GEJ’s administration was proudly corrupt and takeaways from recovered loot

Editor’s note: The release of the interim report on recovered loot published by the presidency on Saturday, June 4 has caused excitement among Nigerians. People had expectantly awaited information from the presidency considering that President Muhammadu Buhari earlier promised to make this public during his address to the nation on May 29. This duty was later transferred to the office of the Ministry of Information and culture.

The information provided concerning the loots recovered in the first year of President Buhari’s administration is a testament to his vow to eradicate corruption and wrestle the menace to the ground.

From the information, an estimate of about 3 trillion (or to give you a picture of the zero’s involved: 3,000,000,000,000) has been recovered to far and this speaks volume about the level of corruption in the Nigerian system. Apart from the recovery of cash, some assets including vehicles and buildings were also seized from the looters. The names of the looters however were mot listed for reason not yet known but it is clear that before President Buhai came on board, Nigeria’s commonwealth was mismanaged.

Here are five takeaways from the recovered loot:

ITT (International Thief Thief)

It was Fela Anikulapo Kuti who sang about ITT as an acronym for a form of corrupt practice that involved more than a single country. The information provided by the presidency can best be described as a looting activity that moved from Nigeria to several foreign countries. While 78 billion was recovered in Naira, the rest were in hard currencies. 189 million was in US dollars, 3 million was in pound sterling while 11 thousand was in euros.

EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu

Those who looted Nigeria’s economy knew the benefit of international currencies and the stability of these hard currencies and so preferred to keep these monies as foreign currencies due to their superior purchasing power.

According to the report, “the funds awaiting return from foreign jurisdictions total $321,316,726.1 (Three hundred and twenty one million, three hundred and sixteen thousand, seven hundred and twenty six Dollars, one cent); 6,900,000 Pounds (Six million, nine hundred thousand Pounds) and 11,826.11 Euros (Eleven thousand, eight hundred and twenty six Euros, 11 cents).”

Goodluck Jonathan’s administration was proudly and fantastically corrupt

Colonel Sambo Dasuki and former president Goodluck Jonathan

Without mincing words, the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan was probably the most corrupt since Nigeria’s return to democracy. The former president’s conceded defeat to Buhari and he has earned the respect of Nigerian since then. A lot of Nigerians feel this singular heroic action is enough to exonerate his administration of any wrong-doing. While his action was commendable, it should not erode serious reasoning which points to the fact that his administration allowed, abhorred and inadvertently promoted corruption. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was practically a toothless dog while the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) was not even known. Whether the former president was aware of the massive corruption or was too overwhelmed by it is left for debate. Under Jonathan, stealing was not corruption.

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This is just the beginning

Nigerians can be rest assured that this interim report is just a tip of the iceberg; there is definitely more to come. That this is even an INTERIM report for the loot recovered in a year indicates that more loot will be recovered. Some officials that served during the past administration have either been arrested by the EFCC or are under the radar of the anti-graft agency. At the rate the anti-corruption fight is going, by the time president Buhari completes his four year administration, more money would have been recovered and perhaps, the names of the looters will be made public.

Why the loot cannot be spent yet

A lot of people have wondered why the present administration is complaining about lack of funds if so much money has been recovered. They question the logic behind going to ask for loan in foreign countries instead of the recovered loot to be used. The reason why recovered loot cannot be used yet is because most of the cases involving the persons are still in court and until these cases are over, the money will still be considered exhibits. How long these cases will drag on in court is not known but until the cases are finalised, the money though recovered cannot be used by the country yet.

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Sympathy for corruption

Some people due to their political, religious or tribal affiliation have shown a sense of sympathy toward corrupt people and those suspected of looting the country’s commonwealth. The truth is that corrupt people have no sympathy towards the people and they come from all regions and are either Muslims or Christians. Corruption does not love anyone and those who are supporting corrupt people feel they have a duty to do so because someone from their region is facing investigation. Corrupt people are greedy self-cantered people who don’t care how the rest of the masses survive. They are only concerned about themselves and if you need any evidence, it is the fact that all the monies being recovered and yet to be recovered have been looted without a sense of pity towards the masses who bear the brunt of these corrupt practices. Instead, Nigerians all tribe, politically party and religious affiliation must be united to fight a common menace instead of looking at the evil from a jaundiced sentimental eye. Only corrupt people benefit from corruption; the rest of us don’t whether we support them or not.

This article expresses Yusuf Omotayo’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Naij.com or its editors.

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