Corruption has always been the favourite pastime of the rich and mighty in Nigeria. While they are ever quick to point out that there are not enough resources for the benefits of poor working class-people, but they can always feed fat on our collective wealth.
The current Senate might however stand heads and shoulders above earlier sets of political institutions in the long history of corruption. But, rather unfortunately for its members, Nigerian working class-people will no longer allow ourselves to be taken fort a ride.
The purchase of cars at the cost of N35m per senator adding up to N3.8bn with an additional N330m for the senate president’s own cars, might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
The embattled senate president who has been doing everything possible to avoid being tried by the Code of Conduct Tribunal for false declaration of assets has equally (like a number of his colleagues) been collecting the salary of a governor from his state ever since he has been at the senate, apart from his salary as senator.
Nigerian legislators are some of the highest earning in the world, while Nigerian workers are some of the least paid in the world. This nonsense must stop! This is why members of the Socialist Workers League joined the #OccupyNASS. But as we calling for kicking out the corrupt senate, we must not lose sight of the fact that it is part of a broader systemic problem; capitalism.
We must organise, mobilise and fight to defeat capitalism and build socialist society on its ashes.
by Yusuf Lawal
