GEJ cuts salary by 25%
Also orders slash in foreign trips by government officials
President Goodluck Jonathan has directed an immediate cut in the basic salaries of all political office holders by 25%.
He has also directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies to reduce their overhead expenses.
The president who made this declaration while making a broadcast on National Television yesterday also directed a drastic cut of foreign trips and entourages of political office holders to only the essentially necessary ones.
Jonathan who also said the broadcast became imperative following the events of the past few days following the announcement of the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy also said he will today launch a robust mass transit programme that will reduce the cost of transportation across the country.
Begging Nigerians to understand and see reasons with him on why this action had to be taken immediately the president noted that removal of subsidy was geared towards fighting corruption in the petroleum downstream sector. He also noted that he feels what Nigerians are going through and therefore cannot blame them for reacting in this manner as perhaps if he were in their shoes he would have done the same thing.
“To save Nigeria, we must all be prepared to make sacrifices. On the part of Government, we are taking several measures aimed at cutting the size and cost of governance, including on-going and continuous effort to reduce the size of our recurrent expenditure and increase capital spending.
“In this regard, I have directed that overseas travels by all political office holders, including the President, should be reduced to the barest minimum. The size of delegations on foreign trips will also be drastically reduced; only trips that are absolutely necessary will be approved.
“For the year 2012, the basic salaries of all political office holders in the Executive arm of government will be reduced by 25%. Government is also currently reviewing the number of committees, commissions and parastatals with overlapping responsibilities. The Report on this will be submitted shortly and the recommendations will be promptly implemented. In the meantime, all Ministries, Departments and Agencies must reduce their overhead expenses.
“We are all greatly concerned about the issue of corruption. The deregulation policy is the strongest measure to tackle this challenge in the downstream sector. In addition, government is taking other steps to further sanitize the oil industry.
“To ensure that the funds from petroleum subsidy removal are spent prudently on projects that will build a greater Nigeria, I have established a committee to oversee the implementation of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme. I sincerely believe that the reinvestment of the petroleum subsidy funds, to ensure improvement in national infrastructure, power supply, transportation, irrigation and agriculture, education, healthcare, and other social services, is in the best interest of our people.
“If I were not here to lead the process of national renewal, if I were in your shoes at this moment, I probably would have reacted in the same manner as some of our compatriots, or hold the same critical views about government. But I need to use this opportunity as your President to address Nigerians on the realities on the ground, and why we chose to act as we did. I know that these are not easy times. But tough choices have to be made to safeguard the economy and our collective survival as a nation.
“My fellow Nigerians, the truth is that we are all faced with two basic choices with regard to the management of the downstream petroleum sector: either we deregulate and survive economically, or we continue with a subsidy regime that will continue to undermine our economy and potential for growth, and face serious consequences.
“Fellow Nigerians, I know that the removal of the petroleum subsidy imposes an initial burden on our people, especially the rising cost of transportation. Government will be vigilant and act decisively to curb the excesses of those that want to exploit the current situation for selfish gains. I plead for the understanding of all Nigerians. I appeal to our youth not to allow mischief-makers to exploit present circumstances to mislead or incite them to disturb public peace.
“To address the immediate challenges that have been identified, I have directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government to embark immediately on all projects which have been designed to cushion the impact of the subsidy removal in the short, medium and long-term, as outlined in the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme Document.
“Tomorrow, 8th January, I will formally launch a robust mass transit intervention programme to bring down the cost of transportation across the country. The programme will be implemented in partnership with state and local governments, labour unions, transport owners, and banking institutions, and supported with the provision of funding at zero interest rate as well as import duty waiver on all needed parts for locally-made mass transit vehicles, which will create additional jobs in the economy. We will keep these incentives in place for as long as it takes. I want to assure you that Government will not rest until we bring down the cost of transportation for our people” he siad.
The president who thanked the transporters associations for agreeing to reduce transport fares, said he has directed the Minister of Labour and Productivity to work with these associations to come up with a sustainable plan to guarantee this within the shortest possible time.
The President further ordered the mobilization of contractors for the full rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt –Maiduguri Railway Line and the completion of the Lagos-Kano Railway Line. “I have also directed the immediate commencement of a Public Works programme that will engage the services of about 10, 000 youths in every state of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory. This will create an additional 370, 000 jobs” he said.
The president who also pleaded with Nigerians to trust him as he was taking all these decisions in the best interest of the economy, assured Nigerians that every possible effort will be made to ensure that “we march forward, with a collective resolve to build a Nigeria that can generate greater economic growth, create and sustain new jobs, and secure the future of our children”.
Speaking on the ongoing spate of bombings in the North Eastern part of the country Gombe, Potiskum, Jimeta-Yola and Mubi, the President urged all Nigerians to eschew bitterness and acrimony and live together in harmony and peace stating that wherever there is any threat to public peace, “our security agencies will enforce the law, without fear or favour”.
Comments
GET YOUR PRIORITY RIGHT MR PRESIDENT!!!!
