PRESIDENT JONATHAN RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN: TAX PAYERS MONEY AT WORK.

Taking the large amount of money that has been spent from the commencement of the 2015 general elections by the President Goodluck Jonathan led presidency and the ruling party into cognizance, one will be whacked to compromise or doubt if truly unemployment is at an alarming rate in Nigeria, doubt the need of the country to seek a loan from a foreign bank in order to combat insecurity and also if the people wallow in abject poverty among others.

Undoubtedly, the need for an underachieved government to spend several millions of Naira which most often commensurate with the financial worth of the publicized capital projects on the pages of national dailies remains a debate among the elitist population, this has garnered criticism from a large percentage of the people on the need for a government to waste the internally generated revenue from tax payers money on placing adverts on the pages of national dailies because we strongly believe that capital projects are evident achievements that the populace can see and discuss at every gathering. Perhaps, the Nigerian population remained silent for a long time, until the incumbent adminsitration successfully diverted tax payers money to the reelection campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan and other contestants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. This has made the reckless spending of the ruling party an easy task and with reflections in the multi-million mudslinging sponsored adverts on our national dailies and on different television broadcasts.

Although, the reasons why Governors from PDP led States can conveniently harness support and raise a whooping sum of over N21B in a single presidential fund raising dinner while the working force in most of their respective States are either earning below the minimum wage or been owed by the State government and the addition of financial contributions from the incumbent government enriched business owners while the company payroll is either slim or their members of staff have been engaged without salaries and allowances for a certain period of time, does beat the comprehension of most Nigerians who are seen to be helpless or as mere tools in the hands of our selfish ruling class but it does not beat the understanding of the key players in our polity.

It is very pathetic that some Nigerians prefer to live as an oppressor provided their daily meals are not affected and their shady businesses are not altered, remain mute when others are oppressed, or be the oppressor if the society does not curb the animals in them, this is quite synonymous to the reasons why a lot will continue to act like they are not affected by the $20B missing NNPC funds, the decision of the former Minister of Aviation to spend a sum of N550M on bullet proof vehicles, the $30B missing funds under the watch of the Minister of Finance and the decision of the Minister for Petroleum to spend N10B on chartered jet. Nonetheless, it is neither convenient for those who have taken the position of bystanders nor is it peaceful for those who have taken the frontline of people agitating for a working country, as our heritage continue to fall apart despite their efforts but a war for justice , equity and transparency in governance can not be won when a large population of the people seems to prefer sitting on the fence when a very few among us continue to agitate for a free country as bequeathed to us by our heroes past.

It should interest Nigerians that recent unfolding has further affirmed the claims of the elitist population, press releases from international organisations and foreign journals, as we are neither compelled nor coerced to accept and believe that the incumbent administration has successfully spent tax payers money on the ongoing waste of resources by the PDP on the President Goodluck Jonathan reelection bid. Well this should not be a surprise to Nigerians who are aware of the 51 percentage of the total annual budget going to the government at the center while the remaining 49 percentage is shared among the States in the Federation.

Conclusively, a support for a government that has spent tax payers money on their strive to remain in power in order to continue feeding on the country’s treasury is nothing but a wicked decision that will further plunge our heritage into financial chaos.

Kazeem Sulaiman
sulaimanadeshina@yahoo.com
@KazeemDiary