Looting of Nigeria's treasury: who else is involved besides Abacha's family

By

Chike E. Okafor

Nigerians have been bombarded with stories, facts, hearsay and fictions regarding those culpable diabolic looters that stole billions of Nigerian money, the people’s wealth in the past fifteen years of military dictatorship and beyond. We are often reminded that Obasanjo’s government has this disdain towards those who participated in the looting carnival. Upon his ascendancy to the presidency, Obasanjo has vehemently targeted those that he believed were the godfathers who stole billions of people's money while they were in the office. A prominent figure in the Obasanjo’s attack was the surviving son of the worst self imposed Nigerian leader, Mohammed Abacha, who is currently in the Nigerian prison being tried for heinous offenses committed during his father’s reign of terror.

The totality of Obasanjo’s loot recovery effort is deficient. It is defective in the sense that if one takes the Abacha family out of the loot recovery equation, it seems that the rest of potential culpable vultures and associations such as Multinational Corporations; have been exonerated. But before a rush to conclusion, a reasonable mind would argue that late dictator Sani Abacha could not have done all the looting alone. He could not have been at different places at the same time; after all, he was not a magician. Even if he was, he could not have been able to emulate the teaching of the Bible where physicians were told to cure themselves or if we may say, save his life.

The fact remains that all public records have pointed toward Sani Abacha as the undisputed king of Nigerian thieves who stole from the Nigerian people while a vast majority could not afford a square meal per day. It has been publicly revealed that billions of Nigerian money was secretly stashed away in foreign banks in a conspiracy with European crooks. One undisputed and ill-pursued aspect of this loot recovery episode is the fact that there are tens of Nigerians who assisted the late dictator in this loot endeavor. So who are these unseen hands that:

assisted Sani Abacha in defrauding the Nigerian people?

how much did the "Nigerian deep throats" stole from Nigeria in the name of Sani Abacha and put in their pockets?

how long did the stealing occurred; how did it happen and what was the mechanism used?

Where are the money kept?

The available record shows that there was a vast conspiracy by some powerful Multinational Companies (MNC) to defraud Nigeria. These MNC are not contented with the mineral exploitation and slave labor of the indigenes, but also were interested in a total control of Nigerian economy. They were not satisfied with the vast monopoly they enjoy in mineral extraction, exportation and marketing, but also in exportation of the little profit that is given to the Nigerian government for allowing them to share Nigerian mineral wealth.

Instead of confining themselves to the full utilization of their technological advantage in the mineral production, they have conspired with our self-anointed parasitic leaders to export whatever money the country derived from the mineral wealth. They have used the Nigerian sweat and blood to create boisterous economies in their countries and in return, have insisted through the World Bank and IMF that Nigerian government penalizes its citizens through austerity measures. The measures that they advocate were supposed to keep the citizen from knowing what is going on and to cast them into perpetual poverty towards adverse spectrum of third world nation.

In my previous article, I had preached that President Obansajo's loot recovery was a smoke screen and a one-dimensional pursuit. I argued that by focusing solely on the Abacha family, the 'loot affairs' has become a joke and a vendetta for what happened to him when Abacha was in power. Obasanjo's silence or demand that documentation of atrocities and loots committed by past leaders be presented to the government prior to government actions defies reason. It amounts to a double standard when compared with the case of Sani Abacha and his cohorts.

In the Abacha case, private citizens did not provide the evidence that has been used against Mohammed Abacha. But, that did not stop some patriotic Nigerians from taking the president prerequisite to probe past and corrupt leaders very seriously. John Fashanu is one of them. He personally financed an investigation on one aspect of loot scheme known as debt buy back, and made his findings available to the Nigerian government. Unfortunately, like the rest of events in Nigeria, nothing has happened. Those implicated in Fashanu's investigation are still free and some like Ibrahim Babangida are positioning themselves to contest the next general election in the year 2003.

Come to think of it, Sani Abacha could not have defrauded Nigeria without assistance from within the Central Bank and other governmental agencies. Looking back at the public pronouncements of Mohammed Abacha, the elaborate schemes of money transactions and how he conspired with his cronies, stashed away freshly minted money derived from the Nigerian banker’s bank. The evidence out in the public so far should have been sufficient to warrant the Nigerian secret agency investigation. But, again, we are talking of Nigeria where the government has knowledge of what need to be fixed, but always ignore it.

