The Swiss government has allegedly returned the looted sum of $322.5
million which is equivalent to 116.11 billion naira. Ambassador Pio
Wennubst who is the Assistant Director General and Head of Global
Cooperation Dept. Of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
stated that the amount was returned with an interest of $1.5 million.
Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun confirmed that the
alleged sum has been indeed received by the Nigerian government. In
addition, the Nigerian government plans to use the money in question for
‘social investment’.
What does this mean to Nigerians and the government as a whole?
The so called ‘social investment’ involves distributing the money to an
estimated 300,000 households, with each getting $14 dollars which is
approximately 5,000 naira. When we put together the total number of
families which live in abject poverty in Nigeria, they’re much more than
300,000 (which is probably less than half of the total amount of poor
Nigerian families). As a matter of fact, Nigeria has topped the list as
the nation with the highest number of extremely poor people, according
to a 2018 report by Brookings Institution.
When we consider this fact, the government of Nigeria has to carefully
consider that this money in question, being distributed to less than
half of the poorest households in the country will not solve the
economic crisis within the country. In light of this, the Nigerian
government has to strategize on how to INVEST this money, rather than
subscribing to an unprofitable route in the utilization of this money.
Wisely investing this money in question would yield more than enough to
provide these poor families and bring about employment opportunities
which ultimately brings a sustainable solution.
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