Nigerian Treasury Looters: To Put Be on Trial or Not?

       Like the country of Israel, Nigerians are scattered all over the globe. But home is always home. Sometimes it is frustrating to hear what is going on. It is a pity that the country is not moving forward as expected due to the fact that you have competent people to run the country but they are so selfish and heartless to do the right thing. We can't say they are not smart enough. Until our so called leaders look at themselves as serving the people instead of little gods, whereby they think they can do anything, I am afraid the country will not prosper as projected and expected. Tell me how could somebody embezzle $6b and then offer to return $250m and say "let bygone be bygone".? How arrogant and unrepentant can you be? With that statement alone that should tell you the mindset of some of this people. You did not say "I will reimburse all the money back and please let me keep the interest ". Do you know how much the interest of $6b is?
       Then the Buhari administration can cerebrate on that offer and not put that individual on trial.But they always want to have their cake and eat it too. Either you return the money or not, under normal circumstances, a crime is a crime and the individual or individuals should be taken through the judicial process in the court of law. But this is where president Buhari administration is in a quagmire. He needs to get rid of some of the judges. But can he do it? Does he have the constitutional power to do that? But the good thing is the Vice President happens to be a law professor so the Judges that have been allowing themselves to be manipulated for years may be fearless in dealing with the issues this time around. United States government has told him that if the administration does not do something about these individuals it is tantamount to waste of time and resources in gathering dossier on this people.
       The international community knows what happened to James Onanefe Ibori. If he was still in Nigeria, he would have still be roaming around free. So the so called "Peace committee" asking the president to indirectly leave these individuals alone especially when there are evidences against them is nothing but trying to let the country continue in perpetual cycle of evil and mediocrity. They are not fooling anybody. With due respect to them, this is "trouble committee" not peace committee. I am saying this because the country will never get out of this mess if we continue this way. if I were President Buhari I would have told Bishop Ayo Oritsejafor and father Kukah, who are members of the committee, that the Bible says
"Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil."
Ecclesiastes 8:11 KJV.
       In other words "When evil people are not punished right away, it makes others want to do evil, too."   Doesn't that sound like our Nigeria to you? I would also tell them that what some people did to Ribadu, by harassing him, will not happen this time around. This is why Nigeria is in this mire right now. Everybody keeps doing the same because they cannot probe each other since all their hands are soiled or caught in the cookie jar. They all know what they are doing. That's why you hear some of them talking about, if one is investigated, it will bring out cans of worm. Please, who cares? Bring out the worms, the snakes and cockroaches. The enquiry minds want to know who the thieves are. We want to know the enemies of progress.
       Basically what they are saying is "all of us will be exposed ". Do you have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what they are confessing? This time around they don't have that advantage to blackmail the current president, at least from what we know.If they did, their attitude would have been "Bring it on".
       The irritating part of it all is that they go around flaunting their ill-gotten wealth. And if you want to volunteer to help the country or your people, these individuals will shove you aside because they know you are honest and cannot help them to steal or raid the treasury. That brings me to the Niger delta issue. Chief Obasanjo tried his best to bring somebody from that area to be the president, and one of them in charge of the petroleum sector. Look at the mess they all created. Do you know the rate of cancer in that area of the country because of the frequent oil spills? The environment is in a mess and will be for the next fifty years if nothing is done about it ASAP. You have somebody like the former governor of one of the states that should be advocating cleaning up the area, but they get there and forget what they were thought in school about cancer. Look at the so called the Niger delta militants. Immediately they got some money from the government, they started flaunting it and gallivanting all over the world.They forgot that in the next 25-50 years their area will continue to be a mess and their great grandchildren will suffer for the befoulment of the environment. Oh I forgot, they have money now to go to Europe or USA to consult with their personal physicians. Then what happens to the rest of the people in the area? For this singular action and neglect, all these individuals, Jonathan, Daziani, Ngozi and the rest of them from that area should be put under the jail.
