A private jet
The
Presidency has made a proposal for an upfront deposit of N1.5billion
for a brand new private jet, which will become the Presidential Air
Fleet’s (PAF) 11th aircraft. This figure is contained in the details of
the 2014 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly by
President Goodluck Jonathan through the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala. The Federal Government has budgeted another N1.52b for
the maintenance of the 10 aircraft currently in the PAF in 2014 and it
is now set to spend just about that amount on a new one. This prodigious
squandering of taxpayers’ money is reckless and unacceptable.
The PAF already boasts two Falcon 7X
jets, two Falcon 900 jets, Gulfstream 550, one Boeing 737 BBJ (Nigerian
Air Force 001 or Eagle One), and Gulfstream IVSP. Others are one
Gulfstream V, Cessna Citation 2 aircraft and Hawker Siddley 125-800 jet.
The combined estimated value of the PAF is about $390.5m (N60.53bn).
According to industry experts, it costs a minimum of 20 per cent of that
figure to maintain them annually. So we’re looking at about $58.57m
(N9.08bn) yearly for maintenance. Private jets are money guzzlers either
in the air or on land.
The proclivity of this administration for
frivolous spending is well documented. The government has been
severely criticised in the past for the colossal amount of embezzlement,
rip-off and wastage that have been its hallmark. The rationale behind
this new aircraft in the PAF must be condemned .
Apparently to hush the cacophony of
voices that will rise in opposition to the proposed new jet, the
Presidency in its usual deceitful manner, has made part payment for what
can best be described as a completely unnecessary toy of comfort. The
Nigerian PAF is already bloated. If he can’t travel in any of the 10
jets in PAF’s possession, then there’s absolutely no need for an
eleventh one.
At a time we would think the numerous
editorials and op-eds have succeeded in curbing waste and frivolities
which this government now symbolises, then came this new proposal. We
must continue to resist their recalcitrance. This lavish lifestyle must
be checked.
The waste in government is also
demonstrated in the large entourage that accompanies Mr. President on
his foreign trips. One can only imagine the millions spent on hotel
bills and estacodes that accrue to the government officials. According
to reports, world leaders are stunned at the strangely large number of
such entourage. The recent trip of President Jonathan in the first week
of January this year to Kenya and the hullabaloo about his entourage are
apt.
It is shocking that the same people who
have budgeted millions for this new flying toy are aware that the
country has no national carrier as I write. It is shameful that the PAF
has about the third largest fleet of aircraft in the country with a
total of 10 aircraft, coming closely behind Aero Contractors with 12 and
Arik Air, the largest commercial airline in Nigeria with a fleet of 23
aircraft. Nigeria happens to be one of the few countries in the world
with such a large PAF. It is ridiculous that this is happening in an
aviation sector that is dominated by foreign airlines. Nigerian carriers
are going under due to cash constraints. Countries with visionary and
focused leadership like Malaysia, Ghana, South Africa and a host of
others across Europe maintain only one aircraft in their PAF.
As the much publicised take-off of the
proposed national carrier before the end of the year failed, it won’t be
out of place to make a case for the government to seriously consider
converting the PAF to a national carrier, retaining one or two for use
by Mr. President and his co-travellers. The private jets can form the
hub of the charter aircraft.
What better example than the one given by
a national leader like British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in 2010
when he slummed it in business class of a commercial airline flying from
London to Washington. He was caught on camera swanning around the world
in hired jets. He flies around the world on British Airways! Had it
been in Nigeria, security risks, flight delays are few of the sundry
reasons government officials would have given for not flying commercial
airlines. The U.S. President, Barack Obama, reportedly pays for his
food, ours spends almost a billion naira to entertain himself and
members of his government yearly.
It amazes many Nigerians who watch in utter disbelief the profligate nature of government.
This government has embarked on some
white elephants like mere renovation of official residences with
billions of naira. We can recall the uproar that greeted the N2.2billion
allocated to the construction of a plush banqueting hall, last year,
with the lame excuse that what the country had was way smaller than what
other tiny African countries have.
In this part of the world, only citizens
are asked to cut costs, make sacrifices; the pains of today are
incomparable to the joy of tomorrow are some of the ‘blues’ we get daily
from government. In the same breath, political office holders, to our
chagrin, take their spending to absurd heights. Sacrifice is a language
that the over 60 per cent impoverished population must understand while
our leaders continue their obsession with living in opulence. They
sacrifice nothing. In these circumstances, how do you convince the
various labour unions who are waiting on the flanks to embark on strike
to press home their demands that there are no funds to meet their
grievances? Downturn in government’s finances would be a hard sell in a
situation where the Presidency is competing with individuals for private
jets.
It is lamentable that at a time when we
still haven’t seen the infrastructural dividends promised with funds
freed up from the partial fuel subsidy removed, the President is more
concerned with splashing billions on banqueting hall, renovation of
residential apartments and covert medical tourism trips abroad.
This waste in the face of limited
resources extends to the federal bureaucracy that has brought about an
increase in the number of ministries from 21 to about 40 with the number
of ministers jumping in equal quantum or even more.
PUNCH
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