THISDAY

WHAT THE CORRUPT WILL NOT TALK ABOUT

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The corrupt entities in Nigeria in the days of the locust had one thing in common, one agenda in common, one focus in common, one target in common, one project in common and this is how to steal as much as possible from the national till the bubble burst in 2015. When Buhari won in 2015, one of the looters suspecting that I may be given an appointmen­t in Abuja came to teach me how to make it when I get to Aso Rock. I patiently listened to him, playing along as if I was interested. It was then that I had firsthand knowledge how the Peoples Democratic Party and their cronies plundered Nigeria for 16 years. It was worse.

It has been bad business for the looters since President Muhammadu Buhari came in 2015. They have survived three years of PMB and from the look of things it looks as if their agonies will not even go away in 2019 as PMB is likely to continue. This is their worst nightmare. The fear is understand­able. How can we survive till 2023? How can we survive even beyond 2023? Whatever achievemen­t that has been recorded in Nigeria since 2015 means nothing to them. For them and their cronies what they want is a return to status quo ante. They pretend nothing is going on in Nigeria. They tell you that people are dying of hunger. Ask them what those people who are dying of hunger were doing before PMB came in, they have no answer. They cannot see the massive near 500 federal roads under constructi­on across Nigeria. They cannot see or hear about the humongous progress in power industry as well as the housing sector. They will not talk or hear about the standard guage railway project across Nigeria.

They will not talk about N500 billion Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Fund that has empowered close to 12 million rice farmers who are now millionair­es. They will not talk about $50 billion foreign reserve from $24 billion in 2015. They will not talk about the unpreceden­ted rice revolution in Nigeria. They will not talk about the N50 billion set aside by the federal government through Bank of Industry to assist fresh graduates to start their own businesses. They cannot see or talk about PMB’s effort to address man-made insecurity in the land. They will not hear or talk about the feeding of millions of school children across Nigeria. They will not talk about the deadly blow PMB has given to corrupt entities. They will not talk about the trillions recovered, the hundreds of houses seized and the hundreds of cars confiscate­d.

They will not notice that PMB is doing more jobs with less income. They will not hear or believe that PMB has been crowned the anti-corruption champion in Africa. They will not like to hear that PMB is loved because he can be trusted, because he cares, because he knows where he is going, because he is dependable and because he stands for something. They will not hear that PMB is worth only $150, 000 in his account. They will not believe that PMB is fighting for them and taking all the risks for them.

Such is life! Joe Igbokwe, Lagos

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