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Nigerian Lawmakers Top Worlds Best Pay List

 

 

 

Paying lawmakers

 
Nigerian lawmakers have once again topped the world's best pay list in a recent article by the UK based Economist magazine. In terms of absolute salary terms Nigeria's legislators are second only to Australia but ahead of their colleagues from Italy, USA, and Singapore who complete the top 5 most well paid legislators in the world. Although the Australian parliamentarians earn slightly more than their Nigerian counterparts, the Nigerian legislators are not so easily outdone. If the salary is considered in terms of national productivity figures then Nigerian legislators are the undisputed "world champions" earning 116 (one hundred and sixteen) times the country's GDP per person. The Australian, Italian, American and Singaporean legislators salary are respectivley 3, 5.8, 3.8 and 3 times the GDP of their countries.
 
Despite the relatively high salaries of other African legislators, Nigeria remains the "giant of Africa" distantly followed by Kenyan legislators who earn 76 times the GDP per person, Ghana legislators who earn 30 times the average Ghanaian per capita GDP and South African parliamentarians who earn 14 times the average salary relative to GDP. This is no doubt good news to the millions of Nigerian youths who are jobless and unemployed. They can rest assured that the oga's-at-the-top are being paid handsomely to solve the myriad of national problems that they face.
 
There is no better feeling of shared national sacrifice than to know that the children are starving because the parents have eaten. Moreover in the epitome of Classonian logic evinced by George S Classon's "Richest Man in Babylon" book, our distinguished legislators can now use the collective common wealth to generate employment for the teeming army of young graduates. Young men can now be employed as drivers or assistants while young ladies can satisfy other demands.

More than they deserve?


IN TIMES of austerity, awarding yourself a fat pay rise goes down badly. An independent body’s suggestion that British lawmakers’ salaries should rise from £66,396 ($105,400) to £74,000 in 2015 has prompted a media firestorm, even though perks such as a generous pension scheme would be slimmed down.
British MPs earn around 2.7 times the country’s GDP per person, on a par with many rich countries. But their basic pay is parsimonious by other states’ standards, and defining fairness is tricky. Lawmakers in poorer countries in Africa and Asia enjoy the largest salaries relative to GDP. Voters have noticed. Earlier this year, furious Kenyan demonstrators burned 221 coffins outside parliament in a row over the pay and benefits awarded to Kenyan MPs (known for their self-indulgence). Last month MPs lowered their salaries but still managed to secure themselves a $58,000 car grant.
Italian legislators enjoy one of the lushest deals in Europe, including free transport. Indian MPs are ill-paid, but rewarded for their work with beautiful but decrepit bungalows in the swankiest parts of Delhi; these are a far cry from the uninviting dormitories in which Japanese lawmakers from outside Tokyo must live. An odd feature of Thai politics is that the governing party’s MPs are paid more than those of the opposition. America appears notably stingy. Senators have had no pay rise since 2009, though this is perhaps less tragic when their often staggering personal wealth is considered. What about payment by results: salaries go up when GDP does?

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