Should Abacha loot go to poor Nigerians?
Chief Nengi James, Chairman of Civil Liberties Organizations, Bayelsa Based on the present situation in Nigeria today, the idea of sharing Abacha’s loot to the poor is a good idea. But we need to understand how they will get it to the right people. Nigerians should be given opportunity to do need assessment and […]
Chief Nengi James, Chairman of Civil Liberties Organizations, Bayelsa
Based on the present situation in Nigeria today, the idea of sharing Abacha’s loot to the poor is a good idea. But we need to understand how they will get it to the right people.
Nigerians should be given opportunity to do need assessment and agree on the appraisal system. Corruption is at the bone marrow of Nigerians. All those working with President Muhammadu Buhari may not have integrity like him. A typical example is what happened with the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, where money meant for executing projects at IDP camps was diverted.
So, the money could well be used on tangible projects, that people will see and benefit from, because of our past experiences. Nigerians wants to see things on ground done with Abacha’s loot.
Jonah Friday, 32, Businessman, Yenagoa, Bayelsa
The idea of sharing the money to the poor is good, but then again, it is not. I think if they want to share the money, it should be to every citizen, apart from those in government who have had the privilege of enriching themselves. Also, they should not use the excuse of sharing this money to the poor and divert it to private pockets.
Naziru Yunusa, 28, Business Centre Manager, Bauchi
It is a good idea if it will be done properly. Implementing policies in Nigeria has always been a problem because most of the people saddled with the responsibilities are not patriotic. They prefer their pecuniary benefits over national interest. A good look at the problems and challenges being experienced in the existing Social Investment Programmes like N-power is a good example.
In N-Power for example, people already employed participate in the exercise which negatively affects the targeted beneficiaries who are the unemployed. Even when you are enrolled into the programme, your pay is always delayed. On their part, the beneficiaries are also not helping matters as they don’t perform the jobs they are being paid to do. However, despite the problems, the poor should be given a sense of belonging.
I am not stopping anybody from criticising the decision, but for me, the government should use the money for our benefit, instead of allowing another set of people to siphon them as was done in the past when the monies would just disappear while government claims to have spent them on non-existent projects, debt repayment or servicing which was an outright lie.
Hafsat Adebayo, 29, Journalist, Bauchi
It is a good idea for the Federal Government to spend the money recovered from late General Sani Abacha on poor Nigerians. My reason is that, the monies previously recovered by former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan have not been accounted for. They only announce in the media that they have recovered monies from Switzerland, Leichenstein and other places, but nobody knows what they did with the money. That is why many believed that the monies recovered were only recovered to be stolen again and I also believe in that line of argument. Because, if those monies were channelled to where they are most needed, I don’t think Nigeria would experience what it has gone through due to the economic meltdown popularly referred to as recession. Since this administration has many Social Intervention Programmes, like the N-Power, Market Money, the Poor Families packages and so on, the monies, if channelled for the benefit of the poor, will make a lot of impact and improve their wellbeing.
Samuel Oyadongha, Journalist, Yenagoa, Bayelsa
Giving the so-called Abacha loot to the poor is wrong. How do you identify the poor people? Have they gone around the country? Somebody cannot just sit in Abuja and say they are giving money to the poor. Will this money get to those living in abject poverty in the Niger Delta?
The Federal Government should utilize the money on projects people can see. In planning to share it, it may be part an opportunity for them to give money to their cronies in the name of giving money to the poor.
Deme Tankinede, 42, Public Servant, Bayelsa
It is not the right decision. Giving money to the poor is uncalled for. If you are giving money to the people, what are they going to use the money for? How much will the government even pay the so-called poor people. Can that money make them become rich? Government should rather empower them and invest the money recovered in businesses or skills acquisition, where people will learn different skills and start-up capital made available to them when they have completed the program.
If they even what to share the money, they should give it out as grants to Nigerians with genuine business plans.
Selya Yarnap, 27, Journalist, Bauchi
They are only going to use the money for their benefit. If N1000 is budgeted to benefit the poor, only about N200 will reach him. The remaining N800 will go into the pockets of the rich involved in the scheme. These people include the policy makers, contractors, middlemen, consultants and the rest who will be shouting in the media that they want to help the poor while in essence, they are doing everything to make their life miserable. Any programme meant for the poor, the poor must be visible at all stages. This will ensure transparency. But if the poor will only be involved at a late stage or the end, nothing will work out as intended. If the billions recovered earlier were used to develop our infrastructure, especially power, roads and railways, poverty would have been reduced drastically.
Lewis Dudafa, 34, Public Servant, Yenagoa, Bayelsa
It is a welcome development in the sense that the president wants the poor to feel the presence of the Federal Government.
On the other hand, government can invest that money in good projects in each state of the federation. But if they insist on sharing to poor people, it is not bad, provided that the money doesn’t end up in the pockets of a privileged few.
Hassan Bilyamin Jambil, 28, Software Expert, Bauchi
I don’t know why our National Assembly members are always against pro-poor policies of this administration. If not for selfish reasons, why are they opposing the use of recovered loot from our corrupt leaders to benefit the poor. They have now woken up from their slumber after all the years of stealing the monies recovered from Abacha by Obasanjo and Jonathan. They have never cared to investigate this issue until when the government decided on how it wants to utilise it. You will soon start hearing that, the monies have to be appropriated or the spending must be approved by the National Assembly. These people are so selfish when it comes to money issues.
However, I also have some reservations about how the it would work to benefit the poor, looking at the way good policies are being sabotaged through corruption. The Federal Government must work out a plan for proper utilisation of recovered loot to benefit poor Nigerians as it intends to do. I know the National Assembly members will resist this move through various gimmicks and they have already started.