A national embarrassment!

Last week, Nigeria officially apologised to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after about 200 tonnes of date fruits the kingdom donated as Ramadan gifts to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) were found on sale in markets in Abuja and other parts of the country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which tendered the apology, expressed “disappointment” over the “unfortunate turn of events” and said the matter is being investigated to avoid a repeat in the future.

If we know anything about this country, this will be the end of the matter. The investigation into the matter will continue until a time when everything will be forgotten and things will continue as normal.

Sadly, this is not the first time this is happening. Both local and International aid agencies and civil society organisations have shouted themselves hoarse over the hunger and starvation in the various IDP camps scattered all over the northern parts of the country. But the Nigerian government continued to deny the reports. Even President Buhari at a time came hard on those raising the alarm claiming reports by local and international humanitarian agencies detailing the high level of deprivation in the war-ravaged north-east Nigeria were exaggerated. He said the United Nations and other private humanitarian groups are deliberately hyping the level of the crisis for financial gains. Not long after, incontrovertible evidence emerged that local authorities re-bag and divert rice donated by philanthropic organisations and well-meaning individuals for the IDPs.

Also ,the UK Guardian of Tuesday 13 September, 2016 reported protests by angry camp residents over the stealing of food meant for the residents while they are left to starve to death. The paper reported that many residents of the camp complained that the best feeding ration they got was once a day. The paper quoted a camp resident thus: “In the night they load up vehicles with food and take it away to their houses…But I can’t complain. [A local official] said that if I complain he will tell soldiers that I am a member of Boko Haram and they will kill me.”

Not long after, some brave Nigerian journalists succeeded in penetrating the camps masquerading as refugee workers. Their reports are much worse than we imagined. The reports are chronicles of extreme hunger, starvation, death, total neglect, sexual and psychological abuse by the government and its agencies.

What is more, the Senate investigation into the management of over N5 billion funds made available by the federal government for use of the IDPs and managed by the Presidential Initiative in the North East (PINE) revealed mind-boggling fraud and mismanagement where the suspended secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, took liberty with the funds awarding phony contracts indiscriminately to himself or his associates and accepting kick backs while those at the camps are left to die of hunger. We recall the president refused to sack the now suspended SGF and, for a long time, defended him until the defence began to sound hollow.

The tragic case of Nigeria is that even when these scandals are discovered, nothing comes out of it and no one held accountable. This only encourages impunity. We recall that even when president Buhari finally accepted the reports that relief materials were being stolen and ordered the Inspector General of Police to arrest the alleged thieves to make a public example of them in 2016, there is yet no record of anyone being arrested or disciplined in connection with mission relief materials for IDPs.

Shamefully, the presidency on Saturday confirmed that until now, over 50 trucks in every 100 trucks of food sent to the North-East to cater for those displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency were being diverted. But wait for it, no one has been indicted or punished but government will try to adopt another distribution strategy to cut down on the theft.

We need to remind the government that governance is not about clichés and good intentions but about capacity to effectively manage and govern. Unfortunately, this government is showing utter lack of capacity and incompetence all through exposing the country to international ridicule and disgrace all the time.

Editorial