UN, EU, G8, G20: Kettle Calling Pot Black By Sixtus Ezennaya

Looting of the treasury by the military and politicians and government officials, has become the greatest factors that has put Nigerians indeed Africans into the state of great need, lack, hunger and jeopardy. It is as inhuman as it is ungodly for one man or a clique of people by virtue of their privileged positions to steal huge sums of money from the collective purse of many thereby putting the citizens in dilemma. Worse still, the developed countries are accomplices in this crime as banks operating in their area, condone and conceal these ill-gotten wealth in the name of business secret thus inadvertently encouraging Africa’s ever lasting plunder, poverty and underdevelopment. By this connivance, the land becomes depleted of everything no meaningful development, unemployment, poverty, disease, kidnapping, sea piracy, terrorism, death etc. hence the state of helplessness prodding Africans into running away from African.



Until European countries, America and indeed the Security Council religiously, conscientiously and sincerely discourage and expose stolen wealth and above all help to return the loots, the mad rush legally or illegally for greener pastures outside African particularly European and USA would be unstoppable.



In the tight corner that some of these Africans found themselves, have prompted the exodus. Worse still, the misplaced and displaced aggression with which some of these aggrieved and hungry African immigrants struggle and hustle to “retrieve” the loot in the name of acquisition of wealth is why the high crime rate. This rightly corroborates the postulation of Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, that poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.



The exodus to USA, European countries etc might suggest that since UN, G8, EU, etc are complacent with the misrule, money laundering, injustice et al in Africa, the equal reciprocation is to emigrate to their countries and discomfort them or enjoy these loots with them. When a hunter lays ambush for an animal in the bush, the tsetse fly also lays ambush for the scrotum of the hunter. The acquiescence or connivance of the developed nations is certainly dirty politics, wickedness, sycophancy and hypocrisy of the highest order as UN, EU, US etc can only give Africans guns, weapons of war, relief materials, debt relief, mediation panels, or peace keeping soldiers when war breaks out instead of prevention of war by giving these Africans nations peace and justice via independence for those in need of it, discouragement of embezzlement of public funds, corruption etc. Until the archer drops his weapon, one being ambushed will continue to hide. The brain drain in Africa will continue until UN, USA, EU, etc respond to the cry of Africans for justice.



The worst aspect of the stolen wealth stashed away in foreign banks, is that they are used wrongly; in the sponsorship of coup d’etat, violence, wars, religious riots, terrorism etc. The circle of doom, poverty, exploitation, continues “when the deposited loot” is again loaned to African or third world countries via the IMF, World Bank or other international financial institutions. If America and European countries should have the effrontery, conscience and audacity to accept, welcome, condone, hide and conserve stolen or looted money, what justification have they to repatriate to Africa, illegal immigrants who want to run away from their plight caused by the senseless, selfish and ungodly action cum man’s inhumanity to man of these developed countries? By the way, when the Europeans invaded Africa for slave trade and plunder of agricultural and mineral resources besides colonization, who issued them with immigrant Visas to various African countries? If the Security Council cannot help countries looted of their treasuries to retrieve the loots by passing a resolution to that effect or freezing of the accounts of the depositors, what morality has the organization to fight terrorism or send troops to war-torn third world countries to maintain peace if it the same money looted from these countries treasuries which are stashed away in the banks operating in the member-states Countries that are used to buy arms for terrorism and war besides weapons of mass destruction. The irony and hypocrisy of it all rest on the fact that the donations, Aids, grants, etc to the pauperised African countries by the developed nations are interests accruing to loans to the third world countries by the Financial Institutions owned by the same developed nations where the never-do-well and big-for-nothing African rulers laundered these stolen money to. Criticising, condemning and castigating African military and civilian governments by the developed nations for money laundering while simultaneously accepting to hide or keep the loot safely for the “thieves”, tantamount to double standard and kettle calling pot black. Six and half a dozen are the same. If a mad man slaps you and you slap back, then both of your are mad.



The war against terrorism will therefore be meaningless and incomplete if the war against money laundering is left to thrive. As the body is the servant of the mind, so has the criminal act of money laundering parented the under listed societal problems like illegal immigration, kidnapping, hijacking, sea piracy, corruption, injustice, man’s inhumanity to man, hunger, suppression of the small nations or ethnic groups, unemployment, underdevelopment, arms trafficking etc. Do not believe those who tell you they love you but believe only those who show you they love you.



(An excerpt culled from the book, “The Catholic Church and Others” written by Sixtus Chibueze Ezennaya).