How not to help.

by Eze Eluchie

The absurdity inherent in most ‘developmental aids’ given to so-called ‘Low and Middle Income Countries’(LMIC's) by the so-called ‘High Income Countries' is typified by the real life story of the homeless man who was given a pair of U.S.$100 boots by a police officer on the streets of New York.

The Police officer (who had the 'good-sense' of making sure his act of ‘giving’ was caught on camera) had been celebrated as a unique ‘man-of-compassion’ and mention had been made of the officer being nominated for the Nobel Peace prize. Barely a week later, the same homeless man is, once more, barefoot again.

Lesson: Tackle the system which made the man homeless and not just give him shoes. For the LMIC’s where corrupt governments have rendered otherwise vibrant and prosperous economies aid-dependent – tackle the corruption behemoth and not give fake ‘international aids’ that ultimately trickle back to the same banks from whence the ‘funds emanated in the first instance.

At the individual level, do not merely as the saying goes, give a man fish, rather teach him how to fish: at the State level, do not merely give dubious 'loans' and 'developmental aids', allow markets access and integrated development. 

Picture: The New York city police officer's wasteful gift of a shoe to a homeless man.

Robbers in Government House!

by Eze Eluchie

Armed Robbers have truly taken over governance in Nigeria!

Persons outside of Nigeria who read the news item that N2Billion (U.S.$12.5million) will be spent to build a house for Nigeria's Vice President in addition to other princely sums to be spent to build houses for the Senate President, his deputy, the Speaker and his deputy and sundry other officials, will think that these are the first set of such officials Nigeria will be having or that previous holders of these offices lived in hotels or under trees?

Far from it! Under our former notorious president, Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian rulers adopted a novel criminal concept of selling off official houses to their occupiers for peanuts and having to build new ones for incoming office holders every time new ones are selected (not elected)!

Grand larceny clothed as 'capitalism'

by Eze Eluchie

Under a bogus 'privatization' scam, Nigerian authorities under the dubious Olusegun Obasanjo presidency, handed Aliko Dangote a most vicious monopoly over a basic building material in Nigeria - Cement. Part of Dangote's climb up the 'rich-list' on Forbes Magazine was due to this illegitimate monopoly. So vicious was the ‘monopoly that Obasanjo (and his then henchman, Nuhu Ribadu of the EFCC) went all out of their way to cripple all competition that tried to ensure availability of this essential product to Nigerians at reduced costs, including IBETO cement, to secure the Dangote Cement's monopoly.

Now that the price of cement is coming down, Dangote shamelessly moves to blackmail Nigerians, by amongst other things closing down Benue Cement Company (which like most other acquisitions under the privatization scam, was acquired for peanuts). It is beginning to dawn on many why there had been so much opposition to Dangote's acquisition of BCC in the first instance.

In saner climes, conduct as being exhibited by the Dangote Group is appropriately sanctioned with some time in a jail house - but not in our good old contraption.

A holistic restructuring and renegotiation of our contraption will spare us the continued negative impact of grand larceny clothed as 'capitalism'.

Picture: Chief Executive Officer of Ibeto Cement, Cletus Ibeto