21 April 2004
editorial
IT was the sort of news that many readers are likely to miss because it was stuck in the middle pages of the paper reporting it. According to the news story, the National Electricity Power Authority (NEPA) fined 43 unnamed legislators for tampering with their electric meters. Even for a nation immuned to news of scandals, this must be more than disturbing. More so, when foreigners, both inside and outside Nigeria, have access to our publications on a daily basis through the websites created by our papers and can read the same story.
The question that each Nigerian must ask, since foreigners are bound to do the same is : what sort of a nation is this that has elected outlaws as its lawmakers and what hope is there for that country when elected officials cheat on their electricity bills? What wouldn't they then steal?
But we need to go beyond the embarrassment which the right thinking amongst us must feel at this revelation if not for anything else but to partly redeem our dented image caused by this crime committed by those who have sworn to protect the constitution of Nigeria and her integrity but who instead have proved to be unworthy of the trust their constituencies reposed in them.
In that regard the leadership of the National Assembly owes the nation and the legislative branch a duty by helping to identify the culprits; otherwise all our federal legislators stand tarnished by the lawlessness of a few. More importantly, the leadership of the National Assembly owes it a duty to fellow Nigerians to identify those who can stoop so low as to commit such a crime which marks them as unfit for the high offices they occupy.
Ultimately, the National Assembly should go beyond identifying the culprits, it should sanction them and make it known publicly what their offences have been to avert a situation where the incorrigible criminals among them might go home and tell their constituency a different story in order to confuse the issue.
Granted all these would amount to fire-fighting; but we better fight this fire otherwise there will be no meaningful progress in this country.
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