💥 THE GREAT LOOT: HOW NIGERIA WAS ROBBED BLIND, AND WHY THE OLD SOUTH EAST IS PAYING THE PRICE.~By Onyeani Kalu

ONN Old South East 09.01.2026

Someone, somewhere in Nigeria, stole more than what Aliko Dangote spent to build the world’s largest single oil refinery, and did it in just four years.

Pause. Reflect. Let that sink in.

Dangote Refinery is not a rumour. It is steel, concrete, pipelines, power plants, ports, jobs, technology, and national pride. It cost *over $20 billion*. Yet in four short years, that amount, and more, was siphoned away by individuals who produced nothing, built nothing, and contributed nothing, except misery.

This is not corruption.

This is economic terrorism.

And the tragedy is not only that Nigeria was looted, but that the Old South East, historically productive, resource-rich, and industrious, has been systematically robbed, weakened, and then blamed for Nigeria’s failures.

THE OLD SOUTH EAST: GIVERS IN A COUNTRY OF TAKERS

Before oil became Nigeria’s curse, the Old Eastern Region was an economic powerhouse.

🔸 Palm oil and palm kernel exports funded national development

🔸 Coal from Enugu powered industries and railways

🔸 Tin, lead, zinc, limestone, gas, salt, and later oil sustained the federation

🔸 Trade, manufacturing, and human capital flourished

The Old South East gave everything to Nigeria in the spirit of unity.

What did Nigeria give back?

🔸 War

🔸 Seizure of assets

🔸 Abandoned infrastructure

🔸 Political marginalisation

🔸 Economic exclusion

And while the East was forced to share, another region quietly kept its gold, solid minerals, and strategic advantages to itself, perfected state capture, and mastered the art of feeding fat on national resources while contributing the least.

THE GREAT DECEPTION: WHO IS REALLY LOOTING NIGERIA?

Today, trillions are stolen from:

🔸 Oil revenues

🔸 Customs

🔸 Security votes

🔸 Subsidy scams

🔸 Power projects

🔸 Defence procurement

Yet the average Igbo trader, engineer, doctor, or entrepreneur is not the beneficiary of this looting.

The irony, and tragedy, is that some people within the Old South East have been psychologically programmed to see Igbos as Nigeria’s problem, while the real predators hide behind ethnicity, religion, and fake nationalism.

Let us be clear:

🔸 The regions that cry the loudest about “national unity” are often the same regions bleeding the nation dry

🔸 The regions that accuse others of greed have kept their own gold, land, and minerals under lock and key

🔸 The regions that demonise the Igbo are often the greatest beneficiaries of federal corruption

This is not opinion.

This is fact backed by decades of budget allocations, revenue sharing, and development indices.

CORRUPTION AS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY

When one man steals what could build refineries, railways, universities, and hospitals:

🔸 Millions remain in poverty

🔸 Youths become refugees and criminals

🔸 Regions collapse

🔸 Ethnic hatred is weaponised

Corruption is not a “mistake.”

It is not “mismanagement.”

It is mass murder by policy.

A man who steals ₦1 trillion has killed more Nigerians than a thousand armed robbers.

That is why the call must be loud, radical, and unapologetic:

Corruption at grand scale should be a capital offense.

Not because we love death, but because a society that tolerates monumental theft has already sentenced its future to death.

THE MOST DANGEROUS LIE: BLAMING THE IGBO

The Igbo problem in Nigeria is not that they are greedy.

The Igbo problem is that:

🔸 They build without government

🔸 They succeed without state backing

🔸 They compete without oil money

🔸 They question authority

And in a corrupt system, independence is a crime.

So the system distracts the masses:

“It is the Igbo.”

“It is the trader.”

“It is the southerner.”

Meanwhile, the real thieves fly private jets, build mansions abroad, and stash stolen wealth where no Nigerian law can touch them.

TIME FOR TRUTH, TIME FOR COURAGE

The Old South East must wake up.

We must stop internalising lies crafted by those who live off our silence and division. We must stop fighting ourselves while others eat our future.

Nigeria does not suffer from lack of resources.

Nigeria suffers from protected thieves.

Until corruption is treated as the highest crime against the state, no reform will work, no unity will hold, and no region, especially the Old South East, will ever get justice.

FINAL WORD

A country where one man can steal more than the cost of the world’s largest refinery in four years is not a nation, it is a crime scene.

And history will not forgive those who knew the truth and stayed silent.

Enough is enough.

Your Ever Well Wisher

Mazi Onyeani Kalu

Anti Corruption Crusader