Many of the past and present leaders in Nigeria at all levels or tiers and Arms of Government in our Presidential system, do not seem to understand, or do not at all care, whether or not they understand, what, really, the governance of a people is all about, and what it entails. They generally woefully fail to understand that leadership is actually all about rendering selfless service to the people and the nation. Instead, they lamentably tend to think and behave in such a way and manner as to portray themselves as being the ones to be served by the masses always and serving themselves not only at the expense of, but also perpetually parasitic to the Nigerian masses and the Nigerian nation.
Such leaders seem to understand governance first and foremost, as being the need for them to engage in the worst possible form of corruption, bribery, kickbacks, and loot the nation’s public treasury dry. They also unfortunately, unduely, and opportunistically see leadership as an opportunity for them to enrich themselves and their immediate families, close friends, associates, and accomplices, beyond measure. And at the expense of their fellow citizens and everybody else everywhere. This, they do also, by embezzlement, misappropriation, financial, economic, and other forms of mismanagement of the public funds and resources entrusted upon them, through such excessive profligacy of amassing ill-gotten wealth. The basic ingredient missing in the character of such reckless looters as leaders, is clearly, a lack of the basic fear of the Almighty God. This makes them to be faithless, disloyal, reckless, and not reflect upon their corrupt dispositions and inclinations — especially so, in their relationships with the Almighty God, if any or if at all.
These “leaders” also unfortunately and lamentably greedily and avariciously do all their very possible best to amass all the public funds, assets, and resources available to them, as much as they can. For as long as such leaders remain in leadership positions, their profligate desires is to serve themselves with all the available wealth of the nation, states, and local governments; or the executive, legislature, and judiciary, as the case may be. This they do by looting the public treasuries at their disposal dry. They therefore woefully breach the trust reposed in them by their being elected or appointed in their respective positions.
These so-called “leaders” also always want to serve themselves with the wealth of the nation as they please at their own flagrant and frivolous whims, caprices, and desires, for as long as they remain in their positions of leadership and authority. Some of them even want to continue their looting long after they leave their respective political or top government positions; or even “forever” if that were to be possible. This, they do, through the malaise of “god-fatherism”; whereby as ready godfathers, they nepotistically ensure by hook or crook, that those who succeed them and “inherit” them in their political or top governmental positions, as the case may be, after they complete their statutory full terms of office or compulsory age of retirement, are their “god sons”, “god daughters”, “god children”, or “god relatives”; or ”god relations”, “god puppets”, “god sycophants”, and/or “god bootlickers”, as the case may be. Instead of such “leaders”, as politicians or top government officials, as the case may be, to offer selfless service to the Nigerian people and Nigeria, they would rather always subdue the masses. And they always want, desire, and indeed even demand for the masses of fellow Nigerian citizens to be perpetually submissive and subservient to them, and serve them without question or ignominy, and with impunity, “forever”.
Through such lamentable profligate selfishness, greed, and avarice, of many if not most of our past and even present Nigerian “leaders” concerned, of always continuing to serve themselves with all the available funds in the public treasury, and resources of the nation at their disposal, very little or indeed virtually nothing at all is left for the infrastructural capital projects, and even recurrent expenditure (including payment of salaries of workers for work duly done by them); out of the annual budgetary provisions and developmental plans (if any) of the country. In many cases, even contractors at various levels are unpaid for the works duly executed by them or in progress for several years, by these insanely mad and crazy looting corrupt so-called “leaders” concerned.
In a country like Nigeria, with presently hardly any defined proper middle class per se currently. But we currently have only a range of about 0.01% to a maximum of 1% Upper Class at the most, out of the total Nigerian population of over 200 million now. With a 99% to 99.99% of the total population being all now members of the lower class, whether we the Nigerian masses like it or believe it or not! This is much unlike the situation hitherto decades ago, whereby such a combined Upper and Lower Middle Class of perhaps between 20% to 25% of the Nigerian population previously existed in the Nigerian society in reality. Believe it or not, or rather, you may wish to believe me or not, the poor Nigerian masses in the lower class now constitute perhaps more than 99% of the total Nigerian population!
The remorseless and unrepentant Nigerian looters at high and very high places therefore constitute only between 0.001% – 0.01% of the total Nigerian population! However, the upper class Nigerians who are genuinely non-looters on the other hand, may perhaps constitute between 0.01% – 0.1% of the Nigerian population.
Therefore, the remaining 99.89% – 99.99% of Nigerians or thereabout, now constitute the masses. These Nigerian masses obviously now include the hitherto perhaps 20% -25% of the Nigerian middle class (both upper and lower).
For the purpose of my argument and contention here, let us even exclude for a moment, and overlook the public funds, resources, and wealth of Nigeria that were constantly looted from “time immemorial” in the pre-colonial, colonial, and even post-colonial days prior to the Nigerian independence from the British colonialists in 1960. Let us just focus on the modern contemporary “new wave” of looting of Nigeria dry by Nigerians in privileged political leadership and top government positions, i.e., effective from the end of the civil war now about a year over fifty years ago, in January 1970. But most especially, let us highlight such looting since 1980/85 and up till date and continuously. It is pathetically, shamefully, and very sadly, so horribly mindboggling! Such total amount looted may perhaps be as much as hundreds of billions to some trillions of U S Dollars; or at least up to an equivalent of tens to hundreds of trillions of Naira by now! This should have been obviously enough to have launched Nigeria to be transformed into a developed country in its own right — if only all these looted public funds and resources of the nation had been effectively and efficiently utilized, with accountability, prudence, and transparency. Such ample public funds would have been at the disposal of Nigeria, and used in building needed infrastructures nationwide, including good roads, expressways, highways and bridges; procurement and optimum functionality of trains, rail lines and stations, linking up all the current 36 state capitals and the FCT, and other major cities and town nationwide. As well as for planning and executing developmental programmes of the country systematically, strategically, and consistently for the past fifty years at least.