What do you take us for? Like fool of course.I have been doing soul searching lately and most Nigerians I bet were doing same as well.However before I tell you about the outcome of my search, I would want to to highlight my observation from the beautifully crafted speech delivered by His Excellency DR Goodluck Ebele JONATHAN.
You did state that you were going to cut the salaries of the executive by 25% but did not mention about your cutting the National Assembly salaries as well. This is smart move, as you are not all that daft as people think, otherwise how else did you manage to obtain your PhD degree. I can tell you that you cleverly left out the National Assembly members, because it takes a thief to catch a thief so also it takes a fellow intellect to predict a move of another intellect. You knew the National assembly is having an emergency meeting today to deliberate on the impending National tragedy and knowing fully well that you are at their mercy, having committed so many impeachable offences, you would rather have them as friends rather than enemies. You want them to support you by playing along with you (tactical usurpation of their power) and that is why you did not want to annoy them by touching their salaries. Welldone!!!
The second issue is that we do not need your salary and that of your fellow members in the Executive as that is just a tip in the iceberg. Therefore you can keep the whole large salaries and we are not going to be perturbed. What we need is your ALLOWANCE and that of all members of the executive and National assembly inclusive, because that is where the gold mine is. The ratio of Salary to allowance is 5% to 95% (5:95). Allowance will be more helpful and will go a long way into convincing us the majority downtrodden of your sincerity and patriotism, as you would have demonstrated your commitment without a shred of doubt.
Therefore, If you want to make a significant sacrifice, I will suggest that all members of the government keep their full salaries which is handsome enough but give us back 80%, of their allowance as we do not want to be greedy to demand 100%.
I also noticed that the President was not talking on how to deal with corruption - the cancer and the main culprit. Unless he has the gut and resolve to start from this, any other quick knee jerk remedies will not work as they are superficial and will tantamount to puring water to the leaking basket. We all know that good intention only, cannot suffice in Nigeria and unless the foundation is laid for corruption eradication, we will be wasting our time and fooling ourselves. Even the recommended 25% cut in the salary will be recovered back or even more by the same people through the backyard. Now tell me who is fooling who?
WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD TO REGAIN PUBLIC CONFIDENCE:(a) First thing first and that is Mr President should immediately send the EFCC to the NNPC and relevant AREAS to investigate the alleged crimes of economic sabotage with a view to identifying the culprits and confiscating their ill gotten wealth and punishing them severely to serve as deterrent to others. All details concerning the exact production, exportation of crude oil and importation of refined oil including those refined in Nigeria in meagre capacity must be known to the public. We know that you are weak and do not want to offend the untouchable Nigerians (ESTABLISHMENT) but on this occassion you are protected, as we the MASSESS are empowering you and EFCC a neutral fearless organisation to do the job for us. Do not be scared as the pointing finger will not be directly on you rather on us. It is not fair for you to take all the blames alone for all societal evils but you owe it to us to be more cooperative in the fight against CORRUPTION which is the main issue here. The choice is yours and you are also going to live with the consequences of your actions or inactions, if the cause of justice is obstructed.
There is no gainsaying the fact that once you adress the corruption issue, every other thing will naturally fall in place. The knee jerk after thought remedies, will tantamount to erecting a building on sand without foundation. Thankfully we now have the real Crimeburster Mr Lamorde who has thankfully timely replaced a tootless Bulldog (Mrs Waziri) and knowing his antecedents, the job will be done with maximum efficiency and TRILLIONS will be recovered for your noble projects.
(2) If it is going to take so long to get the original builders for TAM for our REFINERIES, then let us start building new ones immediately and I recommend five of them to start with. This will be done under strict prudent and accountable management and urgently too, as if there is no tomorrow.
(3) Mr President Sir, you will agree with me that we do not need to feed you and your family including your vice. I feel it is an insult for you / your Vice to be fed like BEGGARS who cannot feed themselves. How does it feel to be identified and addressed as a PARASITE. This we all agree is unreasonable and is not done any other place in the sensible world. Not only that you should not have robbed Peter to pay Paul i:e feeding you at the expence of hungry massess, the greedy amount you allocated for this purpose is outrageoeous, inconsiderate, callous, scandalous and left much to be desired. So I suggest you give it all up, maintain you diginity, as I am sure without a shred of doubt that you can take care of yourself comfortably. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A PARASITE!!!
(4) Please kindly return the 5 billion Naira allocated to your wife for her PET project immediately, as it is unconstitutional and is not budgeted for. Do you know that lots of good can be done with this outrageous swindled amount. Always remember Office of First Lady is not in our constitutio and furthermore the said amount was not in the budget. In summary therefore we want leadership by example and the Executives and National Assembly members should lead the way. SACRIFICE SHOULD THEREFORE START FROM TOP TO THE BOTTOM.Here I rest my case.
ODAGBULUENYI
A Like Reply
ODAGBULUENYI, you have indeed articulated the thoughts of millions of nigerians and I know there are more like you out there. What we need is to start from scratch, get rid of the status quo politicians and get fresher minds in there. The status quo political establishment will do all in its power to frustrate change so if it has to be revolution......ALUTA CONTINUA!!!!!!!
