Please permit me space in your widely read medium to air my views on the recent killing of innocent Nigerians in different parts of the country. Section 33, of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, guarantees the right to life to all citizens of the federation. The Constitution also state the instances, where this all important right can be denied to a person. Limbs and organs of the body, falls within the ambit of this provision.

The aforestated section of the constitution is provided for, under the heading, fundamental human rights. What then are fundamental human rights? They are simply rights that every individual is entitled to enjoy without any prejudice whatsoever. It therefore behoves on government to ensure that these rights are effectively guaranteed and protected at all time.

However, events in recent time really calls for concern. The right to life and indeed other rights of individuals, are being infringed upon and abused with reckless abandon. Can anyone provide meaningful and justifiable answers to the massive number of people we have lost to avoidable violence in this country? There are indeed so many questions begging for answers.

In the face of all the violence bedevilling our dear country, majority of those at the receiving end are mostly poor Nigerians; Nigerians who are largely overwhelmed with poverty, unemployment, hunger, harsh and ill conceived policies and decisions of goverment. They are the ones usually caught in the web of these violences. Unfortunately, there is hardly any part of this country that has not experienced violence in recent time.

The most troubling thing for me however, is that all these happen while we have a government in power. Government has practically gone to sleep on its responsibility to protect and safeguard the lives of Nigerians. Need i remind government that the security and welfare of Nigerians, is her primary responsibility.

Government must offer maximum protection for all citizens. Suffice it to state that this laxity of government, has made Nigeria one of the least secured countries in the world. Government must therefore be alive to its obligation of securing lives and properties, in every part of the fedration.

To our youths and children, and all those engineering these violence and killings, this is an appeal to you. Yes, you may be angry with the way things have been allowed to be in Nigeria. Nonetheless, resort to violence will not help in solving the problems of our beloved country. It will only aggravate sorry situation we are already in. Violence has never been a better option. God bless Nigeria.

Frank O. Ijege,
No. 8, Madaki Crescent, Narayi, Kaduna. Frankijege@yahoo.com

Dear Sir: I wish to use your widely read newspaper to air my view on the new national minimum wage recently signed into law and our over-bloated Public service.
The NLC and the Nigerian workers, especially at the federal level, should note that if the Federal Government must actualise the N18,000 minimum wage, workers should also be prepared for rationalisation as the workforce of our Public service is currently over bloated.

Specifically, we have so many Commissions and Agencies at the federal level performing duplicating and conflicting functions. Some of them have leaders that are not visionary.
It is interesting to observe that there are three main bodies all involved in monitoring of the nation's budget:

The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) was set up in 2009 to implement the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007, with special emphasis on monitoring of the federal government budget implementation in the areas of blockage of revenue leakages and capital budget implementation.
The office of the Auditor-General of the Federation audits all federal accounts, including capital projects.
There is also a full-fledged department in the Budget Office of the Federation whose mandate is solely budget implementation and monitoring.

Since 2007, we have been witnessing budget deficits of more than 3%, contrary to the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007. Yet FRC does not deem it fit to alert the relevant authorities on the consequences of this trend. Or is the Commission not aware that such high deficit is as a result of embezzlement and leakages in our revenue generation and management procedure?

The Commission is also over-staffed with alot of staff not suitable for its vision. Such staff came in form of transfer of service from core civil service as a result of godfarherism.
Why should all the 3 (three) afore-mentioned bodies be performing the same functions, yet we continue to witness sharp practices in budget implementation and abandonment of capital projects?

Is it not possible to, for instance, to fuse these three bodies into one to save public fund, or is it a case of providing jobs for the citizens at all cost?
The cases of mandates and functions can be found among so many other Agencies and Commissions, especially at the federal level.

My consolation, however, is that the Dr.(Mrs) Okonjo Iweala-led Committee has commenced work in earnest. With the pedigree of the Committee members, it is the expection of the general public that a thorough job will be carried out in right-sizing the Public Service.

Mrs Jokke Amusan
42/44, Taiwo Street
Off Broad Street, Lagos.