The name ‘G-Wagon’ is automatically linked with class and panache and for anyone to be able to afford such a beast of a car, then you know the buyer is quite loaded in the money department.
The news that a member of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, bought his wife a G-Wagon is one that has baffled many Nigerians and has once more brought to the fore the absolute chasm that exists between the rich and the poor.
Femi Gbajabiamila got a lot of flak for this particular purchase and went on to defend himself telling the Nigerian populace that he had to save for a ‘couple of years’ to be able to make the purchase.
This is extremely patronizing
First off, in the strictest of terms, the word ‘couple’ really refers to the number 2 and if we were to judge the lawmaker by those words then he’s saying it took him two years.
But let’s be more accommodating and say the lawmaker meant more than 2 years, but how long should it have taken him?
In a report by the website ‘Quartz Africa’, the average Nigerian lawmaker is said to earn $42,000 per annum which comes to about N15,000,000 in naira. If this is divided by 12, then the average lawmaker earns about N1.25 million naira a month.
But the allowances are the major thing. The Quartz report reads in part:
After many years of keeping its budget secret, Nigeria’s National Assembly, made up of the Senate and House of Representatives, has finally published a breakdown of its annual budget. In the past, the national assembly’s total budget allocation had been included in the national budget but without a breakdown. The national assembly’s 2017 budget is pegged at $393 million–a $31 million increase from last year.
The published documents show Nigerian senators will earn $55,000 a year in salary, while house of representatives members will earn $42,000—but that’s not the real story. For lawmakers, the big bucks come in form of the generous allowances. Put together, each lawmaker will cost taxpayers $540,000 to maintain in 2017.
$540,000?
In naira that comes to about N194,940,000
I’ll let that sink in for a moment.
The G-Wagon is broadly said to cost about 50 to a 100 million naira. According to a USA cars website, the G-Wagon AMG G 65 4MATIC SUV costs about $222,700 which in naira means you will be parting with at least N80,000,000 to buy a car like this.
With Femi Gbajabiamila’s base salary, if her were to save every single penny on the car, he’d need 5 years to buy it, but if he were to use his allowance, it will take him probably a ‘couple of years’ to buy it.
How about the average Nigerian?
Minimum wage is as at the time of writing still pegged at N18,000 and being paired with the mammoth N80 million needed, it’ll take the minimum wage earner 317 years of saving and not spending a dime before he/she could get a car like this.
How about the not so average Nigerian? The Banker or consultant with the fancy job and the N300,000 monthly salary, it’ll still take such a person 22 years to be able to afford such a car.
So Mr Gbajabiamila’s statement that he didn’t mean to offend sensibilities seems a tad fallacious considering the situation in the country.
His statement read in part:“My attention has been drawn to the extensive reports especially on social media regarding the presentation of a gift to my wife and best friend in celebration of her 50th birthday anniversary.
Naturally I had anticipated this occasion for quite a while and prepared by saving up for it in the last couple of years. I took the decision far back to present her with a significant gift, she was totally unaware of, to convey in part, the debt of my gratitude to her for standing by me through ‘thick and thin’. I could never have been half the man I am today without her support and unbelievable understanding. Truly, the monetary value of any gift real or imagined, pales in significance when I consider how much of a ‘rock and pillar’ she has been to me.
“The presentation of the gift contrary to public perception, was to be a family affair in our home but it suffered some delays finally arriving when a number of guests were in to celebrate with my wife. It still would have remained a private affair, but I guess we underestimated the power of social media and very excited friends.
“Having said this, I understand and appreciate the reaction of the public. As a public official, one must be held to a higher standard. My action was not meant to offend sensibilities and I regret that it did.
“Being a leader in many spheres, I can very well understand the optics of it. But I would rather want it to be seen as what it is-an expression of deep appreciation and love for my wife of almost thirty years, rather than one of flamboyance.
This author once had a lecturer who said, and i paraphrase, ‘If a politician or state releases a statement and uses the term “regret” it is safe to say that such a person is simply playing lip service’
It is hoped that if the new minimum wage is passed (58,000 from the most generous states) then perhaps it will only take the average Nigerian 115 years to buy a G-Wagon
Below is a video where Nigerians answer the question of how many years it’ll take for the average Nigerian to save for a G-Wagon