The General With N300m Cash
14.04.2013, 10:06 Life and Style
Everyone in the country today is talking about how unbridled
corruption has ruined the nation. But what I think is actually
taking place is a celebration of the same vice at every
opportunity.
It sounds like an institutional hypocrisy whenever the
government makes statements indicating an official disposition to
confront the demon of corruption that is ravaging the moral
fabrics of the Nigerian society. How do we explain, let alone,
justify the phenomenon wherein someone who we all saw in the
morning without a dime in his pocket suddenly returns home in
the evening a multi-millionaire and the family, the community
and the state will not ask him questions about the "miracle"
affluence.
Last week, nearly all the mass media in the country reported that
a top General was almost swindled the sum of N300m in the
supposedly 'cashless Lagos.' Typically, they failed to disclose the
name of the serving army officer who is so rich that he was
almost defrauded of such a stupendous sum. The next question
should have been: how did he come about such money?
Let's assume that the General in question is the real "Oga at the
top," it would still be necessary to ask him of the source(s) of so
much money. We all know that it is impossible for a serving
military officer (be he a Field Marshal) to have amassed so much
cash even if he has never spent a dime of his salaries and other
legitimate emoluments since enlistment.
In sane societies, the law enforcement agencies would have since
been asking how he came about such money. Of course, the
taxman would have been knocking at his door seeking to know
how much of the lot (loot?) was paid to the society by way of tax.
Because this is a miracle economy where anything goes, nobody
is going to ask any question in the face of such a glaring
mismatch between possible legitimate income and the wealth-in-
hand. That explains, for example, why nobody queried the
heartless pension fund thieves as they carted away billions of
other people's naira: Not their banks, not their churches, not
their families, not the taxman or the police.
People loot the nation and then go to their churches to give
testimonies of "what God has done" and the congregation in
apparent endorsement chorus: "Hallelujah!" Traditional rulers
call them for chieftaincy conferment; equally, fraudulent awards-
distributing agencies, both official and private, enthusiastically
join in the fray to 'recognise' the new rich men in town while the
government gives its own final seal to the whole aberration with
national awards.
It is really questionable if the society, taking a cue from the
churches and the government, is not actively promoting
corruption and its associated criminalities by the way it
acquiesces to sudden and unexplained affluence. There are many
ways to earn good money. It could be from paid employment,
business, inheritance, gift or a lottery haul. Of course, more
money could also be made (not earned) by heist, robbery and
fraud. While the first set of sources are generally legitimate and
therefore encouraged and promoted by all decent societies, the
other set of sources are strictly forbidden and punishable. Our
economy is unduly distorted by corruption as legitimate incomes
are made valueless by illegitimate ones: bad money drives away
good money, they say.
Unfortunately, the universal code of good behaviour is ignored in
Nigeria by all those whose duty it is to enforce same, including
religious institutions and the community at large. It would seem
as if the operative code of conduct is that which promotes the
belief that the "end justifies the means." This abominable state of
affair is made possible by the massive corrosion of societal
values by an unethical elite class that has subverted the socio-
political process to gain power and, naturally, brought with them
a behavioural trait that suited their otherwise low station in life
and since it is natural for people to look up to their "elite", it
became the reality that misfits and ill-prepared individuals
became the ruling class which then imposed their base culture on
everyone below.
The beginning of this moral slide is generally traceable to the
unfortunate intervention of the military in the politics of Nigeria
which made it possible for erstwhile bodyguards to kill and
replace their masters in office as the new helmsmen. Under the
new order, anything was possible: powerless today, very powerful
tomorrow; poor today, a rich big man tomorrow all with no
questions asked. It was a revolution of sorts.
It was also the era in which prophets and pastors who were ex-
communicated from the established churches for sundry sins
broke away and dispersed to form their own churches, more like
businesses than religion, decorated themselves with high
ecumenical titles like archbishops, overseers and other bogus
names.
Rather than preach about salvation, they opted to harp on
prosperity and affluence to congregations already gripped with
acute poverty and misery and, naturally, their message hit its
target and the churches proliferated while sins blossomed. These
were not the pastors that would preach against corruption
because their own doctrines were also based largely on
corruption and falsehood. Thieves and murderers rush to their
'fellowships' to give offerings and in exchange sought spiritual
cover for their sins. Everything but righteousness became
acceptable!
Whereas it was the expectation of Aristotle and other men of
wisdom that only educated (not necessarily with degrees) and
cultured people should lead society under his general
pontification of the 'Philosophy King,' it however became the
case that leadership recruitment in Nigeria for a very long time
was restricted to coupists and their cronies. That was why before
MKO Abiola of blessed memory won a presidential election in
1993, no previous Nigerian leader was formally educated beyond
the ordinary level when Ghana already had an Nkrumah with a
solid CV while Leopold Senghor, the philosopher, held sway in
Senegal, etc.
It became impossible to tell the people that honesty pays when
fraudsters, coupists and other felons constituted the ruling class.
By whatever means possible, others also want to get to the top
and join in the fray, more so, as they couldn't beat them, and the
easiest route, it turned out, is fraud and criminality and that is
what has given character to the Nigeria of today where you dare
not ask anyone the source of his wealth.

http://m.naij.com/news/30970.html

300 million naira cash? Lord have mercy! In a sane country, this so called General ought to be languishing in Jail by now. shaking my head....

berem: 300 million naira cash? Lord have mercy! In a sane country, this so called General ought to be languishing in Jail by now. shaking my head....

Sane and Nigeria don't match

berem: 300 million naira cash? Lord have mercy! In a sane country, this so called General ought to be languishing in Jail by now. shaking my head....

They steal from funds earmarked for JTF's fight against BH. It is in their best interest to keep the violence going so that they can continue to enrich themselves, no wonder they are opposed to amnesty.

ndu_chucks:

They steal from funds earmarked for JTF's fight against BH. It is in their best interest to keep the violence going so that they can continue to enrich themselves, no wonder they are opposed to amnesty.

...and who suffers it most? innocent Nigerians! Lives are being wasted and no one seems to care .smh

berem: ...and who suffers it most? innocent Nigerians! Lives are being wasted and no one seems to care .smh

"I don't give a damn" said the oga at the top!

This is were the 30% of our budget that's meant for fighting boko haram is going to! And when their incompetence is proven by non stop killings and the president says he is considering amnesty, they get angry because the goose that lays their golden egg is about to be taken away!!

Nice write up

Not that I support criminality in any form,but a large part of My heart wish this scammer had succeeded.


apologies if ure offended

Uhmm! Mewa n'sele ni Nigeria!!!

Nigerians are praying against boko haram and Generals are smiling to the bank....lol (laughing out in Latin) . It is the turn of military men to buy private jets and rolls royce. Which military man will pray that boko haram vanishes, When thier budget has quadruple? Abi na soldier like Nigeria pass? As boko dey murder, odas are smiling to the bank.