The average Nigerian citizen is a victim of the Nigerian state on multiple fronts. But he is perhaps more prone to the trauma associated with the unbelievable level of corruption and brazen looting of the nation’s resources amid dwindling fortunes of the economy by people mandated to protect such wealth.
Stories of flagrant thieving dominate the news waves and stream the mind of the Nigerian with ceaseless discomfort and easily break his resolve to pay allegiance to the national cause.
Citizens of other nations who follow events in Nigeria, particularly as they touch on humongous amount of money being mentioned as stolen by public office holders, would be tempted to think that money grows on the tree in the most populated black country.
Since the return of the country to civil rule in 1999, a lot of probes had been instituted against various individuals over allegations of one sleaze or the other. Infinitesimal number of people has been punished for their involvement in corruption.
Whereas the nation’s education and health sectors are in a sorry state; whereas infrastructural deficit abounds across the country, the masses of the country are inundated with stories about financial corruption allegations to the tune of several billions and trillions of Naira.
Nowadays, it appears that graft fighting is no longer about cases that involved millions of Naira, but billions. In fact, attention is being diverted to foreign currencies.
Recently, a former managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Andrew Yakubu said that $9.7 million; 74, 00 Euros found in his house were gifts. The Acting Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) boss, Professor Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei said N1.32billion was used on palliative for staff to cushion the effect of Covid-19 pandemic. Even the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) Ibrahim Magu is facing multiple allegations of corruption leveled against him by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
All these are happening in a country with high poverty and unemployment rates. The indices of development in Nigeria continue to deteriorate dashing hope of even the most optimistic citizen.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its recent projections said that Nigeria’s economy will contract by 5.4%, a very gloomy situation that is sure to usher in another recession if the nation is not already deep in it. The World Bank in December 2019 warned that without fundamental reforms, a quarter of the world poor will reside in Nigeria by 2030. The same World Bank about two months ago projected that by the end of 2020; nearly 96 million Nigerians will be plunged into abject poverty if serious steps are not taken to address the impending doom.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s inflation rate has hit 12.54% and threatening to intensify in a country which population growth hovers around 3.2% per annum. The nation’s currency-Naira has lost over 70% of its value as the productive capacity of the nation has been terribly encumbered. The rate of unemployment is 23.1% and is threatening to hit 33% by the end of 2020 just as Foreign Direct Investment has reduced by at least 50% in the last five years.
These realities are grim and fill the discerning mind with trepidation that Nigeria is on a dangerous path to economic destruction and the concomitant crises it will engender in the coming days even as crime triggered by youth restiveness continues unabated.
The nation’s attempt at fighting corruption especially by the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is having difficult time coping with the challenge in a nation where corruption appears to have been institutionalised, idolised and celebrated.
The poignant situation has produced a feeling of hopelessness and much of resignation as the war against corruption falters with the criminals still keeping their loot and even at times brandishing them in the most offensive manner.
Speaking to BDSUNDAY on Friday, an Economist and Presidential candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), in the 2019 elections, Tope Fasua, appears to have resigned to fate over the unimaginable looting and the helplessness of the current government to tackle the scourge.
“It is beyond pathetic. At a time when countries are competing for very tight resources in the globe we are decimating our chances and openly vilifying ourselves therefore narrowing our chances. But it is also a good thing as we are seeing the underbelly of what we call governance in Nigeria and hopefully something will spark a reaction which sets the nation right forever,” he said.
“That the nation’s anti corruption Czar is being indicted is beyond shame. The NDDC charade not only puts a lie to the Niger Delta agitation but almost reveals that perhaps every Nigerian is corrupt or waiting for a chance to get their hands on the booty. It is all so depressing and indicates that by our nature our period of economic downturn may be more extended than that of our peer nations.”
It is baffling that after over three decades, the Nigerian government is still recovering funds looted by General Sani Abacha, the late military head of state.
In May 2020, the US government returned $311 million to Nigeria, which is part of the $5 billion stolen by the late dictator during his military rule. To date, Nigeria has recovered $2.6 billion of Abacha loot, with the bulk of this, $2.017 billion, recovered under President Olusegun Obasanjo.
