Agents Of The Rich Fleecing Dear Country To Dead

Agents Of The Rich Fleecing Dear Country To Dead

Farouk Martins Aresa

Africans have many ways of communications one of which is the Yoruba proverb that caution against the fleecing of dog that ends up killing both the dog and the flea. Ipa npa re, olohun npa aja. Before a revolution, we always witness celebration of greed in the high places while the working class is admonished for being poor because they are stupid and lazy. Indeed, many poor people spend so much of their time working two or three jobs, they hardly have time to think about how to milk the system. Yet, politicians and their agents demand more sacrifice from us.

They want to bring recurrent expenditure down by one hundred basis points per year in four years. In other words, by 4% in four years, just don’t get the rich mad. Ebele, if that is the radical change you promised for our future, you have started on the wrong foot. There are people like Nigerian trained Obiageli Ezekwesili ready to rock the boat you promised in Nigeria. Politicians may not agree with her echoing our voices on governors diverting local government allocation or Lamido Sanusi on jumbo salaries of politicians. We are waiting for Africa super-rich especially in Nigeria where billions are known stolen every day to hit them radically where it hurts, not hit the poor again and again.

Nigeria paid billions of dollars to Paris Club in interest and penalty that dwarf a loan the Country hardly needed then or now. In spite of OXFAM, Church of England, members of United States Congress and many respectable local and foreign economists crying out against powerful and rich countries taking such enormous amount from a poor African country, accomplices in World Bank worked out a deal, their greatest accomplishment, that made Nigeria paid more than we ever paid since the days of slavery.

We are in the days of greed is good because it is motivating and it is built on economic principle that has demonstrated the superiority of capitalist system of government. In order to be as successful, they must preach to Africa countries to move into the new millennium or perish. A fraction of their profit is calculated as foreign aid, development assistance, arms, genetically modified agricultural seed that can only be reproduced by big international corporations and foreign expatriates also bring them back huge profit. The suckers of these foreign aids see it as a welcomed development for Africa. None of all the aids combined to Africa is up to a billion of all the billions they took from Nigeria.

These same accomplices worked for World Bank, IMF and other International Thief Thief when they asked African countries to devalue our money. Africa middle-class has never recovered while IMF regretted, the accomplices, enemy within, kept quiet. There is a big complex in Africa that if you worked for international companies you must be better than those local economists from African universities; they will never listen to anyway. It does not mean all local economists are pure since we still remember respectable Mr. Ani, head of Peat Marwick that taught Abacha how to hide his loot. Another Nigerian President looking for foreign miracle, called one of the accomplices back again for encore, asking poor Nigerians for more sacrifice. What about shared sacrifice?

Segun Aganga and Okonjo-Oweala never emulate super rich billionaires in United States of America led by Warren Buffet that came out with conscience asking President Obama to ignore the no tax mongers because they are ready to share the sacrifices with the middle and working-class. The L’Oreal heiress Lillian Bettencourt of France also led her super rich colleagues declaring their willingness to pay a special contribution. More of the super-rich in other countries may follow. Of course there are people that will say the smart ones amongst the super-rich are being proactive before revolution starts, so that the unruly angry mobs will know which of the rich volunteered to pay more and which of them are scrooges. If foreign accomplices asking only the poor for sacrifice worked “miracles” for Obasanjo, it must work “miracles” for Ebele, abi no be so?

African leaders, politicians and business men and women always chose the rich outside the Continent to copy even when they leave their people in abject poverty. So it is not unlike them to compare their profit, salaries and loot to others as if they live and make their money there. Recently, Tea party politicians have made a name for themselves as selfish extremists willing to do anything to make a buck including bringing the Country down; hidden as tax breaks when tax is the lowest in generation in US. Watch World Bank, IMF and other International Thief Thief economists following the US Tea Party. Don’t get the rich mad. It is only the poor that can be asked to sacrifice.

Every country has law against aiding and abetting and receiving stolen property. But many banks in developed countries specialized in it while the law enforcements turn a blind eye to such crime even when they know enormous amount of money is coming from poor developing countries. While it is true that the super major international companies and rich also establish headquarters outside their countries to beat the tax system; poor countries suffer most from such practice. No accomplice researched that?

Rich people made countries poor by shedding their responsibilities for shared sacrifice. In Greece people do business under the table to avoid tax and the rich hide their money. While it is true that younger generation supporting the older generation social security and healthcare ratio calls for some creative modification, the developing countries have more than enough young population that are left uncared for. The only similarity is the greed of the politicians using that excuse to deny services in order to launder money.

Jobs creation is not a slogan, 100 basis points cannot create jobs. There is no choice, it is either massive job creation or another recession that will dislocate political parties, families and countries never seen since the depression. This is beyond ethnic ideology or political leaning except those deceiving themselves ready to kill a country with their greed as long as they gain power to allocate more financial resources to their pockets. By creating jobs either by government or business, demand for products and services is increased and more taxes are collected to take care of the young and old that spend all.

Greed is back in a big way. As the income gap between the rich and the poor widens, those fortunate enough to be born to the right parents, places and time think their achievement is through hard work, while others are losers that would not pull up themselves by their bootstraps. Never mind those without straps or boots. So the saying goes like if you work hard, no matter where your area code, zip code, postal code, postcode or location, you can make it. But we know quality of life depends on location.

Anyone that discourages hard work is a fool but a bigger fool is the one born with a silver spoon that derides those with born wooden spoon in their mouth. Sometimes the rich forget where they make their profit. If they do not increase middle-class, purchasing power and sell to the working-class in great numbers, they do not have demand and if there is no demand, they cannot make a profit. Even the rich that make money by trading in money and other creative financial transaction need the invested pension, savings, banking credit cards, loans and mortgages of the working–class. If they fleece dear country to death, there is nothing to go after but one another.