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Nigeria’s Wealth Must Not Be Buried in a Family’s Account

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Nigeria’s Wealth Must Not Be Buried in a Family’s Account. By George Omagbemi Sylvester — published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com

Nigeria’s Wealth Must Not Be Buried in a Family’s Account.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester — published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com

 

“Stop the looting; start the lifting; our oil, our schools, our future.”

Nigeria sits on a treasure trove – OIL, GAS, ARABLE LAND, MINERALS and a HUMAN CAPITAL POOL BRIMMING with TALENT. Yet year after year, decade after decade, those riches vanish into a narrow CUL-DE-SAC: private bank accounts, shell companies, luxury mansions and politically-protected empires. This is not accident. It is deliberate. It is theft dressed in law, in contracts and in the cloak of impunity. Make no mistake: when a nation’s wealth is siphoned into a few family accounts, the country dies a little more each day; its hospitals crumble, its children go hungry, its schools rot and its future is mortgaged to foreign lenders.

The scale of the damage is not rhetorical. Nearly half of Nigerians (an estimated 45–47 percent) live in poverty today, a backslide from gains made in previous decades. This is not HAPPENSTANCE; it tracks directly with a failure to translate national resources into public goods and inclusive growth. When resource rents are privatized, the social contract ruptures. The numbers come from the World Bank and national poverty assessments: tens of millions of Nigerians count themselves among the dispossessed while national treasure is diverted.

Corruption in Nigeria is structural and systemic, not episodic. Transparency International ranks Nigeria among the countries with the lowest public-sector integrity scores, placing it deep in the lower third of the global table. That ranking is not just a badge; it is a diagnostic: weak institutions, opaque procurement, entrenched patronage networks and a justice system that is slow or selective. When you have that ecosystem, state wealth becomes private wealth.

We must be precise about who benefits and who loses. In the past years, Nigeria’s anti-graft bodies reported significant recoveries (nearly half a billion dollars in one year) a sign both of the scale of grand corruption and the capacity of law enforcement when political will aligns with teeth. Yet recoveries are only part of the picture: they point to an enormous stock of looted assets and a flow of stolen revenues that have already damaged infrastructure, education and health for generations. Recoveries are APPLAUSE-WORTHY only if followed by institutional reform that prevents RE-LOOTING. Otherwise, they read like mopping the floor while the tap remains open.

Why does this matter? National wealth is the fuel for public services. When royalties, taxes and export receipts are diverted to private coffers, the obvious consequences follow: SCHOOLS lack TEACHERS, HOSPITALS lack MEDICATION/TABLETS, ROADS remain UNBUILT and SECURITY FORCES are UNDER-RESOURCED. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have repeatedly warned that revenue leakages and weak governance constrict fiscal space for development and leave ordinary citizens exposed to austerity that benefits no one but the already wealthy. The IMF’s policy teams have documented how mismanagement and corruption eat into budgets that should be used for human development.

This is not a problem without solutions. Though solutions demand ferocity; legal, institutional and civic. First: transparency. Every contract, every licence, every major procurement in extractive sectors must be published, audited and put in the public domain. Citizens have a right to know how much was earned, how much was spent and who benefited. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and similar frameworks exist for a reason: sunlight is the antiseptic that kills many corrupt arrangements. Countries that have enforced publishing and independent audit have seen substantial reductions in leakages and higher public trust. Lack of transparency is the first oxygen upon which looting breathes.

Second: strengthen legal institutions and make enforcement impartial. It is not enough to recover stolen assets when prosecutions are rare, sentences light and legal processes drag on. The EFCC and other bodies must be independent, funded and legally insulated from political interference. Fast-track courts for corruption cases, asset-freezing orders that take effect immediately and international cooperation to follow illicit flows must be scaled up. The recent record of asset recovery shows capability; but capability must be matched with consistency and due process.

Third: redesign public finance to minimize single-point vulnerabilities. RESOURCE-DEPENDENT economies must create sovereign wealth vehicles with strict governance rules; independent boards, multi-year budgeting rules and mandatory social spending floors that cannot be altered by one executive’s whim. A WELL-GOVERNED sovereign fund transforms resource volatility into predictable investment in education, healthcare and infrastructure. When properly governed, resource wealth becomes a buffer, not a temptation. The IMF and World Bank have repeatedly endorsed these mechanisms.

