The ever boisterous and ubiquitous social media is bubbly again over the move to purchase new aircraft for both President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima. Most of the comments reek in angst against the planned purchase.
The move originated from the lower chamber of the National Assembly whose Committee on National Security and Intelligence recommended the purchase in its report on the status of the aircraft on the Presidential Air Fleet(PAF). The House of Representatives had mandated the committee in May to undertake a comprehensive investigation into the status of all the planes on the PAF to ascertain their operational and technical capabilities.
The assignment was sequel to the motion raised by the chairman of the committee, Satomi Ahmed. His motion was prompted by the report of the breakdown of the jet in which President Tinubu flew to The Netherlands, a development which forced him to make his subsequent trip to the World Economic Forum(WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in a chartered flight. The president was also said to have travelled to South Africa in a commercial flight.
About the same time, Vice-President Shettima too was sighted arriving Ogun State in a chartered flight. The VP had to later abort a trip to the United States midway after the plane transporting him developed an engine fault.
The Reps committee had recommended in its report: “The committee is of the strong and informed opinion that considering the fragile structure of the Nigerian federation and recognizing the dire consequences of any unforeseen or foreseen mishap that may arise as a result of the technical or operational inadequacy of the presidential air fleet, it is in the best interest of the country to procure two additional aircraft as recommended.
“This will also prove to be most cost-effective on the long run, apart from the added advantage of providing a suitable, comfortable and safe carrier befitting of the status of the offices of the president and vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Shehu Buba Umar, also backed the lower chamber’s committee’s recommendation. But Nigerians are seriously raging against the purchase of the aircraft. Some commentators on the social media argue that the leaders cannot be revelling in luxury and be asking Nigerians to be patient with the government. Others posit that the purchase of such luxury items as aircraft should not happen at a critical period like this when many Nigerians find it difficult to feed once a day.
Some contend that it will be hypocritical of the same government, which cannot pay beyond what they call a “beggarly” sum of N62,000 as minimum wage, by its own admission, to commit a humongous amount into increasing the presidential fleet by two luxury jets.
The people have a point. Indeed, any plan to make such expensive purchases at this time is glaringly insensitive and incautious, with the nation contending with the worst inflationary trend in decades under which the economy now totters and wobbles, foisting grinding poverty and misery on the larger population of Nigerians.
This is the argument of the presidential candidate of Labour Party(LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, who described as insensitive moves to increase the presidential fleet while Nigerians grapple with economic hardships occasioned by the Federal Government’s policies.
Obi said in a post on his X handle that it is rather unfortunate that at a time when the country is making headlines over the economic crisis, occasioned by hyperinflation, a falling currency and widespread poverty, the government is contemplating procuring new presidential jets.
“This”, he says, “demonstrates extreme insensitivity to citizens’ struggles. With rising insecurity,poverty, hunger and homelessness, this decision highlights the disconnect that is apparent between the government and the people. It is unacceptable as the situation in the country today more than ever demands a more compassionate use of resources, prioritizing citizens’ welfare.”
The LP candidate contends that “Now, as our country faces significant challenges, including a high debt profile, our citizens are even in greater need.” He notes that “Instead of adding to our luxuries, we should be focused on alleviating their suffering and finding solutions to their problems…”
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, shot back at Obi but he misses the point. “Does Peter Obi want the president dead?” he poses, adding: “Does he want him to continue moving around in a rickety plane and die like the Vice-President of Malawi and Iran’s president? Let him tell us. This is a basic thing any sane government will do. You can’t toy with your president’s welfare.”
He continues: “The plane he(president) uses now, I learnt was bought during (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo’s era. That was over 20 years ago and I learnt it was a very small plane. The plane developed a problem last time he travelled to Saudi Arabia. The president had to go from there to UK on a commercial airline. Even those managing them said the aircraft needed to be replaced.
“Why will any right-thinking person still want the president to move round in it? In any way, it is the National Assembly that officially recommended that new ones should be bought. Sometimes, Peter Obi opens his mouth to make unnecessary statements.”
Nobody wants the president dead. The kernel of Obi’s wise counsel is that the times are too austere to increase the presidential fleet. Let a less costly alternative be worked out for Mr President and the vice-president until the frail economy is strong enough to carry the expensive purchases. At this stage, it is grossly unfair for our leaders to ask the people to endure hardship when they themselves do not want to shed any shred in their opulent lifestyle. They are expected to lead by example in making sacrifices by cutting down on their outlandish ostentation.
