They should be ashamed Category: Opinion Published on Tuesday, 11 November 2014 05:00 Written by Eugene Enahoro dr_enahoro@yahoo Hits: 30 Shame is the source of low self-esteem, diminished self-image, and poor self-concept. It’s supposed to be a normal reaction which occurs when a person’s defects are exposed to others. Even though our political leaders quite evidently don’t feel shame, Nigerians themselves have become ashamed of their country and rightly so. Shameful behaviour by our leaders has disrupted both our security and economy, and is central to the alienation prevalent in our nation these days. Having shame means maintaining a sense of restraint against offending others. Societies can be classified by their emphasis on the use of shame or guilt to regulate the activities of individuals especially leaders. The less advanced the society, the more shameful behaviour is tolerated. When leaders have shame, they share the opinions, expected behaviour and feelings of the public; whereas those who have no shame are egotistic, without restraint or regard for the feelings of public. Shame should be very important and effective in guiding behaviour but somehow in our nation the link between guilt, embarrassment, and shame has been broken. Negative comparison of their circumstances or actions with acceptable standards means nothing to them. In the expressions of emotions in humans and animals shame is described as consisting of confusion of the mind, downward casting of the eyes, and lowering of the head. However our leaders in their shameless hubris hold their heads high and are neither conscious of nor embarrassed by their dishonour, disgrace, humiliation, or inadequacies. They continue to live in a dream world consumed by their own self- importance. Nigerian Senators in general have been described as “shameless”, and the recent actions of the PDP Senators only serves to support this accusation. The Senate is the upper house of the National Assembly and is supposed to be the place where the interest of the populace are protected and furthered. It consists of 109 Senators, three from each of the 36 states of the federation and one representing the Federal Capital Territory. Senators enjoy the gravy train that has become political office in Nigeria. No one actually knows how much they earn. Their basic salary of N2, 484,245 is over 100 times the approved national minimum wage, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. They are entitled to allowances all of which are several times their basic salaries. These include a totally preposterous “hardship” allowance, and allowances for constituency, furniture, newspapers, wardrobe, recess, and accommodation. To top it off they also receive payments for domestic staff, utilities, entertainment, personal assistants, vehicle maintenance, and leave. They are also entitled to a new car every four years. Just in case they lose an election and have squandered all this money, they arranged for themselves a “severance” gratuity of over seven million naira. All this has nothing to do with the legendary under the table payments for oversight functions, contract facilitation, and political intrigue. It’s no surprise that it takes a lot to get Senators upset. Firmly in the grip of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and presided over by a retired general whose democratic credentials are suspect to say the least, the Senate is renowned for milking the treasury and not passing a single piece of legislation that has impacted positively upon the lives of the majority. Senators live at ease with themselves. On a daily basis the nation is regaled with television pictures of a half empty chamber, dotted with geriatrics dozing off in contented slumber while the nation slips slowly into hopelessness and anarchy. However the serene atmosphere has been shattered three months to the presidential elections. The PDP suddenly faces a rebellion among its Senators who threaten to ignore all pending government business including the Appropriation Bill commonly referred to as the 2015 budget. The PDP Senators who have always given the Jonathan administration their unqualified support despite the atrocious security situation; failed anti-corruption war; worsening economy; poor employment opportunities; phantom Boko Haram ceasefire; missing Chibok girls; missing 20 Billion dollars or the fact that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is being publicly humiliated quite illegally, now threaten to withdraw that support for purely selfish reasons. In their opinion the recent PDP ward congresses were arranged to favour the narrow self-interest of their leader. This meant that the State Governors were allowed to take over the party delegate structure. Nine serving governors are seeking election into the Senate in 2015 and the presidential campaign team most likely feels that they need the support of PDP Governors more than PDP Senators to win the re-election bid. The threat by the disaffected Senators to impeach their President was simply the usual blowing of hot air, never to be taken seriously. After a meeting the aggrieved Senators have apparently been “assured” that the party would guarantee the return of any of them that wished to re-contest. Although the truth is that the president and his loyalists are as expected, manoeuvring to protect their own interests and consequently alienating many party faithful in the process, the PDP Senators have shown a complete lack of patriotism by putting their internal party matters before the interests of the nation. Taking into consideration their self- aggrandizement, failure to effectively carry out oversight functions or put an end to corruption, and failure to enact meaningful and impacting legislation, it’s only right and proper that PDP Senators should feel thoroughly ashamed of themselves.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 05:34:50 +0000
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