Why Nigeria is the most corrupt country in the world

June 14, 2012August 10, 2012 / Adeola / 20 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

If I had any doubts before, it’s all gone now. It doesn’t matter that I have stated this fact before-that Nigeria is (probably) the most corrupt country in the world.

I don’t care what the Transparency International rating of Nigeria says. I am too convinced in my heart and soul that Nigeria is the MOST CORRUPT COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.

In that country Nigeria, many known thieves (popularly called politicians) are parading the landscape free. What is agonizing about the Nigerian situation is that the thieves, criminals and looters are known. They are popular among Nigerians. It is not as if money went missing and they are trying to trace the money. The point is Nigerians know who has stolen the money but they do nothing to bring about any form of justifiable prosecution.

There are uncountable number of probes in Nigeria that are under the carpets. There are uncountable number of government agencies and committees doing ABSOLUTELY nothing but stealing and looting.

This is the greatest tragedy of the Nigerian society-that it is profitable and honorary to be a thief. In fact if a Nigerian politician is not a thief, he is regarded as a fool by his family and friends. I know people who are preparing for the 2015 elections because they want to reap from the Nigerian treasury, not because they really want to serve. Who serves in Nigeria?

Farouk Lawan will get away with the criminal charges around his neck. He will not be the first and he is not going to be the last unless a revolution happens in Nigeria tonight.

Mrs. Goodluck Jonathan got away with her loots. She and her husband have been siphoning Nigeria’s money long before the days of Aso Rock. Ask Mr. Jonathan what has happened to Nigeria’s external reserves since he assumed the position of the chief looter of Nigeria. The answers you get may turn you insane.

Obasanjo and the police funds, Nigerians have forgotten and forgiven. Babangida and 12 billion dollars, Nigerians have forgotten and forgiven. All the revelations made about how Atiku and Obasanjo wasted Nigeria’s money, all in vain.

You can count from now to eternity how Nigerian thieves (popular called Nigerian politicians) have stolen monies that Nigerians know about. But Nigerians do nothing to fight back or send these popular thieves to jail.

In Nigeria it is business as usual.

But they want us to write about the good things from Nigeria. Well, let those who have the feelings for that do so.

I don’t.

I see a country I left behind populated by some of the poorest people in the world. Nigeria is more than upside down. Tropical gangsterism is the norm. People do as they want and how they like and get away with political murders, theft in government offices across the country.

With Boko Haram and uncountable types of accidents life is very meaningless in Nigeria. Insecurity was redefined under the corrupt government of Goodluck Jonathan.

I don’t understand why thieves (popularly called politicians) cannot be apprehended, prosecuted and serve punishments. Oh, I do know. The Nigerian judiciary is so corrupt and morally blind you could almost want to scrap the Nigerian Law school and law faculties across the country.

There are many reasons why Nigerian Universities are not rated or seriously given a punch when rated. What are the roles of the products of the tertiary institutions when Nigeria is ruled by criminals in Aso rock and overlooked by the judiciary? The police are worse than legless animals. The political system in Nigeria makes a complete mess and mockery of the other (parasitic) institutions.

The police cannot arrest politicians because the politicians feed them. Nigeria is not a normal country. The judiciary cannot do a thing because it survives on bribes and kickbacks.

Our indigenous manufacturing industries are dead. Unemployment is all time high and it is almost hopeless to be a graduate without a line of connection that will open up job opportunities.

It is hard to create your own job or business since the government does not think it is its duty to provide electricity. The government of Jonathan is full of fools. Otherwise they should know that it is wrong to increase the cost of what is not yet available.

On June the 1st 2012 the cost of electricity was increased despite the fact that Nigeria has no electricity. It is now morally wrong to call what is produced in Nigeria electricity. It is not electricity or power supply because almost all Nigerian families have generators or power plants.

The environment is seriously polluted and combined with the almost useless public health facilities; life expectancy in Nigeria is hardly 40 years!

So, you see why corruption in Nigeria is the worst in the world. The implication of corruption in Nigeria is one of the greatest tragedies in the world since 1978-the year I started primary 1 as a 6 year old.

There will be no justification for the scenario that allowed criminals to rule Nigeria. It cannot even be blamed on the fact that they grounded public education.

To what extent will the thieves (popular called Nigerian politicians) go before the poor, oppressed and resilient people of Nigeria fight back?

