WHAT SHOULD THE GOVT DO WITH RECOVERED LOOTS

There is no doubt that any sane mind and intellectually whole being will marvel and ponder at the outrageous figures in that announcement. To imagine that such whooping amount of monies were held up in the hands of some individuals has not really settled in and honestly I doubt it if I will totally absorb such a fantastically shocking revelation. To imagine that more will still be recovered is too complex for my senses to accept.

Having recovered such funds, the next question is how the monies will be utilized. There are many assumptions on how President Buhari will disburse these monies. Unfortunately, the tight lips approach of the administration on most matters has not helped the citizenry understand its policy implementation and actions as would have been desired.

Despite this vague knowledge on the use of the funds I have come across more people suggesting that the monies will be spent to fulfill the school feeding campaign promise made during the last election. I honestly wish, hope and pray that this (or any of such) is not true.

I need to make some clarifications here. Feeding school pupils is not a bad thing to do. We had same in Nigeria some 30+ years ago and those who benefitted from such programme will confess that it did make life worth living in school. There are countries that still do this today. It is a laudable programme for any government that chooses to implement it. What makes the case different in Nigeria? We are at a point in this country where our future has never been is a more bleak state. Gone are the days that “money is not our problem, our problem is how to spend it” Today, how to generate money, account for it and spend it judiciously are not just problems for us but also an epidemic.

While the APC government will be scoring a point by using the funds to feed pupils, it will be an extremely cheap point in the wake of what we know of our economy today. A quick look at the total asset recovered so far indicate that the government has enough funds to build a new refinery from scratch. Yes, a brand new refinery! It will not only be foolish of the government to choose to buy food with such funds rather than build a refinery, it will also be criminal!

Irrespective of the number of children that are fed today, the ultimate hope of their parents and that of the nation too, is that they grow into capable, hardworking and responsible adults who would go out to earn a living for themselves, their family and keep the nation growing. This cannot be achieved by buying them lunch or breakfast. It can only be achieved if government puts in place mechanisms that will sustain their dreams in future. To use these funds to provide them meals today is to mortgage their future for a bowl of today’s porridge. It is not worth it. With the same tenacity demonstrated in the recovery of these loots, this government should show the same in the disbursement and utilisation of the funds for the collective benefit of the Nigerian State.