African Ghost Workers

(Abuja, Nigeria) Here's a shock! An African nation reports outrageous corruption.

The recent shocking discovery that the Nigeria Police Force currently has, in its payroll, about 107,000 ghost workers shows the depth of corruption in the force which must be tackled frontally so that the Police can move forward.

A financial audit recently carried out by the Ministry of Police Affairs reportedly uncovered the scam and the fraudulent bank accounts through which some officers in the Mechanised Salary Section (MMS), Police Pay Offices (PPOs) and some corrupt accountants in all the states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), siphoned billions of Naira into their private pockets, monthly.

The report, for example, said that within two months, the Federal Government, through the audit, recovered about N6 billion which would have been stolen by the said corrupt pay officers and their collaborators in some commercial banks.

This discovery, which was disclosed recently by the Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, is another proof that it is the parasitic tendency of a few corrupt elements in privileged positions that has been stultifying the growth and development of the Nigeria Police and indeed other critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.

No surprise to me.

Note: 100 Nigerian Nairas = US$0.65