In other words, the country does not earn enough money to do what its citizens think should be done.

It does not earn enough money to become a developed country, even without corruption.

In other words, if there was no corruption at all, Nigeria would be hardly different from what it is today. Perhaps only just marginally better.

Take a look at this page:

List of Countries By Annual Budget

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_government_budget

Under ''Earnings'' you can see that Nigeria earns around the same amount annually as ETHIOPIA.

ALGERIA earns four times more than Nigeria per annum.

KENYA earns more than Nigeria per annum. You read that correctly.

Under ''Expenditures'' which is the budget, you can see that Nigeria's annual budget is 22 billion USD.

South Africa's annual budget is 103 billion USD.

Egypt's annual budget is 55 billion USD.

Saudi Arabia's annual budget is 246 billion USD.

The United States' annual budget is 6.8 TRILLION USD

China: 3.8 TRILLION USD

Japan: 1.9 TRILLION USD

Germany: 1.6 TRILLION USD

France: 1.4 TRILLION USD

United Kingdom: 1.1 TRILLION USD

Italy: 927 billion USD

Brazil: 779 billion USD

India: 725 billion USD

Canada: 657 billion USD

And so on and so forth.....

Even countries we rarely hear about...Austria for example, has an annual budget of 201 billion USD.

Turkey: 190 billion USD

Denmark: 175 billion USD

Finland: 140 billion USD.

Meanwhile most of these nations are far less than Nigeria in population size, meaning far less mouths to feed.

Why won't those places look like heaven compared to Nigeria?

Note: These are the countries that Nigerians keep comparing themselves to, and attacking their govt for not making Nigeria like those countries, and blaming ''corruption'' for the problem of Nigeria not being like those countries. In other words, if the politicians did not embezzle money, Nigeria would be like those countries, including the USA. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As you can see, our Number 1 problem is NOT corruption. It is lack of money. Low national income. Specifically, inadequate diversification away from oil.

Here's some mathematics. If out of the Nigerian govt's annual budget of 22 billion USD, say 6 billion was lost to corruption, that leaves us with 16 billion USD per annum, an admittedly pitiful amount.

But what if Nigeria's annual budget, ie a diversified Nigerian economy's annual budget, was 250 billion USD? Guess what? Even if the politicians stole a full HALF of that amount - highly unlikely in this digital age where such amount cannot be hidden - we would still have a 125 billion USD annual budget. More than enough to solve our basic problems, plus some change left over!

In other words, mathematically speaking, it is very possible for us to TRIPLE or even QUADRUPLE our level of corruption and yet still get on the right path to development, and become an advanced nation, insofar as we put the right economic policies in place.

So, you see, until WE start to stress DIVERSIFICATION as our NUMBER ONE PRIORITY, and far, far ahead of CORRUPTION, we will continue being a people fighting over little crumbs while ignoring the bigger picture, and failing to meet our potential.

Thank you.

Very interesting perspective. I have had similar discussion with my friends. Just compare the budget per capita of countries and you'll see how pathetic the Nigerian situation is. $22Bn / 190m = $115. Compare this to South Africa $103Bn / 56m = $1840. So, as one will observe, SA spends 10x more than Nigeria for each citizen per year....meaning they can better provide health care, quality education, infrastructure, etc than Nigeria. The Nigerian deficit continue to compound every year.
----
Think about family A that is just the man, wife & 3 kids, but they earn N10m pa. Contrast this with family B with man, 3 wives and 14 kids, yet their total income is N2m pa. Do I need to say more?
----
As one might observe, it looks like we are still hopeless even with zero corruption. However, one could argue that our low earnings is itself a result of corruption. Most of the money that should get to govt coffers usually gets looted. The oil sector, Nigerian Customs, NPA, NNPC, ETC should all be generating more revenue to govt, yet what you see is that the bosses of those agencies earn far more than what their agencies remit to govt. Corruption in Nigeria is not limited to those of elected officials.

I like your approach of thinking outside the box.

I remember Godswill akpabio as a governor, I can say he embezzled money but even a blind man can see his good works in Akwa ibom state. He worked hard to increase the revenue of the state, he fought for oil wells that were previously under cross river state to be returned to Akwa ibom, this increased the state allocation and he used the money to do quality work which still stand.

But tell me how we can achieve this when we have president who does not know how to diversify or grow an economy. All he know is to fight corruption.

