looter of Africa
View PDF | Print View
by: Admin
Total views: 584
Word Count: 683
PARALLELS BETWEEN POST-SHAGHARI NIGERIA AND POST-NYERERE TANZANIA A 1986 Nigerian government investigation concluded that at some point between 1978 and 1983, corrupt politicians were transferring $25 million a day abroad. Was that ‘a day?’ But much of that oil windfall was also squandered by the ruling elites and wasted on prestigious projects such as a brand new capital at Abuja at a hefty cost of $18 billion….. It will cost over $100 billion when completed, whenever that may be. Whose idea was that to move the capital? Brilliant: To start a huge construction project ever in the history of Africa and award contracts based on who is willing to split the money from our oil revenues with the President and cabinet ministers to pay for the construction. The goal was to pay themselves to construct their own capital and to steal as much as they could in the process before some General wakes up one morning with a bad headache and stage a coup de-tat.
Only Nigerians could have come up with that one right? Wrong. Tanzanians also moved their capital to some deserted place which sits in a middle of nowhere. That one is still moving 30 years later. But Tanzanians are poor and their monthly revenues cannot even be compared to a quarter of revenues that Nigeria generates from only a day’s worth of oil exports! Furthermore, it can be argued that former President Julius Nyerere, the capital mover himself, is the only African leader never to have profited from the looting of his own country. In-fact let’s briefly look at the looting of Africa – Tanzanian style. It is a well known fact that Tanzanians spent more money liberating southern Africa than they ever spent building their own capital. With Africa now liberated and Nyerere gone, the fox is now guarding the chicken as the current looters of Dar-es-Salaam are having a ball with no one keeping an eye on them. In the meantime, Julius Nyerere must be turning in his grave on daily basis.
The modest man who died without a mansion (They had to build one for him by force) was an intellectual giant of his own kind. Nyerere was a blessing for Tanzania and many African leaders were envious of the fact. Since Mwalimu Nyerere’s death however, Tanzania has seen a number of controversial deals worth billions of dollars which essentially places that once proud nation for sale to the highest bidder. From a multi-million dollar outdated air traffic control system to an expensive presidential jet that even the British cannot afford, the looting of Tanzania has suddenly gone high-tech. Last time I checked, Mr. Tony Blair was catching a ride on a British Airways jet for an official trip overseas. Did I mention that Britain is a superpower? (United Kingdom: GDP: $1.903 trillion) Yes it is, but they cannot afford a jet like that of Tanzanian president and his ‘friends.’ Strange? Not at all. While one might argue that British Airways is a top Al-Qaeda target, but that does not stop Mr. Blair from hitching a ride sometimes with his family alongside, traveling with 300 strangers on board, opening a can of worms that could include potential hijackers and terrorists, sitting next to one of the most powerful man in the world. Mr. Mark Mwandosya, the minister behind the Tanzanian presidential jet purchase once said to the media: “You are attacking the pride of the nation,” meaning “Ikulu One” as they call it after a well known presidential jet called ‘Air Force One.’ That of course was a joke but behind the scenes, Tanzanian officials who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, have privately disclosed that the Nyerere created intelligence apparatus of Tanzania, which is low key but known to be one of the most notorious in the region, (See ‘The killing of General Imran Kombe’ and the death of Prime Minister Edward Sokoine in the next section) strongly urged the government to get a jet with sophisticated navigational systems in order to protect the president from copy-cat assassins
About the Author
ray kitilya
Rating: 0.23