By Bayo Oluwasanmi
“Moribund society creates its own morbid gravediggers. Revolt against injustice is not honorable but it is imperative.” – Karl Max
The indictment letter written to the National Assembly by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo triggers a fresh riot of words in and outside of the National Assembly. If you have have been following the utter mess in the National Assembly, you won’t be surprised any more of new absurdities coming from the hollow chamber.
I have some quotes here to help you laugh, or at least, keep you from screaming in frustration. All you need to do is replace the word “Congress” with National Assembly in the quotes:
“Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress…” – Mark Twain
“In my years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a Congress.” – John Adams
“Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate; now what’s going to happen to us with both a Senate and a House?” – Will Rogers
“You can lead a man to Congress, but you can’t make him think.” – Milton Berle
I know that there are some few narrow-minded dinosaurs out there would say that abolishing the National Assembly – House and Senate – Houses of Corruption – and transferring the power to the President is unconstitutional. Well, there are not enough such people to worry about. After all, the Houses of Corruption have no regard for the Constitution.
For most part, the Houses of Corruption do things that are idiotic. It’s an assembly where people get to do things that are bad, wicked, and unconstitutional. A frat assembly for thieves. They spend money they don’t have. They pass laws that they more or less exempt themselves from. They enjoy staffs that tell them how wonderful they are. They lecture the rest of us how patriotic and upstanding they are, and so on. Things cannot look more perilous than this.
The CV of corruption and criminal dossier of majority of members in the National Assembly have scandalized our nation by its magnitude and gall. The magnitude of brazen robbery and corruption make the Houses of Corruption the world’s biggest criminal syndicate. For example, nine out of 109 Senators are entangled in criminal cases. With 10 per cent of members of the upper house in criminal proceedings, the composition of the National Assembly reads like FBI most wanted fugitives.
The National Assembly is a failed institution. It represents the world’s most corrupt and undemocratic legislature. It is the most cockeyed systems of minority rule, one that allows a tiny corrupt coterie to hold Nigerians ransom until their demands are met. Take the issue of exotic cars demanded by the brainless members. Why should we provide them loans or grants to buy cars on top of the outrageous salaries and other criminal allowances and perks they receive which is second to none in the world? One would expect a Nigerian version of the American Million Man March in the streets to protesting against tyranny of the privileged few. But the crowds aren’t there.
In Nigeria, members of the Houses of Corruption are paid when they are absent from congressional sessions or are on vacations, or traveling abroad, or doing something else not related to their congregational duties like when they cramped into bus loads to escort in a comedic circus one of their own – the President of Thieves of the Senate of Thieves – Bukola Mesujamba Saraki to the court. The National Assembly lurches along badly. The record shows. President Obasanjo’s letter to the out of whack legislators was timely, appropriate, well placed, courageous, and blunt. But I’ll go a step further: Abolish the National Assembly it’s a syndicate scam!
How can a National Assembly of crooks, thieves, con artists, looters, forgers really represent my interest and the interests of other Nigerians? The National Assembly is thoroughly and fully corrupt. It’s eating up billions of Naira of our economy through bogus salaries, allowances and corruption binge. The National Assembly is a dinosaur that cost Nigerians billions to operate. Never met people from hell – until now. With each legislative agenda that’s not relevant to the needs of the Nigerian people, the National Assembly continues to alienate Nigerians. With the absurdities of the absurd on display each day to the world, the National Assembly has moved is legislative offices to hell in close proximity to like minded zombies.
It is good to question the institution that’s supposed to serve the people. Can anything good come out of the National Assembly? Not really. Nigeria is in a dire strait. It’s a nation where the wisest are perplexed and the boldest staggered. The National Assembly has proven to be an instrument of conspiracy. It is known for its fetish secrecy. A democratic government that worth its salt must make openness a regular feature of governance. Under the auspices of openness, no evil can continue.
