Nigerians and the world, were taken aback when a sales clerk in the office of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Benue state, middle belt Nigeria, identified as Philomena Chieshe, reportedly said a certain =N=36 million kept in her custody was “spiritually” stolen from the vault in the office by a snake. The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board was reported to have suspended Chieshe and meted other disciplinary measures to her, while security agencies reportedly investigates the case.
While Nigerians pondered on what must have informed such story, another missing fund, to the tune of =N= 70 million, reportedly belonging to the Northern Senators Caucus was reported to peharps, been stolen by monkeys.
This came about after the dismissal of the caucus's ex-Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, who reportedly could not account for the missing money. The new caucus Chairman, Senator Shedu Sani, reportedly said, since the money could not be accounted for, maybe, this time, monkeys made away with it.
There is also the reported case of a mysterious fish, alleged to have peharps swallowed a missing =N=52 million meant for the renovation of Women Development Center, a contract reportedly belonging to South East Entrepreneurship Development Center (SEEDC) in Abia state, south-east Nigeria.
As ridiculous as these situations seems, there is red-flag alert that all is not well, and a pointer to the extend of decadence in the structure of the Nigerian system. The Federal Government, through its agencies, is believed to be investigating some of these allegations, while Nigerians, as usual make mockery of the situation through satires and cartoons, they also patiently await outcome of reported investigation(s).
Roving Informant went to the streets of Lagos, to get the masses reaction to this development.
An interviewee, a young man, who gave his name as Victor from Benue state, and who works in a Guest House in Lagos, gave his opinion about alleged missing funds currently making the rounds.
According to him "It is because we don’t have security in our country. I am from Benue state, when the news came out, I was surprised, how can they say snake swallowed money in the office? That is not fair. It is because we don’t have security in our country. They should be able to account for the money."
Do you think the Government doing enough to stop this trend? "I think the government should not keep quiet, they should try and arrest these people and get the money back. In this our country, there is no job, no vacancy, we can use this money to improve the country, not that they will carry it and say its monkey or snake that swallowed the money."
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| Broad Street, Lagos |
Our next interviewee was simply identified Yusuf, a tailor at Lagos Island. He has this to say: "What I make of the missing funds things is that
they take us for fools; they take us as slaves in this country. How can they
tell us snakes swallowed money, where, inside the bush or where? This is
insane and we accept it. What do we do, we make jest by posting elephants entering a bank to swallow money; we accept it as if we do not have any choice. I
think one-day; we will rise up against all these. They have no excuse for what
they do."
Do you think the Government doing enough to stop this trend? "I think this is a new system of stealing money in this country. Tomorrow,
we will still hear another story. As Nigerians, we all have the right to stand up and say No
to this trend".
Another interviewee, a senior citizen, who identified himself as Pastor Samuel Alege said: "This is not the
first time such thing is happening, only the magnitude has increased. It has been happening and it will continue to
happen, until we all agree to remove corruption from Nigeria. And immediately
corruption is removed, then we are ready to move forward".
As someone who has witnessed many administrations, what in your opinion, can be done to stop this trend? "It
will start from our religious background. The average Christian believes that ‘if
I do this, God will punish me’. An average person from another religion might believe that the money they are stealing is not anybody’s money. And people
of this mind-set are many, from the grass-root to the top, they occupy
positions in offices, and as long as we have this mind-set, the problem will
continue. Therefore, my take is that, religiously, we start from the beginning. If you are a Christian, you must not steal; likewise people of other religious believes. By the time we all agree, then the country will change.
Do you think the Government doing enough to stop this trend? The government
can continue to preach, the way they have been preaching. But to remove this
trend totally, from the root, it is from religion.
A Forex trader on Broad street Lagos, who hails from northern Nigeria, and who preferred to speak
on anonymity basis has this to say: "There is nothing
new there, good or bad; the people who are doing it know what they are doing. If
it is good thing there are doing, it is left to them. If it is bad thing there
are doing, it is left to them. Whatever they do, they have their conscience
that will judge them".
Corrupt practises affects citizens, especially the poor in a negative way. Corruption is a major set-back to Nigeria's emergence as a leader in the comity of nations. Like one of the interviewees pointed out, these mismanaged financial resources is supposed to be utilised in improving conditions and lives of citizens.
