Arthur Greene
Ibrahim Abunna, a member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, misunderstood the meaning of ‘government spending’ when he filmed himself throwing money at his constituents.
But the stunt could land the Borno lawmaker with a sizable fine and even a jail term!
In the now-viral clip, Abunna is seen laughing as he scatters dozens of notes from a balcony over a packed crowd of his constituents.
The Borno lawmaker captions the video “distributing money to thousands”.
But Abunna’s grin might have since faded, as the video has been widely condemned for a number of reasons.
He has been accused of endangering the lives of those in the crowd, which included elderly people, by risking a stampede.
The stunt also blatantly disregards any care for social distancing, with very few in the crowd seeming to be wearing facemasks amidst the frenzy to grab notes of naira.
It has also been described by Nigerian commentators as demeaning and insulting to those living in poverty so severe that they are willing to join the frenzy.
One Twitter user wrote: “This is what will keep Nigeria the way it is for a long time to come, the bigmanism mentality of the rich, this is what will make them keep stealing money by any means possible, the ‘rankadede’ way of life will make people will come n line up for scraps. Instead of holding politicians responsible for the harm they do to our Commonwealth.”
But if widespread condemnation doesn’t concern Abunna, then perhaps criminal charges might.
In Nigeria, it is illegal to commit any form of abuse on the Nigerian currency.
Nigeria’s Premium Times quoted the law, which prescribes ““imprisonment for a term not less than six months or to a fine not less than N50,000 [R1,775] or to both such fine and imprisonment for anyone guilty of spraying of, dancing or matching on the Naira or any note issued by the Bank during social occasions.”
“Matching” is defined by the law as “spreading, scattering or littering any surface with naira notes or coins and then stepping thereon, regardless of the value, volume, occasion or intent.”
Image source: @AliUmarZaki1
Video source: @ChidiOdinkalu
