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Continued from Part II
t was kleptocracy bearing its fangs again. Kleptocrats had come to their national headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria to launch a new affront on the Nigerian people. They came with bags full of cash - cash predominantly stolen from the Nigerian people and looted with impunity. They came for a shakedown, a spree that shocked the land and made nonsense of the Electoral Act and the various sections that frowned at donation limits for individuals and the donation of state funds for electoral purpose. They came at the invitation of the king kleptocrat in Aso Rock. This type of shakedown event has taken place at least three times at that venue in the last six months. Looting and gathering up money has become the number one use the venue has now become very well known for. The last launch at the Presidential Villa took place in October 2014. It was the launching of the foundation of one of Mr. Jonathan's friends at which Mr. Jonathan donated N250 million from the national purse. Just like the Jonathan campaign launch that took place this last weekend, the names of most donors were not disclosed; it is now very typical of the Jonathan cabal not to release the names of donors - fearful and scared about consequences that may befall them in the years to come if they should be asked to account for the source(s) of the funds and, of course, the tax implications. The launching was a coming together of big time kleptocrats, sidekicks, fronts and errand boys who are responsible for pauperizing and impoverishing the Nigerian people through the looting of Nigeria's oil wealth (SURE-P, Oil Subsidy, oil block gifts, oil lifting, underperforming oil refineries, etc.), the banks and financial institutions who are being allowed to rob the poor and rip off their customers, and PDP politicians such as governors, ministers, presidential advisers, special assistants, personal assistants, etc., who have been allowed a free reign to loot state governments, federal government departments, agencies, corporations and parastatals.
In the same month of October, Jonathan was said to have received N98 million donations from some Nigerians and communities towards assisting him to purchase the PDP presidential nomination form. Am I deceived or fooled? I dey laugh! The form costs N22 million and Jonathan could not take from the over N400 million personal fortune he declared in 2009 to pay for his own form, tried but failed to give the impression that he could not afford to pay for the form by himself! Dishonesty has never climbed to this height in Nigeria before and insincerity has never been this crude and laughable. Despite repeated failures in lifting the people out of poverty, failure in providing basic health care, wanton failure in ensuring the security and safety of Nigerians, and unprecedented fiasco in its inability to secure the release of more than 200 Chibok girls from Boko Haram, Jonathan has been a very effective collector of cash and grabber of loot, the shakedown kingpin. Is any citizen going to respect such a man? A man who goes about his own personal business with brutal efficiency but consistently fail to deliver anything to the people is not the kind of man Nigerians want anywhere near the executive office. The endless cash grab and the turning of the Presidential Villa into a casino, the new home for wheeling and dealing, is just too shocking to comprehend. It has further damaged the name of the villa and brought it into disrepute. The Jonathan kleptocracy is a concern to every right-thinking Nigerian and a source of anger for the millions in our nation who cannot afford a decent meal in a day. They wonder where the billions being bandied around came from, they are surprised that such funds are truly in the hands of a few individuals while millions have nothing, and they are disgusted that at the head of the cabal who daily rape and loot their nation is the man tasked with defending the nation, its resources and people. It is no wonder they consider him selfish, greedy, and hugely corrupt.
"Okon, have you read the papers today?"
"The Free Readers Association assembled at the yunson today but the vendor no show."
"Oh, sorry to hear that. Here, read the few pages I found on the road."
"Abasi mbo! Jonathan raised N21 billion inside Aso Rock today! Is this true?"
"Yes, it is true…."
"Are you telling me there is that much money in Naija?"
"There is much more, it is just not going round."
"N21 billion and one woman donated N5 billion! What business is she into?"
"All sorts of business, I guess."
"Is she lifting crude oil or is she collecting oil subsidy?"
"Maybe she's lifting crude oil because N5 billion is not a small money."
"Ete, I want to see her tax returns for the last ten years! I do not even recognize her name. Who is she?"
"She is an Abuja fixture and member of the cabal."
"But N5 bii..biii….bi..bi..billion! Where did she get that kind of money from in today's Nigeria?"
"She said it was from her and her friends in the oil sector. Is Deziani one of those friends or is she fronting for Deziani?"
"Perhaps Shagaya was cloned from Diezani... and her friends don't have names? Nigerians who love to drop names suddenly don't have names, suddenly nameless?"
"Na so we see am! That is Jonathan for you! He is the king kleptocrat."
"And that professor who also dropped 5 billion, is he really a billionaire or was it 5 billion books or N5 billion the man dropped?"
"They said it was N5 billion."
"Is that not the Mass Mobilisation for Social and Economic Recovery man who served under Babangida? He is one of those who enjoy to serve - always at our service, always ready to serve the nation in any capacity! How nice and patriotic - NOT!"
"Yes, that was the man. He is now serving Jonathan and making a job of it."
"I can see that, but where did he come by N5 billion and who are his faceless friends? All the friends are faceless though they put down billions of naira! This is new in Nigeria."
"It is the way Jonathan wanted it - to protect thieves and looters - and when donors are faceless you have every reason to be worried because the money could be stolen money or even drug money."
"I marvel that 21 PDP governors donated N1.05 billion. Is this their personal money or did they donate the funds on behalf of their states?"
"But who were these governors and which are their states? Nearly all the states owe workers and pensioners billions of naira in unpaid wages and pensions that ran into three, four months yet they are able to donate taxpayers' money to Jonathan?"
"Could Jonathan be more important to the governors than the people who voted them into office? Ibrahim Lamode must have read this story."
"And you think Lamode cares or even has the power to prosecute anyone Jonathan has not told him to prosecute? It is all a joke and an insult to our people."
"All hail kleptocracy and coordinated looting! There is no vacancy in that position since Jonathan himself is the coordinating minister for looting. Did you notice that donations made by various private companies and businesses were lumped together under sectorial headings?"
"I know. Here they are: construction sector (N310 million), transportation and aviation (N1 billion), real estate (N4 billion), oil and gas (N5 billion) energy N500 million), food and agriculture (N500 million), power (N500 million), and auto sector (N450 million)."
"This is nothing but a grand shakedown in the very style of the mafia, but who are these nameless companies who donated this much?"
"Who knows if they really and truly exist? Sectorial name means nothing without company names, but whatever is the reality at this cash-grab event we all know that the Nigerian mafia is at work right inside Aso Rock, and shakedown is their best ability."
"But what do you make of Tunde Ayeni who donated N1 billion on behalf of himself and his group of friends and another N2 billion on behalf of another set of friends, the friends he said came from across the nation?"
"I will ask him to show me the source of his money and provide a list of his friends for the world to see. Surely, he has something to hide."
"You are very concerned about the source of his funds and his friends' sources, too? By the way who is the man?"
"He is the chairman of Skye Bank and a lawyer who graduated from ABU in 1990."
"He graduated in 1990 and he is donating billions of naira right, left, and centre?"
"That is Nigeria for you. Here they make hard working fellows look like lazy men and honest men look like fools bereft of ideas."
"But that is the trademark of Jonathan and the hallmark of his administration. Poverty and unemployment has been on the rise since he took over while wealth in the hands of a few has more than doubled. We know many of the young billionaires are fronts for the thieves."
"We need decent and upright men to rescue the nation. There are still some decent and honest men and women in Nigeria and we need them more than ever before to deliver the nation from kleptocrats."
"To set the nation free from those worship mamoney and are at home with looting?"
"Obasanjo said Jonathan has taken corruption from the corridors of power into the sitting room, dining room and bedroom of power."
"The launching inside the presidential villa just confirmed that corruption has moved into the inner recess of Aso Rock, the headquarters of Jonathan's kleptocracy."
Continued from Part II