The Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Ebonyi Chapter, Prof. Egwu Oguguo and other prominent residents of the state have called on the Federal Government to prioritise security and welfare of the ordinary Nigerians.
The people made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakiliki on Sunday.
They spoke against the backdrop of the recent proposal by the National Assembly (NASS) to raise the remuneration of political office holders in the country.
They rejected the proposal and advised that it be dropped.
Oguguo, a lecturer at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, said that such a proposal was anti-people and “against the law of natural justice”.
He described the proposal as “insensitive and unjustifiable, in view of Nigeria’s current economic situation”.
According to him, the plan by government agencies, including the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), to raise the pay of political office holders at a time the N70,000 minimum wage had been eroded by inflation amounts to a show of disregard for the plight the ordinary Nigerians are going through.
He pointed out that while millions of Nigerians battled with hunger and multidimensional poverty, government officials should not contemplate enriching themselves further.
“It is actually very insensitive to consider raising the pay of government officials, while citizens are lost in survival struggles.
“Any such increase will only widen inequality, fuel social vices and provoke public anger,” Oguguo said.
Also, Prof. Fidelis Ochim of the Federal University, Lafia warned that the proposed increment “is a disservice to Nigerians, who have continued to endure hardship caused by mismanagement of the economy”.
Ochim argued that the duty of the state is to ensure security and welfare of its citizens, ” and not to prioritise the comfort of a privileged few”.
“Our leaders should prioritise the welfare and security of the ordinary citizens who are daily struggling against economic hardship and insecurity,” he also said.
An Abakaliki-based legal practitioner, Mr Chidi Ude, said the proposal was a negation of constitutional principle of equity.
Ude said that the country’s political leaders, already among the highest paid in the world, could not justify salary increment when civil servants were owed arrears and pensioners left to languish.
“The proposed pay rise for the elected office holders by NASS lacks justification and could further lead to economic paralysis,” he said.
On his part, the State Coordinator of the Civil Society Coalition for Good Governance, Ms Angela Nwafor, said the proposal further reinforced the perception that the political class was disconnected from the reality on ground.
Nwafor said that the country’s democracy was being endangered when governance appears to serve the interest of less than one per cent of the population.
“The Senate President once made a joke, when he said, “you protest, we are eating’’. This pay rise agenda shows the same mindset.
“It is not the principle of sound leadership to pursue self-interest, while failing to provide basic infrastructure, health and education for the majority,” she said.
The stakeholders were unanimous that NASS and the Federal Government should shelve the idea of any salary increase for political office holders and instead channel resources to fix the economy, improve workers’ welfare and address general insecurity.
They said that by so doing, the Federal Government would reduce poverty and the prevailing social unrest in the country.
