By Ikeddy ISIGUZO
ORDINARILY, there is nothing wrong about Olufemi Hakeem Gbajabiamila celebrating birthdays wherever he pleases, but Femi Gbajabiamila, as he is more famously know, is the Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, the fourth in the nation’s power ordering, and a Member of the House of Representatives since 2003. In that stretch he has been Minority Leader of the house for eight years before he became Speaker in June 2019.
There is nothing ordinary about him though he seems to be the only one not to have realised this. It is not surprising that Nigerians are still in shock at the news that he was hosting a week-long 90th birthday anniversary for his mother Alhaja Lateefat Olufunke Gbajabiamila.
The older Gbajabiamila, first Chair of Surulere Local Government Area, the constituency the son represents, deserves a birthday bash. The contention is the content and context of the celebration. The Speaker’s defence of the celebration failed woefully to understand the feelings of Nigerians about extravagance in the midst of the grinding poverty that is hurting Nigerians.
A previous birthday party put Mr. Gbajabiamila in the news two years ago. Then he was not the Speaker, but who would forget the golden-plated G-Wagon jeep that he gave his wife for her 50th? The number plate was Assurance.
Many writers spent weeks speculating on the cost of the vehicle and the haute couture attire that Gbajabiamila wore on the occasion. Some of the figures mentioned as the costs of the items were too outrageous to bear repeating here.
The same measures have been using in calculating what could have been spent on the celebrations in Dubai. Mr. Speaker insists that it was a purely private family affair with a few friends in attendance. The fact that no figures were released for attendance weakened the denial that over 300 guests were ferried to Dubai for the bash.
Emphases have again been ringing loud on the point that public funds were not used in hosting the party. Mr. Speaker’s understanding of how the public sees public funds may be central to the disagreements that would arise over this. Mr. Speaker is a public figure who the public maintains at great costs. The concepts of these costs vary and could include trips with official vehicles like aircrafts from the presidential fleet, and security that is provided at costs to the public.
Being a public officer means that he is expected to provide some services in manners that align with public perception of the conduct of public officers in their various capacities. If Mr. Speaker is impressed by these arguments, he has not shown it.
The points of order that Mr. Speak has to note are –
You are is too public to be private
Gbajabiamila has been 17 years in the House of Representatives. There are few things about him that are still private, and none of them was an issue in the outrage about the birthday celebration of his mother. If he understands how very public, he is, it will help in his future conducts.
Sensitivities, sensibilities
When you serve the public, there are expectations that you would have a feel of what the public goes through surviving. Times are so tough that the public has no sympathetic ear for explanations from public officials who hold these ground-breaking parties. There is an increasing distance between the public and those who serve them. The public sometimes think these celebrations stamp the decisions of public officials to do as they please whatever the public feels. People are suffering without any hope in sight. Hunger, insecurity, illnesses, unemployment are ravaging them. Mr. Speaker is living about these circumstances, and flaunting it.
What is it about birthdays?
Two major birthday parties in two years mark the Gbajabiamila family as celebratory. The loudness of these parties remains the contentious matter. People know the costs of these celebrations – they count guests, they remember travel costs and accommodation. They arrive at their own conclusions hence these contentions. Whether the resources are pooled from family members or friends, the Speaker would not escape being seen as the one behind them.
Anything the matter with Dubai?
Is there anything that commends Dubai to Nigeria’s big men and women? What would have been wrong if the celebration was in Lagos and the billions Naira exported abroad is spent on locally? Should Alhaji’s friends and families not have been around her as she celebrates?
Time is ripe for Mr. Speaker to know that the public – including the voters in Surulere I Constituency that he represents – have higher expectations from him. Birthday parties are among the expectations.