Nigeria: From Looting To Sharing The ‘National Cake’

By Matthew Ozah

“Neighbour! How have you been? You seem a bit reserved these days. I hope there is nothing to worry about?”

“Hmm! There is so much to worry about in these perilous times. Even President Muhammadu Buhari is worried about 2019 elections especially with the way APC is metamorphosing. Well, as for me, my pocket is in recession and it is beginning to affect my blood pressure. Indeed, ignorance is a disease. You are here nursing agonizing distress while a scrum is receiving cash handout in your state from the Abacha’s recovered loot.”

*President Buhari 

“What are you talking about? That has got nothing to do with me and I feel let down for confiding in you about my discomfort?”

“Please pardon me jare! But how come you have not heard about the ‘Social Investment Programme,’ Buhari’s pet project to share the recently repatriated 322 million dollars Abacha loot among the poorest and most vulnerable households within 19 states in the country?” 

$322m Abacha Loot: Separating Politics From Economics

By Emmanuel Obe

A lot of Nigerians have expressed their anger (and rightly so) over the planned disbursement of the $322 million recovered from the loot of the late Gen. Sani Abacha to 302,000 poor households in Nigeria.

*Abacha 

As the argument of those opposed to the planned disbursement goes, it appears unreasonable to just take out money and share out to people that did not work for it.

For them it makes no economic sense when that money, amounting to about N115 billion, could be invested in tangible projects that will generate revenue for government, employment for the youth and goods for the household. Some of the opponents of the policy have even gone ahead to recommend psychiatric tests for the government officials that proposed the disbursement on the grounds that it looked rather insane to share out money in that fashion.