[Mhiz Rebecca]

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo Thursday
in Ibadan described members of the National
Assembly as a “bunch of unarmed robbers”,
over their huge salaries and allowances.
Obasanjo, who hit hard at the National
lawmakers, said the current legislators are one
of the highest paid lawmakers in the world,
despite the fact that an estimated 75 percent
of Nigerians populace live in poverty.
He added that the arm of government should
be roundly condemned.
The former president spoke at the book
presentation of Prof. Mark Nwagwu entitled: “I
am Kagara, I Weave the Sands of Sahara”.
The event, which held at the University of
Ibadan, had Obasanjo as the Chief Host while
the former Minister of Education, Dr Obiageli
Ezekwesili chaired the occasion.
Stressing that he is expecting another round of
bashing from the federal lawmakers, the
former President said he would continue to
lambast them for constituting a huge
percentage of the nation’s overhead cost.
He lamented that the nation would hardly
develop when about 90 percent of revenue was
spent on overhead costs, rather than on capital
expenses.
Speaking on the ongoing impasse between the
federal government and the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU) over the 2009
agreement, Obasanjo, said government allowed
itself to be stampeded into signing agreements
without full consultation within government.
However, he added that regardless of that, the
government was bound to implement whatever
agreement reached with workers’ unions.
He said: “Government allows itself to be
stampeded into signing agreement particularly
when one group or the other withdraws their
service and go on strike. After the agreement
has been signed, without full consultation
within government, and implementation
becomes an issue.
“But an agreement is an agreement whoever
the agent is that signed that agreement on your
behalf, you are bound by it. You may now have
to renegotiate to have a new agreement but the
agreement earlier signed remains an
agreement.
“The universities teachers go on strike, there is
an agreement; doctors go on strike, there will
be a special agreement. And when the
universities teachers see that the agreement
reached with the doctors is different from
theirs, they again go on strike and this is bad
for our economy.
“The way we are going about spending all our
revenue to pay overhead, we will not develop.
And we will have ourselves to blame. Ninety
percent of revenue is used to pay overhead,
allowances, salaries and not much is left for
capital development.
“In a situation like that, we have to rethink.
“It is even worse for the National Assembly.
They will abuse me again but I will never stop
talking about them. They are a bunch of
unarmed robbers.”
“They are one of the highest paid in the world
where we have 75 percent of our people living
in abject poverty. They will abuse
me tomorrow and if they don’t, maybe they
are sleeping. The behaviour and character of
the National Assembly should be condemned
and roundly condemned.”
In her remarks at the occasion, the
Chairperson of the event, Dr. Ezekwesili,
remarked that the 289-page book, was a tool
for Nigeria to examine the extent to which she
had lost her values and culture.
She decried the loss of community spirit,
warning that Nigeria must never negotiate her
values.
According to her, the world was currently such
that humanity tried to figure out what
happened to morality.
The book reviewer, Mr Nwachukwu Egbunike,
in his remarks on the book noted the theme of
feminism and how women navigate life
intricacies towards achieving success in life.
Egbunike also lauded the author’s ability to
weave around different concepts in both the
spirit and natural world.
Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research, Innovation
and Strategic Partnerships, University of
Ibadan, Professor Olanike Adeyemo remarked
that Nwagwu’s book was a veritable instrument
to help the younger generation keep touch with
culture.
The event was attended by both academic and
non-academic staff of the university who were
on hand to celebrate the author and his wife,
Helen