FINANCIAL IMPUNITY IN NIGERIA Nigeria will be among 10 countries contributing to global poverty in 2030 —World Bank The World Bank has said that Nigeria will be one of 10 countries that, in the year 2030, will remain as the main contributors to global poverty. This statement was recently issued in Lagos by the global economic lender of the last resort. It said that the scenario requires that in Nigeria, currently contributing heavily to global poverty numbers, growth rates need to rise, but not to a degree that is entirely unimaginable. It stated that in Nigeria, the growth rate needs to pick up from 2.3 to 3.2 per cent growth in real term. According to the report Nigeria will contribute another 61.5 million poor people to the global total. According to the World Bank, much more work needs to be done to end poverty and close the gap in living standards between those in the bottom 40 per cent and the top 60 per cent of the population around the world. The report details, for the first time, the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity, measured as income growth of the bottom 40 per cent. GMR 2014/2015 continues to monitor progress on the Millennium Development Goals, which inspired the WBG twin goals. “The world has made great progress in the last quarter-century in reducing extreme poverty – it was cut by a stunning two-thirds, and now we have the opportunity to end poverty in less than a generation,” said World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim. “But we will not finish the job unless we find ways to reduce inequality, which stubbornly persists all over the world. This vision of a more equal world means we must find ways to spread wealth to the billions who have almost nothing.” The report notes that much success has been achieved in reducing extreme poverty – those living on less than a $1.25 a day. However, the number of poor remains unacceptably high, at just over 1 billion people (14 per cent of the world population) in 2011, compared with 1.2 billion (19 per cent of the world population) in 2008. Forecasts in the report show that poverty will remain stubbornly high in the South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa regions, where an estimated 377 million of the world’s 412 million poor will likely reside in 2030.” However, below is the breakdown of the monthly earnings of a Nigerian senator as well as a comparison to what is obtainable in other countries especially in the third world: 1. Basic Salary – N2,484 245.50 2. Hardship Allowance (50 per cent of B.S) – N1, 242, 122.70 3. Constituency Allowance (200 per cent of B.S) – N4, 968, 509.00 4. Newspapers Allowance (50 per cent of B.S) – N1, 242 122.70 5. Wardrobe Allowance (25 per cent of B.S) - N621, 061.37 6. Recess Allowance (10 per cent of B.S) – N 248, 424.55 7. Accommodation (200 per cent of B.S) – N4, 968, 509.00 8. Utilities (30 per cent of B.S) -N,081.838. Domestic Staff (70 per cent of B.S) – N1,863, 184.12 9. Entertainment (30 per cent of B.S) – N828, 081.83.00 10. Personal Assistants (25 per cent of B.S) – 621, 061.12.00 10. Vehicle Maintenance Allowance (75 per cent of B.S) – N1, 863, 184.12 11. Leave Allowance (10 per cent of B.S – 248, 424.55.00 12. Severance Gratuity (300 per cent of B.S) – N7, 452, 736.50 13. Car Allowance (400 per cent of B.S) –N 9, 936, 982. 00 14. Every four years. Senators’ salary per month– N 2, 456, 647.7 TOTAL MONTHLY SALARY = N 29, 479, 749.00 ($181,974.00) TOTAL YEARLY SALARY = N 29, 479, 749.00 X12 =N353,756,988.00($2,183,685.00) THIS IS DONE AT THE EXCHANGE RATE OF: $1 = N162 IN COMPARISON, A LOOK AT THE LEGISLATORS PAY WORLDWIDE I.E YEARLY SALARY OF LEGISLATORS WORLDWIDE 1. Britain – $105,400.00 2. United States – $174,000 3. France – $85,900.00 4. South Africa – $104,000.00 4. Kenya – $74,500.00 5. Saudi Arabia – $64,000.00 6. Brazil – $157,600.00 7. Ghana – $46,500.00 8. Indonesia – $65,800.00 9. Thailand – $43,800.00 10. India – $11,200.00 11. Italy – $182,000.00 12. Bangladesh – $4,000.00 13. Israel – $114,800.00 14. Hong Kong – $130,700.00 15. Japan – $149,700.00 16. Singapore – $154,000.00 17. Canada – $154,000.00 18. New Zealand – $112,500.00 19. Germany – $119,500.00 20. Ireland – $120,400.00 21.Pakistan – $3,500.00 22. Malaysia – $25,300.00 23. Sweden – $99,300.00 24. Sri Lanka – $5,100.00 25. Spain – $43,900.00 26. Norway – $138,000.00 In terms of lawmakers’ salaries as a ratio of 2.8. GDP per capita, the gap is even much wider GDP. While the salary of a Nigerian lawmaker is 116 times the country’s GDP per person, that of a British member of parliament is just 2.7 times. AVERAGE WORKER SALARY 1. The average salary of Nigerian worker based on the national minimum wage is N18,000.00, so the yearly salary is N18,000.00 x 12 = N216,000.00($1,333.00) 2. Yearly Salary of Nigerian Senator=$2,183,685.00 3. Yearly Salary of Average Nigerian Worker =$1,333.00 4. Proportion: $2,183,685.00/$1,333.00 = 1,638 Consequently, it will take an average Nigerian worker to 1,638 years to earn the yearly salary of a Nigerian Senator. REGRETTABLY: What moral right does any political party have to call themselves progressives (APC) or claim to believe in social democratic ideology, when their Senators, like their liberal counterparts (PDP), earn N353,756,988.00 yearly, which is 1,638 times the annual average salary of a Nigerian worker of N216,000.00. If they are true progressives, who believe in social democracy, having the core values of FREEDOM, EQUALITY, JUSTICE AND SOLIDARITY, who is stopping them from pushing for a reduction in out of tune salary earned by the Senators and members of the House of Representatives? As I have always said, the political class, irrespective of party affiliations, are CORRUPT, FRAUDULENT GREEDY, SELFISH, AND WICKED. This stand is further buttressed by such earnings, when the vast majority of Nigerians live below the poverty line.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 09:35:35 +0000
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