Robbing the poor to pay the chiefs

Provinces are going to need to find an additional R100 million a year to pay traditional chiefs and headmen, and the money is likely to come from existing budgets in infrastructure and poverty reduction projects.

The recommendation of the independent Commission for Remuneration of Public Office Bearers, decided yesterday to standardise the salaries of the country's more than 5000 headmen to pay a flat annual salary of R84125. It has been determined that traditional leaders' salaries will be increased by 28.4%. Recent public sector wage negotiations agreed to a 7% increase for government workers.

Political analyst Nic Borain believes it is impossible not to consider that increasing the salaries of traditional leaders is politically motivated, especially ahead of local government elections next year. "Zuma is trying to nail down the rural support, and the system of patronage is the way he is doing it, spreading this patronage to the chiefs." 

Political analyst Protas Madlala said the timing of the salary increase for headmen and women was perfect for the local government elections, “Ultimately this salary increase is to buy votes...”

chief mischief

Senior chief Bright Nalubamba of Namwala says people in rural areas should put pressure on their traditional leaders to ensure that they speak on behalf of the poor. In an interview, chief Nalubamba said it was disappointing that some traditional leaders were not representing their subjects but their personal egos.
“There is too much poverty in this nation especially in rural areas. It is painful to see some chiefs defend wrong things instead of helping the voices of their subjects...it will be foolish for a chief to ignore the fact that poverty is rife on the ground. It will be foolish of a chief to choose to ignore the fact that his subjects are living in abject poverty...You will be foolish to ignore people’s concerns about poverty, their health, bad and dilapidated infrastructure” chief Nalubamba said.

In the accompanying newspaper article we read that the prosperity of chiefs has always been tied to that of their subjects. And since chiefs were traditionally not fending for themselves, what they ate, what they wore and all their glory emanated from what their subjects were able to bring or do for them.

Today, a great majority of people, especially those in the rural areas where most of chiefs reside, are impoverished. This means that they have very little to give to their chiefs because one can only give that which one has. If a chief’s subjects have nothing, the chief will get nothing. And this is the case today. Chiefs are getting very little, if not nothing, from their subjects. The only ones who have something to give are those in control of government resources. And today, both the chiefs and their subjects are looking up to those in control of government resources to survive. Chiefs today don’t seem to be dependent on the contributions of their subjects. As such, their loyalty, faith and commitment lies elsewhere. And if chiefs have lost that commitment, that loyalty to their subjects, there is no way their subjects can also continue to be loyal to them. People have faith in those who have faith in them; people are loyal to those who are loyal to them. Today, the chiefs are more preoccupied with their own survival while their subjects also have to fend for themselves and worry about their own survival.

Greed and vanity set in. In the name of recognising the institution of chieftaincy, a system of corrupt patronage has become a normal part of politics. Some chiefs, especially those who are viewed as being favourably disposed towards the political party in power, are given all sorts of gifts and inducements to maintain their support. What this does is that these chiefs are now forced to toe the ruling party line and support whatever those in government want. When this happens, an important voice which would have served the needs of the voiceless is shut up and the people continue to wallow in poverty.

There are not many chiefs in the country today who speak candidly and fearlessly in defence of the interests of their people. Most of them, when they speak, it is only about their own welfare – their allowances, automobiles, palaces, personal medical attention and so on and so forth. The interests of their people are only talked about in passing if ever they happen to be talked about. The corruption of this important institution has left the people poorer, helpless and in despair. For many poor people, their chiefs are nothing but an extension of self-seeking opportunists who do nothing for public good.

Nigerian Status and Class

The BBC reports on the class divisions and stratifications in Nigeria . To be addressed as a Mr, Mrs or Ms in Nigerian social circles means you are a nobody. To be a mover or shaker you need to be a chief . To be a traditional chief is like being a small god - it is seen as the peak of one's achievement in life. A chief should be someone who is well-to-do financially and intellectually and has contributed substantially to the development of the community.

But no longer.

Honorary titles can often be bought by giving a donation of about $10,000 to one's home area.
The moment somebody is financially buoyant the next thing is to be chief because he has more money.
Many people use their titles for political gain. In Nigerian politicians don't sell party programmes, they sell people . It is the face , not the case .

"Chieftaincy titles have practically been bastardised these days," said Financial manager Reginald Ibe, a chief of the Igbo people in the south-east "Now you even have armed robbers, corrupt politicians and all sorts of people being chiefs,"

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was made chief shortly after he first stepped down from power when he was the military head of state in 1979. President Umaru Yar'Adua holds the title Matawalin Katsina - "custodian of wealth of Katsina" - given to him by the Emir of Katsina when he was governor.

"Most of the people who seem to be crazy about titles are making up for some deficiencies or some inadequacies," claims Alhaji Abbu Mohammed from northern Borno State, the Yerima Kida of Biu Emirate, which literally means he is prince of the Kida area.