Nigeria has, in my belief, three major religions: Islam, Christianity, and the “rest of them.” By the rest of them, I refer to the other minority religions, including traditional ones practised in the country.
Whatever the religion may be, one thing is incontestable: none of them preaches stealing or illegally dipping into the public till, as is common with top government officials entrusted with funds meant for judicious use. These officials belong to all religions, as both followers—whether Ustazs, Born-Agains or just believers—partake in the mad rush for self-enrichment from the Commonwealth.
I am a Muslim, deeply steeped in the Islamic faith, but not knowledgeable enough to preach to others or look down on others in a “holier-than-thou” attitude. So, this should not be misconstrued as preaching.
There is a story about the head of a very big and rich government-owned company who had hardly assisted anyone. One day, his biological father asked him for just N7,000 to buy medicine for his (the father’s) brother, who was very sick. The son claimed not to have the money. But as fate would have it, he (the company’s top man) died less than a week later, with no apparent illness.
When the father learned that his late son had left behind billions of Naira, some in the bank and the rest hidden in his house, he told the people who were invited to share the inheritance that he would not take one Naira of the money because he believed it belonged to the company. In other words, his late son had stolen the money from the company.
Even those who are taught that they will account before God for how they made their wealth are not immune to the desire to illegally acquire from the Commonwealth. Such people seem not to believe that one day they will have to account for all the wealth they amassed, in both money and other assets.
The inordinate desire to accumulate a stupendous amount of money is not limited to top public officials or top politicians; it extends to the business community, which may be even richer than the so-called public or “elected” servants among us. There is an old saying that “there is no great wealth free of great graft.”
A video clip currently trending on social media shows a large store filled with bags of rice being emptied from the original bags and repackaged into smaller quantities. Suddenly, some of the stacked bags cascaded down on the four people doing the “dirty” work. Only one of the four escaped with some effort, while the rest, completely covered by the fallen bags, apparently died.
Nowadays, it is no longer fashionable to be a “mere” Naira billionaire in Nigeria because the currency has greatly depreciated. One “must” now have Naira in trillions to be known as a rich person who has “made it.” This explains the do-or-die attitude of some people toward getting a big government office or becoming a member of the National Assembly (NASS).
As is often stated in many write-ups by concerned compatriots, ours is a country where people want to make lots of money by hook or by crook—and mostly by crook—including sometimes taking innocent lives in the process, as is often done by cultists or advanced-fee fraudsters, commonly known as 419ers. Some even engage in the illegal trafficking of banned substances to foreign countries, many of which have stringent laws against such activities.
A very touching video clip shows a Ghanaian Muslim lawmaker addressing his colleagues in that country’s parliament. After enumerating the futility of corruptly acquiring mundane wealth and the vanity associated with it, he asked them about the whereabouts of some of their past powerful leaders, like Kwame Nkrumah, Jerry Rawlings, Addo, and others. “All of them are dead, leaving the country to continue without them,” said the parliamentarian.
He might as well have been talking to Nigerian “elected” NASS members, since this is a country that respects those who have seemingly unlimited money, which can be used to do as one pleases, with no one asking questions about its source. The owners of such wealth are instead celebrated, admired, respected, and even fawned over by most people in society.
As the Ghanaian lawmaker asked his colleagues about the whereabouts of that country’s deceased leaders, Nigerians who are desperate for political power should ask themselves the whereabouts of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, our only Prime Minister, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the only Premier of the North, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a former Finance Minister and de facto number two citizen, and Chief Chris Oboh, among the trusted First Republicans.
I once wrote an article in which I asked the number one citizen of a northwestern state in the country about the whereabouts of his more illustrious statesman and former President and the 19 “powerful” governors who governed during his time. The President and all but two of the governors are now dead, leaving Nigeria to continue in even better shape despite their absence.
The likes of Malam Abba Kyari, the influential Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Malam Sama’ila Isa Funtua, an in-law to former President Buhari and ally to Malam Abba Kyari, Alhaji Wada Maida, former Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, Chief Emmanuel Iwanyanwu, and many others have all died in very recent times, leaving behind fortunes running into trillions of Naira. These fortunes are now shared by inheritors, some of whom, barely two weeks after their benefactor’s death, chartered an aircraft to take them to London, Britain, for shopping.
Again, where is Maidaribe, who, because of his extreme wealth, built a mansion made mainly of pure gold? Now, the magnificent edifice is used to accommodate very important guests who visit Nigeria. Even his offspring and other inheritors are not living in the house now.
It was a gory sight to watch a video showing the grave of a deceased person who was buried with what were perhaps some of his cherished belongings. The items included new dollar bills, a gun, expensive wristwatches, and some jewellery. All but the body of the dead man remained intact. But what was left of the body were just bones, not even an intact skeleton. Proof that all worldly acquisitions are left behind on the earth where the rich once lived.
Yet, most of Nigeria’s stupendously rich, including the “religious” ones, do not seem to think they will ever account before the Creator for the wealth they accumulated while alive. Even common sense should tell us that it is wrong and immoral to steal, not to mention stealing blindly and greedily from the government.
Stealing, only to “appease” God with Zakat, Tithes, or other forms of “supposed” assistance, will not grant us His salvation or the reward we expect in the hereafter.
May we be among the lucky few He always talks about in the Holy books.
Labaran wrote from Katsina.
