SIR: At this period of Nigeria’s national life, there is need to draw a clear distinction between armed and pen robbers with a view to finding out which is deadlier and does more damage to a nation’s corporate existence in its quest to make progress.
[ad]
Since Nigeria’s  independence, its fate has been torn between the nefarious activities of pen robbers while the citizens continue to see only the armed robbers as people deserving all condemnation. The armed robber derives his name from the dangerous weapons he carries such as gun, knife, axe, and others he carries with which he commands instant respect and obedience from his victims who surrender whatever is being demanded in order to avoid untimely death. Whoever was visited by armed robbers who often operate as a group usually have a tale of woe or another to tell because it is difficult to predict what the night marauders would do since being under the influence of hard drugs, they have little or no consideration for human life.

The pen robber on the other hand carries out his own operation like a bed bug which sucks blood secretly under the cover of darkness. He does not even see himself as a robber but rather as someone in a privileged position who is at liberty to carry out any action that pleases him including converting whichever fund is allocated to his office as his own since he is in charge of making decisions and implementing them.

He oversees the award of contracts and through it enters into convert agreements with contractors with the sole aim of siphoning funds meant for corporate development. He creates non-existent companies and award contracts worth millions of naira which at the end of the day ends in his pocket.
[ad]
He uses his position to dictate whoever gets employed into the ministry or parastatals and rather than opt for the very best among candidates seeking employment, he resorts to favouritism and the culture of highest bidders thereby perpetrating a system of square pegs in round holes which in the long run leads to depreciation and stagnancy.  

Quite unfortunately, even though the two groups described above belong to the same group of robbers, the latter dictate and decide the fate of the former, and nobody raises any eyebrows or sees the injustice in such system. The former too, who is often in the eye of the storm, never ever puts up any protest to accuse the latter of lacking the moral fiber to pronounce judgement on him since the two of them are guilty of the same crime.

The reason is not unconnected with the fact that while the armed robber carries out his operation where he can be seen and apprehended by superior traps, the pen robber does his own harm in concealment where nobody watches or catches him on the spot and therefore none is in any position to accuse him of any wrongdoing.  

Yet, a single pen robber causes more havoc to any nation’s corporate existence than many armed robbers combined owing to the fact that while the dastardly activities of the armed robber, no matter how fearful it is, affect only the few victims while the overall effects of the actions of the pen robber affects millions of people and keeps a nation on the same spot unable to satisfy even the yearnings of its own people.

It is due to this fact that nations desirous to make rapid progress have since put in place machineries that discourage pen robbery in all its ramifications. In such nations, necessary legislations are not only enacted to discourage such corrupt tendencies.
Jide Oyewusi is the coordinator of Ethics Watch International Nigeria.  
[ad]