NewsRescue
The highest paid law makers on the planet recently set a new Guinness Book record for insanity when they passed 46 bills in 10 minutes on a day before the last of their tenure. 469 Assemblymen earn N150 billion, that’s almost 1 billion United States dollars! For a nation with over 100 million destitute, living under a-dollar-a-day, this allocation to self, constitutes a crime against humanity. And worse yet, this earning is not even the tip of the iceberg. The senators are known to make their real bread from various frivolous committees which they use to literally slice up almost half of Nigeria’s oil earnings. As Nigerians hit the streets to bring an end to this unprecedented corruption and injustice, let’s put that figure in context:
The 469 Senators and Representatives each earn a whopping $2 million a year. In contrast, Senators in the United States earn $174,000 a year (+benefits.)
The budget of Cameroon for 2015 is just $7 billion, for 22 million citizens.
Ghana’s budget, $6.4 billion; for 26 million people.
Nigeria’s budget is only $22 billion for 177 million people out of which 469 take the $1 billion. Technically makes it 21 billion for the 177 million.
The budget for Kano for the 2015 fiscal year is $1 billion; for 3.3 million people.
Lagos’ budget for its 11 million this year is $5 billion.
Nigeria’s Education budget is $3 billion.
Nigeria’s Health sector budget is $1.3 billion.
According to Nigeria’s Bureau of Statistics, NBS, 100 million Nigerians live under a-dollar-a-day. That is a total earning of $100 million. These 469 men earn one-thirtieth what 100 million Nigerians earn every year.
At an average of N3 million/ $15,000 a professor, these 469 men earn what 67,000 of our University lecturers earn per annum. That’s about 150 times! Compare that to the US where legislators earn only twice or thrice what college instructors earn.
At the official medical Consultant salary of N900,000/month, $54,000 /year, each of 469 Assemblyman can pay the annual income of 37 medical Consultants – doctors at the pinnacle of their career after years of learning and work. In comparison, an average US medical Attending earns twice what a US Assemblyman does.
We must protest to #UndressNASS till this crime against man and God is no more.
Dr. Peregrino Brimah; http://ENDS.ng [Every Nigerian Do Something] Email: [email protected] Twitter: @EveryNigerian