It is not too much if Mr President and the vice- president resort to using chattered commercial flights for now until the nation is buoyant enough to accommodate the luxury of new presidential jets.
Besides, it sounds ludicrous and quite preposterous to say that all the planes on the PAF had packed up at the same time! Currently, the PAF, being managed by the Office of the National Security Adviser, include the 19-year-old Boeing Business Jet(BBJ), said to have been bought during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration; a Gulfstream G550, a Gulfstream GV, two Falcon 7x and one Challenger CL605.
How can a 19-year-old BBJ, said to have a lifespan of 30 years, and all the others pack up beyond repairs? What has happened to all the running and maintenance votes usually earmarked for the PAF in the budgets annually? According to reports, N13 billion was earmarked in the 2023 budget and another N12.7 billion in the 2023 supplementary budget for running and maintaining the PAF. The vote is N20.5 billion in the 2024 budget and N73.3 billion between 2011 and 2020. How can the entire aircraft on the PAF become dysfunctional at the same time with all these budgetary provisions? Some mystery!
Some reports said the money for purchasing the presidential jets may have been slotted in the supplementary budget prepared to fund the new national minimum wage, the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project, among others. But the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, debunked such reports last Wednesday when he said there was nothing before the National Assembly requesting for appropriation to procure the planes.
The Senate President was responding to what he described as ‘blackmail’ in the social media suggesting that he(Senate President) had announced that he would approve a new jet for the president irrespective of whether or not Nigerians are suffering. He denied ever saying that. Visibly enraged by the report, he said no amount of blackmail would prevent the National Assembly from approving new jets for President Tinubu and his vice, Shettima, “if it is a necessity.”
He added: “We care about the president. We care about the Nigerian people. We will approve things that benefit the Nigerian people. We will approve things that would improve the living standards of the people. At the same time, we will also take cognizance of the duties of Mr President. If his vehicle is bad, we will repair the vehicle. If his plane is bad, we will approve money for the repair of the plane. So, that is not the issue.
“I read the president’s correspondences to us, there was nothing about the plane, but I can tell you that when you hear stories such as the death of the VP of Malawi as a result of a defective plane, and then you hear incidents such as the death of the president of Iran as a result of a defective aircraft… In fact, this time, it was a helicopter and all that, we shouldn’t ever dream and allow such. It wouldn’t be.”
We do not subscribe to publishing falsehood because it verges on the odious and impinges on integrity. However, the Senate President, as a leader perching atop such a pedestal, is enjoined to be less dismissive or disdainful in responding to volatile issues such as the one at hand that has stirred strong public outrage.
Like we posited earlier in this editorial, nobody wants or wishes any harm for the president, his vice and any of our leaders. The point we reiterate is that our leaders too must make sacrifices and be seen to be doing so because the nation has never come close to the level of hunger and misery currently walloping the people. Only people in government are perhaps not feeling the pinch.
The people are saying, therefore, that talking about buying new planes now is indecorous. And so we are recommending that a less expensive alternative, such as resorting to commercial chartered flights for the time being, like some other world leaders such as the British Prime Minister who flies the British Airways for all official duties, be arranged for the president and other leaders for now.
Leadership’s incivilities in response to public outcries are potential auguries for incendiary reactions from the people. This was the kind of haughty and dismissive disposition that inflamed passions in Kenya most recently, culminating in a bloody protest. What later ballooned into an inferno in Kenya began as an innocuous spark.
The government, desiring to raise funds to pay off its debts, raised a finance bill proposing new taxes. But Kenyans rose up in a stout opposition to the bill because it would inflict economic pains on them, even as millions are still struggling to get by. But the Kenyan President, William Ruto, instead of being conciliatory and tactically woo the people, disdainfully described the protesters’ action as “treasonous,” vowing that he would ensure a situation of that nature does not happen again.
The people took umbrage at President Ruto’s haughty remarks, went wild and an otherwise peaceful protest turned violent. Soldiers were deployed to put down the protest, leading to the death of at least 22 of the protesters. At the end, President Ruto had to bow to the people’s will. He did not only refuse assent to the offending bill, he withdrew it outright. “The bill caused widespread dissatisfaction and I have listened and conceded,” he was quoted to have said.
Let our leaders learn from the Kenyan experience, listen and concede to the people because they know best where the shoes pinch.
