I have in the last few weeks of my life read and heard both in the print and electronic media of humongous sums of money that were looted by a few of us we chose to lead us in the last few years. Though i didn’t study law, neither am i a judge to be in a position to find them guilty and convict them for their offences, the judge of all judges (our conscience) have been able to fish and affirm the guiltiness of these young and old heartless men that have successfully killed thousands of Nigerian soldiers and civilians due to their actions and in actions in the face of terrorism and harsh economic realities as most of them have publicly agreed to have received the monies this current government is alleging they got.

Though the last has not been heard of the different phases of the exotic corruption cases these people were involved in ranging from the arms deal, pension scam, petrol subsidy scam, Halliburton deal, and lots more, i pray we all have the patience and wherewithal to digest and understand why these people acted in that manner. I personally don’t know why these very few goats have the huge appetite to consume a huge fraction of the yam meant for 160 million Nigerians. As if some of us don’t understand the implication of their action, a good number of us has been defending and fighting for these people under the umbrella of selective justice, tribal and ethnic sentiment, political witch-hunting and religious favouritism.

These people never considered any of the above during the sharing of the loot but now i am so surprised that the oppressed are the ones crying foul for this group of enemies of our dear nation.

Although, i understand the genuine cry of some people for the government to follow due process and ensure their human rights are not violated, i have a question for you if this is where you stand. Did these set of criminals know of ‘due process’ and ‘rule of law’ when they were plundering our commonwealth and who will fight for the right to life of those these criminals have in complicity murdered?

Another school of thought say the war against corruption is partisan and one sided, my question is why didn’t the last administration reduce the work load of this present administration by trying and convicting some of those presently leading us that they perceived were corrupt when they led this country in the last 16 years? At least they would have helped us to reduce the number of yam eaters that are now too numerous to count.

I don’t want to dwell much on blame game but share my opinion on this current war against corruption and the way forward for our country. I must categorically state here that i am one of those who campaigned rigorously and voted for this government led by President Muhammad Buhari and to be sincere, he is performing well the number one task i voted him for, but I will be a hypocrite to say there are no lapses in the way he has been leading us and the resultant effect on our economy and on Nigerians generally.

This government has done well in identifying the amounts looted, the medium of the loots, the looters and the location of the looter and their cronies.

At the same time, i must say that this government has failed to meet my yearnings and aspirations in the prosecution of looters, recovery of loots, re-investment of loots, Economic revitalization and diversification. These are the aspects where i seem not to be lauding this present government, but instead of joining the wailers club, i will prefer to proffer my own piece of advice as a layman to solve these challenges presently bedevilling us as a nation and adversely affecting the economic fortunes of much of us as individuals. I will advice the president to tackle all our problems holistically by setting up just two (2) major think-thank group namely:

A. ANTI-CORRUPTION AND NATIONAL ORIENTATION GROUP: This group should be personally headed by the president owning to his background as a former military officer, fearless man and man of integrity and should have the attorney general, minister of justice, minister of defence, minister of information, representatives of the legislature and judiciary, Inspector- general of police, governors forum, algon and few others he deem fit to carry out the following responsibilities.

1. Draft amendments to some of the laws slowing down the anti-corruption war.

2. Set up a special court to try corruption and allied cases.

3. Ensure delivery and enforcement of court orders and judgements.

4. Review the need or otherwise for negotiation and amnesty for Boko-haram members and other restive youths involved in armed robbery, kidnapping and cultism that are willing to drop their arms and turn a new leaf.

5. Design a lasting template on the way out of incessant clashes between different ethnic groups (which now seem next to terrorism) and make recommendations to different government parastatals on the way out of the problem.

6. Extend the fight against corruption and other social vices to the state and local level.

7. Ensure a national campaign and re-orientation for Nigerians and a feedback mechanism that will ensure the flow of information and protection of the whistle blower.

B. ECONOMIC RE-ENGINEERING AND INVESTMENT GROUP: This group should be co-headed by the vice-president and the minister of finance and should have the ministers of trade and investment, works, power and housing, petroleum, agriculture, labour and productivity, solid minerals, science and technology, youth and sports, foreign affairs, education, CBN governor, FIRS chairman as members with representatives of the chamber of commerce and industry, labour unions and other allied bodies. I personally recommend that the president’s role in this group should be more of direction and review because as i have always told people, i personally don’t think Mr President is very vast in this aspect which is not a crime for him which is why he has a lot of experts in this area in his team. This group should be saddled with the following responsibilities amongst others:
1. Draw out a national economic master plan for the country for the next ten (10) years.

2. Identify and recommend the viable sectors that will yield the best return on investment for our country.

3. Identify essential infrastructures needed for the revitalization and smooth running of industries and draw out financing policies to put them in place i.e government financing, public private partnership, e.t.c.

4. Champion and channel the re-investment of our recovered loots back into our economy for best economic result.

5. Review existing federal government intervention funds for different sectors of our country, recommend and provide fresh single digit loans for industries and entrepreneurs to industrialize our nation.

6. Identify and recommend new professional courses, vocational and technical skills for our youths that will help bridge the widening gap between the academia and our industries.

7. Engage and support stakeholders in the entertainment industry, agricultural sector, sport world and other youth friendly sectors of the economy.

8. Draw out and implement a realistic social support c scheme that will take care of the aged, unemployed and other vulnerable members of the society.

I think if we toe this line, i believe in few years, we will be counting our gains as individuals and as a nation. It requires a lot of dedication and commitment on the part of our leaders and sacrifice, cooperation and understanding on the side of we followers because reports and statistics has shown that hard times are ahead but as Robert Kiyosaki said in one of his books “Economies improve and crash but the world will always hand you opportunities everyday” .

This may be our opportunity as a nation to get a pathway to sustainable development. God bless Nigeria.
Osifeko Mark Olaniyi
Twitter: osifekomark
Facebook: Osifeko Mark Olaniyi
Email: osifekomark@gmail.com

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