If freshly printed Naira was looted, then there must be an unseen hand. Those officers at the epic of the Nigerian banker’s bank should be thoroughly investigated. They owe it to the Nigerian people by spilling in clear sentences what they know, who was involved and how the process of looting Nigerian fund occurred. Patriotism is not just proclaiming to be a Nigerian or to be driven in a limousine paid by the public money, it entails spilling one’s guts when the time and circumstance warrant doing so for their country. What a perfect time to do so. Most of these people who were forced against their will, those who have conscience should come out of the closet and tell the Nigerian people what they know. Those who would defy Nigerian norm (silence) would ever be heroes and would go down in history for the future generation to know that not all that had access to Nigerian wealth participated willfully in the worst 20^th century economic crime against the Nigerian citizens.

On the other hand, the foreign MNC that participated in defrauding the Nigerian government should either be blacklisted from doing business in Nigerian or should be sued to recoup what belongs to the people. For instance, the British government does not care that throughout the history of Nigeria, that it has subjected the Nigerian people to disadvantageous and inhuman positions. In the eyes of the British government, Nigeria still remain a nation of untamed, undisciplined, backward and abject people that can be manipulated at will.

Nigerians have been enslaved; they have benefited from guns provided by the British, which were used in different occasions during a time of conflict to decimate each other. They do not care. They called it economic; of course, they also called it a testing ground for a new weapon before a final production and sales. Nigeria is one of the British guinea pigs, the slavish and impostor leaders knew it, but they could not do anything because they have sold their country and soul to the highest bidder. The Nigerian economy was structured to feed the British industries and in the late twentieth century, it seems that Nigerians have acquired enough education that would enable them to take off and fend for themselves.

For Nigeria, instead of being the true giant of Africa, the Nigerian people have continued to experience turmoil after another and stagnation of its economy. Political and economic activities have been dominated by the senior citizens that were trained and nurtured by the colonial masters that instructed them to hold allegiance to the Queen of England. This group of citizens has enjoyed favoritism from the old British Empire that transcends to this day. They were a selected few who benefited tremendously from the colonial rule and is apt to protect the British stake in Nigeria at the expense of the real stakeholders – the citizens of Nigeria. It is because of this dualism in allegiance that enabled British government and the MNC to continue dragging their feet when it comes to loot recovery.

The British in particular have argued that their government inaction at a time when Nigeria needed it the most was due to lack of laws under which such help would be performed. The British government does not have to help Nigeria; rather, they need to be actively involved because they created the mess in the first place. However, in the absence of such help, Nigerian government should pursue loot recovery through the Nigerian laws and in the Nigerian soil. For instance, when American citizens sought compensation for the loss of their properties in Cuba, they did not file suit in Cuba; rather, the filed lawsuit in the USA court against companies with ties to Cuba. Nigeria need to assemble a small band of lawyers and economists whose obligation is to go after those MNC that has a hand in defrauding the Nigerian government.

The government must be firm in this pursuit, after all, it was the affiliate companies of those MNC that do business in Nigeria helped devise the tunnels by which billions of dollars belonging to the Nigerian people were siphoned to European banks. The government has to resist the temptation and habit of buckling under pressure from Europe, the World Bank and IMF. They should resist the pressure by these organs that continue to insist on privatization and economic liberalization at the expense of the real people. These economic policies have harmed Nigerians in the past, and would not benefit Nigerians in the future. Common sense privatization with a human face in a gradual setting should be implemented.

Nigeria needs to shed the ugly image of being one of the most corrupt nations in the world. The government should institute operation clean house, and this is the best time to step on toes. I recall a speech delivered by Obasanjo at Ebonyi State where he proclaimed that he was not afraid to step on people’s toes. Mr. president, we are still waiting for your promise to be fruitful. Those who stole must be made to account for their iniquities. 'There should not be a sacred cow', that was what you said, and there is bunch of those kleptomaniacs in the Nigerian National Assembly, those that served dishonorably under various military dictatorships. More so, are those who occupy the highest position as the CBN, the Nigerian banker’s bank that have carnal knowledge of what went down. Most of them participated actively in the feast, and some even went solo and has been named in the British press.

