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The dire effects of corruption on the Nigerian economy

Let me try to paint a vivid picture of what $200 billion USD would mean to a layman. If you were to put $200 billion bills end to end, yo...

Let me try to paint a vivid picture of what $200 billion USD would mean to a layman.
  • If you were to put $200 billion bills end to end, you could make 20 round trips to the moon!!
  • $200 billion could have translated into millions of vaccinations for children, which could have saved the lives of so many kids.
  • $200 billion could have become thousands of kilometers of roads constructed.
  • $200 billion could have become thousands of schools built.
  • $200 billion could have become thousands of hospitals in every town in Nigeria.
  • $200 billion could have become 100% water supply in all towns and villages of Nigeria.
  • $200 billion could have resolved our electricity problem, giving us 100% supply to every home.
Let me however remind you that we are only talking here of the money that is lost only in the oil sector of Nigeria. Let’s paint another picture. Dubai has become one of the wonders of the 21st century and the wonder of Dubai itself is called the Burj Khalifa building. It is the tallest building in the world measuring 2,723 ft. For comparison’s sake, it was built for 1.5 billion USD, which is “chicken change” to our politicians in Nigeria.

If we are now saying, that in 6 years we lost 200 billion USD, with that amount of money judiciously used, every state capital in Nigeria will have their own Burj Khalifa building. That on its own would make Nigeria a tourist attraction, more than Dubai and maybe more than the United States of America. Nigeria only has 36 states. After constructing this massive structure in every state, we will still have enough money to build over 70 more of such structures.

What I am trying to say is that the harm corruption is doing to our country is so bad that I advocate for every Nigerian, at home and abroad, to join the crusade against this deadly practice in our nation. We have to fight it with everything we have.
“The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.” – Kurt Cobain
Because of corruption:

1. We don’t have enough universities. As a result, our young men and women are scattered all over the world looking for admissions and spending billions of parental hard earned money in the process.

2. Our teachers and professors cannot be properly paid, leading to incessant strikes, boycotts and closures.

3. Both large and middle scale projects are left uncompleted; buildings, airports, highways, hospitals, stadiums etc. litter the whole country.

4. Millions of children are dying of malnutrition and lack of food.

5. So many families go to bed on empty stomachs.

6. Our maternal and child-mortality rate is one of the highest in the world because of our substandard medical services.

7. Our roads claim thousands of lives each year because of their deplorable state.

8. Investments are kept out of our economy.

9. More than half of the population of Nigeria lives on less than 1USD per day.

10. The actions of militant groups in the Niger delta and even such deadly organization as Boko haram, Kidnappings etc. are all fueled directly or indirectly by corruption.
“Corruption is the enemy of development, and of good governance. It must be got rid of. Both the government and the people at large must come together to achieve this national objective.” – Pratibha Patil.

Before I go into talking about why I believe Nigeria’s economy would eventually overtake America’s economy, let me first of all give you a picture of what the stolen 200 billion USD could have done to Nigerians.

1. The cost of 1000 MW of a gas power electricity plant is 1 billion USD. With $200 billion USD we could produce enough electricity to rival any developed country. For example South Africa produces just over 40,000 MW, UK also. We can produce 4 times that amount, and with electricity, our development would be hugely accelerated.

2. $200 billion USD will provide safe and clean water to the entire world for 20 years. (8 billion people) because the price for providing water for the whole world is 10 billion a year.

3. $200 billion USD can provide MMR vaccine for every child in the world, 20 times over.

4. $200 billion USD will pay for the registration of all aspiring Nigerian youths who want to register for WAEC and UTME at the rate of 25, 000 Naira per student. Let’s say Nigerian youths are 70 million in number, it could pay for them for 20 years consecutively.

5. With $200 billion USD we can sponsor the whole United Nations relief operation for 15 years consecutively, bearing in mind that for the year 2014 the budget for relief operation was $13 billion USD.
6. With $200 billion USD we could feed the entire Nigeria population of 170 million people free for 10 months.

7. The biggest banks in Nigeria, for example First Bank or Zenith Bank are priced at $20 billion dollars. We could have 10 more of those banks.

