G8-mötet i Storbritannien i juli 2005 beslöt om nya friska miljarder i bistånd till Afrika. Syftet var, som Tony Blair uttryckte saken, att ge befolkningarna i de afrikanska länderna "hopp".
40 miljarder dollar i skulder hos världens fattigaste länder ska skrivas av. Kommer detta verkligen att bidraga till ekonomisk och social utveckling i Afrika?
På listan över fattiga länder som ska få skulder avskrivna återfinns inte Nigeria, men korruption är knappast unikt för just det landet.
Ur den brittiska tidningen Telegraph den 25/6 -05:
"£220 bn stolen by Nigeria's corrupt rulers
The scale of the task facing Tony Blair in his drive to help Africa was laid bare yesterday when it emerged that Nigeria's past rulers stole or misused £220 billion."
Nigerias korrumperade härskare har alltså stulit en summa så stor som 220 miljarder pund. Detta motsvarar mer än 2.200 miljarder kronor. Det motsvarar ett antal Marshallplaner.
Detta förräderi mot det egna folket har pågått under en period på tre decennier.
"That is as much as all the western aid given to Africa in almost four decades. The looting of Africa's most populous country amounted to a sum equivalent to 300 years of British aid for the continent.
The figures, compiled by Nigeria's anti-corruption commission, provide dramatic evidence of the problems facing next month's summit in Gleneagles of the G8 group of wealthy countries which are under pressure to approve a programme of debt relief for Africa.
Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, has spoken of a new Marshall Plan for Africa. But Nigeria's rulers have already pocketed the equivalent of six Marshall Plans. After that mass theft, two thirds of the country's 130 million people - one in seven of the total African population - live in abject poverty, a third is illiterate and 40 per cent have no safe water supply.
With more people and more natural resources than any other African country, Nigeria is the key to the continent's success.
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, set up three years ago, said that £220 billion was 'squandered' between independence from Britain in 1960 and the return of civilian rule in 1999."
Borde inte de skyldiga ställas inför rätta, dömas för sina brott och tvingas betala tillbaka vad de stulit?