In paragraph two of this article, it was argued that Obasanjo's loot recovery is inadequate and this is why. According to Africa Policy Information Center, located in Washington, DC publication on June 10, 2000, and a part of testimony of Dr. Mobolaji Aluko before the United States Congressional hearing: it was estimated that Nigerian external debt was approximately $98.8 billion. Out of this figure, Abacha was estimated to have looted $5 billion from Nigerian treasury. Abacha's loot amounts to less than 5 percent of overall funds looted out of Nigeria. It is this 5 percent that Obasanjo's government has spent approximately two years to recoup. So far, less than one percent of the Abacha's loot has been physically recovered. How about the 95 percent loots that are waiting for the government to initiate acted that would lead to its repatriation? The delay in pursuing this 95 percent may have given the devils a window of opportunity to hide their spoil, thereby making them unrecoverable.

How about the $12.2 billion oil windfall from Gulf war? The Pius Okigbo commission reported that between 1990 and 1994, $12.2 billion oil money that was supposed to go into the national treasure never made it. The Washington Post of June 9, 1998, page A1 reported that "Abacha, his allies and top (government) officials have added a new form of corruption that is killing of the Nigerian economy … the siphoning of money use by Nigerian's oil refineries to turn crude into gasoline. Finance and Oil Ministry officials argued openly in the Nigerian press over who is responsible for diverting more than $2 billion from the four state-owned refineries…"

The Gulf oil windfall occurred when Ibrahim Babangida was in power, and interestingly, Nigerians are entertaining the prospect and possibility of electing Babangida into office in 2003. Unfortunately, most of the lieutenants of Abacha and Babangida are serving in various levels and positions in the current polity. So, one would ask the Nigerian people: what is the matter with you? Why is Nigeria blowing hot and cold? Aren’t Babangida and his cohorts the same people that was demonized and wanted out of office by all means? Now, the Nigerian people have voted in Babangida's friends in crime and are presently entertaining returning Babangida to the office of the presidency. As a matter of fact, the people should be mad and demand that Babangida account for the gulf war oil windfall that has so far not been found.

Should Nigeria be contented with wrestling with Abacha family alone with the hope that others would repent and vomit the billions of dollars stolen from Nigeria? Of course not. The Nigerian government must ask questions from the "Nigerian deep throats" such as Shell, Mobile, Chevron, London based Arcadia and Addax, and Swiss based Glencore, the last three companies were the primary conduit of oil corruption during the reign of Sani Abacha. It is also hard to believe that the Nigerian Oil Ministers, the Finance Ministers and the Governor of the Nigerian Central Bank could not have witnessed or participated in the cannibalization of Nigerian wealth and its loot exportation.

The Nigerian government has to shed this attitude of turning the other check every time the government is smacked on the face by European governments and MNCs. If Obasanjo is going to be a one-term president, he must not let history slip through his fingers. He may be a lame duck president, that is if he is not running for re-election, however, the point still remains that one of his legacies during the second foray into government would not include combating corruption in Nigeria. Also, it would not include loot recovery, which was the cornerstone of his come back to government. Solving just a fraction of one percent of corruption or loot recovery could not translate into success.

As this article go to press, there have been all kinds of loot recovery litigation in foreign lands brought by foreign governments to help Nigeria recoup its money. The extent of benefit to Nigeria by this litigation is debatable especially given that some of the European countries would not want to damage their economy and economic institutions to help Nigeria. What is known so far is that Nigeria lacked the balls to aggressively pursue the recovery of their money. They wimp out and thus is waiting for salvation from the Europeans despite the fact that the Europeans have calculated the impact of such help on their economy and decided to drag it on with hope that after a while, it would die a natural death.

What are the Nigerian leaders afraid of? Why can't these so called leaders do something right for once, just for the silent majority of Nigerians who do not control the media that would have allowed their voices to be heard. So far, the only thing that the Nigerian people have become accustomed to is talk and talk, then followed by massive corruption in the government among the newly elected officials. Hopes for Nigerian survival is gradually wasting away. The thought that the current polity would sanitize Nigeria by ushering in a new era: transparency and accountability has been sacrificed. Instead, we have witnessed the worst corrupt practices in our lifetime. So, why should this terrible omen befall our beloved country? Why? Is this a curse that Nigeria would never progress, or is it a white man's making or both? If the later, how do we prove it; after all, it is Nigerians who have persistently sold there birth right.

So looting of the Nigerian treasury: who else is involved besides the Abacha’s family?