Height Of Squandering: FG Orders 53 Gold Edition IPhone To Celebrate Nigeria's Independence

[But What Is There To Celebrate?]



In a country where terrorism is the order of the day, the centre can no longer hold for the ruling party, and the average Nigerian lives below one dollar a day, the government deems it fit to order 53 gold iphones(Luxury edition) launched yesterday by technology giants Apple.

The revelation was made by Amjad Ali Bristol-born businessman based in Dubai who supplies royal families, governments, and minted customers across Russia, China and the Middle East with gold-plated devices, that cost up to £50,000.

 

The 42-year-old entrepreneur, who grew up in Glasgow, has hundreds of pre-ordered new iPhone 5s, including 53 to be delivered to the Nigerian government to commemorate its 53rd independence.

Hear him: “We strip the units down and then plate them in copper, nickel and then pure gold,” he told the Independent. “We have limited units per region and each is numbered and placed in a handmade wooden box with a certificate of authenticity and wax seal.”

Ali typically delivers 50 devices a month, including Blackberries and iPads, but orders rose to more than 300 a month when the iPhone 5 was launched last year. The firm expects greater demand still for the sixth-generation device, announced today.
Gold and Co.’s customers have included the Saudi royal family, which, Ali says, ordered a gold iPhone studded with hundreds of diamonds, including a giant piece that served as the device’s “home” button. The bill: £50,000.

Basic models in gold or rose gold cost from £3,000. Ali says he is fulfilling an order from the Nigerian government for 53 gold iPhones to mark the country’s 53rd year of independence from Britain next month.

“We will engrave them with the coat of arms, a shield and two horses,” he said.

So now, lets do the maths. £3,000 in 53 places is £159,000 pounds. In naira that is like 39.7 million naira. Please, where is this form of wasteful spending accounted for in the budget? Cant this money be used to better the lives of many Nigerians, or put into better use?
And who are the beneficiaries of this Iphones if I may ask?
As usual, a case of grossly misplaced priorities. All this and much more happen in our great country Nigeria.
Update: A gold-plated device costs between £3000 and £50,000 (N750,000 to 12.5 million). The order from the government with its customized coat of arm is believed to be among the constant premium orders the company gets. So the amount in question might well be over 39.7 million naira estimated above.