July 1, (THEWILL)- The two major issues, among others, have been reeving, racking and cracking up the absurd government of insensitivity and banal impunity of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidency in the last 15 months, which have conjoined to tank the Nigerian economy. One is the unthinkable completion of the Vice-President’s residence, Mr Kashim Shettima, that gulps a whopping sum of N21 billion Naira, which an architect said the construction costs are far below the prompted price.
The second and most traumatising is that Tinubu’s Presidency has spent N14.77 billion in 11 months, to repair some of the twelve Presidential Air Fleet aircraft, amidst anguish that the National Assembly has secretly approved the purchase of two new aircraft for the president and his vice in the sum of N22 billion for that purpose. The Senate on Thursday last week, denied approving the purchase of a new presidential jet for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President, Kashim Shettima, as speculated. Senate President Godswill Akpabio clarified this during the plenary session. Akpabio said, “We have never approved the purchase of a presidential jet.”
I’m not so bothered about Akpabio’s denial, which has become a traditional soundtrack of corrupt government successively. President Goodluck Jonathan and President Buhari had their ways with brazen corruption — using Presidential Air Fleet maintenance as a decoy throughout their reign of fraud. While President Goodluck Jonathan spent a whopping sum of N72 billion Naira repairing the presidential air fleet in 8 years, it is on record that President Buhari’s repair costs quadrupled that of President Goodluck Jonathan in another 8 years of the locusts.
The recklessly denied statement from Nigerian Senate President Godswill Akpabio eventually sparked outrage and controversy, either true or false characterised the Nigerian Presidency’s penchant for frivolous and elephant project engagements that massage their nativity and vanity. The issue of purchasing new aircraft for the presidency in the realm of N22 billion was ever mentioned amid a convulsing economy suggesting that the government prioritises the President’s safety and comfort over the welfare of ordinary citizens, who are struggling with hunger and economic hardship.
No one should be surprised by the widespread criticism, with many seeing it as insensitive, elitist and out of touch with the realities faced by everyday Nigerians. The consideration of an approval of a private jet for the president, while many citizens struggle to make ends meet is a testament to the feelings and beliefs that APC/Tinubu is out and out to inflict further economic hardship on the citizenry.
Why will a reasoning and reasonable government be planning to purchase two new aircraft for the Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) at a cost of over $623.4 million (N918.7 billion), if we may ask? How are we sure, and how can we trust a government whose policies are run on impulses, instead of studiousness and studied blueprints agenda? We have been here before. Despite promises to reduce the size of the fleet — the previous administration failed to do so — and the current government has continued to spend heavily on the PAF. Opposition parties and experts have criticised the decision, citing the need for moderation in financial budgeting and accountability in the face of economic hardship.
Unfortunately, President Tinubu and his abhorrent minders, have deadened their conscience not to feel, hear, or see the searing torment Nigerians are going through since the ill-thought removal of fuel subsidy that brought the nation to its knees. Come to think of it: how the unbearable extremity of poverty, the collapse of security architecture, and the consequential greed of the less than 1% few elites and citizens’ docility are managing to tag along without social unrest is the highest miracle in the 21st century!
The day-by-day crashing of the economy without any signs of immediate or imminent recovery should be ominous enough for President Tinubu Ahmed Tinubu to breathe life into the economy to resuscitate the nerve-wracking nation back to life. Until that’s done and urgently too, Nigeria will remain on a teeter-totter for now and a long time to come.
About the Author
Erasmus Ikhide
