Them crazy, them crazy -

We gonna chase those crazy

Baldheads out of town;

Chase those crazy baldheads

Out of our town.

I and I build a cabin;

I and I plant the corn;

Didn‘t my people before me

Slave for this country?

Now you look me with that scorn,

Then you eat up all my corn.

Here comes the con man

Coming with his con plan.

We won‘t take no bribe;

We‘ve got [to] stay alive.

We gonna chase those crazy -

Chase those crazy baldheads -

Chase those crazy baldheads out of the town.
The above is an excerpted lyric from the late Bob Marley‘s song, ”Crazy Baldheads.” And that‘s exactly what has come to my mind since the mess of the gluttony of our federal legislators hit the fan in the last week or so. We need to chase dem crazy baldheads out of Abuja.



In the last one or two weeks, Nigerians have risen up with one voice, more than we‘ve ever done, to declaim the National Assembly — Senate and House of Reps — over what transpires to be their excessive and inordinate self-aggrandisement. Each member of the House of Reps, we are told, carts home over N204m annually, aside some other perks and unimaginable creatively determined allowances; a senator (the senior member of NASS) manages about N240m. Multiply that by their number (some 460 federal legislators) and you get a figure that simply beggars belief — a staggering N136bn per annum.



It was a rightly miffed governor of the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido, who characteristically blew the whistle on the legislators in a convocation lecture he delivered at the Igbinedion University, Edo State, wondering for how long more a country could carry the weight of such burden on her treasury — a burden Sanusi calculated to be 25 per cent of the country‘s overheads.



Nigerians rose in anger the following morning, wasn‘t this the same country pussyfooting over a minimum wage of N18,000 per month for her workers? Put plainly, the carry-home wage of each legislator would pay the salary of 25,000 workers at the N18,000-a-month they are begging to get. And that N18,000 is no more than the cost of a senator‘s meal in one go.



Our big-headed legislators felt Sanusi set out deliberately to ridicule them. So they called him to a session aimed at getting their own back by ‘setting the records straight.‘ Was Sanusi wrong? No, that‘s not the point. S‘s figure was right, but his percentage was wrong, they insist.



Nothing could be sillier. I don‘t care if the percentage came to 0.001 per cent, N136bn to 460 people in a country where citizens are dying everyday for lack of good roads, lack of good health, lack of electricity, lack of potable water, and unemployment is in the scary 25 per cent, is simply ridiculous.



But Sanusi wasn‘t saying anything new; he has only echoed more strongly the alarm that General Olusegun Obasanjo (yes, of all pots that could call the kettle black) and Prof. Itse Sagay before him had raised.



Our legislators pride themselves for their oversight functions. Who will ‘oversight‘ these oversighters? The impunity and recklessness with which our legislators have so far carried on allotting to themselves all sorts of allowances and funds for their so-called constituencies is a challenge to any of the other arm of government to cast the first stone. And, indeed, some of the legislators have so loudly wondered why we are picking on them when the Executive enjoys even far more perquisites. No wonder the Executive has acted particularly deaf and dumb to the raging outcry.



The truth need be told. And it is a truth some of us have harped on so often in the past, in different names, from ”true federalism” to ”restructuring”, etc. Only a country like Nigeria, only a place ruled by ‘black‘ minds, will not recognise that the system of government whereby over 25 per cent of her resources go on emoluments need immediate drastic reworking.



Importantly, the National Assembly membership doesn‘t have to be so large. Secondly, they do not have to be full-time on it; let each have other means of livelihood. Thirdly, it is a national service, not any greater than our NYSC. Their remuneration must not be any more than that of a Level 16 officer in the civil service. Fourthly, the “Community Project” rubbish must stop. Fifthly, the Federal Government should not continue to be responsible for local governments. At best, let there be an increase on what goes to each state from the Federation Account, and let each state take care of its own local government by whatever name or number it chooses to create such. Enough damage is done by the largely arbitrary creation of states done by the military. Sixthly, the Executive needs to be pruned down considerably.



