£220bn stolen by Nigeria's corrupt rulers

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | (Filed: 25/06/2005) | By David Blair

[Mrs. Don-o]

The scale of the task facing Tony Blair in his drive to help Africa was laid bare yesterday when it emerged that Nigeria's past rulers stole or misused £220 billion.

That is as much as all the western aid given to Africa in almost four decades. The looting of Africa's most populous country amounted to a sum equivalent to 300 years of British aid for the continent.

Former leader Gen Sani Abacha stole between £1bn and £3bn The figures, compiled by Nigeria's anti-corruption commission, provide dramatic evidence of the problems facing next month's summit in Gleneagles of the G8 group of wealthy countries which are under pressure to approve a programme of debt relief for Africa.

Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, has spoken of a new Marshall Plan for Africa. But Nigeria's rulers have already pocketed the equivalent of six Marshall Plans. After that mass theft, two thirds of the country's 130 million people - one in seven of the total African population - live in abject poverty, a third is illiterate and 40 per cent have no safe water supply.

With more people and more natural resources than any other African country, Nigeria is the key to the continent's success.

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, set up three years ago, said that £220 billion was "squandered"... The stolen fortune tallies almost exactly with the £220 billion of western aid given to Africa between 1960 and 1997. That amounted to six times the American help given to post-war Europe under the Marshall Plan.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Tsunami aid pouring directly into the pockets of the rich --- Oil-for-Food going to Saddam's elite and their powerful internationalist/UN friends --- and now this.

I'm sure that over 40 years, there must have been thousands, tens of thousands of people, Nigerian, their African neighbors, British, Americans, and others, who knew what was going on.

I've come to the point of view that all government foreign aid should cease, stop, halt. I want to help these people. I will give through my church. I do not want to give one more cent through government agencies of any sort.

God sees. God will judge.

[conservative cat]

I got an email from one of the Nigerian leaders. He just needed my bank account information.

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

I got the same Nigerian email. And as I am a well respected, honerable and close business associate, I was asked to send my banking information ASAP so that his untold trillion$ would be safe, AND I would get a huge amount for doing so.

/s

[Flyer]

Hmmmm. . . and just what do you know about this?

[RightWhale]

What's with this Pounds reference. Make it $US, it sounds like a lot more.

[upchuck]

We have been ripped off for years by these scumbag bastards.

I'd hazard a guess that maybe 5% of the tax dollars we've given them have actually done some good. Not a very good return on our money, is it?

Somebody needs to tell President Bush about this so he can quit wasting our tax dollars down this rathole.

[Right Wing Assault]

So what did they do with this loot? That would sure buy a lot of hoes!

[xp38]

As I said on a Live 8 thread African aid should be renamed

Aid

[scott7278]

I got an email from one of the Nigerian leaders. He just needed my bank account information.

You got that email too? He told me I was the only one. That better not be my money that there running around with, either. I'm starting to get a little suspicious!

[scott7278]

there=they're