Sickening to the highest degree.

Why aren't we attacking Nigeria? Or any other African country for that reason? Where leaders live in plush palaces and ride in Rolls Royces while rebels with machetes chop off the limbs and heads of civilians, mass-rape women, and drug children to make them into child soldiers?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6069230.stm

Quote :

"Nigerian leaders 'stole' $380bn More than $380bn has either been stolen or wasted by Nigerian governments since independence in 1960, the chief corruption fighter has said. Nuhu Ribadu told the BBC that Nigeria has "nothing much" to show for the missing money. He said the worst period for corruption was the 1980s and '90s, but currently two-thirds of governors are being investigated by Mr Ribadu's agency. Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil exporter but most people are poor. The country is regularly ranked as one of the mos corrupt by graft watchdog Transparency International. President Olusegun Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in Ekiti State on Thursday after the governor was found guilty of siphoning state funds into personal bank accounts and receiving kickbacks. Political corruption Mr Ribadu said he had come up with his figure of $380bn stolen or wasted since independence "easily" through records kept by the Nigerian central bank and the ministry of finance. "Basically, this money has gone to waste, nothing much to show for it," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. WHAT DOES $384.6BN BUY? 225 Space Shuttles 795,115 Rolls Royce Phantoms 400m PC computers 32m primary school rooms 3,800kg rice for each Nigerian "Of course, probably part of it will have gone to outside stealing." Mr Obasanjo's critics say the fight against corruption is being used to victimise his opponents ahead of next year's elections. Mr Obasanjo is not standing after an attempt to let him seek a third term was defeated. But Mr Ribadu denied he has a political motive in his fight against corruption. "When you are doing this kind of work, you will always be accused of one thing or another." Last month, Vice-President Atiku Abubakar was indicted on charges of corruption, which could stop him from running for office. He denies allegations he diverted $125m into personal business interests. Mr Ribadu has led Nigeria's battle against corruption as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The EFCC says in the past two years it has recovered more than $5bn and has successfully prosecuted 82 people. Money laundering Mr Ribadu told the BBC that $140m had been recovered from one unnamed former Nigerian leader and that nearly $400m of illegally gained assets had been identified in the possession of a former governor of Bayelsa State. Last year, Nigeria recovered $458m found in Swiss bank accounts linked to the country's late military ruler Sani Abacha. Mr Abacha was in power from 1993 to 1998 and is thought to have embezzled billions of dollars. Last year his son, Abba Sani Abacha, was charged with money laundering and fraud after being extradited to Switzerland. Despite the missing money Nigeria has managed to pay off its multi-billion dollar debt to the Paris Club of major lenders, thanks to high oil prices. About $5bn is still owed to other lenders including the World Bank and the private sector. "

10/20/2006 8:34:34 PM

hey najeeb,

i think you were supposed to make this thread a liberal/conservative argument

add in some kiddie porn

maybe complain about time spent in line in grocery store/traffic jam/registration and records

10/20/2006 9:07:46 PM

^ seeing how little interest it has generated (on tww and in the world in general), i think you are right

10/20/2006 9:15:21 PM

pretty sure we only invade countries when it is in our perceived national interests.


mmmk

10/20/2006 9:29:54 PM

wait

nigeria has money AND oil?

INVADE

10/20/2006 9:30:42 PM

^^ wait, so all that talk of liberating the oppressed iraqis and the current talk of spreading democracy and freedom... is... all a sham?

10/20/2006 9:32:13 PM

nah, democracy and freedom is a good side effect.

10/20/2006 9:48:50 PM

That's not what the admin says.

BTW, if that is just a side effect, what is/was the primary reason?

Oh how could I forget, WMDs, that's right!

10/20/2006 10:10:32 PM

^ its in our perceived national interests to spread democracy in the middle east you dipshit

how the fuck does it help us to spread it in goddamned nigeria

[Edited on October 20, 2006 at 10:59 PM. Reason : s]

10/20/2006 10:58:43 PM

Quote :

"That's not what the admin says."

10/20/2006 10:59:48 PM

damn it

i knew i should've taken those emails more seriously

10/20/2006 11:02:53 PM

WMDs were just a good goddamn excuse and you know it. We were there to secure a beachhead of democracy in the middle east.

now you can blame the admin for being so stupid as to think that Iraqis were smarter than blowing everyone up, but doesn't change the reason they went in there

10/20/2006 11:09:31 PM

Nigeria was always one of the greatest tragedies of modern Africa. Here you have a relatively well educated nation with immense natural resources and considered one of the great regional powers next to South Africa. Yet because of corruption, the country continues to destroy itself as its leadership wastes all their wealth and the educated, who have no work, simply have nothing else to use their intelligence and education for but to come up with better corruption schemes. It's a sad, sad story.

10/21/2006 3:43:47 PM

well im glad Iraq taught us that Iraq's dont really like democracy all that much.

10/21/2006 5:15:12 PM