World Bank Can't Recover $5.5 Billion Stolen in Nigeria

by Remi Oyo

Wolfensohn said the Washington-based lending institution has no power to retrieve the money, although he offered his support.

"If there is any other way the bank can assist especially in mobilizing support as a friend of Nigeria, we will surely do that," he said.

The government said Nigeria will not give up the search to recover the money stashed away in foreign banks. "The administration will not give up. We will forge ahead to repatriate all ill gotten wealth," a senior government official told IPS last week.

Philip Asiodu, chief economic adviser to President Obasanjo, said about $2.2 billion of the stolen amount could be traced to the country's late military dictator, Gen Sani Abacha.

Abacha, who ruled Nigeria for nearly five years, died, officially of a heart attack, in the capital Abuja in June 1998. Following his death, millions of dollars were recovered from his family and some senior officials of his regime.

Obasanjo, in his inaugural address in May, vowed there would be no "sacred cow" when dealing with corrupt officials, groups or individuals.

To prove his seriousness, Abacha's elder son, Mohammed, along with several aides, has been arrested, charged with a "heinous" crime, including corruption.

Obasanjo's administration had wanted to use Wolfensohn's visit to enlist support to recover the stolen money.

Unconfirmed reports say the government may seek international arbitration and negotiations with the suspected looters to recover the missing wealth.

Wolfensohn, in a statement, a copy of which was made available to IPS last week, said, "Nigeria is at a turning point."

"The country faces many challenges, but it also enjoys many opportunities that must be seized now," he said.

"Improving economic management, changing the image of Nigeria abroad and taking the bold steps quickly are essential to help Nigeria regain its rightful place in Africa and in the community of nations," Wolfenshon said before proceeding to South Africa.

Nigeria is beset by a host of problems, including decaying infrastructure, non-functioning public utilities, pollution as characterized by the mountains of refuse that litter the urban centers, and poverty, whose rate rises with the level of unemployment currently estimated at a tenth of the country's 110 million population.

Official statistics show that two out of three Nigerian live on less than one dollar a day in a nation that exports 1.9 million barrels of oil every day.

During his stay in Abuja, the World Bank chief urged the government to stop corruption and embark on an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in Nigeria -- Africa's most populous country.

Nigeria accounts for 350,000 children orphaned by AIDS, while more than two million live with the killer disease. So far some 530,000 have already succumbed to the disease.