Not for sale

Bevista:
However, one could argue that our low earnings is itself a result of corruption. Most of the money that should get to govt coffers usually gets looted. The oil sector, Nigerian Customs, NPA, NNPC, ETC should all be generating more revenue to govt, yet what you see is that the bosses of those agencies earn far more than what their agencies remit to govt.

This is a misguided view in my opinion. There is no secret about how much Nigeria earns. She exports x million barrels of oil per day, and at x price for Bonny Light crude oil on the international market, she earns X amount, which roughly adds up to the annual earnings published. You might quibble over two billion dollars here or three billion dollars there missing from NNPC accounts, but these are tiny amounts in the grand scheme of things. If we diversified away from oil in a meaningful way, those missing monies would hardly be noticed, because in reality, they are peanuts. Do you think they don't steal money in America, France, UK etc? Of course they do. But because they earn so much damn money, the corruption can be hushed over and ignored, once a few people are paid up. But in Nigeria, we are easily hampered by ''missing NNPC money'' because we are so dependent on that money. It's all we have. We need to diversify away from oil.

Rossikki:


This is a misguided view in my opinion. There is no secret about how much Nigeria earns. She exports x million barrels of oil per day, and at x price for Bonny Light crude oil on the international market, she earns X amount, which roughly adds up to the annual earnings published. You might quibble over two billion dollars here or three billion dollars there missing from NNPC accounts, but these are tiny amounts in the grand scheme of things. If we diversified away from oil in a meaningful way, those missing monies would hardly be noticed, because in reality, they are peanuts. Do you think they don't steal money in America, France, UK etc? Of course they do. But because they earn so much damn money, the corruption can be hushed over and ignored, once a few people are paid up. But in Nigeria, we are easily hampered by ''missing NNPC money'' because we are sooooo dependent on that money. It's all we have. We need to diversify away from oil.

Well, you didn't need to use the word misguided while making your point.
---
In any case, I completely agree with you about diversifying sources of govt earnings. I would even go as far as restructuring our entire govt setup so as to give states more powers & responsibilities to make them more productive.
---
Having said that, I am still of the view that, with our current setup, the country should be earning much more than it does now but not for corruption. I'm not focusing on stealing the money after it has been officially delivered to govt, I'm talking about the stealing that happens before the money even gets to govt.
---
Why does every immigration & customs officer wants to work at our land borders? Do you have any idea what goes at our ports? I don't even want to mention NNPC. Is the FIRS remitting as much as it should (I have friends who work there so I have an idea)? Are citizens paying as much tax as they should? Certain agencies (like FRSC, JAMB, NCAA, etc) do they remit sufficiently to govt? But not for corruption, NNPC should be unbundled and made function in the same model as PETROBRAS, PETRONAS, SAUIDI ARAMCO, etc. These govt oil corporations in these countries remit huge amounts to govt unlike NNPC.

obasiken:
I like your approach of thinking outside the box.

I remember Godswill akpabio as a governor, I can say he embezzled money but even a blind man can see his good works in Akwa ibom state. He worked hard to increase the revenue of the state, he fought for oil wells that were previously under cross river state to be returned to Akwa ibom, this increased the state allocation and he used the money to do quality work which still stand.

But tell me how we can achieve this when we have president who does not know how to diversify or grow an economy. All he know is to fight corruption.

The governors before AKPABIO did most of the fight. Akpan Isemin fought for the abrogation of the offshore/onshore oil dichotomy. Victor Attah fought for the 13% derivation. Akpabio played his part by fighting for the oil wells. But he was most fortunate to have been a governor during the peak of oil prices. That helped provide the state with so much revenue, which he used for his signature projects and also embezzled. Unfortunately, despite those huge revenues, he still plunged the state into huge debts for which the repayment is affecting the performance of the incumbent.

You are showing us the income disparity between us and other countries today. Government is a continuum. Your analysis did not appreciate how much these incomes grew over time.

Bevista:
Well, you didn't need to use the word misguided while making your point.

Why not? It's not an insulting term.

Having said that, I am still of the view that, with our current setup, the country should be earning much more than it does now but not for corruption. I'm not focusing on stealing the money after it has been officially delivered to govt, I'm talking about the stealing that happens before the money even gets to govt.

Our chief earner by far is oil and gas. The money we earn from oil BEFORE it gets to govt is easily knowable by looking at oil prices and number of barrels exported by Nigeria per annum. The difference between that amount and the govt's declared earnings is negligible.

