I’ve been passively following the Halliburton bribery case and the resulting investigations and lack of investigation by Nigerian law enforcement. To be honest I’m not sure exactly what the charges against Halliburton and its employees and affiliates are and ever since I heard that Obasanjo, Atiku and other former heads of state and high level government officials were named as recipients of bribes, I lost interest in the case. You see, I have no faith whatsoever in the Nigerian government. I see them, most of them anyway, as a bunch of self-serving, bloodthirsty, ignorant and illiterate mass murderers. “Corruption”, at least in Nigeria, is nothing but a simpler and more politically correct way of saying armed robbery.

In a grossly under-developed country like Nigeria, every kobo that is “misappropriated”, wasted or otherwise misused results in a real consequences for the average man which happens to be the overwhelming majority of citizens. How many lives have been lost on unlit, pothole ridden highways? How many lives have been lost to improperly trained, underfunded and unsupported officials of law enforcement, military and regulators (think collapsing buildings, non-roadworthy vehicles etc) ? How many lives are wasted in the unemployment caused directly and indirectly by misuse or theft of public funds? How many people die of exhaustion, high blood pressure and other stress related problems? I could go on an on but I’m sure you get the picture. Way too many people live in appalling conditions and die unnecessary and horrible deaths as a direct result of all this “misappropriation”.

On this Halliburton “scandal” in particular, the most embarrassing and disheartening aspect of the whole mess is that the crimes were committed in Nigeria, against the Nigerian people and by the Nigerian government working with foreign entities BUT the only investigations and prosecutions are in OTHER countries.

Anyway there ends my rant and I probably won’t say anything about this again