Omar, NLC, Kriston Lally and the Housing Ponzi Scheme!

It was Warren Buffett who posited that  “Honesty was a very expensive gift, and advised that no one should  expect it from cheap people” expecting it from the present crop of labour leaders was perhaps the  greatest mistake Nigerian workers ever made.

When The Nigerian Labour congress was formed in 1978, the objective was to  protect, defend and promote the rights, well-being and the interests of all workers and pensioners.
The  multitudes who  trooped  into the Banking  halls of Zenith  and Guarantee Trust Bank  to pay and apply for the NLC- Kriston Lally EPC Housing project ,did so because of the reputation the seal of  NLC carried, but unknown to  many the glory had departed! NLC previously seen as voice of the voiceless and defender of the oppressed have become a tool  in the hands of those who seek to fleece the weak.

One year after promising to deliver 5000 houses to subscribers  in six months not even a single block has been laid on the imaginary site of the project. The initial 300 hectares of land  allocated to the NLC and TUC for the project by the  Federal Government has been cannibalized and shared to cronies by Omar and his gang.

 By choosing to plug the mouth of  the National Administrative council  members and others using the 10% down payment for homes deposited  by hard-working Nigerian families, Omar has not only obtained a one way ticket to jail,  he has also destroyed  any remaining reputation the  NLC has left.

     It is sad and shameful that  leaders who should be struggling to protect the interest of workers have allowed themselves to be used against  the same  workers they swore to protect. Today, retirees who had earlier banked on the promises made by these  leaders  have seen their hopes of retiring into their own houses all but vanished.

Unfortunately, Nigeria’s housing deficit which presently stands at 24 million units have become a feeding bottle of sort for these Labor leaders who blame the government for everything including their  own inefficiency and irresponsibility.

 It is therefore  imperative for the EFCC and other agencies of government  saddled with the responsibility of tackling financial crimes and Ponzi  schemes to rise up to the occasion and help Nigerian workers recover what the canker worms and Palmer worms have fleeced .


Oche Otorkpa (MTC)

Author of the Unseen Terrorist and Publisher of Tsuntsu Newspapers