The Looters Colony
By Dr. Tunde Odeyemi
Virtually all the major news media went agog with the headlines on the wanton mass looting and destruction of properties in many cities of Nigeria, which came about as a reaction to unarmed protesters’ shootings at Lekki toll gate in Lagos. Trillions of Naira, not to mention the loss of lives that are not quantifiable were said to have been lost due to this action.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has emphasized that looting will obviously bring negative effects on the economy. Noteworthy of all the looting is the looting of many warehouses all over the Nation where covid-19 palliatives, mainly food items meant to be distributed to the vulnerable or, as they say, the poorest of the poor in the society, were kept. Attempts to criminalize the looting spree were met with justifications from some stakeholders that there is hunger in the land.
There are so many questions that are begging for answers here. Is there a real hunger crisis in the land? Who participated in the looting, the general public, or hoodlums as claimed by some people? Did the hoodlums take advantage of the ‘EndSars’ protest and the state of the Nation to engage in the looting? Did some State Governments indeed hoard the palliatives? Why were the palliatives not distributed to the poor whom they are meant for? Who indeed are the losers on this looting spree? Is it the Government, the Citizens, or the Organized Private Sector who sacrificed to make the donations to Nigerians through the Government?
In a bid to answer some of these questions came forth another question, can the looting by the hoodlums be compared with the magnitude of looting of the Nation’s commonwealth by Politicians at different levels of Government? Suppose Politicians can loot the Nation’s wealth. Why not the downtrodden that are presumed to be hungry for them to loot warehouses that were full of massive food supplies? On a lighter mood, the Government of a State where looting was carried out threatened the looters to return the looted items in 72 hours. The threat was responded to by another threat to the Government to return the Nation’s wealth within 72 hours. It sounds funny, but there is a deep message in the joke. To worsen the situation, a particular politician in a State was alleged to have used some of the covid-19 palliatives as takeaway gifts for a private party.
Some of the hoodlums were said to have loudly exclaimed that, is this food, seeing the enormous volume of different types of food stacked away in a warehouse. This, to a large extent, shows that there is indeed hunger in the land. However, should hunger justify the reckless looting action? Should the fact that politicians are alleged to loot the Nation’s commonwealth justify the people’s massive looting? Looting is synonymous with robbery, plundering, burglary, and what have you. What serious reason can ever justify it? How can a Nation where looting is preeminent ever develop? Is Nigeria a colony of looters?
Dr. Tunde Odeyemi is Public Relations Consultant based in Lagos
