In recent times, new narratives are emerging daily in Nigeria’s fight against insecurity. On a daily basis, we now hear of bandits and kidnappers that are captured by our gallant security forces. New developments, more impetus, greater hopes. Also, recently, the Nigerian senate approved a donation of fifty million naira (N50m) to the families of five individuals who lost their lives during the rescue operation that followed the abduction of pupils and teachers from schools in Oriire local government area of Oyo state. Senate President Godswill Akpabio who announced the donation last Wednesday said the senate took the decision to augment the upkeep of the children left behind by the deceased adding that each of the affected families would get N10million. We cannot but thank the senate for what looks like uncommon compassion especially as it has not been a regular reaction of the senate to the role of security agencies who paid the supreme sacrifice under similar circumstances.
Indeed, one senator hoped that the same posture would be extended to other security officials who have also lost their lives in similar operations in other parts of the country. But our only problem concerning the donation is that there is not enough information on it. How we wish it was contributed by the nation’s wealthy 109 senators. From the way it was announced, it would appear that it was donated by the senate as a body. In other words, the Nigerian senate has a subhead in its budget for donations. In addition, the said subhead is buoyant enough to have as much as N50million that can be taken ‘at a go’ with perhaps a balance for other donations as and when due. If that is so, why will going to the senate not become a matter of life and death for a typical Nigerian politician? Now we can imagine that apart from salaries and allowances that are said to be the highest in the world, our senators have constituency projects and all types of allowances. The judiciary that everyone else is ‘helping’ is probably the only one lagging behind in budgetary matters.
