Conspiracy of the Rich

By Msonter Anzaa

A market scene source

“Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them” Ecclesiastes 4:1.

All over the world, human nature is essentially the same. Those who are privileged tend to take advantage of the less privileged. The rich are always obsessed with becoming richer. In Africa where law enforcement institutions are weak and there is a widespread loss of personal morality and no fear of God, this scramble for more riches is bloody and callous, taking what belongs to the general society and sharing it among the few. Ultimately, the rich become richer and more powerful, while the poor become poorer and weaker.

Nigeria has equally had a fair share of this tyranny of the haves against the have-nots. Nigerian public life is dominated by allegations, investigations and counter-allegations of crimes emanating from the untamed animalistic desire of the rich to become richer at the expense of the rest of society. The anti-corruption war has permeated every sector of human life so much that it is now an industry of its own, employing a large chunk of the population as thief-detectors, thief-prosecutors and thief-catchers. And the industry is expanding daily. It seems to me that in the near future, if this trend continues, there will be broadly only two forms of employment in the country – those employed to steal on one hand and those employed to catch them on the other.

During the many years of the PDP-led federal government, the art of stealing became a trademark of the rich, particularly those in government. And as we now know, our hard-earned resources were stolen in broad day light, with the thieves each congratulating the other and scheming together how to watch each other’s back. It was obviously bad market for them when Nigerians voted General Buhari – a reputable thief-hater and thief-catcher – as president. Since assuming office, Buhari has made it clear that there will be no hiding place for the thieves. Not only is he hunting them; he is also plugging the loopholes that were created to aid stealing. But the thieves are not letting up on the struggle to maintain their hold on the nation’s jugular. Buhari has refused to play to their tune by making available the American dollar which is the currency for stealing. Before now, dollar was so plenty-plenty that some politicians had it in Ghana-Must-Go bags in their houses. It was our money which they had converted to the dollar for the purpose of saving or spending outside the shores of our nation and beyond the reach of our domestic economy. It was what they used to fund their lavish lifestyles – importing Italian suit, shoes, German cars, American furniture and Chinese toys.

So when Buhari refused to sustain the dollar rain, they began to run from pillar to post, whipping up sentiments and seeking sympathy. They said things would become expensive in the country. They said life would be practically impossible in the country. They told Buhari that the dollar is needed to import the items that we consume in the country. Buhari – and I personally agree with him – replied that what we need to do is to strengthen local industries by actually reducing the influx of foreign consumables in the local market. So far, he has not yielded to their pressure. But the rich seem determined to punish the rest of us. Suddenly, prices of items have gone up in the market. Several items which are entirely produced here at home have also become more expensive. When consumers ask why, they are often told it is because the naira has depreciated against the dollar.

While the depreciation of the naira against the dollar has some natural consequences of its own, I believe that there is quite frankly, an ongoing conspiracy by the rich to inflict hardship on Nigerians and turn them against the federal government. Unfortunately, they also control the market forces. There is a palpable ongoing struggle between the rich conspirators and the rest of Nigeria. Those who are used to being patronized as “chief importers,” “major marketers,” “oil dealers”, etc., are not willing to relinquish their hold on the nation’s jugular. In the past, importation was a conduit they used to rob Nigeria. Some of the so-called oil marketers, for example, collected subsidy funds from the federal government and imported refined petrol quite alright, but rather than sell it at home at the subsidized rate, they took it through the backyard to neighbouring countries where there was no subsidy and sold at higher prices. Manipulating the scarcity at home which they created in the first place, they turned round and locked their filling stations and handed out the product to hawkers in jerry-cans to sell at neck-cutting prices in the black market.

The people of Nigeria must realize that notwithstanding the difficulties of the moment. We are on the right path for the change that our nation needs. We need some aggression on the part of the federal government in dealing with these thieves who want to drain life out of the poor Nigerians. The anti-corruption war must be strengthened. The federal government should ban the sale of petroleum products in jerry-cans. There must not be any black market anywhere selling fuel. Anyone caught with the product should not only be prosecuted but their suppliers too must be prosecuted as well. We just have to survive in this country. And if we are going to, it will not be by passively watching the forces of darkness that seek to exclusively share our collective inheritance among themselves. It will be by actively supporting the federal government both in prayer and in action as it fights off this satanic conspiracy of the rich.

See also Rape of a Nation