It has become more obvious that government officials have completely insulated themselves from the realities of the wider society, where up to 70 per cent of the citizens live in poverty and millions of young people and school leavers are unemployed.

Everyday we are confronted by stories of mind-boggling spending by public officers on items that only further cut them off from the harsh circumstances of the environment they are supposed to serve.

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has continued to demonstrate its penchant for profligate spending by spending three billion Naira to construct official quarters for the principal officers of the two chambers of the National Assembly. To make matters worse, the officers reportedly rejected the quarters over alleged insecurity and delay in the provision of amenities.

What makes this incident more remarkable is the fact that only a few years ago, the Apo Legislators’ Quarters, built by the military regime as the permanent residence of Senators and members of the House of Representatives, included posh residences for their principal officers.

Against public outcry and commonsense, the Legislators’ Village was sold under the Monetisation Policy of the President Olusegun Obasanjo regime to their current occupants.

The foolishness of this measure immediately showed when a new crop of National Assembly members showed up in Abuja in June 2007 only to find they had nowhere to stay. It cost the nation a fortune to keep them in hotels, and their allowances had to be jacked up to enable them acquire their own private residences.

For the FCTA to turn around to spend such huge sums of money to build yet another set of quarters for principal officers of the federal legislature smacks of lack of foresight and signposts an eager tendency to lavish public funds on white elephant contracts.

The stupendous amounts being doled out to keep public officials in princely comfort way above the economic realities confronting the people they are representing is condemnable. It also encourages corruption and graft because these officers will do everything to stay in office and to maintain this unholy standard of living when out of power.

It is a corruption of values for public officers to jettison the principle of modesty and simplicity opting to live like kings at public expense.

This is one of the major reinforcements for systemic poverty because there is little fund left to build amenities and strengthen the educational and health sectors for the good of the generality of the citizenry.

Labour unions become unbending in their demands because of this profane, high living of public officers on tax payers’ funds.

We must pay quality attention to issues of cutting down on profligate consumption by public officers at the impending national conference.