Unoka borrows again: $2.25 billion from World Bank

Staff Writer

Overview

In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Unoka was the father of Okonkwo, the protagonist of the novel. Unoka was depicted as a lazy and irresponsible man, whose preference for storytelling and music instead of farming and wrestling led to his mammoth debts.

Unoka had a ‘wall of debts’ in his room where he drew lines on the wall to indicate his different debts and creditors. He never paid his debts but managed to remember all of them by the marks and lines on his wall. When a creditor asked for their money back, Unoka would refer the person to his ‘wall of debts.’ Eventually, Unoka died in disgrace; owed lots of money to people, had no titles, and no achievements.

Nigeria’s situation is not different from Unoka's. The political class, the elites, and their leaders are inured to the people’s plight, suffering, and deaths. Just like Unoka, Nigeria’s mammoth debts mean nothing to them.

This writing will follow this outline to describe how the World Bank continually crowns Nigeria’s politicians, elites, and leaders as “thief-in-chiefs” and celebrate itself as “chief-of-thieves.” They include:

Loan serviceable research

When World Bank loans money to a country, the money is often earmarked for one or two projects that will better the life of her citizens. Those monies from these financial institutions are borrowed by the leaders of those countries on behalf of their people. One would expect that World Bank as responsible as it claims, will have an organ that monitors, controls and ensures that the money is used as contained on the application for a loan.

Many times, that is not the case. Loans are thrown at some leaders, and they use the money to fund their wanton lifestyles. The project of which was the reason for taking a loan is never started, nor completed. And nobody checks. The next morning, the same country arrives at World Bank steps with another application with a cock-and-bull story requesting for another loan. They are given another loan by the same World Bank.

One begins to ask: Is World Bank irresponsible? Is it insensitive to the plight, cries and yearnings of the people? Is it outrightly incompetent? Consider these the loans that Nigeria receives from the World Bank and other financial institutions and imagine how they spent them:

  • World Bank – $14.34 billion as of 31 March 2023
  • Domestic borrowing – N70 trillion in 2023 alone
  • Foreign sources – N1.8 trillion from different foreign lending institutions

With such monies dumped into Nigeria by the World Bank, one would think that the people experience of their economy, life and country would be different. The loans are not fulfilling any benefits to the people but the politicians. The loans collected are used for renovating houses, building new homes for the vice president, and buying foreign bullet-proof vehicles for the politicians.

With the spirit of Unoka, Nigerian politicians and leaders are in a spending spree while people are suffering and dying of hunger; for example the last loan was spent on the following:

  • N2.9 billion on Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for the Presidential Villa
  • N2.9 billion to replace operation pool vehicles
  • 1.5 billion for the purchase of official vehicles for the Office of the First Lady
  • N4 billion for the renovation of the residential quarters of the president
  • N4 billion for the renovation of Dodan Barracks, the official residence of the president in Lagos
  • N2.5 billion for the renovation of Aguda House
  • N3 billion for the renovation of the official quarters of the vice president in Lagos
  • N15 billion to build a new (befitting) home for the vice president in Abuja
  • N40 billion to purchase 2023 Toyota Landcruiser SUVs for the lawmakers of both chambers of the national assembly

Surprise! Surprise! The World Bank has approved again another $2.25 billion for Nigeria to support the president’s economic reforms regardless of the rising debt profile of Nigeria.

So long as the World Bank do not conduct serious loan serviceable research, a kind of credit check on a borrowing nation, or empower one of its organs to monitor and control how the money is spent, this $2.25 billion is just another old fad. They will get the money, share it among themselves, and nothing happens to them. This the way Nigeria is. The politicians and leaders do not care about the poor masses. 

Minimum (subsistence) wage vs behemoth (bewitching) wage

Though, the borrowed money supposed to be for economic purposes, Nigeria’s politicians and leaders use them to fund and live celebrity-like lifestyles. Currently, the organized Nigeria Labour Congress are asking the government to increase the people’s wages to the barest minimum to an acceptable standard of living considering the economic hardships in the country. The president, the Senate president and some governors disdainfully laugh at the thought and demand. The organized labour is asking for just a meagre N494,000, a subsistent wage that can provide for the people with the necessities. They government says that they cannot pay that while the same government pays members of the senate a whopping basic salary of N29.5 million ($74,000) per year, which is about $6,200 per month as reported by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in 2023.

