Abacha: Did we loot the looter?

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[akuluouno]

Dear Sonala, the Worthy Son of Olumhense,

I always counsel parties quarelling on the neeed to let bygones be bygones by borrwing the word of our elders who always urge that we baptise all that bit us in the night as mosquitoes in spite of the tell tale signs of gashes made by fangs the size of lions and lacerations which only a mosquito of dinosaur proportions would inflict.
What I am saying? Some of us who are on the ardous road of becoming born-again patriots and nationalsits, lovers of our country, especially on a Palm Sunday are often worn down and frustrated by poignant revealations such as the one that you have made on the Abacha Loot.
With due respect, I believe that until there is a full disclosure on the Abacha loot, the re-looters and what it has been done with in terms of specific projects in those critical areas that you have highlighted, then we are very right that Abacha was indeed the proverbial fall guy on whose grave Abdulsalami and Our Father literally perpetrated morbid lootery on the nation.
The title ought to have been " Re-looting of the Dead Looter", because the whole scenario smells like looting from the dead with the latter metaphorically being Abacha and Nigeria and the consequences will be worse for those who committed the latter. Robbing a dead robber has consequences which worshippers at Okija Shrine say can be terrible.
No wonder the world media was regaled with the odious pictures of Our Father presenting an award for meritorious services to Sani.
If Khalifa did all these, what of the state governors and ministers under that regime minus Ani and Gwarzo. Where are their loot?

[Anon]

Sonala, this is one of the best write up from you in recent times. It is indeed amazing that after all the dogged fight to recover the so called Abacha's loot, less than a quarter of it has been recovered almost 8yrs down the line. I have more to say but I'll be back on a latter date to finish this Abacha loot Vs Obj's kleptomania

[truthsayer33]

thanks for a brilliant article....keep pressing your point and sooner or later others will start the clamour for accountability in the governance of Nigeria.
My own area of interest is the management of aviation.I want to know when we can see the reports about all those plane crashes....what is the government afraid of?

[Mikky jaga]

We are quick to judge ourselves with the Oyibo standard of morality. In Nigeria, if armed robbers shot a Bullion Van, which unfortunately tumbled, spilling its contents on the road, my countrymen do not call it stealing to descend on the free cash, afterall, they did not go into anybody's house to collect it. Same goes for petroleum products leaking freely from a broken pipe - that one is nobody's property. So, if looted dollars is washed on shore from obodo oyibo, God bless the Govt official who will not help himself to some of it, especially when the president is not keen on keeping good records of such inflow. This may be an impeachable offence in some other countries, but your village people will crucify you if such largesse pass you bye without your getting a piece of the action.

The story is told of an aide to a military governor of one of the South South states. The governor died in officeand his aide simply helped himself to all the kickbacks and kick fronts of the dead governor. Today he is a major player in the downstream oil sector of the country with many chieftaincy titles to boot.

In Nigeria, we only obey the eleventh commandment to the letter - "Thou shall not be caught"