Many critics of how things are being done in Nigerias particularly in the areas of governance by the supposed leaders have often described Nigeria as a failed state.
As negative as the description may look like, without much argument and with every sense of sincerity, the description is not too far from the truth in view of the shenanigans of those elected into different positions of governance in Nigeria.
Those who fall into this questionable category cut across the elected leaders consisting of the political class, the civil service and the business class, particularly those who regard themselves as contractors.
In Nigeria, majority of those who fall into this group of people are known for greed and selfishness as they don’t mind to bring down the entire country just for their overlarge appetite to be satisfied.
In other words, they are desperate to drain the blood of other Nigerians just to satisfy their insatiable urge to make them remain stupendously rich while others on whose shoulders they rode on to get to their positions can as well die of poverty.
It is no longer news that ordinary Nigerians who represent almost 95 per cent of the populace are at the mercy of this cliqu,e who are not up to 20 per cent of the entire population. It may therefore, not be an exaggeration to join others to say the country is speedily itching towards a failed state where those who are suppose to protect the commonwealth of the over 200 million Nigerians are busy colluding to amass wealth of others due to their deep corrupt and insatiable urge.
This group of people are found mostly amongst the government, politicians and business men and women who are hiding under the guise of contractors to engage in shady deals
It is also known that many of these contractors who are merely fronting for those in positions of authority are usually considered for huge contracts at the expense of ordinary Nigerians who if given the opportunity would have carried out such contracts conscientiously and not on the blood of other Nigerians.
Unfortunately, in Nigeria, where patriotism and godliness have taken flight, such contracts often end up in the hands of the rapacious few who collude with their accomplices in the positions of authorities to either outrageously inflate the contract sum for wicked enrichment or after collecting the contract money only to disappear. This corrupt attitude which has become the bane of the country is responsible for the infrastructural decay and poor standard of government structures and facilities littering the different airports across the country.
What should baffle many is the fact these big contracts before they are awarded must have passed through both the tenders boards and screening committees who have auditors, accountants and other relevant officials on ground to go through whatever quotation the contractor must have submitted for checks and balances.
Obviously this scenario must have played out when the contract for the second runway at the Nnamdi Azikwe international airport was awarded to the contractor. If the contract was awarded with due diligence well followed, then the embarrassment and controversy the issue has been embroiled in would have been avoided.
Thank God for the minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo, who raised the alarm on how a contract that was initially awarded for the sum of N90 billion was mysteriously increased to N532 billion. It can only happen in Nigeria!
According to the minister: “The contractor in question is demanding for contract variation of N532 billion from the original sum of N90 billion the contract was awarded for. To us in the Ministry, the said variation is nothing but a fraud, leaving us with no option than to cancel the contract and call for fresh bids.”
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Following the anger that trailed the issue, Information gathered has however indicated that the contractor is now requesting for N200 billion which is still outrageous. While all these shenanigans are taking place, nobody has heard from the committee that approved the original contract sum as the committee should have come out to enlighten the public on what went wrong.
In any saner clime, it’s not possible to use either N200 billion or N532 billion to construct a runway except if every component that will make up the runway is going to be made of gold or diamond. There is a serious need for the contractor to be probed after all, the latest figure being bandied as the new contract sum required is not only atrocious but has further exposed the country as a wasteful and corrupt country.
Nigeria is indeed a country suffering in the midst of plenty while only a little fraction of people in the corridors of power and their cronies continue to rip off the majority through the different gimmicks like contract inflation aimed at increasing their sharing formula.