Jonathan who vowed and promised to serve (and loot) for one term is now scheming for a second term. Nigerian rulers definitely are not only idiots; they are the greatest deceivers the world has seen since Judas.

Waiting for 2015 is like waiting for an Obituary. Who knows? By that time Boko Haram may have taken Arewa Republic and possibly Abuja.

The aggregation of people in Nigeria should seek the independence of their regions and tackle corruption before or after that.

At some point the indigenous populations need to take control of their own lives and determine the lives they want to live and the legacies they want to pass to their unborn generations. Present day Nigeria is a monumental waste and tragedy!

Meeet Farouk Lawan, One of several thieves ruling Nigeria

June 13, 2012June 13, 2012 / Adeola / Leave a comment

Farouk Lawan
(photo: osundefender)

By Adeola Aderounmu

If you are one of those following news from Nigeria, you would have heard about a $3 Million dollar bribe involving one crook called Farouk Lawan who is a member of the Nigerian National Assembly.

Either by trap or whatever means this thief was caught on camera collecting a down payment of $600K.

This fool and thief is supposed to be a member of the committee that probed the oil subsidy scam rocking Nigeria under the feeble Jonathan administration. If you are interested in all these useless stories you have to do more goggling and reading of Nigerian newspaper or online news sites.

My own take is that Farouk Lawan is a thief and he is not alone. Almost all Nigerian politicians are thieves because they are involved in giving or taking bribes daily.

Even the oil magnate Otedola who is the other player in this ugly scenario is not a saint but he can claim that he is a businessman and that the problem in the oil industry is the problem of the Nigerian government and not his.

My grievance is with the Nigerian state, a failed aggregation of familiar enemies who are led all the time by tropical gangsters in uniform or mufti.

The other day Obasanjo called all of them (including himself of course) thieves and robbers and some people almost called for his head.

But Obasanjo is right. Nigeria is rulled by robbers and thieves in disguise. He was once one of them and wherever possible he continues to pull the strings to put these thieves and robbers in places.

While Nigeria last the immunity clause is a license to steal and loot. While out of office no one talks about the monies that thieves like Farouk Lawan have stolen. It took the British government to nail the notorious James Ibori who became a governor despite being an ex-convict and a known rogue!

What Farouk Lawan has done is the norm in Nigeria. These crooks who have re-packed themselves as politicians are always stealing money to build houses and empires in Nigeria and abroad.

A camel will go through the eye of a needle before you will find a Nigerian politician or top public servant who does not help himself/herself.

Nigeria is in a hopeless situation because corruption reached a new height under Goodluck Jonathan. The earlier the bunch of thieves in Aso rock and across all government houses in Nigeria are swept away, the better for the future of the unborn generation.

With what they have in Nigeria today, the country is very hopeless. Moreso because Farouk Lawan will walk free the same way Babangida who stole more than 12 billion dollars walked free. Babangida even committed treasonable felony when he cancelled the June 12 1993 presidential elections. In Nigeria it pays to be a political criminal! You steal big and live big. What a country!

HOSNI MUBARAK GOES TO JAIL

June 2, 2012 / Adeola / 1 Comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak will serve a life sentence. He is already 84, almost having nothing to lose.

Mubarak was accused to ordering the killing of protesters in 2011. It was actually very difficult to prove this case against him. The Police could have acted on its own. But Mubarak was in charge and the bulk stops at his desk.

Mubarak is ill, suffering from a heart condition. It would not be a shock if he is released on compassionate ground or if he is still allowed to continue to live at the Military Hospital.

Mubarak was a dictator. I don’t have enough knowledge to access his regime and I have refused to read Wikipedia for any details.

I am just going to complete this essay as an ignorant observer of Egypt.

Egypt remains a hot destination for tourists. Many Europeans will still spend this summer in Egypt. Therefore there must be something that Mubarak did well as a dictator or killer of protesters.

There must be something about Egypt before, during and after MUBARAK that makes it a wonderful place to live and visit.

Egypt remains a great footballing country. The images of Egypt that I see and observe are wonderful and delightful.

My own brother visited Egypt a few times as a tourist and businessman. It must be great there.

Usually I write to compare situations around the world with the country where I was born, that is Nigeria.

In Nigeria Mubarak will still be a hero like Babangida. Babangida killed several people including Dele Giwa and a generation of Nigerian young and promising military service men. Babangida rolled out the tanks in 1993 and Killed Nigerians protesting the annulment of the Presidential election won by MKO Abiola.

