Hunger in the land: Nigerians may revolt – Sen Sani

Laments Nigeria squandered $3trn oil money in 56years

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has been advised not to handle the current economic recession in the country with kid gloves as it may result into revolution by Nigerians against their political leaders both present and past, if a lasting solution is found to end the downturn on time. Senator Shehu Sani (APC Kaduna Central), who gave the advice in an interview with journalists during the weekend to mark the 56th Independence Anniversary of Nigeria in his office, lamented that the country squandered over $3trillion oil money within the last 56years. He therefore called for extension of corruption war to all the previous administrations, including when President Buhari was the military Head of State so as to get enough money to pump into the economy to solve the current economic recession. According to him, the recession may end up to be the ignition depressed Nigerians have been waiting for over the years to fight their leaders for giving to them nothing but bad governance over the decades, which according to him, culminated in squandering of over $3trillion oil monies within the last 56 years by successive governments. He posited that one of the ways of fighting the recession was for the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration to enlarge the scope of its anti corruption war beyond the Jonathan’s administration to others before it with the sole purpose of recovering the Nation’s monies and resources stolen by corrupt minded past administrators. “We are in recession, but the recession must be tackled headlong by the federal government and all stakeholders in the polity towards getting out of it very quickly or else, it may lead to revolution, more so, going by what the Nigerians masses have been facing over the decades as far as governance was concerned, the totality of which was bad governance characterised by unbridled greed and massive corruption by over 90% of the administrators whether elected or appointed. “The 2015 election supposed to have ushered us to a new hope of unity and progress for our country. But I think, there are a lot of mistakes that have been made in the last one year, one of the correction is the need for us to look forward in terms of bringing our people to the promise land and not look backward on crises we faced in the past. “In 1999 Nigerians were full of expectations, that this time around we get things right as democracy build a new foundation under freedom and constitutional rules and a new country but 16 years from 1999, we have a history of rape, panic destruction, violence and hopelessness. The political ruling elite in Nigeria think power is an opportunity to butcher the resources of the state, see power as opportunity to dominate other Nigerians and to protect their class interest. “If we don’t succeed this time around, the nation will be heading to revolution, because what Nigerians have done in 2015 by voting for change is to see it happening very positively and it must be delivered, and if not delivered, revolution cannot be ruled out with Nigerians trooping out en masse on the streets to challenge their leaders and saying no to their sufferings, enough is enough! “Over the last 56 years, Nigeria has earned over 3trillion US dollars from crude oil sales but there is hardly 25 per cent of that fund issued to show for the achievement of that large kind of money”, he stressed.
Senator Sani who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, stated further that catching both new and old thieves in the current war against corruption would help in not only getting money to reinflate the economy but rekindling the failing hope of the masses in their country. His words: “The fight again corruption as it is now is about recovery and arrest, if the Government says the money recovered under Jonathan is not enough to service the economy, then, we should move to Yar’dua and Obasanjo administrations too, move to Abdulsalami, Abacha, Babangida, Buhari himself as a military ruler then, and to Shehu Shagari of the second republic. “We must go after the old thieves irrespective of the political parties they belonged to now as the government is going after the most recent ones. For example, there was a senate committee that probed the independent power project, where it was said that over $16 Billion was looted and we have not seen anything done to the revelation made by the former CBN governor now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi over the alleged $20 billion missing from the NNPC account under Jonathan etc”.