The load on any country’s No One Citizen can be very heavy. This makes them want to decompress and unwind from time to time in order to avoid a total breakdown. However, when a US President wants to take a break, he usually goes to Camp David; or in the case of the current President, to one of his golf resorts. Rare is a US President having their leave in a foreign country. Rare also is a UK Prime Minister taking their vacation in France, or vice versa. President Bola Tinubu is said to be on a working leave and he has chosen perhaps the exotic places in France and the UK to decompress. Before this, he had visited some sunny places in the Caribbean and South America as parts of his recent work schedule. He obviously believed the purpose was worth the cost in time and entourage to the Nigerian tax payers. That judgement was within his purview to make. But the optics of a President spending his vacation or having his medicals abroad are not very good. They indicate a form of repudiation and a lack of belief in the country he is leading. They also indicate an unabashed taste for the soup other leaders cooked for their people.

There used to be Presidential Lodges in some States in the past. What is wrong in upgrading one of them to the status of our own Camp David? What is wrong in upgrading a hospital in Abuja or Lagos to rival John Hopkins? To be clear, the current President is not the only culprit. Almost all our political leaders past and present, have been guilty. But this lack of identity, of empathy with the people has to stop. This feeling of ‘I am your leader, so I deserve better’ has to be re-evaluated. The Senate President was said to have gone for a medical leave recently. This is someone who comes from one of the more exotic places in Nigeria but feels Europe is the place to go. This is a two-term Governor of an oil rich State who could have provided a state-of- the-art medical facility for that zone but opts for foreign hospitals even if he is going to be treated there by Nigerian doctors. Confounded and infuriated I become each time some courts and Judges allow bail for indicted political figures to travel abroad for medical treatment. They should be made to use what the rest of us use. If they realized that they would be compelled to use the facilities they provided while in office, perhaps they would do more for country and people.

Doctors had issued notice for a week-long strike as at the time of writing this article. The issues are perennial – poor pay, poor working environment, stagnation in promotion, dearth of personnel. The whole thing can be summarized as a general disregard for our doctors. Unfortunately, it is the middle class that would suffer the most should the strike be prolonged since the poor have probably abandoned western drugs due to unaffordability while the rich use private facilities. I once wrote an article pleading for patriotism from our young doctors and urging them not to be too quick to ‘Japa’ considering that many of them were trained with State or subsidized funds. An elder statesman whose intellect and insight I respect a lot called me and said rather cryptically that Nigeria had to decide if it really wanted to stop the ‘Japa syndrome’. He didn’t say more. But the little he said was meant to get me thinking. The body language of our political leaders seems to suggest indifference. Or worse, an incompetence borne of an unenlightened self-interest – after all, remittances have increased. Otherwise, how does one situate the fact that the country’s brightest are in the lower rung when it comes to remuneration? The total take-home pay of a Professor of Medicine after years of rigour is embarrassing both to him and to the country. The monthly salary of a senior lecturer can hardly sponsor one publication in a foreign journal – a requirement for promotion. He still has to contend with living expenses including rent since official accommodation is scarce and a preserve of the priviledged.

Historically, the brightest brains go for the sciences, particularly medicine, a vocation that needs both intellect and dedication. Historically, many bright brains go into academia, a vocation dedicated to research and teaching. All of these have been upended by our frankly ridiculous reward system that favours politicians. A University Professor struggles to own a house after three decades of service while a legislator could be gifted one after a four-year tenure. This is in spite of the huge amount at their disposal through over-sight functions and constituency allowances. Many State Governors are officially and unofficially made for life financially after a mere four-year tenure. As inevitable as the reforms might have been given our economic circumstances, the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of our currency devalued the worth of many Nigerians, especially professionals. But not politicians. What should now be called out is the seeming opulence of the political class which is widening its girth while the rest of us are tightening our belts. The reforms released a lot of money into the system. A lot of it has been used to oil political machines in the quest for power in 2027. Truth be told, life is hard for the people irrespective of age or profession. Funds allotted to different sectors are far below the recommendations of the UN except perhaps for recurrent expenditure. Despite this, more taxes are coming to generate more money for government AKA the political class. Little wonder it is the only class that is not desperate to ‘Japa’ in the country – not that any country would have any use for them. And because we can’t all be politicians, something has to give to stem the tide of people seeking to escape what is looking like a permanent life of drudgery at home. The public sector is less than 5% of the population. Yet, it consumes a disproportionate percentage of our resources. It is clearly not sustainable especially given the in-your-face attitude of many of them.

We need our youths at home. Life abroad is not the best. Besides, it is dislocating families. But they need something worthwhile to come home to besides politics and a few lucrative public sector jobs – both have been cornered anyway by the powers that be. We need a reward system that recognizes professionals and people engaged in research. It is the way to growth. The University system has its issues but it is an anomaly for a Local Government Chairman to earn more than a University Professor. It is gratuitous insult that mouth-watering gratuities are given to a class of politicians after a four, or even eight-year tenure. Politics should be a service and not a career. No wonder it has become a ‘do-or-die’ affair.

• Muyiwa Adetiba is a veteran journalist and publisher. He can be reached via titbits2012@yahoo.com

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