The only solution to the current collapse of the economy in Nigeria is to address the subject of CORRUPTION head on. It is not enough to talk about it or uncover corrupt practices among Nigerians of different class - contractors, civil servants and politicians... Talk is cheap... JUSTICE is what matter. If corrupt people are still walking among the rest of us, how will the others still stealing stop? Why is Betta Edu not in handcuffs? Why is Gbajabiamila still the Chief of Staff to Tinubu? Both were implicated in Betta-Edu-Gate. Nigeria is not serious about stamping out corruption. Many people stole under Buhari, the absentee president, and no one but Emefiele is standing trial. Where are the rest? If Emefiele did not step on Tinubu in his quest to be president, he would be walking free, just like the rest of the thieves.
Prosecute those caught, send them to jail for a very long time... 20 years, 30 years, 150 years, life in prison, .., and recover all the money they stole, including all the assets they acquire with the ill-gotten money..
Stealing has not stopped under any administration since the time of Shagari.. Tenure after tenure, it is getting worse. WHY? Because of impunity. Culprits are never punished. Can any Nigerian tell me one prominent Nigerian politician that has been jailed in the last 30 years for stealing our commonwealth? Except a few political scapegoats like late IG - Tafa Balogun. Nigerians who steal go free, and they come back a few years down the road lead in government again. So, if these thieves know that the worst that can happen to them is to get publicly shamed... which they know they can dispute in this age of misinformation, they will continue to steal without any fear…. At least, Ganduje, the former governor of Kano State caught on camera collecting bribe on many occasion is now the Chairman of APC political party…
The level of stealing going on in Nigeria is beyond monumental. And they are in layers. There are those who through legal means corrupt the system - they award contracts to themselves and members of their family. They appropriate bogus salaries themselves. They use taxpayers’ money to buy luxury goods. They use government properties for private use - like flying presidential planes to go and watch Polo game without paying for the services. There are those who use their position to collect bribes. Those who collect bribes before they award contract. There are those who collect bribes to support confirmation of people to high positions (lawmakers before they confirm ministerial candidates, etc.). There are those who inflate contracts that are never executed. There are those who steal directly from government purse .. they create bogus project to withdraw money from the coffer of government... The Nigerian fiscal policy is such that any money not spent must be returned to the Federal Ministry of Finance at the end of each year... no money released to any parastatal in Nigeria is ever returned... they often share it at the end of the year through criminal means. There are those who illegally buy foreign currency at official rates through dubious connections, and then go and sell in black market – this is one of the reasons for the free fall of naira against major currencies. There are those who collect subsidy money without importing one liter of petroleum products... There are those who use ghost workers to collect millions in salary without working in any government organization... In 2023, Tinubu's government borrowed money for supplemental budget, only to use most of the money to buy luxury cars for legislators at a time he was telling Nigerians to be frugal. His minister for poverty alleviation allegedly connived with Tinubu's chief of staff to get access to N3 billion naira, and they have shared the money because what Nigerians saw was a 10 kg of rice shared to 147 families that are probably over 800 people. That is 12.5 g of rice per person. Rigging election in any form is corruption – receiving money from politicians to vote for them is corruption, giving money to monarchs to influence vote is corruption, stuffing the ballot is corruption, changing election results at any stage of the process is corruption. Sleeping with your student is corruption Soliciting grade for sex is corruption. Admitting family members or anyone that does not meet admission requirement is corruption... I can go on and on...
The revenue that has accrued to Tinubu's government purse has more than tripled what Buhari saw.... Here is what I mean. Billions of naira is being saved from petroleum products subsidy removal. Naira has been devalued three times since May 2023. Meaning... when Buhari's government was making N440 per dollar of products sold, Tinubu's government is making N1,600 per dollar... However, nothing has changed in the way this government pays salaries or provides support to cushion the effect of inflation. Why? Because most of the gains of subsidy removal and naira devaluation are going into private pockets... and also because the few programs that supposed to alleviate the pain of economic hardship are headed by selfish sycophants who continue to steal appropriated money… We warned about this madness... here we are... they have continued the same culture of stealing... Tinubu cannot say he does not know all of the above and more... but nobody has been arrested for stealing yet ... except Emefiele that overstepped with Tinubu…
Until Nigeria tackle all these corrupt practices, there is no end to the destruction of the economy... Inflation will continue to rise. Can you imagine, in January 2024 alone, inflation was about 30%. How can ordinary people survive? The level of suffering going on now is the reason why criminal activities is on the increase...
I, like many others, have been saying that Nigerians MUST stand up to the political class to demand integrity, probity and accountability. If Nigerians remain quiet, nothing will change... I am waiting for that critical mass that will force Nigerians to say, enough is enough... we cannot take this anymore...
Communism died, and capitalism survived. Capitalism is a supposed system that allows freeness in an economy - market forces in the hands of private owners control what happens to the economy with minimal influence by the state. Capitalism has produced enormous wealth in the West. There are so many millionaires and billionaires. The question is, what is the ratio of the stupendously rich and those who are just scraping by - living from pay check-to-pay check? The gap is huge between the rich and the poor in most capitalist states. When President Trump was going to deliver his tax reform, it favored the rich with about 80% of the tax benefits going to the top 1% richest people in America. The argument was that they create jobs, they should benefit more - money is being given to those who really do not need the extra cash but those who need it the most, aids is been taken away from people who are at the bottom of the ladder because of a few who lie on their social welfare claims. I h...
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