Why does every immigration & customs officer wants to work at our land borders? Do you have any idea what goes at our ports? I don't even want to mention NNPC. Is the FIRS remitting as much as it should (I have friends who work there so I have an idea)?

You're still arguing over CRUMBS. Do you know that South Africa's automative industry exports vehicles to the tune of 12 billion USD per annum? That is roughly equal to Nigeria's total annual earnings from oil.

That is just ONE industry in SA. And you're still here talking about NNPC and Customs. What is the matter with you people?

Are citizens paying as much tax as they should? Certain agencies (like FRSC, JAMB, NCAA, etc) do they remit sufficiently to govt?

Definitely taxation must be more effective. But then again, the people hardly earn anything, so what is there to tax? Whatever tax obligations by the likes of JAMB and FRSC which are not being met, are in real terms, negligible. I would concede however that private companies are not as diligently taxed as they ought to be, and that that is costing us a few billion USD in annual income.

But not for corruption, NNPC should be unbundled and made to function in the same model as PETROBRAS, PETRONAS, SAUIDI ARAMCO, etc. These govt oil corporations in these countries remit huge amounts to govt unlike NNPC.

The reason they remit huge amounts to their govts is PRIMARILY because those countries produce and export more oil and gas than Nigeria. This they can do because they have larger oil and gas reserves than Nigeria.

You're talking of NNPC remitting similar amounts as Saudi Aramco. That is sheer self-delusion. Saudi's oil reserves are 266 billion barrels. Nigeria's oil reserves are 37 billion barrels.

Saudi Arabia exports 8 million barrels a day. Nigeria exports 2 million barrels a day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_oil_exports

Whether you bundle or unbundle NNPC a hundred times over, it will never remit anything close to what Saudi Aramco remits to the Saudi regime.

Until Nigerians, including yourself, de-emphasise corruption in favour of Economic Policy, specifically diversification, you'll keep running round in circles. That annual GDP we have of 22 billion USD, even if you added another 22 billion USD on top of it, being extra income from the leakages you claim, it would still be GROSSLY INSUFFICIENT for Nigeria. It would make our annual budget only roughly equal to ANGOLA's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_government_budget

We must diversify. Stop running away from that obligation. The problem is that we are addicted to BLAMING. Probably because it is much easier, and much more emotionally satisfying, than THINKING and BRAINSTORMING. That is why even when shown all the evidence to the contrary, you still cannot resist blaming 'corruption' for Nigeria's problems. Get out of the habit. We need to challenge our govt to DIVERSIFY as its prime obligation.

Volksfuhrer:
You are showing us the income disparity between us and other countries today. Government is a continuum. Your analysis did not appreciate how much these incomes grew over time.

Don't get

obasiken:
I like your approach of thinking outside the box.

I remember Godswill akpabio as a governor, I can say he embezzled money but even a blind man can see his good works in Akwa ibom state. He worked hard to increase the revenue of the state, he fought for oil wells that were previously under cross river state to be returned to Akwa ibom, this increased the state allocation and he used the money to do quality work which still stand.

But tell me how we can achieve this when we have president who does not know how to diversify or grow an economy. All he know is to fight corruption.

I think Buhari has done some work in diversification. Perhaps not enough, but he's certainly made strides with agriculture, which has led to something of a rebirth for agro-allied industries. Our Number 1 question to Atiku should be "What is your roadmap for diversification?"

Bevista:
The governors before AKPABIO did most of the fight. Akpan Isemin fought for the abrogation of the offshore/onshore oil dichotomy. Victor Attah fought for the 13% derivation. Akpabio played his part by fighting for the oil wells. But he was most fortunate to have been a governor during the peak of oil prices. That helped provide the state with so much revenue, which he used for his signature projects and also embezzled. Unfortunately, despite those huge revenues, he still plunged the state into huge debts for which the repayment is affecting the performance of the incumbent.

Point of correction

Ojukwu was the one who got us 13% derivation under Abacha's regime.


Pls correct your write up

Rossikki:


I think Buhari has done some work in diversification. Perhaps not enough, but he's certainly made strides with agriculture, which has led to something of a rebirth for agro-allied industries. Our Number 1 question to Atiku should be "What is your roadmap for diversification?"

Wrong

Buhari has not diversify any economy but has waste billions searching for oil in the North.

