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24-03-2015, 05:37 PM
(This post was last modified: 24-03-2015, 07:43 PM by specuvestor.)
Reality is that balance of compensation/ power is an issue globally ever since alpha males appeared. Even in US with SuperPac and lobbying money politics are prevalent. Question is how do you address it, rather than avoid it . Incentive is important but so is disincentive. Politican's pay should not be the incentive... but the heart to serve the people and nation. (LKY did comment that both US and China has drastically different system but they are able to nurture and groom leaders with heart and capability) Point is to disincentivise corruption. There is a difference.
I agree with LKY's pragmatic approach. What I don't agree is the execution.
PS yes the Prez earns more than the PM... like I posted above, it is an asian paradigm that IMHO need to change, but will be long process.
(Bloomberg) -- When Okey Onwa decided to run for a seat in
Nigeria’s House of Representatives, a ruling party leader laid
out the terms to the 52-year-old lawyer.
He would have to pay 2 million naira ($10,048) as an
expression of interest and sign post-dated checks, forfeiting
half of his income as a lawmaker to gain the support of the
party boss, commonly known as a “godfather” in Nigeria.
“When I complained, he told me this was business, that I
can try going it alone if I wanted,” Onwa said in an interview
in Awka, capital of the southeastern state of Anambra. He said
he decided against running because he knew that on his own, he
couldn’t raise the 100 million naira he needed for the campaign.
As Africa’s biggest oil producer prepares to elect a
president and parliament on March 28, at stake for most
politicians is the power to dispense and receive cash and
patronage rather than competing ideologies. The main opposition
party, the All Progressives Congress, has said it will maintain
many of the economic policies of President Goodluck Jonathan’s
ruling People’s Democratic Party.
With annual salaries and benefits of as much as $2 million
a year, Nigeria’s lawmakers earn more than four times Barack
Obama’s salary as U.S. president. Whoever wins the presidency
has a critical say in dispensing about $70 billion a year in
state revenue, more than two-thirds of which comes from oil and
gas exports.
Godfather Control
“There’s no country in the world that has that kind of
remuneration for its lawmakers,” Jibrin Ibrahim, director of
the Abuja-based Centre for Democracy and Development, or CDD,
said in a phone interview. “Money plays such a huge role and
the political process is very expensive, making it for the
richest and not the best. Essentially, the godfathers are the
ones that control the parties and determine candidates.”
Both Jonathan, a 57-year-old southern Christian from the
oil-rich Niger River delta, and his main opponent, Muhammadu
Buhari, a 72-year-old northern Muslim and former military
dictator, have pledged to fight corruption and make the
petroleum industry more transparent.
Corruption has dogged Nigeria’s political system since
independence from the U.K. in 1960. Transparency International
ranked it as the 136th out of 174 countries assessed in its 2014
Corruption Perception Index.
Former central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi was suspended by
Jonathan last year after he alleged that the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corp. hadn’t remitted about $20 billion in oil revenue
to the government.
Highlights of a PriceweaterhouseCoopers LLP audit into the
NNPC said it should refund a minimum of $1.48 billion, with the
state-owned company claiming the report had absolved it of
Sanusi’s allegations. The full PwC audit hasn’t been released.
State Power
“Anyone who has state power controls everything,” said
Jideofor Adibe, a political science lecturer at Nassarawa State
University in the city of Keffi, 60 kilometers (37 miles) east
of the capital, Abuja. “The group that produces the president
can reward itself and punish the others. You can make a
billionaire out of an ordinary man overnight.”
Candidates use funds for their publicity campaigns as well
as to influence “opinion leaders” and potential voters, said
Gozie Agbakoba, who lost his bid to return to the House of
Representatives in 2011 for the Action Congress of Nigeria,
which is now part of the APC.
“I lost because I didn’t share money,” Agbakoba said in
an interview in Abuja. “It’s difficult to win an election in
Nigeria without providing inducements to voters, be it rice,
other gifts or cash.”
Apart from the 109 seats in the Senate and 360 in the House
of Representatives, candidates are also vying for the state
governorships and places in regional legislatures.
Revenue Allocation
Each level of government shares in the oil revenue, with
the national government receiving 52.7 percent, the states 26.7
percent and local councils 20.6 percent.
Of the 36 states, only Lagos, which generates 75 percent of
its own revenue, could survive without the monthly cash
allocations from the central government by trimming spending or
selling bonds, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.
Since more than 70 percent of the federal budget is spent
on recurrent expenses, such as the salaries and benefits of
about a million public officials, there’s little left for
capital investments in infrastructure, health and education.
Many people who would’ve been entrepreneurs in business or
industry seek political office “as a much quicker way to make
money,” Clement Nwankwo, executive director of Abuja-based
Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, said in an interview.
Tight Election
With the majority of the population poor and without
education, “it’s difficult for citizens to understand the role
of the elected official,” he said. “They measure candidates by
how much they pay.”
This year’s races are set to be the tightest ever, with
both parties having 42 percent support among likely voters,
according to an Afrobarometer poll released Jan. 27. About 68
million people are registered to vote, the electoral agency
said. The vote is being held at a time when cash is especially
tight, with the price of crude having declined more than 50
percent since June, falling below budget projections.
With ideology less important than the battle to control
resources, elections can sometimes be no-holds-barred battles
with candidates and parties employing armed thugs to bludgeon
supporters of opponents, snatch ballots and rig results.
