The pervasive neediness which proceed from the asphyxiating socioeconomic challenges is the harsh consequence of the nation‘s rapacious elite whose criminality is legendary. And, aside been evasive, the reality on the ground is unashamedly obfuscated by their minders as well as their overt or covert accomplices.
The elite criminality is quintessentially characterized by wanton plunder of the nation’s resources which is done with mindless impunity that puts everything is a dysfunctional state. Like a swarm of locust, they descend on national resources without utter concern for the desperate state of those that will be left hungry and disadvantaged. Feeding their greed is the ultimate fixation.
So few, yet they have ingeniously muscled out the majority from the share of the common wealth. They have effectively held the destiny of the citizens and nation hostage by their reprehensible act.
On the impoverishment on fellow citizens and decrepitude of the nation they gain in power and wealth. As though, blinded by the surfeit of perks that accompanies their privileged positions many hardly betray emotions to the plight of the impoverished ordinary citizens. Recall they huge pile of Covid-19 palliatives that were stashed in warehouses while citizens rot in hunger only to be exposed during endsars protests.
Effectively, they have constituted themselves as something of a god that must be propitiated and worshipped for the crumbs of favour that fall of their massive tables. They have all become insouciant to the routine inconveniences and struggle of the ordinary citizens.
When people swear to serve the nation but turn around to serve self, it breeds insufferable pang of disenchantment and cynicism in citizens especially having attached credibility to the catalogue of promises and assurances made in the name of God.
However, it beggars belief how hitherto normal and rational people brimming with bright ideas are immediately hobbled after moving into the ring of power from where they return battered by the heavy punches of corruption.
It is safe, to point at the extant chronic systemic weakness in our country as the culprit that also sucks sincerity, energy and enthusiasm to work for the general good. Confronting the weakness headlong hasn’t really attracted sufficient attention and the will of the powers that be, which further strengthens the audacity of the perpetrators.
The huge scam called oil subsidy is a fitting example of the elite criminality. The country buckles under its massive weight and weak from the hemorrhage of vital resources. The only time prosecution over the oil subsidy fraud was instituted it ended in damp squib. The daily fuel consumption stands at 66 million per day today from 40 million per day in 2019 representing about 60%! The fast-paced movement of the figure leaves a huge margin for suspicion. Already, it’s a fact that smuggling across the borders and falsification of documents to claim money for fuel never imported in the name of subsidy have characterized the program.
The staggering 109 billion naira heist pulled by a former accountant general of the federation and his cohorts couldn’t have happened without some illustrious accomplices. The princely amount no doubt could have done wonders in transforming lives and communities beyond recognition somewhere. It eloquently tells the story of how the national resources as been turned into game, hunted for personal pleasure.
Furthermore, the organized crude oil theft has been a shocking revelation. It is such a sophisticated operation that carries again, the imprimatur of well placed and connected interests. The lost is quite staggering.
The ‘poor guys’ crudely refining the oil were always the whipping child and with the lid blown wide open, it has now exposed the constant spotlight on them as a smokescreen to divert attention from the activities of their well-heeled cousins. The government claims to know the saboteurs yet it’s taking forever to make them public. It only heightens suspicions.
The ordinary citizens are for the most part importune to make sacrifices for the shambles created by a dodgy few. It’s a clear travesty that the law only gets gentle on the elite criminality while hard on others. Where a system really works, people pay for their crimes regardless of their standing on the social ladder- it serve as deterrent and an unmistakable message that no one is beyond the law. Much needed socioeconomic development takes flight where the elite get away with blue murder.
At every turn, the footprints of the elite criminality lays bare. Nigeria has become a crime scene of sort over the criminality of the privileged few. Regardless of the fantastic agenda enunciated by the next president, the capacity to deal with manifestation of the elite criminality will infinitely define the success of their premiership.
Ungbo writes from Abuja via
