Stories by John Oba, Abuja
The Executive Director, Africa Faith and Justice Network, Dr. Aniedi Okure, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to stop the politicisation of food and a deal that sells out Nigeria’s basis of livelihood to foreign corporations.
Dr. Okure, in a letter to the president titled: A call on President Buhari’s administration to save Nigerians from corporate takeover,” a copy given to the press in Abuja said business corporations do not reach out to help without having already calculated the profit.
He explained that the multinationals build into their help contract an undue advantage for themselves and a great disadvantage for the local community the claim to help.
He lamented the attitude of some Nigerians who act as go-between, saying they serve as the doorway to the exploitation of the community, defending the foreign business as the best thing for the community.
“These are the big culprits within, readily selling out their heritage for a bowl of soup. These go-between dollar-evangelists and business-missionaries preach economic salvation and better life, cleverly couched in the local context of the people to easily convince the local community of the supposed benefits of the deals.
“In the context of “assistance” we analyzed government foreign aid to Nigeria and Africa and found that it has done more harm than good, besides helping to perpetuate corrupt elite. Rather than supporting local initiatives, leaders eargerly import and/or embrace readymade solutions from abroad and impose on the communities. The result is a systematic strangling and destruction of development initiatives and the economy and creating a dependent mentality that believes salvation always lies abroad,” he said.
