Bernard Madoff who is probably one of the biggest fraudsters in the history of mankind has been sentenced to 150 years in prison. When I read the story, what came to my mind was what if he was a Nigerian in Nigeria?
With the amount of money available to this man to play with, do you think he would have even be convicted let alone being sentenced? I answered myself and my answer to my question was NO and no one will blame me for answering NO.
Why, you do not need to think much to remember that Lucky Igbinedion the former governor of Edo State was convicted of misappropriation of funds and money laundering etc. The court even agreed that he stole billions of naira meant for Edo people. With such knowledge of how much he stole from the poor masses, all the just judge could do was to fine Igbinedion N3million. Wouldn't he pay that from his bedroom? After all recently a governors butler was reported to have been able to steal as much as N400m from his Oga's bed room without his oga noticing. you can imagine how much is inside the house. Therefore I think a fine of meagre 3 million naira is an insult to the masses whose wealth has been looted.
Madoff had all the money to buy the judges like Igbinedion but the judges in the US are not for sale. He has to face the punishment due to him. A good case of the law is no respecter of persons.
And who does not know James Ibori and how much he has stolen. But Jamie walks in and out of Aso Rock like a man walks in and out of his toilet. His name has been struck out of the list of corrupt past governors. And you would not expect Uncle Musa to do otherwise when Jamie bankrolled his election. Sam Egwu and most other governors who were in the corruption list have been elevated as ministers and various other public positions. Which other better way can someone glorify more than what Uncle Musa is doing? These are people who have made more people poor than maddoff did to Americans. These governors stole from the public where which 70% live below poverty line. Do they not deserve more than 150 years sentence. Maddoff victims were mostly the rich. If Madoff were to be a Nigerian, I bet he would not even pay a dime, he have been rewarded with encomiums and public appointments. In some parts of the country, he would get chieftancy titles from the traditional ruler if only he will part with N50 000 or even less.
How long will it take before we rescue ourselves? Nigerians rise up to the occasion. Our destiny is in our hands. These cabals are individuals. They cannot defeat 140 million people. It only takes the silence of the righteous to pertuate the injustice of the wicked.
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3 years ago
agaba:
ReplyDeleteI understand your frustration with the laxity of the Nigerian legal system and complete adulation of the "impartial" American judicial system. But I offer, rather strongly, that this is not a very convincing way to compare social systems. A one-case scenario is probably a poor way to understand how things function in these two, or even any group of countries. It might serve you well to investigate the series of high profile public offenders that have gone free in the US just because they had the resources to influence the legal process, and on the other hand, many cases in Nigeria where individuals were brought to justice irrespective of their social standing, wealth or network.
Whether your point comes through as convincing or not depends largely, but not only on this: you may have to provide clearer justification of why you think countries like the US and Nigeria are at all comparable.
Good luck in your quest.