GET YOUR PRIORITY RIGHT MR PRESIDENT!!!!
What do you take us for? Like fool of course.I have been doing soul searching lately and most Nigerians I bet were doing same as well.However before I tell you about the outcome of my search, I would want to to highlight my observation from the beautifully crafted speech delivered by His Excellency DR Goodluck Ebele JONATHAN.
You did state that you were going to cut the salaries of the executive by 25% but did not mention about your cutting the National Assembly salaries as well. This is smart move, as you are not all that daft as people think, otherwise how else did you manage to obtain your PhD degree. I can tell you that you cleverly left out the National Assembly members, because it takes a thief to catch a thief so also it takes a fellow intellect to predict a move of another intellect. You knew the National assembly is having an emergency meeting today to deliberate on the impending National tragedy and knowing fully well that you are at their mercy, having committed so many impeachable offences, you would rather have them as friends rather than enemies. You want them to support you by playing along with you (tactical usurpation of their power) and that is why you did not want to annoy them by touching their salaries. Welldone!!!
The second issue is that we do not need your salary and that of your fellow members in the Executive as that is just a tip in the iceberg. Therefore you can keep the whole large salaries and we are not going to be perturbed. What we need is your ALLOWANCE and that of all members of the executive and National assembly inclusive, because that is where the gold mine is. The ratio of Salary to allowance is 5% to 95% (5:95). Allowance will be more helpful and will go a long way into convincing us the majority downtrodden of your sincerity and patriotism, as you would have demonstrated your commitment without a shred of doubt.
Therefore, If you want to make a significant sacrifice, I will suggest that all members of the government keep their full salaries which is handsome enough but give us back 80%, of their allowance as we do not want to be greedy to demand 100%.
I also noticed that the President was not talking on how to deal with corruption - the cancer and the main culprit. Unless he has the gut and resolve to start from this, any other quick knee jerk remedies will not work as they are superficial and will tantamount to puring water to the leaking basket. We all know that good intention only, cannot suffice in Nigeria and unless the foundation is laid for corruption eradication, we will be wasting our time and fooling ourselves. Even the recommended 25% cut in the salary will be recovered back or even more by the same people through the backyard. Now tell me who is fooling who?
WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD TO REGAIN PUBLIC CONFIDENCE:(a) First thing first and that is Mr President should immediately send the EFCC to the NNPC and relevant AREAS to investigate the alleged crimes of economic sabotage with a view to identifying the culprits and confiscating their ill gotten wealth and punishing them severely to serve as deterrent to others. All details concerning the exact production, exportation of crude oil and importation of refined oil including those refined in Nigeria in meagre capacity must be known to the public. We know that you are weak and do not want to offend the untouchable Nigerians (ESTABLISHMENT) but on this occassion you are protected, as we the MASSESS are empowering you and EFCC a neutral fearless organisation to do the job for us. Do not be scared as the pointing finger will not be directly on you rather on us. It is not fair for you to take all the blames alone for all societal evils but you owe it to us to be more cooperative in the fight against CORRUPTION which is the main issue here. The choice is yours and you are also going to live with the consequences of your actions or inactions, if the cause of justice is obstructed.
There is no gainsaying the fact that once you adress the corruption issue, every other thing will naturally fall in place. The knee jerk after thought remedies, will tantamount to erecting a building on sand without foundation. Thankfully we now have the real Crimeburster Mr Lamorde who has thankfully timely replaced a tootless Bulldog (Mrs Waziri) and knowing his antecedents, the job will be done with maximum efficiency and TRILLIONS will be recovered for your noble projects.
(2) If it is going to take so long to get the original builders for TAM for our REFINERIES, then let us start building new ones immediately and I recommend five of them to start with. This will be done under strict prudent and accountable management and urgently too, as if there is no tomorrow.
(3) Mr President Sir, you will agree with me that we do not need to feed you and your family including your vice. I feel it is an insult for you / your Vice to be fed like BEGGARS who cannot feed themselves. How does it feel to be identified and addressed as a PARASITE. This we all agree is unreasonable and is not done any other place in the sensible world. Not only that you should not have robbed Peter to pay Paul i:e feeding you at the expence of hungry massess, the greedy amount you allocated for this purpose is outrageoeous, inconsiderate, callous, scandalous and left much to be desired. So I suggest you give it all up, maintain you diginity, as I am sure without a shred of doubt that you can take care of yourself comfortably. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A PARASITE!!!
(4) Please kindly return the 5 billion Naira allocated to your wife for her PET project immediately, as it is unconstitutional and is not budgeted for. Do you know that lots of good can be done with this outrageous swindled amount. Always remember Office of First Lady is not in our constitutio and furthermore the said amount was not in the budget. In summary therefore we want leadership by example and the Executives and National Assembly members should lead the way. SACRIFICE SHOULD THEREFORE START FROM TOP TO THE BOTTOM.Here I rest my case.
ODAGBULUENYI
A Like Reply
it will checkmate excesses,but i think corruption and boko haram is more treat than subsidy
Post new comment