Nigeria: A Country Too Corrupt To Be Given Aid Money

(By Michael Burleigh)

“It is at its most blatant, perhaps,in the oil industry, where 136 million barrels of crude oil worth $11 billion (£7. 79 billion) were illegally siphoned off in just two years from 2009 to2 011,while hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies were given to fuel merchants to deliverpetrol that nevermaterialised.“

Nigeria is not quite the most corrupt country on earth.But according to Transparency International, which monitors international financial corruption, it is not far off — coming a shameful 172nd worst among the 2 15 nations surveyed. Only countries as dysfunctional, derelict and downright dangerous as Haiti or the Congo are more corrupt. In theory, Nigeria’s 170 million-strong population should be prospering in a country that in recent years has launched four satellites into space and now has a burgeoning space programme.

Frankly, we might as well flush our cash away or burn it for all the good it’s doing for ordinary Nigerians Moreover, Nigeria is sitting on crude oil reserves estimated at 3 5 billion barrels (enough to fuel the entire world formore than a year), not tomention 10 0 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It also manages to pay its legislators the highest salaries in the world,with a basic wage of £1 22 , 000 , nearlydouble what British MPs earn and many hundreds of times that of the country’s ordinary citizens.

The oil industry is highly corrupt, with 13 6 million barrels of crude oil worth $1 1billion (£7 .7 9 billion) were illegally siphoned off in just two years from2 0 0 9 to 20 1 1 No wonder the ruling elite can afford luxury homes in London or Paris, and top-end cars that, across West Africa, have led to the sobriquet ‘Wabenzi’, or people of the Mercedes-Benz. Yet7 0 percent of Nigerians live below the poverty line of £1 .2 9 a day, struggling with a failing infrastructure and chronic fuel shortages because of a lack of petrol refining capacity, even though their country produces more crude oil than Texas. And that poverty is not for want of assistance from the wider world.

Since gaining its independence in 19 6 0, Nigeria has received $ 4 00 billion (£25 7 billion) in aid — six times what the U.S. pumped into reconstructing the whole of Western Europe after World War II. Nigeria suffers from what economists call the ‘resource curse’ — the paradox that developing countries with an abundance of natural reserves tend to enjoy worse economic growth than countries without minerals and fuels. The huge flow of oil wealth means the governmentdoes not rely on taxpayers for its income, so does not have to answer to the people — a situation that fosters rampant corruption and economic sclerosis because there is no investment in infrastructure as the country’s leaders cream off its wealth.

Nigerian police can often be easily bribed to look the other way in a country where corruption in Nigeria is endemic Corruption in Nigeria is endemic— from parents bribing teachers to get hold of exam papers for their children through clerks handed ‘dash’ money to get round the country’s stifling bureaucracy to policemen taking moneyfor turning a blind eye. It is at its most blatant, perhaps, in the oil industry, where1 3 6 million barrels of crude oil worth $ 11 billion (£7 .7 9 billion) were illegally siphoned off in just two years from 2009 to 2011 , while hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies were given to fuel merchants to deliverpetrol thatnever materialised. Whether the country is ruled by civilians or soldiers, who invariably proclaim their burning desire to eradicate civilian corruption, itmakes absolutely no difference.

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The military ruled Nigeria between 1966 and 1979 and from 1 983 to 1999, but if anything, corruption was worse when they were in charge since they had a habit of killing anyone threatening to expose them. It is estimated that since 1960 , about $3 8 0 billion (£2 4 5 billion) of government money has been stolen — almost the total sum Nigeria has received in foreign aid. And that even when successive governments attempt to recover the stolen money, much of this is looted again.

In essence, 8 0 per cent of the country’s substantial oil revenues go tothe government, which disburses cash to individual governors and hundreds of their cronies, so effectively these huge sums remain in the hands of a mere1 percent of the Nigerian population. Political power is universally regarded as a chance to reap the fortunes of office by the ruling elite and its families and tribes. The most egregious example was President SaniAbacha, a military dictator who ruled in the Nineties and accrued a staggering $4 billion (£2 .5 8 billion) fortune by the time he died of a heart attack while in bed with two Indian prostitutes at his palace in the nation’s capital, Abuja, in 1 99 8 . Abacha’s business associates did nicely, too — one of them deposited £1 2 2 million in a Jersey offshore account after selling Nigerian army trucks for five times their worth. Publicoffice is so lucrative that people will kill to get it. Nigeria has 36 state governors, 31 of whom are under federal investigation for corruption. In one of the smallest states, a candidate for the governorship occupied by one Ayo Fayose received texts signed by the ‘Fayose MSquad’ — and it was clearthe ‘M’ was for ‘Murder’ when they stabbed and bludgeoned a third candidate to death in his own bed. By the end of its term of office, the British Government will have handed over £1 billion in aid toNigeria. Given the appalling levels of corruption in thatnation, this largesse is utterly sickening — for the money will only be recycled into bank accounts in the Channel Islands or Switzerland. Frankly, we might as well flush our cash away or burn it forall the good it’s doing for ordinary Nigerians. ( source :Dailymail)