The National Assembly is a disappointing aberration. For 16 years, the country has remained in ruins. No sector is healthy. For 16 years, the National Assembly didn’t give a damn about the state of the nation: no infrastructure, no water to drink, no electricity, no industries, no safety and security, no standard education system, no hospitals, no housing, no criminal justice system. Nothing, absolutely nothing, you can point to that the National Assembly has accomplished other than pass appropriation bills that would fatten their pockets.
My belief that we should abolish the National Assembly because its a syndicate scam may seem too radical. But can any Nigerian tell me in what way has the National Assembly benefited this country since Nigeria returned to democratic rule 16 years ago? Only a stranger from hell would disagree that the popularity and the respect of this institution is at an all time low. The National Assembly of thieves and thugs has essentially neutered the essence of a representative democracy.
So, let’s shut down Abuja, make it a museum city. Get rid of the National Assembly and replace it with a true representative democracy. We each have a vote in democracy. Let’s vote on issues important to us. We’ll vote directly through a plebiscite on issues. We’ll authorize the President to initiate bills on our behalf. The President and a new set of Supreme Court Justices will provide checks and balances on anything bizarre and outrageous.
The scrapping of National Assembly will be an event of historical collapse. The House and Senate cost tens of billions to operate and maintain. We should be angry. It’s taxation without representation. The National Assembly do not represent us. These thieves get elected every year automagically. We the people should form the legislative branch through direct participation and voting. See, we voted them all in there, they serve their own interest, they loot our treasury, and throw those who elected them under the bus.
We can do without the National Assembly. Right now, there is no proof that we have a National Assembly, hence there is no need for it. We’re better off without the National Assembly. Nigerians don’t feel its impact. Without National Assembly, there will be no constituency allowance, no wardrobe allowance, no furniture allowance, no concubine allowance, no shoe allowance, no transportation allowance, no housing allowance, no sick days allowance, no solidarity allowance for its criminal members, and other primitive allowances. They are paid for doing nothing. The last time the National Assembly worked for its pay was when they shut down the Senate for a circus that accompanied their President, Bukola Mesujamba Saraki to the criminal court.
Ooh, I remember another occasion when the Senators earned their pay for a day’s job. That was when three social media terrorists: Bukola Mesujamba Saraki, Dino Melaye, and Ibn Na’Allah unleashed their vitriolic nonsense in support of the anti-social media bill.
We’ll do better without the National Assembly. It will take away from the elite few the power to spend money, for they spend money which is not their own. Nigerians who pay taxes should be the ones to decide when and how money is spent. We must take government out of the hands of the few, for it corrupts them when they’re given free rein. They spend our money with reckless abandon and without real concern for our people. Records show the National Assembly is not about the welfare of Nigerians but about the greed of the ruling few.
Nigeria is in total ruins with the National Assembly acting on behalf of Nigerians. Nigeria will continue to be in complete ruins if we take a back seat to the arrogance, insensitivity, wickedness, self preservation, looting, and self-serving few in the National Assembly. We cannot trust the National Assembly in running our country, for too few hands rule over too many lives. The National Assembly is power drunk and obdurately blind to the fact that the power they hold to legislate and to vote was given to them by the people. We the people must be in charge.
The National Assembly has turned Nigeria into a wilderness. A wilderness is never pleasant. It tends to be dry, barren, lifeless, and uncomfortable. You tend to get thirsty there and find yourself yearning to be in a place of rest and refreshment. Nigeria is a paradise turned wilderness nation run down by the thieves in the National Assembly.
The National Assembly has become a national liability. We find ourselves in such extreme distress. We’re shoved to-and-fro. The National Assembly is inefficient, inept, self-serving, corrupt, and a spendthrift. It has totally lost the respect and trust of the Nigerian people. “We the people,” President Dwight D. Eisenhower reminds us, “elect leaders not to rule, but to serve.” The National Assembly is the world’s most useless and tyrannical legislature.
The National Assembly needs to go!