Saturday SUN of 21st march 2009 reported the disappearance of $200,000 from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) office complex in Abuja. This time, we didn’t hear that the money was misappropriated, embezzled or given as bribe, we were made to understand that the money simply developed wings and flew away in a ‘the more you look, the less you see’ style.
My conclusion after reading the highly embarrassing news item was that this was only possible In Nigeria. That in this time of hardship when the whole world is running from pillar to post, a body of people who are supposed to be learned enough to differentiate their right arm from the left would be bold enough to announce to a nation in financial crises that $200,000 in its custody just vanished, is to say the least a huge indictment on us as a people.
Today 2nd April 2009, I read in The Nation that the Police was yet to make any meaningful headway in its investigations. Now I wonder what they are still trying to find. By every reason, the magic winged $200,000 should have had a safe landing where ever it was headed at takeoff by now and we all know that the Police are simply trying to act like something was being done.
What baffles me is that the NFF where the money vanished from has a leadership. In some other parts of the world by now those persons would either have resigned or would have been put under great pressure from both the people and the Government to explain how such a huge amount would vanish before their very eyes.
My worry here is that soon, it would be a forgotten issue and the thieves would settle down to their feast. With such a success, we might have just developed for ourselves another very potent way of stealing government money. All you might now need to do as a Chief executive would be to withdraw an eye popping amount, keep it (or claim to have kept it) in a safe in the office, and the next day, call a press conference and announce that the money has vanished.
This therefore must not be left to die off like that. Bolaji Ojo-Oba and Sani Lulu, Secretary General and President of the NFF respectively who I believe are public servants must be held responsible for the missing money and they owe us, over 150 million Nigerians a chunk of who are avid football followers an explanation.
It is stories like this that you read of and you begin to wonder what sense Dora’s re-branding hullabaloo makes. With what terms do you sell a nation where $200,000 simple vanishes into thin air in broad day light to an outside world where every dollar is accounted for?
Sylva Nze Ifedigbo
www.nzesylva.wordpress.com
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