Time to get serious as a nation. And if those we have there are not going to do it, then it‘s time the people took their own fate into their own hands and move to get rid of bad rubbish. The 2011 elections is an opportunity not to miss. Let us chase dem crazy baldheads out of town!


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201012124503921

Those who are supposed to chased those baldhead out of town have gone in the night, like Nichodemus, to collect their own share. If you say NLC, you are not wrong.

jamace:

Those who are supposed to chased those baldhead out of town have gone in the night, like Nichodemus, to collect their own share. If you say NLC, you are not wrong.

You hit the mark

In a country full of cowards that are scared to take matters into their own hands, I hope the SenaThieves increase their pay to at least 99% of the country's annual budget! Afterall, people won't complain, therefore their excesses must not be affecting the common man,abi?

sad.what a country.people cant afford one meal and some overfed cows are milking us dry but then again its the fault of the masses,instead of standing up to these fat cows we are suffering and smiling.

jaygetta:

In a country full of cowards that are scared to take matters into their own hands, I hope the SenaThieves increase their pay to at least 99% of the country's annual budget! Afterall, people won't complain, therefore their excesses must not be affecting the common man,abi?

why not lead the train?

Let's key into SNG and kick these good for nothing overfed pigs out.

jaygetta:

In a country full of cowards that are scared to take matters into their own hands, I hope the SenaThieves increase their pay to at least 99% of the country's annual budget! Afterall, people won't complain, therefore their excesses must not be affecting the common man,abi?

I agree and disagree with your statement at the same time. . I agree because you are right - it is the duty of the people to form the system this is the whole theory of "social construct". What the people get is directly what they bargained for - when the french bargained for freedom they got it, when Americans fought for independence they won it, when the Zulus and the rest of them fought against apartheid  they got equality - people died in each cause but they achieved what they wanted. It is rather better to die and leave a better world behind than lazily wear the worst situation and live with it . .

At the other hand- you are not in the moral position to make such that statement. You fall well into the category of those who joined a situation that has been sacrificed for a long time ago . .Patrick Henry and the rest of them fought for the country you currently live in - people died for America to be what it is today . . what have you done to make Nigeria better? You can seat there and whine about how bad Nigeria has turn out to be but if you go down to the logic of it, you are more guilty of it -  we need people like you who are well informed  to come home and make a difference - If you cannot sacrifice your own comfort in making Nigeria a better place you are a disgrace and you have no moral right to urge the locals to do so . . you are more of a failure than Nigerians in Nigeria because you have more access to information . A man that has been in the dark all through his life will not miss sunshine but not one who has tasted it. .

Lets face it - we diasporic Nigerians have more of the blame than the locals - i think of Kobojunkie who has "i live in America" written all over him (or her, i doubt) and talks nonsense all day - foolishly trying  to appear American yet blaming Nigerians for their situation.

I think of Sagamite and cap28 who are obviously more intelligent than the average in my opinion and have the inherent capacity of mobilizing millions of Nigerians for a course (judging by their post)  I think of Tayo-D, Katsumoto, pres-elect, davidylan and many more healthy Nigerian who should be influencing millions but are busy contributing to betterment of other countries . . I don't think we love the Greenland enough.

"who will bell the cat"? in as much as we all know the solution to this broad day thieving by these dishonored lawbreakers we still drag our feet in the fight towards a greater Nigeria.like the writer said,there can be no better opportunity than 2011 to send these bald heads back to where they belong and i wish and also hope that the writer and journalist in Nigeria would join hands to fight these cabals

We should vote out all NASS men who have served at least one term for their constituencies and elect fresh ones.

the out going NASS members have been earning over N10m monthly for four years or more but you can hardly see what they did for their people, PLEASE VOTE THEM OUT

@ Spearman,

Airie man!!! Chase dem crazy baldheads is one of the greatest and subtlest Bob Marley tracks of all time!!!

We must step up our effort to make sure that the current NASS members that won their parties primaries do not come back at all by voting them out from our various constituencies