29th January, 2013
The Chinese government on Monday handed over to Nigeria a 150-bed hospital, fully furnished with state-of-the-art equipment. The entire structure and furniture cost $12.5 million, about N1.9 billion.
The hospital located in Abuja will be used by Federal civil servants, some of whom have been stealing Nigeria dry. As President Goodluck Jonathan recently commented, some civil servants have more houses in Abuja than Nigeria’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
There is a lot of truth in what Jonathan said, judging by the disclosures in the police pension theft trial going on in Abuja.
One of the senior civil servants enmeshed in the most egregious looting of the past decade, John Yakubu Yusuf yesterday admitted stealing with his gang, over N27 billion of the police pension fund, out of a total N39billion.
For his admission of guilt, what lawyers call plea bargaining, Justice Mohammed Talba decided to punish him lightly, giving him a two year jail sentence, which he needed not serve, once he paid a fine of N750,000 on the three counts for which Yusuf admitted guilt. Yusuf will also forfeit N345million and a string of 32 houses owned in Abuja and Gombe. But he is spared of jail: In Nigeria, pen robbers are treated with reverence by the judiciary. The prison is meant for common thieves and armed robbers!
Nigerians have expressed outrage over this verdict and the EFCC last night re-arrested Yusuf, to face a new charge. P.M.NEWS does not know how far the EFCC can go on the latest move, but we can disclose that that Yusuf and gang loot could build at least 14 well equipped hospitals, the type that the Chinese donated to Nigeria on Monday.
Imagine, 14 well equipped hospitals, distributed in the six geopolitical zones. Imagine the millions of lives the hospitals could save, the billions our nation could save from overseas medical tourism. Imagine! Imagine!!.
All Nigerians can now understand why corruption has been identified as the greatest problem slowing down Nigeria’s march to progress, 53 years after independence from the British colonial masters.
Bayo Onanuga