The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has described as recklessly insensitive the decision by the current federal government to blow away a whooping N2 Billion just to organise a transition event on May 29th 2015 even when millions of impoverished Nigerians go through unpardonable hardship caused by the total breakdown of essential services and the criminal non-availability of premium motor spirit.

In the thinking of the rights group, rather than waste such colossal sums of public fund to feed a few elite invited to grace the few hours’ handover ceremony, the government should charge intending invitees a gate fee to be used in footing the huge bills for their expensive wines and foods which would be gulped during the pre and post handover events in Abuja.

Apart from representing a graphic picture of a government unmindful of the harsh and excruciating economic situations confronting nearly 90 million heavily impoverished citizenry, any outward signs of ostentatious ceremony heralding the peaceful transition from the current to the incoming administration would be diametrically opposed to the ideological underpinning of the political philosophy of the President elect Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) who is reputedly a very austere and prudent spender.

In a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA wants the government to task the central working committee for the event to quickly mobilise fund from willing corporate bodies whose brands would be commercially advertised during the anticipated well televised handover ceremony at the Eagle Square as one viable way of raising resources to fund the event rather than deep hands into the fast depleting public pulse to take out a princely sum of N2 billion for the ceremonial events.

HURIWA stated thus; "What kind of a prodigal government will embark on wastage of scarce resources and mundane social events such as the ceremonial handover from one government to another with a humongous budget even when it is clear to even toddlers that Nigeria is today at crossroads economically? Why can’t government just conduct a solemn event and not this elaborate scam that will deplete the economy of the country?

“It’s only a country afflicted by the ghosts of unproductive consumerism that will dedicate a large chunk of her commonwealth for merriment by a tiny minority when the majority of the citizenry are surviving barely from hands -to-mouths. If this government wants to have elaborate social events including eating of choice continental dishes and gulping of prohibitively expensive champagnes then it should devise transparent means of making these rich invited elite to pay for those services so no further devastation of public fund is celebrated. Going ahead to waste these huge sums to stage the handover ceremony is same as a shameless man whose house is on fire but who goes about chasing rats.”

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