Pius Adesanmi We found waivers granted to the Gombe Central Mosque in 2011 to import 13 cartons of the Koran and carpets, and waiver to the Catholic Church, Makurdi to import children’s Bibles. What is the economic trade-off in these? In 2012, the Akwa Ibom State Government got a waiver of N271.2 million for a private aircraft, while Taraba got N13.06 million for a helicopter. In 2013, Rivers State got waivers worth N2.18 billion for a Bombardier aircraft and two Bell 412 helicopters. The minister’s propensity to defend scandals and question even credible findings is distressing. How do waivers for aircraft to accommodate the luxurious lifestyles of state governors boost the economy or create jobs? How many jobs were created by the N450.7 million waivers to massage the First Lady’s ego to host the African Women Peace Mission, an NGO? How about the waivers given to the National Sports Commission for “motor spare parts”? Or the N141.2 million to the Delta State Government in 2013 for furniture? Nigerians need explanations also for the waiver of the N5.9 million to the Maiduguri Central Mosque in 2012 and N14 million for the “Watchtower Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses” to import “building materials and cabinet parts for kitchen door drawers.” (Punch Editorial on Ngozi Okonjo Iwealas import waiver regime) ========================================== Na total wa for Nigeria o. It gets worse every day. How do you run a country like this in the 21st century? This is Hobbess state of nature. It is not a country. Hunter-gatherers of yore were better organizers of hunter-gatherer society than we are of Nigeria. I had thought that Cosmas Maduka telling lies against the government and people of Lagos state for his import waiver scam in Oduahgate was the worst case scenario in these our waiver scandals. Now I know that there is much worse. So, apart from granting import waivers to state Governors for their private jets and furniture, we have also granted waivers to churches, mosques, and Jehovahs Witnesses. In the interest of justice and fairness, I move a motion for waivers to be granted to all practitioners of our traditional faiths who use palm oil for rituals and propitiatory sacrifice. They need import waivers to import palm oil from Malaysia.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 16:53:30 +0000
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