However, it seems the $5 billion Abacha loot has become the benchmark for looters of national treasury in Nigeria as new looters make efforts to surpass Abacha’s record.
This is evident in the humungous amount allegedly stolen by individuals and groups nowadays.
Between 2016 and 2017, during the tenure of Usman Yusuf, the controversially sacked executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), staff and management of the scheme helped themselves with several ‘irregular’ and unapproved allowances totalling N6.8 billion, the worst in NHIS’ history.
As well, in 2017, the Federal Government arraigned Ibrahim Tumsah, the then director of finance and account in the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, over his alleged failure to declare his ownership of 86 exotic cars, half of which were amourred, over six houses, a plant, among other investments across the country recovered by the EFCC.
While Tumsah had courage to spend his loot, others hid theirs in places people will never think of.
That was the case for the $43.4m, N23.2m, £27,800 uncovered by the EFCC in an apartment at Osborne Towers Ikoyi in April 2017, then all the money combined worth over N13 billion on prevailing exchange rate.
Sadly, the money, suspected to be looted fund, was returned to the Federal Government as nobody came to claim it including Adamu Mu’azu, former governor of Bauchi State, who owns the building.
Of course, there are many cases to cite including the fraud at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which is trending now.
Since the return of the country to civil rule in 1999, a lot of probes had been instituted against various individuals over allegations of one sleaze or the other. Infinitesimal number of people has been punished for their involvement in corruption.
Whereas the nation’s education and health sectors are in a sorry state; whereas infrastructural deficit abounds across the country, the masses of the country are inundated with stories about financial corruption allegations to the tune of several billions and trillions of Naira.
Nowadays, it appears that graft fighting is no longer about cases that involve millions of Naira, but billions. In fact, attention appears to have been diverted to foreign currencies.
The irony of the looting spree is the fact that the stolen funds are in few hands while majority of the people are in penury. Moreover, looters no longer steal millions but billions and in foreign currencies.
The development is worrisome.
According to Ferdinand Esoro, an economist and university don, the news of billions stolen by individuals always put Nigerians in psychological torture, especially the poor, considering that such money is available while they wallow in abject poverty.
“These are part of the reasons people don’t believe in government, its promises or even support its projects. How can you explain that in a country where majority (about 40 percent) live on less than $1 a day, yet a few share billions everyday and flaunt their ill-gotten wealth. It is traumatic for many Nigerians”, Esoro said.
The economist decried that the psychological torture is even more when government keeps borrowing from foreign agencies with a promise to use the loan for infrastructural development, which the poor never benefited from.
“Truly, going by the level of looting of public funds, any time government wants to borrow, most people are against it because they believe the loan would be shared among the cabals. But their fears are often confirmed, if not what has all the money borrowed since we returned to civil rule in 1999 achieved,” he queried.
Probing further, Ademola Ogunbiyi, a civil right activist and school proprietor, asked where all the recovered funds are, and why borrow when we can use them.
“We keep recovering the Abacha loot, over N13 billion was recovered some time ago at an Ikoyi apartment, the EFCC is recovering so much from individuals such as Diezani Alison-Madueke, but where are these recoveries,” he asked.
According to him, the N13 billon recovered from an Ikoyi apartment can build 20 public schools and 10 good hospitals across the country.
“Government can give it out as soft loans to small scale enterprises and entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and employ the poor. Sadly, government partakes in re-looting the money and cannot probe itself. There are other individuals the government has failed to punish, if not, Orji Kalu should still be in jail, Isa Funtua should have been in jail before his death, and even some top EFCC personnel for stealing recovered funds and properties,” Ogunbiyi said.
But Nduka Ezimora, a lawyer and one-time legislator, blamed the sad development on lack of strong institutions to enforce criminal law and justice in Nigeria.
“We have anti-graft agencies like EFCC, and ICPC, but they are often used as tools for fighting the opposition by the ruling party, hence they lack public confidence. If they had been fair, firm and non-partisan, corruption would have been a thing of the past in Nigeria,” Ezimora said.
He suggested that non-interference by government would help in strengthening anti-graft agencies, while being fair and firm in their work would help restore public confidence on the agencies and curb corruption as culprits would be found and dealt with according to the law.
