By Hon. Josef Omorotionmwan
After the nominal independence of the African countries, the exploiters soon discovered that they did not have to do anything for the money to come to them. They sat back while the new African leaders were encouraged to do the plundering of their nations’ wealth and bringing same to the West. Between the dog and its owner, the first to die is meat. Clearly, Nigeria’s former Head of State, Sani Abacha, is dead and buried. But his loots are sprouting up from every nook and cranny of Europe and America. Shamelessly, these unending Abacha droppings are occasionally repatriated to Nigeria for onward re-looting by some of those in power. In some areas, the re-looting of Abacha’s loots has become a full time job for the boys. What is not clear, though, is whether Abacha was the only plunderer that passed through that route. It is difficult to imagine that Abacha was alone in the looting spree. Others might have been cleverer; and they also lived longer.
The view is popularly held that the Englishman dresses for dinner, even in the jungle. That’s the way he was brought up. Once you have a tradition of your annual budget based on thievery, that tradition must remain substantially sustained.
Come to think of it, those early expeditions and voyages of discovery of the West were state-sponsored terrorism and piracy. Those chartered pirates moved to the developing world, so-called, plundered their wealth and carted same back home and the proceeds were used largely to finance their budgets.
After the scramble for Africa where the continent was balkanized into smaller pieces and shared among the Western countries, it was clear to the West that they had to modify their methods from time to time for sustenance.
A system of mercantilism developed in which they began to form various trading companies camouflaged under African names but whose Balance Sheets were prepared in the home countries. The objective was still the same – siphon their money and leave them bare.
After the nominal independence of the African countries, the exploiters soon discovered that they did not have to do anything for the money to come to them. They sat back while the new African leaders were encouraged to do the plundering of their nations’ wealth and bringing same to the West.
Between the dog and its owner, the first to die is meat. Clearly, Nigeria’s former Head of State, Sani Abacha, is dead and buried. But his loots are sprouting up from every nook and cranny of Europe and America.
Shamelessly, these unending Abacha droppings are occasionally repatriated to Nigeria for onward re-looting by some of those in power. In some areas, the re-looting of Abacha’s loots has become a full time job for the boys.
What is not clear, though, is whether Abacha was the only plunderer that passed through that route. It is difficult to imagine that Abacha was alone in the looting spree. Others might have been cleverer; and they also lived longer.
This is where our insistence on higher education for leaders of the nation could have been harmful. Were our leaders of the same level of education with Abacha, may be their loots would have been returning to us as pension by another name.
Hello, National Assembly (NASS), are you still asleep? Have you finally abandoned your duty post? There is a stranger in the House!
While you were asleep, the Presidency took delivery of some $311 million, from Washington, representing part repatriation of the Abacha droppings. Because you were not awake, nobody could ask how much of that money represents capital and accrued interest thereon.
The Presidency, as usual, says it has promised Washington that the loot was not going to be re-looted and that it was going to be spent on Federal Projects – the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Mambila Power Project, etc.
Besides the fact that the Federal Government is being clever by half by applying the money on projects for which the NASS has duly appropriated huge amounts, the presidency initiative is repugnant in a number of ways: first, there can be no greater re-looting than that! They are appropriating money on what has already been paid for.
Secondly, on an issue of appropriation, the Presidency has set the NASS aside and now reporting direct to Washington. What a shame!
Thirdly, that money is not for the Federal Government. Our oil money that was stolen has now come back. Like any other revenue source, that money should be paid into the Federation Account from where it should be shared to the three tiers of government.
Each tier will take its share home and wait for the appropriate legislature to appropriate it as deemed necessary. Big Brother must learn to know that he is just one of the beneficiaries – not the sole beneficiary of the new revenue.
This further strengthens our original position for the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration to be very transparent about its war on corruption. An inventory of the forfeitures under the scheme must be readily available at all times.
Depending on the status of the original thief at the time of the thievery, some of those assets belong to the Federation Account, Federal Government, or individual State Governments. Big Brother cannot justifiably sit on the assets that belong to other tiers.
Evidently, the conspiracy theory is at work. Suddenly, the US has become the loudest whistle blower. It says it is not alone in the Abacha loot saga. Rather, its European brothers, Britain and France are clinging tenaciously to another $319 million. The discoveries never end. We hope the NASS is still listening.
In a curious paradox, these exploiters who have for centuries been financing their budges with funds stolen from us are the same ones we run to, cap in hand, seeking for Shylock loans to finance our own budgets. And whatever happened to all those laws in our books about obtaining stolen goods? Do those laws not apply to offending nations?
When will Big Brother stop behaving like a Sole Administrator in our democracy – even where it is a pseudo democracy? We saw it coming though. What will the Ninth NASS be remembered for. For being the most compromised National Assembly?
The other day, the Presidency announced that it had adjusted the 2020 Appropriation downwards because of the falling price of oil in utter disregard of your constitutionally assigned powers of NASS to authorize programs and appropriate funds for their execution! This National Assembly is perilously gliding down a slippery slope! And who can hold it?
Hon. Josef Omorotionmwan is a public affairs analyst and former Chairman, Board of Directors, Edo Broadcasting Service. He can be reached at: joligien@yahoo.com
