They Shot, They Ruled, They Stole $408

Even by Nigeria's domestic figures, at least past rulers have stolen or misused $407 or £225 billion. And if President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration, which actively participates in the financial mess, can give such high numbers, we all can be sure the situation is far worse. 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. "We cannot be accurate down to the last figure but that is our projection," Osita Nwajah, a commission spokesman, said in the capital, Abuja.

The stolen fortune tallies almost exactly with the £220 billion of western aid given to Africa between 1960 and 1997. That amounted to six times the American help given to post-war Europe under the Marshall Plan.

British aid for Africa totalled £720 million last year. If that sum was spent annually for the next three centuries, it would cover the cost of Nigeria's looting.

Corruption on such a scale was made possible by the country's possession of 35 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. That allowed a succession of military rulers to line their pockets and deposit their gains mainly in western banks.

In 1999, the World Bank compiled a list of Nigeria funds by depositors in four Western countries, and gave the list to President Obasanjo. It is not a surprise that in spite of Obasanjo administration's lip service to fighting corruption, only the Abachas have been partially prosecuted. All the others have been enjoying their loot while the goverment looks the other way at the contemporary penny looters.

Ibrahim Babangida, the Abacha family, General Abubakar, Mike Akhigbe and Jerry Useni, all former military politicians stole the most on the World Bank list of 20 heavy looters. Expectedly, Babangida won the prize, as he stole far more than anyone else.

The amount of money involved has prompted the Government to seek ways to enhance Britain's ability to help developing countries recover stolen funds. The British Government will introduce legislation to pave the way for British ratification of the United Nations convention against corruption.

A money laundering directive agreed by EU finance ministers will impose new responsibilities on banks, casinos and other establishments to be more alert to signs of corruption. They will be expected to help stamp out financial abuse by high-risk customers in a position to abuse public office for private gain.