In 2011, about 800 people were killed and at least 75,000
forced to flee their homes after Jonathan’s victory was
announced.
“The big challenge now facing Nigeria is how to make the
welfare of people the purpose of politics,” said Onwa. “Right
now, for the average politician it’s all about how to make
money.”
I agree with LKY's pragmatic approach. What I don't agree is the execution.
PS yes the Prez earns more than the PM... like I posted above, it is an asian paradigm that IMHO need to change, but will be long process.
(Bloomberg) -- When Okey Onwa decided to run for a seat in
Nigeria’s House of Representatives, a ruling party leader laid
out the terms to the 52-year-old lawyer.
He would have to pay 2 million naira ($10,048) as an
expression of interest and sign post-dated checks, forfeiting
half of his income as a lawmaker to gain the support of the
party boss, commonly known as a “godfather” in Nigeria.
“When I complained, he told me this was business, that I
can try going it alone if I wanted,” Onwa said in an interview
in Awka, capital of the southeastern state of Anambra. He said
he decided against running because he knew that on his own, he
couldn’t raise the 100 million naira he needed for the campaign.
As Africa’s biggest oil producer prepares to elect a
president and parliament on March 28, at stake for most
politicians is the power to dispense and receive cash and
patronage rather than competing ideologies. The main opposition
party, the All Progressives Congress, has said it will maintain
many of the economic policies of President Goodluck Jonathan’s
ruling People’s Democratic Party.
With annual salaries and benefits of as much as $2 million
a year, Nigeria’s lawmakers earn more than four times Barack
Obama’s salary as U.S. president. Whoever wins the presidency
has a critical say in dispensing about $70 billion a year in
state revenue, more than two-thirds of which comes from oil and
gas exports.
Godfather Control
“There’s no country in the world that has that kind of
remuneration for its lawmakers,” Jibrin Ibrahim, director of
the Abuja-based Centre for Democracy and Development, or CDD,
said in a phone interview. “Money plays such a huge role and
the political process is very expensive, making it for the
richest and not the best. Essentially, the godfathers are the
ones that control the parties and determine candidates.”
Both Jonathan, a 57-year-old southern Christian from the
oil-rich Niger River delta, and his main opponent, Muhammadu
Buhari, a 72-year-old northern Muslim and former military
dictator, have pledged to fight corruption and make the
petroleum industry more transparent.
Corruption has dogged Nigeria’s political system since
independence from the U.K. in 1960. Transparency International
ranked it as the 136th out of 174 countries assessed in its 2014
Corruption Perception Index.
Former central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi was suspended by
Jonathan last year after he alleged that the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corp. hadn’t remitted about $20 billion in oil revenue
to the government.
Highlights of a PriceweaterhouseCoopers LLP audit into the
NNPC said it should refund a minimum of $1.48 billion, with the
state-owned company claiming the report had absolved it of
Sanusi’s allegations. The full PwC audit hasn’t been released.
State Power
“Anyone who has state power controls everything,” said
Jideofor Adibe, a political science lecturer at Nassarawa State
University in the city of Keffi, 60 kilometers (37 miles) east
of the capital, Abuja. “The group that produces the president
can reward itself and punish the others. You can make a
billionaire out of an ordinary man overnight.”
Candidates use funds for their publicity campaigns as well
as to influence “opinion leaders” and potential voters, said
Gozie Agbakoba, who lost his bid to return to the House of
Representatives in 2011 for the Action Congress of Nigeria,
which is now part of the APC.
“I lost because I didn’t share money,” Agbakoba said in
an interview in Abuja. “It’s difficult to win an election in
Nigeria without providing inducements to voters, be it rice,
other gifts or cash.”
Apart from the 109 seats in the Senate and 360 in the House
of Representatives, candidates are also vying for the state
governorships and places in regional legislatures.
Revenue Allocation
Each level of government shares in the oil revenue, with
the national government receiving 52.7 percent, the states 26.7
percent and local councils 20.6 percent.
Of the 36 states, only Lagos, which generates 75 percent of
its own revenue, could survive without the monthly cash
allocations from the central government by trimming spending or
selling bonds, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.
Since more than 70 percent of the federal budget is spent
on recurrent expenses, such as the salaries and benefits of
about a million public officials, there’s little left for
capital investments in infrastructure, health and education.
Many people who would’ve been entrepreneurs in business or
industry seek political office “as a much quicker way to make
money,” Clement Nwankwo, executive director of Abuja-based
Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, said in an interview.
Tight Election
With the majority of the population poor and without
education, “it’s difficult for citizens to understand the role
of the elected official,” he said. “They measure candidates by
how much they pay.”
This year’s races are set to be the tightest ever, with
both parties having 42 percent support among likely voters,
according to an Afrobarometer poll released Jan. 27. About 68
million people are registered to vote, the electoral agency
said. The vote is being held at a time when cash is especially
tight, with the price of crude having declined more than 50
percent since June, falling below budget projections.
With ideology less important than the battle to control
resources, elections can sometimes be no-holds-barred battles
with candidates and parties employing armed thugs to bludgeon
supporters of opponents, snatch ballots and rig results.
In 2011, about 800 people were killed and at least 75,000
forced to flee their homes after Jonathan’s victory was
announced.
“The big challenge now facing Nigeria is how to make the
welfare of people the purpose of politics,” said Onwa. “Right
now, for the average politician it’s all about how to make
money.”
Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give. –William A. Ward
Think Asset-Business-Structure (ABS)
Think Asset-Business-Structure (ABS)
