By Ezekiel Enejeta
LAGOS FEBRUARY 11, 2017 – Recession ravaged Nigeria in the most recent couple of weeks has been engulfed in shocking revelations, discoveries and recoveries by the country’s premier anti-graft agency, the economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC).
It was heartbreaking to most Nigerians, especially the majority of the masses in the forefront of the brunt of hardship caused by present economic recession when The EFCC recently raided a building in Kaduna where millions of hard currencies were allegedly hidden in fire-proof safe.
The money – $9.8million and 74,000 pounds – belongs to a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Andrew Yakubu, the EFCC said.
In the midst of the chaos and torture of the masses brought about by the sad news, the EFCC recorded yet another breakthrough in the course of their investigation of the former minister of Petroleum Resources, Deziani Alison- Madueke..A whooping $37.5m worth of house at Banana Island, Lagos has been discovered.
So much blame has gone round already by the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari over the widespread corruption, impunity and lack of political will to save in the time of oil boom by previous administration. With recent revelations, it will only embolden the government of the day in throwing more tantrums of blame while paying little or no attention to any economic recovery plan.
The economic challenges in Nigeria has affected almost all sectors of the economy including aviation, oil and gas, banking, manufacturers who has been worst hit by the recession due to the geometric fall of the Naira against the dollar. The naira exchanged at 506 to $1 dollar at the parallel market as at close of business on Friday 10th February.
The recoveries of stolen funds has not been making much impact in proffering a solution to ending the hardship in Nigeria, a report quoted Nigeria’s minister of information and culture as saying a total of N78 billion, and 3 million dollars has been so far recovered from the fight against corruption, but Lai Mohammed, has maintained that the looted fund recovered so far by government is a far cry from what the country needs to revive the economy.
While the giant strides recorded by the EFCC are a commendable show of patriotic service to Nigeria, the federal government should not celebrate yet as Nigerians want more than recovery of loots. An actionable economic recovery plan is what the country needs at this time, but it is yet to be seen how the federal government plan to come up with a blue print.
Ezekiel Enejeta is a social media strategist, analyst and activist. He is also a seasoned journalist and pitches his interest on finance and economy reporting.
SOURCE: FINANCIAL WATCH
