The Madness In Monumental Public Treasury Looting, By Umar Muhammad

Treasury Looting |

The history of governance in Nigeria whether parliamentary, military and presidential cannot be completed without recourse to the negative role play by intense public treasury looting, this thwarted many government's ability to deliver over time.

Governance has became a venture where pen-robbers invest their time and few resources (pen) to steal from what is meant to serve hundred plus million people. Regimes after regime since Nigerians independence in 1960, the country's public service has inculcate into itself the culture of stealing what is meant to serve the general populace. The trend continue unabated  to the extent that, there is hardly any tier or arm of government that is unaffected, with attendant collapse or crippling of government sectors both revenue driven and non. Huge funds allocated to cater for the need and development of Nigeria and Nigerians were massively looted years over, making fewer individuals richer and more powerful than the rest of Nigerians.

The extensive treasury looting as witnessed in the Nigeria's fourth republic further butress that, stealing public funds has became the engine room of the Nigerian public service. Record and cases of shaddy deals involving civil servants and and their executive heads surfaced and continue resurfacing with mind-boggling amounts siphoned and shared among few privilege officials at the detriment of Nigeria and Nigerians. The country's returned to democratic governance creates a larger room for those in civil service and political circle to get their hands on huge state resources which instead to judiciously utilize, they massively siphoned and misappropriated such funds in a way that most of them cannot spend what they steal up to the end of their life. Recent discoveries of huge funds starshed in safes in dilapidated looking buildings and other hideouts including inside cars among others further indicates how psychologically affected Nigerian public servants are, by taking away almost everything for themselves and their families at the detriment of the nation and the citizenry. They took away task payers money and invest in other countries, by saving in their banks, real estate, building schools and other international business cut across the globe. They stole billions, living in a luxurious houses, driving luxurious cars, sending their children abroad for schooling, leaving the larger populace in abject poverty, hunger, squalor, diseases and so on with no intent to assist in anyway. Nigeria suffered a greater setback in terms of development as a result of the activities of the Nigerian pen-robbers, huge revenues from crude oil and other sources meant to bring development to the country and to free the citizens away from lacks and vices, were end up in the hands of the greedy few. Consequently, today each government that comes into power finds it difficult to bring about meaningful development and meet the expectations of the Nigerian citizens, there is virtually nothing applauseable over time, our roads have turned death traps for motorist and cyclist, airports are in bad shape, no adequate electricity supply, our industries are death, farming was collapsing, our schools turned dilapidated, with lack of good structures and basic facilities to achieve a desired goals, businesses collapsing, poverty level is at its highest peak, unemployment is at worst stage, security of lives and properties dwindled, youth restiveness resurfaced, communal, ethnic and religious clashes on the rise, insurgency testing the Nigerian military might, Nigerians dying in the Mediterranean sea trying to cross into the juicy Europe, Nigerians being killed and maimed in other countries pursuing their legitimate businesses, our currency weakness and inflation beating a heavy blow on our economy and general well-being. All these can be avoided if our abundant resources were judiciously utilize, and our military, political heads, civil servants have not massively stole what belongs to Nigeria and Nigerians, by enriching themselves, their wives, wards, croanies and foreign countries at the detriment of national growth and development. This is to say that, the massive looting of Nigeria's treasury decades over, is the brain behind the country's human and national underdevelopment, and the nation's sudden lost of control over variety of national legitimacy and pride including image dent among the comity of nations.

The positivity in today's fight against reckless handling and massive looting of national treasury is a sign that, Nigeria is taking a giant stride to end the scourge. Billions of Nigerian naira sometimes in hard foreign currencies recovered from the hands of of Nigerian pen-robbers continue to tell Nigerians and the world that it was economic sabotage through intense stealing that led us to where we are today, and the suffering accompanied. The Whistle Blower Policy of the Federal Government is yielding the expected result, Nigerians must be ready to cooperate with the government and anti-corruption agencies to expose whoever they found starshing in safes, warehouses, banks, soak aways and farms monies suspected to be a proceed of stealing from government coppers, let this be our collective resolve to help government fight decades long massive treasury looting which affects and continue to affect our well-being and that of the nation. Stiffer sanctions must be put in place to punish those found guilty in this regard and to dater others, the media trials and unnecessary lingering court cases must be address, to accommodate speedy dispensation of justice, monies recovered must be made known to Nigerians, and put to judicious use especially in education and health sectors. Public service must be sanitise to do away with any chances of stealing in whatever guise, government offices must be turn to their real places where services will be effectively delivered not an avenue for self-enrichment through stealing. Nigerians expects sweeping changes across all government establishments, with reforms to enforce self-discipline and respect for the common cause to which one is serving. Nigerians will not forgive the proponents of the continuation of massive looting of what belongs to them at their detriment, thus the need for political heads to keep ironing out modalities to deal with resurging public treasury looting. Human and national development lies with the judicious utilisation of the country's resources.