In that
interview, the President agonisingly recalled how Nigeria had systematically
been lowered into its current mess and about to be buried by serial looters,
discoveries of new evidence against them as well as other alleged saboteurs. At
the conclusion of that explanation, the President said the court would be the
ultimate adjudicator.
However,
many Nigerians have yet to come to terms with the enormity of violation of
their rights by known and unknown looters of our commonwealth. The killing of a
man whose wife and daughters were raped, with some of his family members also
killed during a robbery attack at his residence, evokes spontaneous sympathy
and condemnation from relations and neighbours owing to the proximity and
graphic nature of the bestiality.
That
gripping scenario is not only a violation of the human rights of the victims
but a criminal and murderous act before man and God. Yet, when corrupt
officials have been shown to have amassed wealth and stolen in billions what
belongs to at least 170 million Nigerians, which gives them the wherewithal to
subvert the system, some Nigerians defend the action.
Looters’
action is a collective rape, killing and maiming of the citizens, the
destruction of the future of their children and the eventual disintegration of
the society. What human rights’ violations could be more than this? Corruption
has really ruined the economy and has inflicted a lot of damage on Nigerians,
financially, morally, socially, culturally and psychologically. Therefore,
collective interests should always be put above individual interests. Tampering
with our collective wealth is the worst form of rights violation, and if a
thieving man or woman disregarded the collective rights of their fellow
citizens, they do not deserve our sympathy.
The
persistent blitz by the Boko Haram insurgency in its hey days, the degrading
infrastructure development, especially as witnessed in road and power sector,
decay in healthcare and education, joblessness, increasing crime and
prostitution among the youth, as well as grinding frustration in the national
psyche are all spin- offs of looters’ activity.
If
government had fixed a road, it could have mitigated or prevented automobile crashes
in which Nigerians die every day. The enormity of the perennial looting could
translate into the country’s budget for years, and could hasten growth and
development, as well as swell our foreign reserves.
Babies and
infants die in their droves, especially in the rural areas, simply because of
non-availability of some cheap preventive drugs. Maternal deaths and diseases
are still pronounced in the country, while simple surgeries could not be
performed even in tertiary hospitals. Yet, these looters and their cohorts
travel abroad on chartered aircraft when they or their relations suffer from
headaches.
The
President’s observation and comments on bail application need not be twisted.
If there is a fresh evidence against a defendant, common sense dictates that he
or she be charged again, based on the new evidence. So far, all the arrests by
the prosecutor have been based on new revelations. It is, therefore, misplaced
to describe the action as impunity which the PDP adopted as its survival game
for 16 years. And if I may ask: Why is the People’s Democratic Party afraid of
justice? Instead of facing the reality, party members keep saying that the
trial of corrupt officials has been targeted at their members, not minding that
these members have cases to answer, going by the
evidences put out there.
evidences put out there.
It is also
pertinent to say that if the wailing PDP had deployed its arsenals for the
welfare of the people during its 16-year rule as being done now in its
pull-him-down war against the federal government, perhaps it would not have
been crushed at the polls with ignominy. (Source: Guardian)
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