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Home |   About Us |   Contact Us |   Members |   Search |   Subscribe |   Disclaimer |   THE GUARDIAN CONSCIENCE, NURTURED BY TRUTH LAGOS, NIGERIA.     Wednesday, August 25 2004   news   editorial/opinion   policy & politics   focus/record   business   sports   capital market   metro   arts   money watch   energy   maritime   Guardian Chat Click to join the chatroom The familiar road By Samuel Caulcrick PATITO-GANG's August 22, 2004 edition would strike any intelligent observer as nothing but a familiar road. The luminary, eloquent Pat Utomi himself introduced the theme of the day with an article written 25 years ago by, no other than, Mr. Pini Jason, who incidentally was a member of the gang that night. The gist for the night was that, if one picks up Pini Jason's article 'The Familiar Road', written 25 years ago and substitutes one or two names, it would still be relevant today. Pat asked, "Why is it that Nigeria, 25 years on, has not made any progress ...and why has it always been two steps forward, three steps backwards " The other members of the gang for the night were, Dr, Reuben Abati of The Guardian newspapers; the renowned journalist, Dr. Shobowale and some two other gentlemen, that I apologise for not remembering their names. Looking at the gang's countenances, one would rightfully see genuineness. Listening to them, though, was just a familiar tune " another familiar road. Here we go again, with the Nigerian leadership under the hammer. Nothing describes Nigerians better than the housefly, which unfortunately abounds in the land. Have not we all seen a housefly trying desperately to get out of a glass paned enclosure It repeatedly bangs itself against the glass. It recognises that there is sunshine on the other side, but it just cannot figure a way out. If only the fly would just step back, there could be an opening. Pini Jason came closest to pin-pointing a way out. Said he: "Nigerians have to realise that there is a problem first..., before we start discussing how to solve it.. As it is, Nigerians do not realise that they have a serious problem." There is a popular saying, "A man who does not know and does not know that he does not know, is a fool". Nigerians are not very different from other people. Nigerians react to the erosion of their wealth, just like other people. Nigerian men put on their trousers, one leg at a time, just like other people. However, there are three fundamental things that other people do, that Nigerians take for granted and maybe if addressed, things would be different. First and foremost, Nigerians have to recognise that they are in a big, big trouble. Two, Nigerians will have to insist, that is, demand without any compromise the enforcement of the Nigerian law. Nothing else should move until the laws are enforced. Reformed labour laws, notwithstanding, the resultant decimated labour could still come together as an arrowhead to demand for the enforcement of the law " not on the hike in petrol prices or on improved social conditions. Three, Nigerians should stop, with the last drop of their blood, the illegal exportation of Nigeria's wealth to foreign lands. Economists and the Nigerian elite, more often than not, have deliberately masked the seriousness of Nigeria's destitution with such jargon as 'capital flight'. Nigerians should desist from using such words. 'Loss of wealth' or 'illegal wealth movement' will be more appropriate, maybe then most Nigerians will understand why they are ranked amongst the world's poorest. A beautiful building will always look desolate, if its furnishings are continuously pillaged and carted away. The greatest stumbling block to Nigeria's economic development is the illegal movement of its wealth. Simple economy " if you do not accumulate wealth, you will not be able to provide for the basic necessities nor multiply your wealth. Shobowale, one of the gang, recounted the case of a lady in his church who was praying to win the lottery " yet, she did not purchase a lottery ticket. It is a case of manna from heaven. Who can blame her Afterall the man of God says, "with God, everything is possible". That, however, is true. Professor Collier of the Department of Economics, at the Oxford University, told Nigerians at a lecture in Lagos, sometimes last year, that over $70 billion of Nigeria's wealth belonging to Nigerians resides outside Nigeria's borders. He went further to stress that, unless something is done to stop the loss of Nigeria's wealth, the nation would remain distressed. There has not been any mention of it since then. How do you intend to come out of poverty, if $70 billion of your wealth is unusable to Nigeria Babangida alone is reported to have $20 billion out of it. True or false, it is enough to make Nigerians to fester on. When Nigerians go to the mosque or the church to pray, do they pray to God to change the minds of these Nigerians to bring back what rightfully belongs to the collective They, however, want God to forget about these missing wealth and pour down manna from heaven. Patito's Gang should be discussing how to plug the hole in the bowl of Nigeria's national wealth. Even if nobody returns the outside money, Nigeria should find a way to stop the illegal exportation of the country's wealth by individuals, today. When Buhari and Idiagbon made 'capital flight' a capital blunder, Nigerians vehemently opposed it and the result is a net loss of $70 billion. The gross loss to Nigeria from 1985, when Babangida relaxed that law, is in the region of over $120 billion. The difference is what foreigners took advantage of. Yet, Nigerians talk about corruption, but imagine this same corrupt Nigeria with over $70 billion richer. This is not an acclamation for corrupt practices. It is an affirmation that if the legally or the illegally acquired wealth by Nigerians was not exported, Nigeria would not be a sorry state and maybe corruption would have been minimised. Every Nigeria of note and indeed every Nigerian politician today has at least a property outside Nigeria. Nigerians have single-handedly ballooned the values of properties in the UK, because of their frenzies. The British, in turn, use these earned 'Nigeria's wealth' on their properties to besiege the Mediterranean on record high holidays. The Spanish and the Greek, in turn, revel in German and French luxuries. Nigeria thus, is subsidising the living standards of the world. No wonder it remains poor in spite of its huge oil receipts. I join the multitude of Nigerians that pray for this country " but unlike most Nigerians, my prayer to God Almighty is not to change the minds of Nigerian leaders, but to embolden ordinary Nigerians to wake up and just say no. To say no, to the non-enforcement of the law, to say no to the exportation of their wealth. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian leaders. There is no world leader today that is not envious of the Nigerian leaders. Even the gods are jealous. To lead in this country must feel like heaven. You are on the same pedestal as God. You can bestow blessings on anybody at anytime just like God, productivity or not. No wonder they are all dying, just to lead.  Captain Caulcrick wrote from the United Kingdom. � 2003 - 2004 @ Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Rights Reserved).  Powered by dnetsystems.net dnet�

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