Currently, Nigeria’s minimum wage is N35,000 per month, while the members of the senate collect about N2.5 million per month. The difference is clear. In addition to their salaries, they are given behemoth allowances that is bewitching. Such allowances cover their official and personal expenses. That’s why people fight and kill to get to the senate. Some of these allowances include:

  • Constituency allowance – N100 million per senator for projects in their respective constituencies
  • Accommodation allowance – N4.5 million per senator to rent an apartment or mortgage for their housing
  • Vehicle allowance – N8 million per senator to purchase vehicle of their choice
  • Wardrobe allowance – N1.2 million per senator to purchase clothes and other personal effects
  • Entertainment allowance – N1.2 million per senator to entertain their guests and other official functions

These are just a few of how Nigeria spends any borrowed money from the World Bank.

While the people ask for a subsistence wage, the politicians and leaders take for themselves behemoth wages. Their wage is so seductive that whoever that tastes it does not look back.

Thief-in-chiefs and chief-of-thieves

An aerial view of members of the senate and house while in session will reveal how richly they adorn themselves: men and women alike. You will see assorted hats in different colours, different traditional dress styles, expensive watches, and other gears. That’s what the loans from the World Bank do. They create crops of chiefs. Once they rig their way to the national assemblies, they automatically become chiefs. The money that should be used to develop the country, alleviate the people’s conditions is diverted for different and non-existent and little or no value projects. They have become so thick-skinned that saying they are corrupt falls on deaf ears. They are insensitive, incompetent, and irresponsible.

Does the World Bank know all these about the people they are loaning money? If they don’t, then they are as incompetent, irresponsible as Nigeria’s politicians and leaders. If they know and continue to loan them money, then they are as insensitive as Nigeria’s politicians and leaders. They create these thieves and as such, they are the chief-of-thieves.

Summary

Unoka was an irresponsible man, who did nothing but borrow money from people which he never paid back. He brought many shames to Okonkwo his son. Nigeria’s politicians and leaders are not far from Unoka.

When Nigeria leaders borrow money from the World Bank, they borrow with debt instead of borrowing with credit. Therefore, they mortgage the future of those yet unborn. They put lien against the lives of their fellow citizens.

Instead of committing to economic and social development of the country, Nigeria’s politicians and leaders divert the loans for themselves in careless, wasteful and irresponsible lifestyles.

Sources

“National Assembly Passes Tinubu’s N2.1tn Supplementary Budget for Second Reading.” In ThisDay, December 2, 2023. https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/11/01/national-assembly-passes-tinubus-n2-1tn-supplementary-budget-for-second-reading 

“Senators Justify N160m SUVs, compared to Ministers’ cars.” In The Nigeria Lawyer, Unini Chioma -October 24, 2023. https://thenigerialawyer.com/senators-justify-n160m-suvs-compare-to-ministers-cars/  

“N77trn debt: Each Nigerian to owe N384,864 by the end of Buhari’s tenure.” In ICIR, January 18, 2023. Harrison Edeh. https://www.icirnigeria.org/n77trn-debt-each-nigerian-to-owe-n384864-by-end-of-buharis-tenure/ Accessed 02/12/2023.

“World Bank approves $2.25bn loan as Nigeria’s debt profile rises” - Published on June 14, 2024, By Ogaga Ariemu, https://dailypost.ng/2024/06/14/world-bank-approves-2-25bn-loan-as-nigerias-debt-profile-rises/

“Approved Nigerian Senators Salary Structure & Allowances (2024)”, by Nigerian Queries, https://nigerianqueries.com/nigerian-senators-salary-structure-allowances/

“Nigeria’s minimum wage in numbers: From N125 in 1981 to over N490k demand in 2024”, By Efosa Taiwo, https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/06/nigerias-minimum-wage-in-numbers-from-n125-in-1981-to-over-n490k-demand-in-2024/ 

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