Bevista:
Well, you didn't need to use the word misguided while making your point.
---
In any case, I completely agree with you about diversifying sources of govt earnings. I would even go as far as restructuring our entire govt setup so as to give states more powers & responsibilities to make them more productive.
---
Having said that, I am still of the view that, with our current setup, the country should be earning much more than it does now but not for corruption. I'm not focusing on stealing the money after it has been officially delivered to govt, I'm talking about the stealing that happens before the money even gets to govt.
---
Why does every immigration & customs officer wants to work at our land borders? Do you have any idea what goes at our ports? I don't even want to mention NNPC. Is the FIRS remitting as much as it should (I have friends who work there so I have an idea)? Are citizens paying as much tax as they should? Certain agencies (like FRSC, JAMB, NCAA, etc) do they remit sufficiently to govt? But not for corruption, NNPC should be unbundled and made function in the same model as PETROBRAS, PETRONAS, SAUIDI ARAMCO, etc. These govt oil corporations in these countries remit huge amounts to govt unlike NNPC.

Forget tax.

The more & diverse goods/services produce for export and to minimize import, the richer a country becomes.

Rossikki, this is the first time you have written something I wholeheartedly agree with. You have hit the nail on the head. What you may not understand however is why our revenues are so low.

You mention diversification as a way to increase revenues, but governments across the world primarily earn revenues through taxation. Are you calling for an increase in taxation?

Nigeria's problem is steeped in our culture and this has affected our political climate. We operate an ideology known as patron client relationship. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clientelism

Politicians will only want to collect taxes from independent business people and not from their rich proxies. This prevents the government from raising revenues. Nigeria is a give you, you give me back country, and not a let me work for the people and God will bless me for my efforts country. By the way, richer countries have low business taxes and high taxes on estates and personal incomes.

Our tribalism and religious crisis is also tied to our culture of clientelism. We only want to help people we believe we can gain from in the future.

In developed countries, the government provides quality primary and secondary school education for all of its people. It sees education as an externality, an economic good that benefits everyone in the country and not just the person getting the education. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was abandoned by his Syrian father, yet he built a 1 trillion dollar( about 3 times Nigeria's gdp) company. Without quality education, would there have been a Steve Jobs?

Another funny aspect about humans in general is that we tend not to appreciate things we did not merit. This means that when a person is favoured because of his language or religion or other reasons apart from effort, such a person is much more likely to fail in carrying out his duties.

In summary, Nigeria is in deep shit, and would have to pass through a lot of hardship before its people and leaders realise that they need to change their mentality. Government must provide services for all citizens and not a selected few.

EternalTruths:




Forget tax.

The more & diverse goods/services produce for export and to minimize import, the richer a country becomes.

How do you increase productivity without providing infrastructures and funding. This is a Hen and an Egg situation.
Without taxes you can't provide the basic factors of production.

trillville:
Rossikki, this is the first time you have written something I wholeheartedly agree with. You have hit the nail on the head. What you may not understand however is why over revenues are so low.

You mention diversification as a way to increase revenues, but governments across the world primarily earn revenues through taxation. Are you calling for an increase in taxation?

Nigeria's problem is steeped in our culture and this has affected our political climate. We operate an ideology known as patron client relationship. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clientelism

Politicians will only want to collect taxes from independent business people and not from their rich proxies. This prevents the government from raising revenues. Nigeria is a give you, you give me back country, and not a let me work for the people and God will bless me for my efforts country. By the way, richer countries have low business taxes and high taxes on estates and personal incomes.

Our tribalism and religious crisis is also tied to our culture of clientelism. We only want to help people we believe we can gain from in the future.

In developed countries, the government provides quality primary and secondary school education for all of its people. It sees education as an externality, an economic good that benefits everyone in the country and not just the person getting the education. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was abandoned by his Syrian father, yet he built a 1 trillion dollar( about 3 times Nigeria's gdp) company. Without quality education, would there have been a Steve Jobs?

Another funny aspect about humans in general is that we tend not to appreciate things we did not merit. This means that when a person is favoured because of his language or religion or other reasons apart from effort, such a person is much more likely to fail in carrying out his duties.

In summary, Nigeria is in deep shit, and would have to pass through a lot of hardship before its people and leaders realise that they need to change their mentality. Government must provide services for all citizens and not a selected few.

Good points which I'll address later.

eph12:

Don't get

The op contends that our infrastructural development was stunted by little to no revenue. He then went on to "back" his claim with current figures of income disparity between us and selected countries! Disingenuous? Yes.

