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So, the Rich Can Also Cry? By Kabiru Tsakuwa
Like the previous reforms in the banking sectors, pundits have already concluded that the ongoing exposure and shaming of bank defaulters and their subsequent arrest by the EFCC is politically motivated. They based their arguments on the assumption that, for yar’adua to have a smooth sail in the next presidential primary; he had to smooth the rough ground very well. This according to them can be achieved by getting rids of those perceived to be closed to the last despot who possessed enough purse to wreck havocs to whatever ambition the incumbent president might have in the 2011 election.
Others said that the north which was unduly short changed by the last reform has long been nursing a thinly veiled grudges, while waiting for an opportunity to exert sweet revenged. Proponents of this school of thoughts had reasoned that, how could one section of the country controlled 99% of ownership of the banks in a complex country such as Nigeria without some form of attempt at redressing the glaring imbalance? They posited that, it is just a matter of time for that so-called consolidation to hit the Zuma rock!
Another dimension to the issue is the attempt being made to rationalize the dismissals of the hitherto powerful chief executives of the five banks and injections of four hundred and twenty billions (420 billion Naira), into the crises ridden banks as being holistic and without ulterior motives attached to it in the long run. That unlike the previous attempts, the current reform is no more than yaradua’s effort to sanitize the banking systems of the many rots which bedeviled it as a result of the reckless abuses of privileges and wanton disregards for ethical standard practices by its supposed handlers.
True or false, to the average Nigerian poor all the above and many more stories are merely routing news only. He is not by any measure an interested party in the whole debacle. And is therefore at liberty to enjoy the circus show and have the last laugh while the interesting drama lasted. To him, the daily struggle to have at least two square meals per day is too much of a problem and also enough of a distractions in its own right. So, for all he cares, the entire bank MDs plus their editors who have been giving them clean slate over the years and the now exposed and shamed debtors are partners in the unwholesome acts and should be arrested and penalized accordingly.
On this note, the Efcc must beam its search-light on the media houses that have been whitewashing them and showering them with dubious laurels of achievements before the bubble finally busted for their glaring culpability.
Yes, it is not a question of enjoying someone’s misfortune or being afflicted with the African pull-him-down-syndrome (PDS), far from that. But somebody should ponder to ask himself, at the time when the now dismissed chief executives connived to issue out many of such un-collateralized loans to their privileged friends, have they for a fraction of a second taken the poor into confidence? And at such periods when they were lavishly ensconced in their comfort zones quit oblivious of the peculiar Nigerian survival wahala; have they given a hoot to the pathetic plight of the poor? What conscious effort have they put in place in the revitalizations of real sector of the economy where the poor can find solace?
We the poor masses are not gullible not to know the many unnecessary bureaucracies and bottle necks thrown in the way of the N70 billion naira federal governments textile intervention scheme for well over four years which would have reduced the alarming unemployment in the land; while a well connected individual could get over 80 billion naira just for the asking within days? How about the agric loan schemes for small and medium farmers and entrepreneurs? In short, how sadistic can all these be, with all the atrocities vividly fresh in our minds to even contemplate pitying such economic saboteurs?
Aside all these, the earth shaking revelations in the banking sector has become an eye-opener for many reasons. First, the poor has now clearly understood that, not every stone that glitters is gold. And the often brazenly displayed opulence amidst squalor is all but a ruse; as smart-aleck with access to the dubious bank managers can get depositors money and instantly change his lowly status to something else instantly!
By this sordid revelation, it is crystal clear to the poor, that indeed the rich can also cry. This much has been proven over the last couple of days, with many of the defaulters now said to be selling most of their movable and immovable assets in an efforts to repay the depositors and shareholders money back. And in the process, are crying for the way the super regulator goes about it without giving them enough notice to prepare endless litigations. They also reasoned that, for the CBN to publish their names in the dailies, it had breached their fundamental human right to confidentiality and contractual agreements. But what rights are they demanding now that most of their dubious actions in the comfort of their cozy offices have led to the present economic woes? Have they cared to think even for awhile, about the fundamental rights of the masses to respectable and descent living as enshrined in the constitutions which their various none performing loans have over the years denied?
These bandit capitalist with unbridle arrogance and avarice deserved no mercy. The crime they have committed against humanity is liable to stringent penalties. And were it committed in some serious countries like China, many could possibly have ended up in the hang man’s noose. Therefore, Government for whatever reasons should not hearken to their cries for mercy. For the tears being shed are crocodile in nature, fake and deceptive. They deserved no respite and should all collect their comeuppance fully to serve as deterrent to other would be defaulters!
For the hapless poor, when next you see a mighty building in the highbrow areas of our major cities or flashy cars on the rickety death traps call Nigerian roads; don’t ever get unnecessarily intimidated. Because, it is either part of the non-performing loans that is now being aggressively recovered by the hot regulator from Kano or formed part of the money meant for your upkeep in your local, state or federal government ministries or agencies as the case may be; which were sadistically taken into private pockets, and which have over the years denied you most of the basic social amenities you deservedly crave for; thus leaving you in current ugly and sorry state!
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