8. With $200 billion USD we could sponsor over 2000 Nigerian’s mission to Mars. India spent 75 million dollars on their mission to Mars.

9. With $200 billion USD we could rebuild Nigerian airways and equip it with the latest Boeing 767 for the price of 188 million USD each and have in our fleet 150 of such.

10. Not too many people know that Nigeria does not only assemble cars, but now manufactures own cars from scratch. These Nigerian manufactured vehicles are as good as Nissan’s, Opel, or any foreign made cars. Innoson IVM pickup trucks is what our Nigerian Police uses today. At $20, 000 USD per truck, we could buy 1 million brand new trucks for the Nigerian police for the next 10 years. In such a case, crime will have no place in Nigeria.

11. With $200 billion USD we could pay the salary of our Youth Corps for the next 1,500 years, if each of them receives 20,000 Naira monthly.

12. $200 billion USD would provide 2 laptops for every Nigerian alive (170 million Nigerians). If the price of a laptop is 100 thousand Naira.

13. When the tragedy of 9/11, 2001 happened in America, the whole world stood still because of its magnitude. But with $200 billion USD we can build 50 world trade centers. Because each one of the newly built ones cost 4 billion USD. That is to say we can have a world trade center in every state capital in Nigeria.

14. The most expensive car in the world cost 4 million USD, it is called Lamborghini Veneno. With $200 billion USD you can buy 50,000 of such cars.

15. If the Nigerian president earns 12 million Naira monthly. With $200 billion USD we could pay him for over 2000 years.

16. With $200 billion USD, Nigeria could be having 10 Dangote companies if we assume he is worth $20 billion USD.

17. If a national stadium costs $50 million dollars to build, with $200 billion USD we could build a national stadium in every state and still have left overs.

18. With $200 billion USD, Nigeria could have 1000 F-35C lightning II fighter jets in their Air force. Each of the jets cost $200 million each.

19. With $200 billion USD Nigeria could own her own continent or Islands. The world’s most expensive Island Lanai Island in Hawaii cost only $500 million dollars. We could purchase 400 of those islands and have 400 little countries under Nigeria.

20. If you were given $200 billion USD and you spent 1 million Naira an hour it would take you over 10 thousand years to spend it all.

If Nigeria would successfully annihilate corruption in our society, we have enough resources, zeal, passion, and enthusiasm to take Nigeria to a new level of economic development. Our greatest resource is our people. I hope I was able to convince you about that in one of my previous articles called WHEN NIGERIA TEACHES AMERICA. Again allow me to say that from all my years of experience and traveling all over the world, I have become convinced that there is no group of people like Nigerians.

The zeal and enthusiasm of Nigerians is without comparison. Hardly can you find a people with such amount of zest, fervency, gusto, spirit and commitment as Nigerians.

Indeed NIGERIA- GOOD PEOPLE GREAT NATION!! In the words of the late Prof. Dora Akunyili.
Nigerians know what the EFCC is. It is the acronym for Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. It was set up by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration to study, research, investigate and prosecute all forms of corruption related activities and financial crimes. It is one of the most feared and reputed institutions in the Nigerian society. This is especially true under the leadership of its first leader, the very zealous Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

Talking about $20 trillion USD however, remember that the Nigerian economy is presently worth only $510 billion USD. For your information the whole European Union is worth only between 17- 20 trillion USD. That is talking about all the 28 countries that are part of the European Union. America which is the single richest country in the world is worth 16-17 trillion USD by GDP as of 2013. At the same time China’s GDP was worth 10 trillion USD and Japan 4-5 trillion USD.

Now my friends, I’m sure you can see where I deduced my argument from, that Nigeria’s economy can still outgrow America’s economy. If the total worth of the American economy today is 16-17 trillion USD by the GDP 2013 and the amount of money stolen from Nigeria in the past 50 years is $20 trillion USD. It means that Nigeria and Africa in general is indeed a wealthy continent that could become the future economic giant of the world, if we could only get it right. The first thing we must get right is declaring war against corruption.


“Fighting corruption is not just good governance. It’s self-defense. It’s patriotism.” –Joe Biden. - african leadership magazine


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