Madam secretary Hillary Clinton: please blacklist the following Nigerians

Dear Mrs. Clinton:
With all your years in politics, foreign affairs and the resources available to the United States government, I do not think there is anything about Nigeria that I need to tell you. You have read about it and you have been there to see for yourself. You know who the big players are in the country’s world of corruption and you know where they have stashed their stolen wealth. You have openly, and presumably diplomatically, condemned corruption in the country, During your August 2009 visit to Nigeria, you made overt references to the fact that Nigeria’s problems are rooted in its failure to deal with corruption. Just today, while addressing state department employees during a town hall meeting, you again seized the opportunity to tell the whole world about Nigeria’s failure to address the legitimate needs of its people and how such failure is gradually turning the country into a breeding ground for all sorts of undesirable elements. On behalf of millions of Nigerians, I thank you and the Obama administration profoundly for the above efforts. However, there is so much more to be done.

More than ever before, there is an urgent need to increase the pressure on Nigeria’s corrupt-beyond-redemption political class in order to prevent a total breakdown of law and order and possible civil war. If U.S. diplomatic history provides any clue with respect to conflict resolution, it is that a break down of law and order in Nigeria will force the US to make gargantuan human and material commitment to Nigeria and the Sub-region: a situation that is unnecessary in light of the options available, a situation that neither ordinary Nigerians nor the United States want; a situation that would create a refugee problem of a magnitude not seen in recent human history and be destabilizing to West African, European and North American countries.

In order to prevent Nigeria from descending into a civil war or several civil wars as is more likely to happen because of the country’s ethnic and tribal configuration, urgent steps must be taken to effect immediate and long term changes in the country. Nigeria is where it is today mainly because of the “elements” in charge of the country and their devious device which they have christened government. Permit me to suggest we are requesting the urgent assistance of the Obama administration in putting in place a no-visa list consisting of Nigeria’s leading government officials and their private sector collaborators. The no-visa list should at the very minimum contain the following:

• The country’s current leader (whoever that is) should be limited to the United Nations and Harlem the way Fidel Castro was during his 1960 visit;
• all past leaders and governors;
• all current state governors with the exception of one or two who are doing their jobs;
• all past and current federal ministers and state commissioners;
• all past and present lawmakers at the federal and state levels
• all past and current local government chairmen/chairlady and the elected councilors who assist them in looting their respective treasuries;
• past and present managers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, and other leading government corporations;
• past and present MD/CEO’s of all banks in the country;
• all past and present ambassadors of the country for their roles as agents of an evil regime;
• all previous and present police and military officers beyond the rank of Major or its equivalent;
• all judges from the magistrate courts to the Supreme Court of Nigeria for their roles in accepting bribes and perverting the course of justice;
• the present chairperson of the EFCC for her role in legitimizing corruption;
• the children and wives of those on the no-visa list;
• all known enablers of corruption not caught by the above list.

A serious consideration of the above list will show that 99.99% of the individuals who have destroyed Nigeria and stolen the people’s commonwealth will be found on the list. Having them on the no-visa list hurts no one but the crooks themselves. I believe in the list and given the power to implement it, it is exactly what I will have in place. Realizing that I do not have the power to implement the list and given other considerations, the above list maybe unwieldy and may lose the desired effect. Consequently, I will suggest a more pragmatic list made up of the following:

• Umaru Yar Adua and Goodluck Jonathan;
• all the current governors
• immediate past president and governors, especially those indicted or convicted for corruption (i.e. Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, Lucky Igbinedion, Orji Kalu, Peter Odili, and James Ibori – ignore the Kangaroo court discharge);
• all current federal ministers and state commissioners, particularly, Michael Aondoakaa, Dora Akunyili, Ojo Madueke and Rilwani Lukeman;
• all current senior officers of the police and armed forces
• all current managers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria and other leading government corporations;
• Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Dahiru Mangal and all Nigerian billionaires because there is no legitimate Nigerian billionaire (those who want to argue their cases should be asked to submit their income tax returns for examination);
• The judges and justices of the Federal, Appeal and Supreme Courts for their roles in accepting bribes and perverting the course of justice;
• The current chairperson of the EFCC, Farida Waziri;
• The current officers of the National Assembly, including the David Mark, Dimeji Bankole and Jubril Aminu who has been indicted in the Siemens bribery scandal but is still angling to become the vice president in the event Goodluck Jonathan becomes the president of the country;
• The chairpersons of all the banks indicted by the Central Bank of Nigeria, including Cecilia Ibru and the coward called Erasmus Akingbola who claims to have accumulated assets of over $2 billion (N322 billion) dollars with a monthly salary of $10,000 (N1.5 million). An eye should also be kept on below-rader crooks like Chukwuma Saludo – former Central Bank governor, Jim Ovia of Zenith Bank and Tony Elumelu of Uba who are just as corrupt as the indicted ones;
• Some traditional rulers and pastors for their roles in providing recognition to corrupt politicians in exchange for part of the looted funds;
• Including Journalists who have sold their souls in exchange for Abuja land and other pecuniary benefits will force them to return to their basic responsibility of holding government accountable to the people;
• The children and wives of all those on the list because they school and live in the west with monies looted from the ordinary people of Nigeria;