Commonsense And Nigerian Politicians

Several authors had defined commonsense as a basic
ability to perceive, understand and judge things correctly, others conclude by saying commonsense has a bit of “native intelligence” as an ingredient.
Apart from the application of commonsense in our governance,  a corrupt-free government can lead us to economic prosperity where quality health care, good roads, employment and human capacity development will be given to the public as a dividend of democracy.
However, the word common sense is not new to many Nigerians especially since it was made popular by Thomas Paine, in his book of the same title.
However, Ben Murray Bruce a former Director General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and now a senator representing Bayelsa East senatorial District in the Senate, has popularized the lexicon “Common Sense” in the Nigerian Political history through the broadcast media, advising government on how to use common sense and cut cost in these hard times.
On his radio and television series, Ben Murray-Bruce has continued to agitate on how common sense by government officials can conquer some of our economic woes.
Most of the vexed issues highlighted by this media icon include illegal oil bunkering, pipeline vandalism, environmental degradation in the Niger Delta, the consumption of fuel without production and the large number of cars in the convoy of our elected officials while the masses are languishing in abject poverty.
Ben Murray-Bruce has vehemently condemned volume of cars in the convoy of our president, Vice President, Senate President, his deputy,  Speaker House of Representative, Governors and Deputy Governor long before now. He positioned that those 20 or 15 bullet – proof  cars, if cut down can address some of the challenges facing the common man.
Investigations reveal that there are bullet proof cars on some governor’s convoy, the least  worth some  N70 million naira each. It is therefore pertinent to note that common sense should rule in the mind of our elected officials who they should know that they no longer need this extravagant speeding due to the current economic crunch.
This campaign of wastage can be juxtaposed with the one done some years ago by Chief Obafemi Awolowo where he suggested to the government then to stop the buying of coffee and newspapers for his employee as this was tantamount to economic wastage. One of such common sense slogan is that our cost of governance has led to the embarrassing infrastructural decay in our education, roads hospitals and the collapse of the moral structure of the family system.
The current $150 million in American Banks was not kept by ghosts. They were kept by our politicians. Consequently, the recent investigation by security agent shows that some highly placed personalities are fully responsible for the quantum of oil stolen from the pipeline on a daily basis. Furthermore, can we rightly say those who are perpetrating all these atrocities against our country, Nigeria have lost their common sense or their conscience?
It is true to say that from available data, the economic paralysis ravaging this country today is as a result of laxities and the parasitic nature of government officials to run and milk the country dry. Obviously, it was the publication of common sense in America that challenged the British authority and royal monarchy where it was used to openly request for independence from Great Britain. This common sense subsequently propelled the Americans to a high sense of native intelligence and fearlessness.
Apparently, common sense is not actually common to everybody, this is because those who occupy this government positions lack the capacity to flee from the temptation of plunging the country into economic disaster, but they have the common sense to become rich over night.
The common sense theory forbid one to steal billions of naira and stock in both local and foreign bank while Nigerians starve to death. Also, Karl Albrenght, calls common sense “practical intelligence”. Nigerians need to wake up and challenge the most plaguing issues like terror in our system. Nigeria as an under developing nation need not employ flamboyance in this our nascent democracy.
President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi should have used common sense to avert the bloodbath of unconstitutional third term in his country which is generating a lot of criticism. Notwithstanding, we can borrow a leaf from the slain Burkinabe leader, Captain Thomas Isidore Noel Sankara who rejected his cozy air conditioned car and office in the protest that majority of his people still languished in abject poverty.
The left wing charismatic leader shunned ostentatious lifestyle and wastages, eager to bring economic development to all. Thomas Sankara stood on the side of the masses and proffered solutions to extinguish chronic poverty from Burkina Faso.
Our Nigerian Political class still bask in the euphoria of primitive accumulation without putting the citizens into cognizance.
As it is, Nigerians should manage the economic resources of the country creditably. In the crusade against corruption, all facets of government must be involved critically. According to Governor Adam Oshiomhole of Edo State, the stumbling block to Nigeria’s growth has been corruption and we must all fight it together. The Nigerian politicians should know that it makes common sense not to steal six billion dollars and put in an American Bank where other millions of Nigerians are dying of hunger.
Dukor writes from Port Harcourt.

Pius Dukor