       Some people are saying this is not military rule and that we have to follow the rule of law. My answer is, it is still Nigeria. Military or civilian, democracy or dictatorship. A thief is a thief and a Barawo is always a Barawo. We have a law professor as the Vice President so the Government will follow the rule of law. This people have to be taught a lesson, because others will come after them and do the same thing. How can you steal from 160m people and want to get away with it all the time? And a ridiculous committee is here telling president Buhari to let this people go unchallenged? What happens to his integrity and promise he made to the international community? What happens to the promise he made to 160m plus Nigerians? And If he did not keep his promise, this same rogues will be the first to tell the whole Nigeria that Buhari administration is a failure. It is a trap he should not fall into.
       Another thing I would have told the "peace committee ", if I were the president would have been " OK if you want these individuals to go free and let bygone be bygone, then let's release all the criminals in all Nigerian prisons, we let bygone be bygone and start all over again ". Now, can you imagine the chaos in the country if that happened? This is what this so called "peace committee" is advocating indirectly. Think about it. You put people that stole $100,000 or whatever the amount is, in jail, but you want to leave somebody or people that stole $billions. You want to let go or worship people that stole from 160million Nigerians but jail individuals that stole from associates.
       Do you know how many deaths these individuals have caused by their actions? The money they embezzled was to go to different projects that will alleviate their sufferings? Do you know how many deaths on Nigerian roads, how many people die of unnecessary illnesses? Therefore we can say these looters are murderers. You don't have to necessarily shoot or decapitate somebody before you kill them. People dying on Nigerian roads because of death traps we have instead of roads, the Pensioners that die because they don't have their money, and so forth. These individuals are so heartless, selfish and callous that they don't think about anybody else but their families. That's why the Buhari administration should even go after these individuals' children because they probably have transferred some money in their children's accounts or open businesses in their children's names. The fruit does not fall too far away from the tree.
       Their kids won't know anything else but how to embezzle or participate in fraudulent activities because that is what they see their parents do. To complicate matter this people in turn put their kids in key positions in the government. This will perpetuate the cycle of evil and fraud. So what happens to the country? Until these individuals are prosecuted and ALL the money returned, the country is wasting her time. The people that don't want them to be prosecuted should pay up in their stead. They need to put up or let the Buhari administration do the right thing. I will ingeminate what the president said. There is a coffin in Nigeria, we either put corruption inside it or we all get inside the coffin. There is one thing I know that these individuals have to be dealt with by any means necessary, I don't care if they are from Daura. I had to do it. If I did not the individual would have continued with impunity. Until you teach these individuals lessons, they will never stop. They are so wicked and heartless that they think they can do and undo. These individuals have pushed the country to the wall and we have to fight back by any means necessary.
       Isaiah 5 vs20 says "How terrible it will be for people who call good things bad and bad things good, who think darkness is light and light is darkness, who think sour is sweet and sweet is sour ". This is another thing that is killing Nigeria. Nobody wants to tell the truth. Nobody wants to face the reality, nobody wants to bell the cat or Rock the boat. I say let's rock their ships because that's the only way the others will learn and stop their nonsense. It does not matter if the individuals are from Niger delta, Ekiti, Daura, Asaba, Otueke, Port Harcourt, or wherever. Anybody that says we should let these individuals go free is a thief and they themselves should be investigated because "show me your friend and I will tell you who you are ". But my caution to the government is not go after civil servants or "little people" only. They should concentrate and be harder on the people or leaders in government. So our leaders should be put in jail longer than these petty thieves running around. This little people are stealing from individuals but the so called leaders are stealing from millions of Nigerians in their states or in the country. What makes it worse is that they send this money to all foreign countries and the countries in turn give us "aid" for different projects in the name of helping us. This is our money in the first place. How crazy is that?
       An Igbo adage says "A stubborn fly follows a corps to the coffin." If some individuals want to follow corruption inside the coffin, so be it, that is less people the country has to worry about. Please people, let's help Buhari administration put corruption in the coffin.

       Dr Odion Ojo is a physician practicing in the United States. He was an Edo Governorship candidate under AD Party in 2003. Since that election he has always been involved in whatever way he can in what's going in the country, trying to contribute his own little part to make the country a better place for all of us and for the generations to come.