For instance, Nigeria's gdp was 8 times that of Singapore in 1960; despite this headstart, corrupt leadership sent Nigeria into a tailspin while Singapore with much less ab initio built up world class infrastructure over time for its people.

The problem of Nigeria is not corruption or lack of money. The problem is lack of shame.

Volksfuhrer:


The op contends that our infrastructural development was stunted by little to no revenue. He then went on to "back" his claim with current figures of income disparity between us and selected countries! Disingenuous? Yes.

For instance, Nigeria's gdp was 8 times that of Singapore in 1960; despite this headstart, corrupt leadership sent Nigeria into a tailspin while Singapore with much less ab initio built up world class infrastructure over time for its people.

Every country has its own share of corruption.

Corruption and incompetence are what's affecting Nigeria, not just corruption. We're small minded and unambitious

trillville:


How do you increase productivity without providing infrastructures and funding. This is a Hen and an Egg situation.
Without taxes you can't provide the basic factors of production.

Not true. You can borrow to provide those basic factors production and tax after. It will be much easier this way

I have since realised this but under Buhari You have to add bad leadership to the mix

rubbish as always

you don't have money, but look at the car your president and senate president drives

[img]http://1.bp..com/-0ZCpN-Tc_0E/WKXTl0wDnUI/AAAAAAAAHl8/Zntq5Y9ADgIzaGhwYTHlCTObu8meDwAlQCLcB/s1600/SP.jpg[/img]

compare that to the president of Uruguay




This is a trash topic

If you are poor, why does the Senate take home more than U.S senators?

Why does the Presidency budget billions for their kitchen?

Why do they spend billions to rehabilitate every time?

Why do they spend billions on new cars every 2 to 4 years?

...



Rubbish

Sowore 2019

eph12:

Every country has its own share of corruption.

Corruption and incompetence are what's affecting Nigeria, not just corruption. We're small minded and unambitious

When "incompetence" is deliberate, it is just plain corruption. Our leaders know the right things to do but do something else because the right things are in conflict with their selfish interests. Past leaders were not incompetent, they were wicked.

Our main problem is waste

If our President Governors ministers lawmakers cut down expenses we will pay workers 100k minimum wage easy

State lawmakers should be part time

Corruption STILL remains a potent factor regardless of our earnings. Stolen sums which could have been applied towards 'base infrastructure' are stolen which further prolongs our ability to develop and earn the comparable incomes from other countries you posted.

Apparently, Lagos to Ibadan train line cost $1.8 B, however $2B plus was disbursed to individuals under guise of elections.

Diversifying our earnings would require certain aspects of infrastructures to be fixed. Away from taxes or vat which are critically low, we CAN NOT DEVELOP without infrastructures to support industrialisation. It's similar to owning a business on a small scale, if all funds were siphoned off instead of expanding your operation.

Corruption exists everywhere however developed systems make you PAY when known which their citizens know the consequences, big or small. Ours rewards stealing hence struggling to prosecute the most obvious thieves.

The problem in nigeria the people are lazy and very stupid extremely stupid add to that you put illiteracy in. I remember 5 years ago the banks in nigeria were telling people to take their money and go we don't need their money , so nigerians went to put their money in other countries today the banks are begging people to open account with them that is illiteracy. Nigerians are so illiterate that even abroad is the same in uk and in america nigerians are the same they cannot think. We sent all our companies to invest in other countries especially other african countries today we are now crying that the economy is in collapse and there are no jobs but do not forget 5 to 10 years ago we were telling the industries to go and invest in other countries. Just look at the ghana ,nigerian companies have invested more than 15 billion us dollar in ghana and in south africa more than 28 billion us dollar. The main problem in nigeria is the behaviour of the people as long as nigerians are in control of nigeria 10 billion years nigeria cannot develop. People in nigeria are going to suffer more than people in somalia and afghanistan wait and see. Look at our current president he is a nigerians to go and invest in other countries he is not stopping anybody from leaving the country and this are the idiot which nigerian people like.

eph12:

Not true. You can borrow to provide those basic factors production and tax after. It will be much easier this way

Funny comment. You know the factors of production are land, labor, capital, and entrepreneur. Land involves infrastructures like roads, power, communication etc. Labor involves well trained citizens from the primary school level to at least secondary school. Capital involves having low interest rates to enable people to borrow to fund a business. And finally, entrepreneurship which is the desire to better oneself.

How much money is the government going to borrow to provide all these things for it's people?

