Honourable ko, Integrity ni

My father has spent a good part of his money and thinking time in the last few years putting up a house in the village. I’ve been dragged along most of the time so “his first son, can have a better idea of what he is doing”. His reasoning; not necessarily mine.

Anyway, as a result, I’ve gotten quite some insight into the house-building process; I know the stages involved, what those stages cost, how even your kinsmen try to rip you off at every turn, how unreliable some contractors can get, what happens if your supply of money finishes (now, that one’s common sense; you simply have provided one more abandoned building for the homeless people and stray animals).

Yet with all this my knowledge, and its quite more extensive than I can describe, I cannot imagine how 628 million naira could have been allocated to the refurbishment of 2 (in words, two) homes or official residences of leaders in the house of reps. See full story here. I know they revised that figure to two hundred and something million but even that is incredible and the cynic in me prefers the larger figure.

I say for the umpteenth time that these our leaders must think we are ignorant and stupid maybe because some of us choose to blog about gurls (my big date hasn’t happened yet, by the way) rather than complain about them(the leaders). Even if they were building new houses. Bear in mind that these houses weren’t formerly abandoned; they were, not too long ago, occupied by Masari and the rest of his crew. Even if Masari in his rage for loosing out politically knocked the place around a bit or maybe he had children like the cousins I stay with currently. Even if he had such poor tastes and the tastes of our current speaker is at par with those of Paris Hilton. 6 or 2 hundred million??? Na wah O! She be arab prince?

I heard this same speaker just threw a bash (or small get-together, depending on who you ask) in the U.S. I barely have enough cash to give my crush a good time talk less of throwing a birthday “get-together”. When’s my birthday, by the way? Its unfortunate that she’s a woman. Just at a time when the footprints left by women in leadership pressed for more women in top positions. Her actions are trying hard to negate that reasoning.

I don’t know which is more annoying; the money involved or the attempted cover-up by the “honourable” members of the house. Reason? To protect the “integrity” of the offices and officers involved. “Honour”? “Integrity”? They must be joking. I don’t know which Nigerian perceives them as such; so where such delusions emanate from, I can’t tell. What I know is that the delusion has eaten so deep they actually believe it; they add such and such titles to their names, ask “honourable” former senators to take bows at ministerial screenings even while “honourable” serving senators face trial for embezzlement of billions of naira and others play hide and seek (their playground? National hospital Abuja) with the authorities for similar reasons. This is the height of self-deceit. Can’t someone talk them out of it?

It’s a heart-breaking development truly and I can’t wait for someone to get the axe very soon. I hope I don’t wait forever.