A picture is worth a thousand words, nevertheless let’s take a dive into the world of arithmetic again in addition to the above picture.
With reference to the interview granted by Senator Shehu Garba on BBC network, here is an assessment of earnings of public officers in this case Nigeria Senator against minimum wage and GDP per capita. An elected Senator has access to annual earnings of about N270 million naira while the minimum wage in the country is set at N360,000 naira annually. A simple arithmetic shows us that it will take 750 years for an employee earning the minimum wage to equal the annual earnings of the Senator while it takes the Country GDP per capita 400 years to do the same.
Now let’s consider their counterpart from a country like the United States. A US Senator annual earnings is $174,000 which is equivalent to N62 million naira while the annual minimum wage is set at $15,040 equivalent to about N5.5 million naira. It takes 11.5 years for an employee earning minimum wage to equal the annual earnings of a US Senator.
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When you compare, contrast and recall the 750 years it takes for an employee earning minimum wage to equal the possible earning of a Nigeria Senator, you will quickly understand why politics is the biggest investments and dangerous venture in the Country. Remember that Senators are just a fraction of the larger political team earning from the public funds.
Considering the fact that the majority of the Country population lacks access to basic amenities, and live in tough conditions, are the public officers supposed to be a financial drain to the public funds or it’s the financial drain itself that causes the neglect of their public responsibilities?