Nigeria has one of the lowest tax to GDP ratios on the world. There is money in Nigeria, the problem is the government refuses to collect taxes. Why should another country tax it's own citizens to provide funding for another man's country. Does this make any sense? The only way people will provide funds for you is if it will benefit them more don't you think?

BlackBaron:
Corruption STILL remains a potent factor regardless of our earnings. Stolen sums which could have been applied towards 'base infrastructure' are stolen which further prolongs our ability to develop and earn the comparable incomes from other countries you posted.

Apparently, Lagos to Ibadan train line cost $1.8 B, however $2B plus was disbursed to individuals under guise of elections.

Diversifying our earnings would require certain aspects of infrastructures to be fixed. Away from taxes or vat which are critically low, we CAN NOT DEVELOP without infrastructures to support industrialisation. It's similar to owning a business on a small scale, if all funds were siphoned off instead of expanding your operation.

Corruption exists everywhere however developed systems make you PAY when known which their citizens know the consequences, big or small. Ours rewards stealing hence struggling to prosecute the most obvious thieves.

All over the world we nigerians are known to be criminals and we shall only vote for a criminal that is the behaviour of we nigerians .when I was in uk I attended a yoruba community meeting and what I hear there were shocking they told me that there is no nigeria which can develop a country but we need to vote for ourselves because that is the right thing. Have you seen people which are so stupid in their lives a country where people vote for people which can do nothing for them and their happy to suffer. Happy to go to other countries and be killed. The way you make your bed so you lie on it

trillville:


Funny comment. You know the factors of production are land, labor, capital, and entrepreneur. Land involves infrastructures like roads, power, communication etc. Labor involves well trained citizens from the primary school level to at least secondary school. Capital involves having low interest rates to enable people to borrow to fund a business. And finally, entrepreneurship which is the desire to better oneself.

How much money is the government going to borrow to provide all these things for it's people?

Nigeria has one of the lowest tax to GDP ratios on the world. There is money in Nigeria, the problem is the government refuses to collect taxes. Why should another country tax it's own citizens to provide funding for another man's country. Does this make any sense? The only way people will provide funds for you is if it will benefit them more don't you think?

Government can borrow enough to repair old roads and build new ones. Heck they can even form a partnership with some companies to construct roads and taxes are collected by the companies for a number of years. I read that it's done everywhere but the insincerity and small mindedness exhibited by our leaders won't allow us see or consider this opportunity. Private companies can construct and maintain roads and they can make their money back through toll gates, especially the major roads, while government can focus on the smaller roads.

We live in a country where contracts are awarded to companies that are either nonexistent, no previous track record of success, or belong to government officials. A part of these contracts still find a way back to the official awarding the contract as cut back, incentive, appreciation or whatever. When we look at the amount of money budgeted and the work done, we see that we should be getting much more than that for that amount. In this same country where we don't have money, websites have been created for 100+ millions, boreholes sank for 100s of millions, and recently the amount it cost the Federal Republic of Nigeria to create a logo. We don't have money but we spend much more than what other countries spend on same thing.

Yes we have one of the lowest tax to GDP ratios on the world and it's justified. Are you comparing our tax with countries that actually provide everything for you? You mean we should be taxed more than what we're taxed so government can spend millions in designing logos? The citizens of those countries are paying for what they use, what exactly are we paying for?

I don't get your last paragraph. Is the loan supposed to be interest free before?

BlackBaron:
Corruption STILL remains a potent factor regardless of our earnings. Stolen sums which could have been applied towards 'base infrastructure' are stolen which further prolongs our ability to develop and earn the comparable incomes from other countries you posted.

Apparently, Lagos to Ibadan train line cost $1.8 B, however $2B plus was disbursed to individuals under guise of elections.

Diversifying our earnings would require certain aspects of infrastructures to be fixed. Away from taxes or vat which are critically low, we CAN NOT DEVELOP without infrastructures to support industrialisation. It's similar to owning a business on a small scale, if all funds were siphoned off instead of expanding your operation.

Corruption exists everywhere however developed systems make you PAY when known which their citizens know the consequences, big or small. Ours rewards stealing hence struggling to prosecute the most obvious thieves.

Corruption is a big cancer that needs to be cut out, agreed. Are we allowed to talk about the money that has been spent and not only the ones that got away? Just maybe you will realize that incompetence is right up there with corruption

Seems like the Op is an APC supporter. I would like to ask a question please, what is the annual budget of Ghana,Ivory coast Botswana and of course Rwanda ?