Fourth: rebuild civic culture and elite responsibility. No law can substitute a society that tolerates theft. As economist and global thinker Dambisa Moyo warns about dependency and poor governance, SUSTAINABLE GROWTH REQUIRES ACCOUNTABILITY and ELITE COMMITMENT to NATIONAL WELLBEING; not personal accumulation masquerading as public service. And as a salient voice in Nigerian public life, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has long reminded us that fighting corruption requires citizens at every level; there are no bystanders in a functional democratic fight against kleptocracy. These are not empty slogans: they are the moral spine of reform.

There will be pushback. Those who have enjoyed privatized state wealth will invoke NATIONALISM, BUREAUCRATIC COMPLEXITY, or “POLITICAL WITCH-HUNTS.” Ignore him. This is not about revenge; it is about recovery, fairness and survival. It is about replacing patronage with performance, secrecy with scrutiny and capture with competence.

Nigeria’s Wealth Must Not Be Buried in a Family’s Account.
By George Omagbemi Sylvester — published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com

Let us be blunt: ACCOUNTABILITY IS NOT A COSMETIC EXERCISE. It will require targeting HIGH-LEVEL ENABLERS; accountants, lawyers, bankers and foreign intermediaries who design and conceal schemes. It will require cooperation from international financial centers, tougher ANTI-MONEY-LAUNDERING ENFORCEMENT and a refusal to treat recovered assets as political bargaining chips. When the law is crisp and the will is fixed, stolen wealth returns to public use to build SCHOOLS, to widen CLINICS, to make POWER available for factories and farms.

Finally, Nigerians must demand a different social bargain. Vote, protest, litigate and monitor. Civil society must be endowed, not harassed. Journalists must be free and protected to follow stories that lead to offshore accounts and private islands. Citizens must refuse the bargain where family enrichment substitutes for national stewardship. The country’s wealth must be a NATIONAL INHERITANCE and not a FAMILY HEIRLOOM buried in an invisible account.

To paraphrase the blunt truth of our times: wealth hidden in a family account is wealth wasted for a nation. Every naira that disappears from public books is a teacher who will not be hired, a clinic that will remain without medication/tablets, a road that will never be paved. If we do not act, we consign our children to inherit a nation of truncated promise.

This is not pessimism. It is a call to arms. Nigeria’s riches are not fated to enrich only a few. With transparency, legal rigor, institutional redesign, international cooperation and civic insistence, we can finally ensure that what belongs to Nigeria benefits Nigerians. We must refuse the theft of tomorrow’s opportunities to pay for today’s ostentation.

“STOP BURYING OUR WEALTH IN PRIVATE GRAVES” should be more than a slogan; it should be a NATIONAL DEMAND. The time to speak it aloud, loudly and collectively is NOW.

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Nigerian Prophet Begs Federal Government to Stop Killing of Christians, Backs Tinubu’s Second Term

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Nigerian Prophet Begs Federal Government to Stop Killing of Christians, Backs Tinubu’s Second Term

 

Abuja – Rev Prophet Dr Hungbenu Michael Olusegun, Founder of Celestrial Deliverance Church of Christ in Zhidu Village, Abuja, has made an emotional appeal to the Federal Government to stop the killing of Christians across Nigeria while also throwing his weight behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term in office.

 

Speaking from his Abuja headquarters, the Prophet declared that leadership is a continuum and that Nigeria’s ongoing reforms require stability and time to bear fruit. He said, “Politics has nothing to do with religion. The ballot box is not the altar. Whether you are from the East, the North, the West, or the Yoruba community, we are one people under God.”

 

Rev Prophet Dr Hungbenu Michael Olusegun used the opportunity to make a special appeal to the Federal Government, saying, “I beg the Federal Government, in the name of God and for the sake of humanity: Please help stop the killing of Christians across this nation. From the villages to the cities, too much innocent blood has been shed. Targeted attacks on Christian communities must stop. We plead for stronger protection, justice for victims, and lasting peace.” He acknowledged the pain of insecurity, especially the killing of Christians and farmers across the Middle Belt and Northern Nigeria, but also noted verifiable security gains under President Tinubu including over 3,000 hostages rescued from bandits and terrorists in the last 12 months, deployment of new attack helicopters and surveillance drones to flashpoints, and a reduction in oil theft from over 400,000 barrels per day to under 200,000 barrels per day.

