Between asset before and after office

Between now and before Whenever anybody goes through places like Gatwick, Heathrow, Dubai international airports among others and finds himself or herself at the Lagos international airport, then, you will be right for cursing our past leaders who were busy embezzling money instead of developing the nation as done by other oil-rich countries and even those without oil.

Despite the several billions of naira purportedly spent by past administrations to rehabilitate our airports, the pervasive embarrassing situation of the Lagos international airport is nothing to write home about.

Going from Dubai international airport to Gatwick and Heathrow, it was all smooth operations in terms of baggage handling and other procedures but a different ball game at the Lagos international airport. We were waiting for nearly one hour at the baggage reclaim area because only one was functioning out of the three machines.

Passengers were sweating due to the non-functioning air conditioners in the hall while many children were seen sleeping on the floor due to their tiredness. It is very annoying even for these young minds who witnessed the smooth operations in other countries they visited only to be held to ransom in their own country.

What a shame! At every other airport, entering the baggage reclaim area, the flight will be shown on the information screens with free baggage trolleys in the hall. Here in Nigeria, you will pay for the trolleys without good services; those selling the trolley tickets will not give tickets at times and have different means of making extra money in their usual Nigerian style. Anyway, these nonsense must stop and be replaced with efficiency in all ramifications.

The airport experience and many others also bring about the question of what happens next after asset declaration. Who are those determining the difference between what was declared at assumption of office and what obtains after office? For instance, what is the difference margin should we expect from former President Jonathan declared asset some years back in comparison to what he owns now?

This and many other questions are what we should be asking our rulers for they are not leaders. As President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015 who served as Vice- President from 2007 to 2010 and Governor of Bayelsa State from 2005 to 2007, he declared in 2007 that his assets worth a total of 295,304,420 Naira ($1,845,652USD).

However, on 9 October 2014, the richestlifestyle.com website ranked Mr. Jonathan sixth on its list, claiming his net worth was about $100m (£62m). What is the actual asset worth now? It is not just enough to call on public office holders to publicly declare their assets while in ofifice, we must also be interested in what their assets are after office.

Those who are not ready to allow the people to know how much they are worth and what they really own should not venture into public office. The issue of public asset declaration cannot be a matter of personal principle once they are public officers; if they truly want to serve the people. Relevant agencies should be up and doing in assessing our past rulers whether they have amassed wealth or not. They must all be investigated for the rot they have put the nation into