Babangida in one swoop stole more than 12 billion dollars during the Gulf war.

Today he is still a hero. He has never been convicted or imprisoned for any of these crimes.

When I watched the trial of Mubarak, I thought to myself: what if the Egyptians visit Nigeria and discover that Nigeria is covered by darkness because of the lack of electricity?

If they come, the Egyptians will see that there is no public education in Nigeria because nobody cares if the poor man and his children receive any education.

What if the Egyptians come to Nigeria and see that Nigerian hospitals are big jokes and that infrastructure in Nigeria is dead.

Nigerian roads are prone to accidents and they are among the worst in the world.

In Nigeria the politicians are thieves and they are wicked.

This week in Nigeria the heartless regime that continues to loot and steal decided to increase the price of something it is not providing. Nigerians will pay more for electricity while they live in darkness.

My conclusion?

If the Egyptians come to Nigeria they will fish out all the past and present rulers of Nigeria and tear them into pieces. This group includes the present president, all his serving committees, all the governors and all the people occupying government houses across Nigeria.

The Egyptians will take them out and sentence them to life imprisonment or to death. They are worse than Mubarak. They are the heroes of Nigeria. What a world!

NEW ELECTRICITY BILLS: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT AS A MURDEROUS MACHINE

May 31, 2012June 2, 2012 / Adeola / 2 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

At various times I have described the Nigerian government with harsh terms. The situation remains the same.

The government of Nigeria promised to give Nigerians constant electricity power by the end of 1986. Twenty-six years later Nigerians are still living in darkness.

A cheap blackmail will be that each successive government would absolve itself of the shortcomings of the previous government. Another senseless blackmail is for the civilians to blame the military gangsters and vice versa.

But the constant truth is that every government in Nigeria, past and now, is useless and corrupt. Each government has neglected its primary roles over the years and almost no one set of corrupt politicians or tropical gangsters is better than the other in terms of providing for the populace and maintaining infrastructure.

On June 1 2013, the useless (present) government of Goodlcuk Jonathan will increase the cost of electricity and consumers will start to pay more for what is not available.

It is only in Nigeria that people pay for what is not provided.

It takes a foolish, wicked and senseless government like that of Ebele Goodluck Jonathan to increase the price of what it is not providing.

This strategy has been used in the past-with promises made and no delivery on the promises. The cost of electricity keeps going up.

This government is wicked and foolish.

What is wrong with Nigerians? Are they going to accept this nonsense, again?

I think it is time for them to emerge from their holes and push this government to the dustbin of history once and for all.

There is no alternative other than ending this murderous and repressive regime. It is the most useless ever!

JUNE 12 1993

May 29, 2012 / Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

What happened on June 12 1993?

On June 12 1993, several millions of Nigerians voted in the best election ever conducted in the history of Nigeria.

The elections itself had been planned along two party system. Social Democratic Party’s candidate was Chief MKO Abiola while Alhaji Bashir Tofa was the candidate of the National Republical Convention.

Nigerians voted massively in favour of Moshood Abiola.

Bashir Tofa (the opponent) sent congratulatory messages to MKO Abiola.

As the results were announced, the prices of goods and services were falling.

There was happiness all over Nigeria. There was hope that a new dawn has come.

There was a tailor who refused to be paid for the services he had rendered. He was so overjoyed that “at last” hope has come to the people.

Bus conductor and drivers were offering free rides. You didn’t have to pay anything.

That was the spirit and mood until Nigerians received a rude shock from the military gangsters led by one notorious Ibrahim Babangida. He announced the annulment of the results of the elections without reasons.

There were many hypotheses trying to explain or justify the annulment including that Abiola was a creditor of the federal government, or that a few idiots would not like to see him be president of Nigeria.

Some people said it was because of what he did when he was in NPN that he betrayed or opposed Awolowo, a fellow Yoruba politician. He is also alleged to have sponsored military coups in Nigeria.

No form of arguments would justify the annulment of the June 12 1993 peaceful presidential elections.
The fundamental thing about June 12 was that an election held and Abiola won.

By cancelling the decisions made by Nigerians in a democratic process, treasonable felony was committed by Babangida and those around him including the late Abacha.

Babangida should be arrested and tried not only for corruption but for treason and crimes against humanity. Why is Babangida still a free man in Nigeria?

It is a revelation of the stupidity of the Nigerian Law system and the useless judiciary structure that make it impossible for people who committed treason to remain free in Nigeria.

