economic realities, and with over 130 million Nigerians now living in poverty. This is a moment when recent reform measures by the government have increased living costs astronomically.
“One would expect the leaders and public officeholders to focus on cutting the cost of governance, alleviating the sufferings of Nigerians. This moment calls for creative ways of pulling the majority out of poverty. In the immortal words of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, ‘What touches us ourself shall be last served.’
“The leaders, therefore, should prioritise what affects the masses and those on the lower strata of society over themselves. The sacrifice, at this time in our nation, should be borne by the leaders. The increment should be reversed immediately, and the savings should be devoted to fixing education, healthcare and poverty alleviation especially in the remote rural areas.”
Also in corroborating Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, Bill Gates, on Thursday, the former Anambra State governor said the japa syndrome is healthy for Nigeria.
Gates had on Wednesday during an interactive session with innovators on ‘Advancing Africa: Unleashing the Power of Youth in Science and Innovation’ in Lagos State, said the japa syndrome was good and healthy for Nigeria.
“In a sense, people leaving is a good thing; if you up the amount of training you’re doing. So you say, Okay, some of our doctors can go get a very high salary in the UK, the US; some of them will pay to their families broadly; and some of them will return.
“So having a big diaspora that includes people coming back into business, into government—that’s a very healthy thing. There are some cases, like medical education, that were subsidised by the government, you almost wish that a little bit of that resource you get overseas would help the government increase training; because otherwise and we see today a significant shortage in some of those skills,’’ Gates said.
He added, “But I’m not someone who believes that no one should go away or that blocking that completely is a healthy thing.’’
“But certainly India and China and I’ll say Nigeria is third on this list, this idea that people go away and do great work but then they come back, if you get that balance and figure out the education funding piece of that, that is a super healthy thing in computer science, in health, in business and other areas.’’
Obi, who shared Gates’ optimism, said “our brain drain today will be our brain gain tomorrow”.
In a series of tweets on his Twitter handle on Thursday, Obi wrote, “I read and agree with Bill Gates’s recent comment on the “japa” syndrome, where, according to reports, he stated that the recent surge of Nigerian professionals leaving the country for greener pastures is good and healthy for our country.
“I have always preached and maintained this same position on the “japa wave”. For years now, and throughout my campaign in the last Presidential election, especially during my tours from Canada, the USA, Germany, the UK, and other countries, I maintained that “Our brain drain today will be our brain gain tomorrow.”
“Nigerians leaving the country may look like a loss today, but when we start doing the right things and taking the governance of our nation more seriously, the knowledge and resources from them will be critical in the building of the New Nigeria, as it happened in China, India, Ireland and other developing countries.
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