Looters Incorporated!

By SOC Okenwa…

It appears from the look of things as the general elections draw nearer that we are in a ‘season’ of looting and looters Nigeriana. Nigeria is, of course, known worldwide as a dangerous country where crimes and corruption rule as a king! While the rest of the world looks at Nigeria as the home of corruption with the monster becoming more blatant and widespread we are contented with praying to God for solution, something which only sound leadership could provide. Yet, sadly, we do not seem ready to depart from the culture of cronyism, prebendalism and primitive accumulation ruining our national life.

The ruling APC and the opposition PDP are mortally locked in a war of attrition over the looting spree going on in Nigeria. Familiar names and figures are daily being bandied around and about online. There are recriminations and counter-recriminations. They are arguing loudly, like little spoilt children, over who stole what, how much and who stole more! The two established rival political parties have shown little or no decorum or shame as they struggled to convince the rest of us, poor Nigerians, that any of them meant well or had our interest more at heart. But we are not fooled by their antics!

Nigeria is a rich country with petro-dollars. We are rich in natural resources and in human capital. Just getting it right leadership-wise is all that is required to awaken the slumbering giant much like the Chinese did decades ago. Today in China anyone caught stealing public funds would be summarily tried and executed! Corruption is considered yonder as grievous a crime as drug running, murder or arson.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had last week, through the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, fired the first deafening salvo by releasing the first batch of names of looters of the treasury. In the list described by the Minister as “a tip of the iceberg” or a “teaser” one found names like the National Chairman of the opposition PDP party Prince Uche Secondus; former PDP Financial Secretary; former National Publicity Secretary Olisah Metuh; a PDP chieftain and Chairman of DAAR Communications, Dr Raymond Dokpesi; former SSA to President Goodluck Jonathan, Dudafa Waripamo-Owei; former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cousin, Robert Azibaola.

With the dust yet to settle following its first list of alleged looters the Buhari-led embattled administration released a fresh list, this time containing more names and generating more national controversy. In the list the names below could be found: former NSA Sambo Dasuki; former Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke; Rtd. Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah; Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika; former Chief of Defence Staff Alex Barde; Former CG Customs, Inde Dikko; Air Marshal Adesola Amosun; Senator Bala Abdulkadir, former FCT Minister; Senator Stella Oduah; former Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu; Senator Jonah Jang, former Plateau State Governor; Bashir Yuguda, former Minister of State for Finance; Senator Peter Nwaboshi; Aliyu Usman, former NSA Dasuki’s aide; Ahmad Idris, former NSA Dasuki’s PA; Rasheed Ladoja, former Oyo state Governor; Chief Tom Ikimi; Femi Fani-Kayode; Hassan Tukur, former PPS to President Goodluck; Nenadi Usman; Benedicta Iroha; Aliyu Usman Jawaz, close ally of former NSA Dasuki; Godknows Igali.

But the opposition PDP kicked strongly against both lists arguing that they lacked substance and threatening to release their own counter list of APC looters. Days after the federal government’s last list was made public the PDP made good its promise and its threat into execution by releasing its own list bearing the names of those in the ruling party having issues of graft to contend with but somewhat shielded by the powers-that-be.

Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, was the one that released the so-called “APC Looters” list. Notable names of APC big players could be found in the list: Minister Rotimi Amaechi, Saminu Turaki, Timipre Sylva, Murtala Nyako, Senator Danjuma Goje, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, ex-Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, Minister Kayode Fayemi, Senator Joshua Dariye, former SGF Babachir Lawal.

Before making the PDP list public Omokri had accused the Minister of Information of being one-sided, stating that the lists he released did not have a single name of APC members in them. He went on to challenge President Buhari and Minister Mohammed to explain why these men did not feature on their list and why they continued to remain in this APC government where they wield immense powers and influence, even over the EFCC that was meant to prosecute them.

According to the all-time great William Shakespeare “Truth needs no colour and beauty no pencil”. The colourless truth of the whole looting matter is simple: restitution! Those who stole must not only confess their ‘sins’ but be made to ‘vomit’ whatever they took for themselves criminally without our consent. Tendering an apology without restitution is tantamount to remorselessness.

Nigeria would definitely get better sooner than generally expected with the current political graft-galore game of musical chairs between the tainted umbrella and the scattered broom. The back and forth naming and shaming of the unpatriotic elements that milked the nation dry would strenghten our democracy and promote good governance.

Read also: Fighting Corruption Corruptly

In this looters versus looters war of words we strongly believe the two versions of the organized squandermania. No one is wrong and none is right either! No one is wrong because what both opposing camps were saying are correct: Nigeria has been mindlessly looted! And none is considered right in our reckoning because looting is not only a crime punishable under our constitution but constitutes an economic sabotage. Yet in this politics of graft the glorified ‘victim’ remains Nigeria and Nigerians.

The ruling party was somewhat right in their strategy of naming and shaming of the looters. Many PDP high-profile members during their 16-year misrule stole billions of Dollars of our common-wealth. But, on the other hand, the PDP was somehow right in their muscled response. Some high-ranking APC members — including those in the present administration — have some skeletons of corruption in their executive cupboards. None of them is a paragon!

Money is about everything in Nigeria. And the crazy scramble for the acquisition of same remains a fundamental national problem. Unless and until we change our collective perception of wealth as the main reason of our existence here on earth nothing much could ever change in our tortured march towards greatness.

While we do not sympathise with the PDP for their alleged persecution (given their sordid history of national mind-boggling dispossession) we however believe that those we elected to fight corruption are doing so more on the state TV and the pages of newspapers in a confusing show of hubristic propaganda tailored towards scoring cheap political points.

Transparency International had recently confirmed our worst fears that the monster of corruption is still ravaging our land without much let or hindrance. Three years of the APC-led war against graft with millions and billions reportedly recovered but without a single conviction! With the Head of the national agency (EFCC) still a subject of legislative/executive feud over confirmation as substantive Chairman corruption could be said to be fighting back yet the truth is that the battle for the soul of the nation is being waged with political motives that serves certain vested interests.

Perhaps it is high time we invited over the Nollywoodian entertainment executives in Lagos or Abuja to contemplate on how best to put these names and figures into global perspective by producing a blockbuster movie aptly titled: Looters Incorporated, Looters Vs Lotters or better still, The Politics of Graft or Corruption: The Audacity of Impunity. May be that way the world audience would be thrilled once again to watch a great film Nigeriana that would rival Living In Bondage or Billionaires Club or Isakaba.

The 2019 presidential poll presents us with another great opportunity of electoral proportions. We must endeavour to save ourselves from ourselves and Nigeria from itself — one me or one you at a time!

 

 

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