$9.8M: Looters of our Commonwealth -By Bamidele Williams

Are my eyes deceiving me! That is dollars I’m seeing! Make them kuku sell this country and give everybody his/her share and those that want to relocate should relocate!

That was actually my exclamation in response to the $9,772,800 (Nine Million, Seven Hundred and Seven Two Thousand, Eight Hundred United States Dollars) and another sum of £74,000 (Seventy Four Thousand Pound Sterling) cash uncovered in a special operation conducted by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on February 3 on a building belonging to a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, in Kaduna. Witty in his looting brilliancy enough, the huge cash was hidden in a fire proof safe in a remote area.

Reading the news on that very day, I took my phone to search through the social media, especially our online media house in order to read the comments of Nigerian youths on the shocking unraveled. Dejectedly enough, it was a surprise to see how our youths are still divided on tribal differences in condemning the topic.

How comfortable could our youths be for them to be praising their brothers and sisters who have robbed our commonwealth? Our youths should realise now that it is high time we put a stop to this nonsense of worshipping treasury looters including family members. Nigerian youths, rise up and invade their homes and occupy it. Move into all the empty big houses in Abuja, Lagos, Port-Harcourt and all villages where they have put palatial homes with our stolen money. Nigerian politicians and leaders are stubborn and the only language they understand is a threat to their loot. But it is so unfortunate how youths whose present and future have been destroyed by these so called leaders abuse one another, abuse their tribes and sing praise of our common enemy; the looters. How is a youth from Imo who is suffering and another from Sokoto who is equally suffering your enemy? Are your enemies and looters of your destinies not local government chairmen, governors and legislators? STOP this inter-tribal hate. Challenge your governors and representatives. Demand accountability and if they fail, equally make the states ungovernable for them. You voted for them they did not just got there by saying I am a governor. Let’s come together and fight the common enemies; THE LOOTERS OF OUR COMMONWEALTH. Stop praising and worshipping them because of crumbs they throw at you.

Doubtlessly, this is just an instance as hundreds are still out there with more money in their custodies. Fighting corruption will be more effective in this country if there is China’s penalty by death as punitive measure with law to protect whistle blowers who expose such acts and also, barring the culprits from political offices after their jail terms. Definitely with this, he could buy his way to any political position with this huge sum and gain “immunity”.

Let’s leave out the tribal and the religious differences. Our common enemies are not divided on tribal lines. Let’s speak in unison against this our common enemies siphoning our common treasures; LOOTERS OF OUR COMMONWEALTH.

Bamidele Williams
08134810254
IG: bamidele_williams

Bamidele Williams is a journalist and a public affairs Analyst.