 

He said, “The issue is security, and security is everybody’s business. We cannot build a nation if our people are not safe. But we must also acknowledge progress.” He added that a second term would allow the administration to consolidate its security architecture rather than restarting with new leadership.

 

On economic reforms, Rev Prophet Dr Hungbenu Michael Olusegun argued that President Tinubu’s first term has witnessed the most audacious economic reforms in Nigeria’s recent history, including fuel subsidy removal saving the nation over ₦400 billion monthly, a unified exchange rate attracting over $2 billion in foreign portfolio inflows, the Student Loans Act benefiting over 100,000 students, and local government autonomy. He argued that no major economy in the world has successfully reversed course after landmark reforms within a single term, adding that abandoning the reform agenda now would plunge Nigeria back into uncertainty.

 

Rev Prophet Dr Hungbenu Michael Olusegun stressed that President Tinubu’s emergence broke a dangerous cycle, noting that Tinubu is the first Southern Muslim to lead Nigeria since 1993, balancing power after eight years of a Northern President. He pointed out that under Tinubu, the South holds the presidency of the Senate but the Speaker of the House is from the North-West. He urged, “Let the East join hands with the West. Let the North embrace the South. Let the Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and all 250 plus tribes say: ‘Nigeria first.’”

 

Drawing comparisons to global examples such as India’s Narendra Modi, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, and Indonesia’s Joko Widodo, the Prophet argued that second terms deliver long-term prosperity. He said, “Nigeria is not an exception. If we change leadership every four years, we will remain a building site forever.”

 

Rev Prophet Dr Hungbenu Michael Olusegun closed with a prayer and a charge: “Nigeria will only rise when we rise above division. I am not speaking as Ogu, Yoruba, Igbo, or Hausa. I speak as a Nigerian, and as a minister of the gospel of peace. God bless President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” He urged all Nigerians to pray for the nation, support security agencies, and give President Tinubu the opportunity to complete what he has started. The press release was issued on 20th April 2026 from his church in Zhidu Village behind Piwoyi Village off Lugbe Airport Road, FCT Abuja.

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₦100 Million Bribe Offer Rejected As Police STS Operatives Expose Criminal Syndicate

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₦100 Million Bribe Offer Rejected As Police STS Operatives Expose Criminal Syndicate

 

 

 

The Special Tactical Squad (STS) of the Nigeria Police Force has recorded a major breakthrough in its sustained crackdown on the vandalisation of critical national infrastructure, with the arrest of two notorious suspects and the recovery of railway materials valued at over ₦400,000,000.

 

Acting on the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, psc(+), NPM, to decisively tackle acts of economic sabotage, operatives of the Force Intelligence Department – Special Tactical Squad (FID-STS), under the leadership of ACP Victor Ogbeide Godfrey, executed a swift, intelligence-driven operation that led to the arrest of Chisom Goodnews (32) and Ahmed Adamu (22) on April 9, 2026, in Akwanga, Nasarawa State.

 

The suspects were intercepted while transporting vandalised railway infrastructure in a calculated attempt to evade detection. Recovered from them was a trailer truck with registration number KRB 355 SX, conveying railway tracks and sleepers weighing approximately 60 tonnes, cleverly concealed under sacks of groundnut shells. Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspects are part of a well-coordinated syndicate responsible for the illegal removal and transportation of railway materials from Bauchi State to Ilorin, Kwara State, representing a significant threat to Nigeria’s transportation infrastructure.

 

Speaking on the operation, ACP Victor Ogbeide Godfrey revealed that in a desperate bid to compromise the officers and frustrate the arrest, the suspects offered a staggering sum of ₦100 million as a bribe to allow them passage with the illicit cargo. The offer was, however, outrightly rejected by the operatives, who remained resolute in the discharge of their duties. This firm stance underscores the Nigeria Police Force’s renewed commitment to professionalism, integrity, and its zero-tolerance policy towards corruption.

