£220bn stolen by Nigeria's corrupt rulers

These are the two sentences in this article which really wrench my gut:-

"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."

The Marshall Plan money was enough for Germany and others to rebuild their economies. In Nigeria it did nothing at all. Blair and Brown promoted debt forgiveness to nations ruled by just such thieves, and are now promoting further "aid" which will go exactly the same way. They cannot be so stupid as to believe that it will not be stolen this time. So why are they doing it? Is there any other explanation than that they are spending this money for political advantage by making themselves look "caring" to the more gullible elements of the electorate? If so, that is not quite as corrupt as stealing foreign aid, but it's not honest either.

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