It is a revelation of the types of thieves, looters and abnormal people who capture and rule Nigeria since 1960 to date.

Are some people above the law in Jonny’s county?

The annulment was resisted by many true democrats, some were killed and many went into exile.

Many innocent Nigerians died in the failed struggle to actualize the annulled mandate.

Many Nigerian politicians sold their souls for porridge because they could not stand on the June 12 mandate. Political prostitution is an old business in Nigeria.

Baba Gana Kingibe was a prince of the game of political prostitution long before Atiku Abubakar.

Nigerian traditional rulers who could have pressurized the silly Babangida kept mute. They loved bribes because their prosperity is built on them. Traditional rulers in Nigeria are part of the criminality of the rulership.

Those whom we taught were leaders became rulers and accomplices to the crime. Obasanjo said Abiola was not the messiah. I don’t remember MKO claiming to be one.

Abiola died without realizing his dreams and without claiming the mandate he got from millions of Nigerians in the most peaceful and fairest election ever in the history of Nigeria.

The circumstances surrounding Abiola’s death remains controversial. He died in the arms of American visitors sent by Bill Clinton. He was poisoned in the presence of the American delegation. It has become one of the several conspiracy theories that he was killed by the Nigerian military government with the assistance of the Americans.

Abiola’s nephew told me how the issue of repatriation seriously pursued by Abiola became one of his likely undoing.

Those who are too young to understand the June 12 story should continue to discern what they read because lies will be told. Many things have been said against Abiola. Some of them may be true but nothing said can take away the fact that he won the election and that Babangida is a living criminal.

How the laws work in Nigeria is still a mystery. How can someone commit treason and be free?

The 2011 elections are by no means close to the peaceful and fair elections of June 12 1993.

And for those who are superstitious it appears that until something is done to make amends for the devilish errors of June 12 1993, Nigeria may never make progress. Living conditions have become worse since then.

Naming the University of Lagos after MKO Abiola is very unnecessary. The man would turn in his grave if the hope of 1993 radiates once again.

When Obasanjo was imposed on Nigerians in 1999 politicians thought they have made amends for June 12 1993. That was an error of judgment. Obasanjo was anti-June 12, so it doesn’t count in the superstitious world. In fact it may have added salt to the injury.

Recently Obasanjo called Nigerian politicians crooks, thieves and armed robbers like I have always done. The difference between our common points of view is that Obasanjo is included in the list of those he counted. He looted especially the power fund. Nigerian remains in permanent darkness.

Since 1999 the standard of living has dropped and gotten worse. More people have become poorer and lives have been lost in several conflicts.

I do know that the Nigerian government also stupidly adopted May 29 as democracy day in Nigeria. May 29 is not a day of democracy. On May 29 1999, Evil triumphed over good in Nigeria.

Sometimes I wondered how Nigerians allow the useless government to impose things that are evil on them.

It would have been better, to honour those who gave their lives for democracy that June 12 be made the national democracy day. Or we just don’t have any democracy day and still honour these unsung heroes on October 1st every year.
Rather what we do is to decorate accomplished political looters and thieves with national honours.

It appears to me that for as long as we continue to deny the truth about the significance of June 12 and its role in the establishment of our struggling democratic process that we may not make any real progress in this country.

During the presidential debate in 1993 Abiola spoke to Nigerians and answered their questions on what his plans are and how he will help Nigeria to become great.

June 12 came with a manifesto and programs of hope. That is why it is sad that we didn’t experience the reign of Abiola.

A mandate similar to what Abiola got in 1993 and the hopes and confidence that came with it are necessary ingredients for growth and development of Nigeria.

I don’t think anybody can rule Nigeria successfully without a mandate similar to that which Abiola obtained in 1993.
It cut across religion, regions and tribes. It was a universal mandate, made in Nigeria.

It will also be impossible for anyone to lead Nigeria and make meaningful progress without a manifesto of hope and programs that are well planned and thought through.

The positive impacts of Abiola’s victory lasted a few hours; they are part of the most memorable hours of my life. For the first time in my life, then in 1993, I saw hope on the faces of Nigerians. As a country we saw light at the end of the tunnel but the light faded away, very quickly.

In 2012 we remain in the tunnel, led by useless rulers like Jonathan and ruled over by corrupt Ministers, corrupt governors and armed robber legislators as confirmed by Obasanjo.

Hope is gone?