 

Further investigations are ongoing to apprehend the intended receiver of the stolen materials in Ilorin, as well as other members of the syndicate, while efforts are being intensified to recover additional exhibits linked to the criminal network.

 

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has reiterated the Force’s unwavering resolve to bring all perpetrators of economic sabotage to justice, warning that acts of vandalisation of public assets will not be tolerated. He assured that all individuals found culpable will be made to face the full weight of the law.

 

₦100 Million Bribe Offer Rejected As Police STS Operatives Expose Criminal Syndicate

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Nigeria Police Initiative Targets Youth Vices As POCACOV Undertakes Strategic Visit To Cross River

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Nigeria Police Initiative Targets Youth Vices As POCACOV Undertakes Strategic Visit To Cross River

 

 

As part of a two-day strategic working visit to Cross River State, the National Coordinator of POCACOV (Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices), SP Orvenonne Ikwen, Ph.D., embarked on a series of high-level engagements aimed at strengthening partnerships, deepening community participation, and advancing the non-kinetic approach to crime prevention across the state, in line with the vision of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, psc(+), NPM, whose policing philosophy is rooted in community partnership, public trust, proactive engagement, and preventive policing aimed at building safer communities across Nigeria.

 

The visit commenced with a courtesy call on the Commissioner of Police, Cross River State Command, CP Rashid B. Afegbua, psc, mnips, who warmly received the National Coordinator and commended the POCACOV initiative for its significant impact in tackling cultism, bullying, drug abuse, gangsterism, school violence, and other social vices affecting young people and vulnerable groups. He reaffirmed the Command’s commitment to supporting proactive policing strategies that promote trust, restore public confidence, and ensure lasting peace and security across Cross River State.

 

 

In continuation of the visit, the National Coordinator paid a courtesy visit to the Honourable Commissioner for Youth Development, Barr. Ijom Ukam, who described the POCACOV visit as timely and highly strategic, especially during what he referred to as a volatile and transitional period in society. He emphasized that the engagement reinforces the collective responsibility of government, institutions, and citizens in addressing the growing concerns of social vices among young people.

According to him, “The primary responsibility of every government is the security of its citizens,” noting that the adoption of the non-kinetic approach by the Nigeria Police Force through POCACOV demonstrates that the Police truly care about the future of Nigerian youths. He commended the Nigeria Police Force for embracing preventive policing and pledged the Ministry’s full support for POCACOV activities in Cross River State.

 

 

Barr. Ijom Ukam further declared that POCACOV has come to stay in Cross River State and assured the National Coordinator of sustained collaboration in mobilizing young people, creating awareness, and implementing youth-focused interventions that will help eradicate crime and social vices from the state.

 

 

As part of the media advocacy component of the visit, SP Orvenonne Ikwen also visited prominent radio stations including HIT FM and Sparkling FM, where she engaged media stakeholders on the need for continuous public sensitization, youth mentorship, and strategic communication in crime prevention. She stressed the critical role of the media in shaping positive narratives, promoting civic responsibility, and supporting national efforts to discourage cultism and other harmful behaviors among youths.

The National Coordinator also met with content creators and digital influencers in the state, including popular creative personality MC Koboko, to strengthen collaboration in using social media and entertainment platforms as tools for advocacy and youth engagement. She emphasized that content creators remain powerful voices in shaping public perception and influencing positive behavioral change among young people. She called for stronger partnerships with creative stakeholders to amplify the message of POCACOV and promote peace, responsibility, and social values across communities.

She noted that POCACOV remains a major strategic initiative of the Nigeria Police Force designed to complement law enforcement with prevention-focused solutions, reflecting the IGP’s vision of policing that is rooted in public trust, inclusiveness, and strong community partnership.

The working visit further strengthened collaboration between POCACOV, the Cross River State Police Command, the Ministry of Youth Development, educational institutions, religious leaders, traditional institutions, parents, and the media, all united in the shared goal of building safer communities and securing a better future for the younger generation.

The visit stands as another strong testament to the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to preventive policing, youth empowerment, and sustainable peacebuilding through stakeholder engagement and strategic partnerships.

 

Nigeria Police Initiative Targets Youth Vices As POCACOV Undertakes Strategic Visit To Cross River

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