‘’Following the outrage which greeted the renovation contract for the official residences of the Speaker of the House and her deputy, Nguroje, the management of the National Assembly yesterday moved to clear the air on the controversy. It confirmed that out of the N579, 216,417.50 budgeted for the contract, only N52million, representing 25%, had been paid to the contractors handling the projects.”…

….. The Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Nasir Arab who confirmed this yesterday at the National Assembly complex said “the scope of works at the residences of the presiding officers of the House of Representatives namely, the Honorable Speaker and the Deputy Speaker is not confined to mere renovation but entails a comprehensive upgrade of the affected premises to the standard that befits their status.”

from Thisday Newspaper. 03-09-07

It never ceases to amaze me…the crassness and sheer stupidity which oozes from the greater majority of people in positions of leadership in Nigeria!

Our honourable speaker and her deputy, in order to perform their duties to the impoverished people of Nigeria, needed to have their official accommodations ‘’renovated”….no problem with that..no problem at all, they deserve to have standard and comfortable housings, we can’t begrudge them that.It would be unfair.

What I can not fathom however, is how a whopping N579Million could have been budgeted for that singular purpose!…an amount in excess of half a billion Naira!

I would love to see the various bidding documents submitted by contractors for these contracts…I would like to see the work schedule for the proposed renovations and furnishings….I would love to see the proforma invoices for the ‘’fittings” and ‘’furniture”….I would love to have professional Realtor take a look at the property in question and give me an opinion…..

And then I would love to have a chat with Madam Speaker herself….I have some questions or her….

Madam Speaker, I understand that the budget for your own accommodation was about N270million?…I guess that would make it a state of the art house then wouldn’t it?

Forgive me ma, but if I may ask…how many cottage hospitals (lets not go into their condition yet) are in your constituency?

How many ‘’standard and befitting” primary schools are there?

Have you taken an inventory of primary school age children from your constituency who are not in school because their poor parents can not afford the meagre fees because of poverty?

…and I’m also wondering ma, if you were to build or buy a state of the art mansion for yourself…with your own money…how much do you think you would reasonably expect to pay for it? Do you honestly believe that paying the sum of N270.0million for the RENOVATION of your living quarters is a fair to the people of your constituency and Nigerian in general? Considering that the average Nigerian lives on maybe $2 a day, and the amount you earmarked for your housing alone is the equivalent of $2.1million.

Do you realise how many SCHOLARSHIPS $2million would pay for?! Do you realize how much it would fetch in medicare for your constituency?…oh, I’m sorry …you have to be comfortable first, before you think of all those trivialities …I understand.

Anyway, while you lounge in your Italian leather settees watching plasma TV’s, when you are soaking in your Jacuzzis and Saunas, after rolling in your  Persian Rugs, and whatever other vanities have been purchased in the renovation exercise….( I’m believing that you would not stoop so low as to over invoice a contract so you would get some cash out of it)…

While you do whatever it is that people do in a N270.0million mansion…..remember this.

Remember that posterity will judge you. Remember that there are some of us who are not quite as forgetful as the average Nigerian…we are watching, and we will not forget.

Remember that when all is said and done…you are no worse than the men who lay in wait on the highways for innocent passers by.

Remember that God is a faithful judge…no sin will go unpunished…every wound will leave a scar…what you sow is what you will reap. Every one who partakes of your filthy, stolen wealth will partake of the wages of sin.

I hope that you would take the honourable way out and simply resign from office.