Thoughts On Abacha’s Stolen Funds -By Segun Ogunlade

When we thought we’ve heard the last story of General Sani Abacha’s looted funds being uncovered outside the shores of the country about a year or two ago, another two hundred and eleven million pounds have been discovered and made headlines in the dailies on the 5th of June, 2018. Although it was said that issues bothering on these funds have been in court for some four to five years, it was late in the evening of June 4, 2018, that its finalization hit the news. Only God knows how much of the late dictator’s stolen funds still remain uncovered in foreign bank accounts. Late General Sani Abacha was undoubtedly the Nigerian the nation has lost most to. Even recent corruption cases don’t measure to his own corruption as billions of dollars have been linked to him since his death and perhaps many more would still be linked. As many of his stolen public funds have been uncovered in countries like USA, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the UK, some personalities around the seat of power at Aso rock still believe the late Sani Abacha is not as bad as he’s being painted by many, that he is not corrupt and is simply being misjudged. Why this is so remains an answer for those that believe he is not corrupt to answer as the nation strategize on how to spend the newly uncovered two hundred and eleven million pounds.

It’s a good thing that more of late General Sani Abacha stolen funds are being uncovered and returned to the country. However, there are some certain things that should be said about the case. One of such is the source of the stolen funds. Unlike Nigeria whose institution for some reasons appear to be deliberately tailored to fail, such could not be said about the countries where some of Abacha’s looted funds have been uncovered. It remains largely doubted if such amounts that had hitherto been linked to the late dictator would hit a foreign bank account in a place like USA or the UK without its source been traced and found as being stolen. Except the countries where his at stolen funds have been uncovered would want to claim otherwise, keeping a stolen money for the one that stole it is a criminal offence and is tantamount to felony under law. And for the monies to have been away from Nigeria for so long means that they could have been used for some good purpose such as investing in infrastructure and human resources. But anyone that knows about a stolen money as keeps it is an accomplice to the one who stole it first and is liable to punishment. For example, an offence such as this could land someone in jail for five years in USA. Even though countries like USA, Switzerland or the UK might not readily accept that they are accomplice to this crime for having Abacha’s stolen funds in their banks for so long after the dictator’s death, they couldn’t deny it‘s being used to pursue good purpose.

For a man in a third world country like Nigeria to have so much money stolen from its coffers is disturbing. And that they were stolen from the country and the country not finding out by itself is even more worrisome. It only proves the truth about Nigerian leaders having so much access to public funds. Little wonder they could kill to get close to get the pot of wealth of the country. Institutions in Nigeria are very weak. No wonder such as money as has been stolen by Abacha has remained uncovered for this long. And if other countries are like ours, the money would surely not be found with no talk of its been ever returned. In the coming years we would see if some of such stolen funds are uncovered and returned to the country. And only God knows for how long public funds would continue to trifle out of the country’s coffers without suspicion.

Such acts as stealing public funds and stashing them in foreign bank accounts only show the dearth of good thinking among Nigeria’s leader. It is the lowest of form of thinking to steal money from people that needed it and transferring them to countries where it had not been worked for and would continue to be used as economy booster while people from whom they have been stolen line in penury. That many like General Sani Abacha still walk the streets freely, parading themselves as statesmen shows the type of country we live in where injustice triumphs over righteousness. That men who stashed public funds and buried same in farmlands walk freely out of courtrooms while those who economy hardship brought about by ineffective leadership forced their hands to take to criminal acts such as stealing goats and phones get jail terms shows that our institutions are not the best to wish for. Yet, various forms of financial crimes continued unabated among the political class. It is true that when justice is not truly served, the heart of men would continually think and act evil.

And while the stolen funds have been uncovered and being returned, the country where they’re uncovered saying they would monitor how it would be spent raises the question of whether Nigeria is truly a sovereign state. Perhaps the Nigerian government has not realised that it is an insult to the country’s dignity for another nation to monitor how we spend our money. This is not the first time talks about monitoring the disbursement of the uncovered stolen funds would be raised. It would probably continue as long as many of such funds are uncovered and returned to the country. It is a great insult to a sovereign nation. It would have been a different case if the funds are borrowed or they are given as aids. This is money from the country’s resources. How we spend our money as a sovereign nation remains solely our prerogative. The UK I am sure couldn’t say this to another European nation. This act of peering into another nation’s financial activities is what someone calls second class slavery. After all, a former president of the country once said money could not be stolen from Nigeria without USA knowing about it. Note the emphasis on USA knowing about our stolen funds before the people from whom it was stolen. Yet, that did not give other nations the right to pry into our affairs.

But if one considers the rate at which many of our country’s leaders are guilty of finance misappropriation, one could agree with countries such as the USA or the UK to monitor the disbursement of the recovered stolen funds. Ours leaders have demonstrated at many times that they could not be trusted with the nation’s financial resources and other resources at that. That is why the people who worked so hard to generate the funds would be denied or its proper disbursement but rather have them taken to foreign lands to be used by people who neither worked own them or worked for them. Corruption among Nigerian leaders is so great. The one among the followers is even no less. Recovered stolen funds in the past have been mismanaged that it was even joked about on the street with people saying Abacha’s recovered loots have been looted by the our leaders. With some things that we do as a country, one would be forced to ask if we are capable of governing ourselves or we should put our affairs back in the hands of those who gave us independence. It is a pity that Nigeria is still being treated as a country that its leaders could not be trusted to manage its resources well. Many of our leaders past and present, alive and dead, have put us in a place where financial activities that are linked to the country comes with the utmost suspicion. With the way our leaders often cast us in bad light among the league of nations and how we are dependent on foreign powers on matters of importance, it seems the country is still under the shades of colonialism. This time, the type of colonialism we are under is more of mental colonization than it is political.

And to those wishing for the boys in khaki to return to government because the civilian government has breed nothing but corruption, I hope they could see now that military men are no less guilty of financial corruption as do civilian men. People like General Sani Abacha has proven that the military government has produced men who defrauded the country as many civilian leaders are currently doing. One could only wonder what would have become of the nation’s resources if General Sani Abacha had spent time in office as did General Yakubu Gowon or General Ibrahim Babangida. From the story of uncovered stolen funds that have been making headlines since the time of the dictator’s death, it is safe to say corruption is not a thing of the civilians alone. Military men who preached discipline sometimes do so in hypocrisy. To instill positive attitudes in ourselves, we don’t need military men.

Good leadership is a thing of the heart not of social status or religious inclination. In other climes where things are working and institutions functioning as they should, they are not ruled according to the whims and caprices of their military men whose activities have been largely limited to the barracks and war fronts where they function best. We don’t need anyone to point gun at our heads before doing that which is right. Leaders of countries we often turn to decided to make their countries better. They set goals for the country and see them accomplished. They have vision and work round the clock to see it materialize. They are keen on good governance and they never stop working at it. They’re not in position of leadership to enrich themselves and their families. These things don’t need forceful handling or guns. It is a thing that comes from thinking positively about the nation and working to see it work. So long as the nation squanders its resources, development would be far from view. And instead of taking those funds to foreign banks, they could be used here to put the country on the path of greater development than we have now.

May God bless Nigeria.

Segun Ogunlade writes from University of Ibadan, Ibadan. He is a final year student of the department of Religious Studies. He could be reached via email at ogunlade02@gmail.com or through his number +2348085851773.