By Dr AUSTIN ORETTE

Who makes these changes?

“I shoot an arrow right, it turns left``

I chase after a deer; I get chased by a lion.

I dig a hole for my enemies and I fall into it……….

I should be careful about what I want”….RUMI

Who makes these changes? Why can’t we understand that what goes around comes around? I have been doing some random musings lately. Why is it so easy for government agents not to pay contractors who have diligently completed an assignment on behalf of the government? The government being the largest employer is setting bad examples to rogue employers who are exploiting Nigerians daily.

How can the government compel private institutions to pay what they owe, when the government is the chief culprit in this regard? Those in government must ask the critical question. Is the non-payment for services part of the root cause of the various unrest in Nigeria? These actors may be those who have been damaged by government actions. This is a big issue that should worry any person or politician in any position of authority.

The stories concerning non-payment for duly executed contracts are very disturbing. The cavalier altitude of the elite in this regard is overwhelming and numbing. All tiers of governments in Nigeria treat their contractors and workers with arrogance and disdain like the military used to do. This attitude of not paying contractors and suppliers has become a culture that will cripple the country. A business man takes a loan from a bank to execute contracts on behalf of government and there is no hope of him getting paid. The bank comes after him and he loses everything. This is cruel and unfair.

No government should consider owing contractors as a policy of development. Some of these folks die without collecting what is owed to them. There should be a law to stop the government from these abuses of citizens. The stories are so numerous and heartbreaking. There was the story of a contractor who procured vehicles for some state government. Many months have passed and nothing has been paid. The contractor lost his collateral to bank seizures.

We cannot develop Nigeria with this primitive way of thinking and interaction with citizens who use their resources and ingenuity to provide services to the government that have no respect for the sanctity of contacts.

All the politicians in this country profess some faith. It is sacrilege not to pay the laborer his just wages. No economy can develop if those who participate and deliver service are not paid their just wages after completion of set contracts.

There should be a law to stop this abuse of citizens. If this situation is not remedied, it will soon have a multiplier effect that will drag the economy down and increase the suffering of hard working Nigerians who dare to participate in business ventures with the government and its agencies.

A law should apply here, that sixty days after completion of a project, the government must pay if the work is satisfactory. If there is any dispute, the agencies involved must pay fifty percent and the other fifty percent should be paid with interest when the dispute is resolved.

Those who are in charge and derive joy from withholding citizens legitimate earning should know that what goes around comes around. Someone may not release their pension until after their death. If this attitude becomes the Nigerian culture, they have a responsibility to be a bull work against rogue government policies. No one should protest to be paid his just earnings. This sordid behavior in the corridors of power should be stopped as it is beginning to be a culture.

The nature of Nigerian society is that the dark is always calling to the dark. Before we know it, all government agencies will be like NEPA that charges exorbitant fees without supplying a single unit of electricity.

Pay the laborer his just wages. Government should not engage in theft of service. The National Assembly should conduct a study to see how prevalent this malady is in this country and advance legislation to preclude it.

If you don’t pay those who work, don’t be surprised when your system becomes clogged with flotsam and jetsam that will sink the ship of state. No one should work for a government that does not pay. Those who will do so are desperados who are there to deplete and convert government resources. Some of the unrest throughout the country may be due to people who feel they have been taken advantage of by the state or federal government. These include those who executed contracts and were not paid and became desperate.

Government must at all times try to reduce the ranks of desperado by not deliberately pushing people into poverty. This lack of regard of citizens leads to a culture of nonchalance that defines Nigeria today. We can do better by refusing to race to the bottom.

All governments must as a matter of urgency assume their responsibility to pay their workers and contractors their fair and just compensation. Any government that does not comply with this fundamental objective is a rogue government that has no place in civilized societies. Such governments can only produce discontent and anarchy.

•Dr Austin Orette Writes from Houston, Texas, USA.

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