The wealth of the nation looted for over half a century now at least, by Nigerians and their foreign collaborators, co-conspirators, and accomplices, is too much and so excessive for the mad, insane, and crazy Nigerian looters especially. And their immediate families, relations, and associates in Nigeria and abroad. Hence it renders such mindboggling sums of money (which are mostly kept in foreign bank accounts in many countries abroad) to be virtually useless even to the looters. But always useful to the parasitic ultimate beneficiaries — foreign countries and the Nigerian looters’ foreign accomplices. These foreigners, continue to utilize such looted funds; and even over and above, and beyond charging their high interest rates on the looted funds and other deposits and depositions in their respective Banks, for themselves individually, collectively. They also fraudulently utilize such looted funds in better developing their already developed and advanced countries and economies — at the expense of the unfortunately and lamentably, endemically and pervasively corrupt developing or underdeveloped countries and “economies” — Nigeria inclusive and in particular!. This happens most especially after the Nigerian looters die, or even where they are seriously sick or incapacitated. And they are either therefore compelled to, or otherwise leave their foreign accounts intact in those countries. This usually happens with hardly anybody, not even their natural successors and inheritors, i.e., members of their immediate nuclear or extended families, close friends, associates, or fellow accomplices, necessarily succeeding them to inherit all such loot as their so-called “natural” so-called successors!
All such looting of the nation’s funds and resources by the looters concerned are surely acts of horrible wickedness, cruelty, madness, and insanity. Apart from being extremely serious breaches of the public trust and lack of, or even total absence of the fear of God by the looters concerned. These are criminal acts of economic sabotage against Nigeria. These extremely corrupt practices of financial and economic sabotage against the nation by these unpatriotic and senseless looters are obviously inimical to the progress and development of the nation. Such corrupt acts also leave the country to be perpetually in underdevelopment; and the citizens to continue to lead horrible lives of penury and extreme poverty!
Many of these looters who woefully betray the trust repost upon them by the nation and hold the country to ransom by their profligate financial and economic acts of looting especially, deserve nothing less than between life sentences of imprisonment to even the death penalty, depending on the extent of their respective looting the country dry, which is analogical to more or less “raping” the country. The enforcement of serious punitive measures against such excessively corrupt citizens is currently the case in a country like China for example, whereby such excessively corrupt looters are sentenced and punished with the death penalty exclusively, without any option of a lesser punishment — hardly even life imprisonment — depending on their culpability, or level and extent of their corrupt involvement.
What is the true, real, and only way out of this imbroglio and vicious cycle of corrupt looting and profligate enrichment by the Nigerian looters concerned? First and foremost, all corruptly enriched public funds by the looters concerned, which actually belong to the nation, should and must be recovered, without exceptions, exclusions, or “sacred cows”! At the very least, the balance of their loot remaining in their personal individual, collective, or whatever possession in foreign and domestic bank accounts worldwide and nationwide respectively, must be recovered first and foremost, through the EFCC, ICPC, INTERPOL, etc; in collaboration with, and with the maximum cooperation of the foreign countries concerned, in particular.
Additionally, the looters concerned should be fined, equivalent to at least the total amount if not double of their respective available loot. Thereafter, the total of both the looted amount and the amount of fines equivalent to their available looted amount, or indeed double such amounts, should be promptly returned the nation’s treasury.
Drastic situations require drastic measures and drastic actions, for effectiveness! Otherwise all other measures may never be effective and good enough for the needs and requirements of the nation. Moreover, anything less than drastic, will not be deterrent enough for the shameless, unpatriotic, insane, mad, crazy, remorseless, and unrepentant mega looters of our nation.
All such wicked and cruel looters and economic saboteurs of the nation, who are thus far generally undeterred from their preoccupation with constant looting, should not just be simply punished by generally relatively short prison terms only. Even medium terms of imprisonment are not enough. While they are left to enjoy their loot, not only after they are out of prison in a few years, or even just merely after several years of imprisonment.
Why should it be so, considering the fact that these looters have no modicum of fear of God in their hearts. And they lack any reasonable reflection, remorse, or repentance?! These are people who have looted and stolen between Millions to Billions of Naira and even US Dollars belonging to the nation’s treasury for God’s sake! Yet so far, the very few of them that have been jailed in this incumbent Buhari administration are allowed only to complete their prison sentences of just a few to several years sooner than later. Ironically therefore, they are by implication, allowed to continue enjoying their loot almost “perpetually”, or “forever”?! How legally or even morally, is such a ridiculously lenient approach to the wasteful profligate looters of our nation, for God’s sake?! These looters even defiantly continue with the spendthrift of their loot comfortably and luxuriously. They do this both while still serving their terms in prison; and most especially, after they complete serving their respective terms and are released from prison. Always remember and never forget that these are people who have looted the nation of Millions and Billions of Naira; and even US Dollars to as much as between Millions and Billions of Dollars for God’s sake!
Nigeria: Which Way Forward?