Breakup Nigeria And Be Poorer Deadlocked by Farouk Aresa

Suddenly if you loved Nigeria
and wanted the unity of the
Country, you would be a
suspect as one of those
looking for money to steal.
Many of us have never stole
a kobo, held any political
office or benefited from
government contract and
have no intention of getting
into any of those
unscrupulous businesses. Yet
those that are calling for the
disintegration by their
grotesque actions and deeds
have more to lose when this
dying patient on its last
breath finally dies.
Business must play their part
to rescue the Country. There
is no other market as big as
Nigeria in Africa where these
agitators of breakup can sell
their cattle, their backyard oil
they farm, sell nuts, gari,
cocoa or coal. The population
of Nigeria has not even been
harnessed to half of its
potential compared to China
or USA. Yet we divide
ourselves into mini states
trying to create
independence. If you think
foreign visa is hard to get,
wait until our hatred breaks
up Nigeria.
There has never been a
threat to the unity of Nigeria
since the civil war as we have
today with Boko Haram that
is destroying the North and
bent on breaking the
Country. What is surprising is
how we have survived so far
after the civil war, civil unrest
in Niger Delta and self-
destructive force of foreign
influence. Some years ago it
was impunity that gave us
home grown Operation-Wet-
E. It eventually led to military
takeover to restore hope and
cleanse. We are yet to
recover.
It is difficult to point to one
catalyst as the final blow that
will catapult the Country into
pieces. It could be the rate
money is being stolen
voraciously, Boko Haram,
MEND or a revolt against all
these. The Country will just
stop dead like a big heart
attack. No country that
anyone can imagine has
taken so much from its
citizens and still survives. It
has never been this bad,
even Abacha was defeated by
remote control. Who dare
pull the trigger on still
“faceless” enemies?
How did we get here? When
the creation of states started
from the West to Midwest,
people were looking forward
to opportunity to determine
their own destiny. Those that
warned us of irreversible
downturn then, ironically
gained from creation of Mid-
West as UPN later won the
State. The rolling stone
created states in the East and
the North and has never
stopped. Yet, we are asking
for more to be created for
looters. We have too many
fingers in the honey pot.
Therefore, there should be
no surprises that over
seventy percent of the
Country’s revenue is spent on
salaries for administrators.
Most educated administrators
and savvy business men and
women know you do not
spend more than fifteen
percent on administration.
But when every village wants
a state and a local council,
we should not be surprised
that all revenue derived from
a single source of foreign
income is spent on
remuneration, breakup minus
accountability.
On top of that are born
crooks whose only mission as
long as they remain
Nigerians is to run the well
dry. Gone are the days when
only certain people from
certain part of the Country
can become the head of
state. So we would expect the
part that has been neglected
and cheated out of revenue
to be the most prudent
leader in history. Obviously,
it is not where the leader
comes from, all our leaders
are born by the same crooks
and spend like pappy
drunken sailor.
We cannot blame those
asking for the breakup, since
we see no end in sight to the
massive looting in the
Country. A country that has
no law has no sin. The
primary enforcer of our laws
is the responsibility of the
Police Force. But what we
have as police, are being
corrupted by those that are
expected to lead them. This
writer has praised the
present Inspector General for
now by ending road blocks.
But it takes more than one
person and one action, it
takes a community.
Businesses must also revolt,
not just because of lack of
infrastructure but because it
cost too much to bribe those
in power. By the time you
think of your profit, how long
it takes to get it, what you
have to invest in capital and
the immediate deposit of
bribes into foreign bank
accounts, you must be
getting tired of the
aggravation. It is true that if
you can hold your noise,
Nigeria is the best place in
the world for profit. But for
how long before the Country
breaks up?
Can you imagine a politician
that does not know his right
hand from his left
demanding ninety or more
percent of your first contract
as a sign of good faith to get
more contracts? There are so
many unknown risks involved
even in the face of
guarantee. You may get
caught with shoddy execution
of the contract, the politician
may be exposed and cabinet
or President may change. If
you are exposed, the
numbers of people you have
to bribe are unlimited from
probe to court.
The rational of the contract
givers, mainly politicians and
their cronies, is that – we
selected you to implement
contracts with whatever is
left after you bribed us. So
take it or leave it, there are
others waiting for their
opportunities. If you have no
choice, rather than starve to
death, you become the
manager of their companies
or partners in crime. They
really prefer foreigners that
will make transfer of their
loot easier or a Nigerian
based outside in case the
Country breaks up.
Dangote, Odetola and others,
must put bribe takers and
givers are on notice that they
may be under surveillance
camera with marked money
if it is in cash; or under the
watch of British and
American intelligence for
electronic transfer. It is
getting tough these days to
get that money out. But
never underestimate looters’
determination; if there is a
Nigerian, there is a way. It is
getting easier to steal the
money from Nigeria, but
harder spending it overseas
on surveillance.
Never underestimate a
Nigerian crook though. It
does not make a difference if
the money is marked or not,
as long as it is good money
everything will disappear into
the unknown. There are
some tactics that may work
in other countries that will
never work in Nigeria. Even
the video can be denied as
tampered with. We are
talking about our Country
where Ibori won all the way
to the Supreme Court. If
Niger Delta was a country, it
would have gone bankrupt.
The leaders of our youths
cannot sit idle and blame the
generation before them for
messing up the Country
when Bankole and Lawan
were deeply involved in
corruption. It was a breath of
fresh air to see relatively
young men and women as
leaders only to be
disappointed by their greed
surpassing that of their
fathers. How can Nigeria
unite and grow small and big
business within to provide
jobs for youths in this culture
of corrupt environment?

#CONSENSUS 2015