IN spite of the angry mood of the nation and the so-called 'zero tolerance to corruption' stance of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs . Patricia Etteh is currently embroiled in a messy deal that could cost her the glamour of being the first person of the fair gender to occupy the Number Three position in the political hierarchy of the Nigerian government. As a professional hairdresser, a profession in which the practitioner is fascinated with making women (and men) look beautiful she is accused of dressing up the cost of renovating her official residence in Abuja.
Specifically it is reported that Mrs. Etteh spent the sum of N628 million to renovate the official residences of the Speaker and her deputy. Some of her colleagues are up in arms against her. Some have called on her to step aside while an investigation is on. The PDP seems to be interested in patching things up 'as a family matter'. It might be interesting to know how much it cost to put up the building in the first place. It would also be interesting to know how the information got into the public domain. Have we advanced to a stage where all such anomalies manage to get to the public? Is Mrs. Etteh an unusual person in the present dispensation? In other words is she the only public official who spends state funds in a reckless manner? Why were there no official checks and balances in the National Assembly financial system to prevent her from wasting such funds? Is the situation any better in the Senate?
It would seem to me that Mrs. Etteh's greatest offence is being caught. As we know and as most of the hypocrites in the National Assembly who are calling for her head also know, inflating the cost of transaction is almost an accepted norm. Too many terrible things are going on with state funds across the country that Mrs Etteh's mess can be considered a storm in a tea cup. Sadly it is not a storm in a tea cup. It is an indication that nothing has indeed changed. The pressure to steal to see government appointments as a means of making it in life is still predominant. If we investigate the matter properly, we would find that some of the legislators who have been vociferous against the Speaker have continued to spend millions on travelling allowances, they still insist on settlement each time they visit parastatals under their watch, and even fabricate reasons to embark on trips at the expense of the public. It is still the culture for office holders to create opportunities for making money by creating assignments for themselves.
Our social values have remained warped. They will not change overnight. Else how do we account for the sudden riches phenomenon in the land? Newly appointed state officials are still swimming in ill-gotten wealth. The people have not been empowered and have not empowered themselves to challenge their leaders when they live above their means. This for me is the real issue. What mass oriented structures are in place to check the excesses of the leaders in the country? Until the ballot box is restored as the true determinant of who gets into power the Mrs Ettehs will grow in umber.
Mrs Etteh appears to me as a woman who woke up from sleep and found herself in the opulence of a five star hotel and did not know how to use the wash hand basin. The bathroom was too neat for the back yard business and so she decided to use the bush. As Speaker it is my view that she did not need to have degenerated into the roadside motor mechanic culture of inflating the cost of everything. We demand a modicum of self respect in office holders. Public office should be about the panache of it. It should be concerned with legacies. Mrs Etteh ought to step aside honourably while investigation is being carried out. The PDP should not attempt a cover up. There are attempts by her initial sponsors to save her job. What is more important: Mrs Etteh's job or the health of the nation? I call on honourable members of the House to take a bold step and do the right thing. It must be particularly nauseating to other members of the House that while the official policy of ne official residence for legislators have left them roaming, their leader has spent millions in renovating an apartment. There should be no sentiments whatsoever.
The Nigerian people are watching. This is how they watched and wrote off the Obasanjo administration as a house of hypocritical protestations and sanctimonious mendacity. This was how the last National Assembly first gave itself a bad name. Are we going to witness a repeat of history? Already, the perception is that the current National Assembly lacks the verve of the previous one. Ken Nnamani carried himself well and piloted the affairs of the Senate with equanimity. The antecedents of the incumbent Senate President make him a liability. As far as I know he has not purged himself nor has he apologised to the nation about the 'telephone-not-for-the-poor' misadventure. As long as we have persons who do not have sense of history in power this nation would always be dragged to the mud.
If we are to be taken seriously we need to take ourselves seriously. Suddenly there is a lull in the trial of former governors who were arrested and brought to trial on charges of corruption. Some of the extremely corrupt ones still jet in and out of Nigeria as free men. If President Yar Adua allows the instrument of the state to protect powerful individuals it would be tragic. The governors' trial ought to be concluded within the ambit of the law for the present government to lay any claim to rule of law.
Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh should step aside while a proper investigation is conducted. It is important for her name to be cleared, not for her deeds to be covered up. That way the rest public officers would learn that the culture of frivolous spending or stealing millions of naira in the guise of doing official work is over. All educated and enlightened people across the country should impress it on their representatives in the House of Representatives that they should do the right thing. It is the beginning of another round struggle. Subsequently we shall take on local government chairmen and other officials whose activities impact directly on the lives of millions. The stakes are too high to be left in the hands of a few greedy individuals.
4rum The Guardian Newspapers
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