₦airaland Forum

There are times when, as a Nigerian, one is forced to excuse himself from a gathering in order to find a safe place to scream as loud as the organs would allow. At a time when everything good seems to be in short supply, the one thing that never seems to diminish is our daily dose of frustration. God help us! But I reckon that God himself has washed his hands of our matter. If you were God, and had created human beings with sophisticated brains which should help them achieve self-preservation, you would assume that this would allow you some free time to attend to other matters like chilling in the vein of an everlasting Sunday. You won’t expect that they should call your name with loud-speakers from literally every street in the country, asking you to attend to issues which you’ve already empowered them to overcome. You would feel frustrated. But since you promised not to destroy the world again, you would have to create yourself some earplugs.

The latest matter that has me bent out of shape is the Federal Government’s decision to share N5000 of the recovered ‘Abacha loot’ (which allegedly amounts to $322million, which is over 115 billion in our feeble currency) to the poorest Nigerians. We definitely aren’t in want of extremely poor Nigerians. Recently, it was announced, according to reports from the Brookings Institution, that Nigeria had overtaken India as the country which is home to the highest number of poor people in the world. With 87million poor people, Nigeria is the World’s poverty capital; and six Nigerians become poor every minute (so it’s clear what direction we are going). We do have many poor people; and if the Government has decided to use this massive recovery to alleviate poverty, then that’s a noble feat, isn’t it? Actually, if every one of the 87million Nigerians who is currently extremely poor is to be a recipient of this sharing scheme, they would get about N1320. That’s chicken and rice at an average fast food joint (only barely); provided that this sharing process is done in a hurry. If the Federal Government delays with the process, they would have to contend with 60,480 more poor persons for every week’s delay.

But FG has decided on N5000, so they’re obviously planning on reaching a only a fraction of the poor Nigerians. Regardless, let’s see how their lives can be changed by this. Are there going to be free seminars that would teach these people how to invest N5000 to begin a lucrative business; pure water business, selling second-hand clothes, food vending, soap making, recharge-card selling, real-estate…….? Or are they simply getting these paltry hand-outs which will be used to service out-standing debts, do a week’s shopping, and then we would be right were we started with 87million people living under the poverty line.

Are people here living in abject poverty because they don’t have N5000 or because they have leadership that has no clue how to put impactful infrastructure in place which would improve the lot of the people? The Government has no road-map to a more prosperous nation? Seriously? No plans in the locker that could be dusted off and implemented with this impressive windfall? And we still suffer epileptic power supply which makes it difficult for industries to thrive and become employers of labour. We still do not have adequate transport systems; most roads (speaking from my perspective in the south-east) are death-traps; large vehicles conveying goods, which are more safely conveyed by rail, compete for space with small vehicles on our narrow roads, wasting lives in the process. Wouldn’t it be prudent to immortalize the recovered loot in an enduring project that has the potential to continuously improve the lives of Nigerians than to squander it in less than a week with this idea of an elaborate party that won’t even live up to its billing? It’s not free food! Remember that, ordinary-poor-Nigerian-recipient-of-N5000, when you sit in darkness in your house without the moral right to question the lack of electricity.

Recovered loot aside, this FG is insinuating that it would have no idea what to do with N115billion, for the betterment of Nigerians, if this sum were realized in taxes? Shame!

The main question to ask about this alleged sharing to the poor ones is "How exactly will the government catalogue the ones to receive the money?"

This country is a big JOKE.. Before our very eyes.. 115bn naira will be siphoned and nothing will happen.

Our saviour is still far off...

I fee your pain. The money will definitely be directed towards 2019 campaign. It will be one of their achievement. And it will work in the North.