Corruption in Nigeria

1. Corruption in Nigeria

2. Introduction • Nigeria, with a population of over 100 million people ( most populous country in Africa) • Known for exports of agricultural products including groundnut, palm oil, cocoa, cotton, beans, timber, and hides and skins • during the oil boom period of the seventies Nigeria made headlines with her oil wealth, as the country is richly endowed with oil and natural gas resources capable of financing a number of important projects to meet basic consumption and development needs

3. One of the most corrupt countries in the world: • succession of dictatorial regimes, disregard of human rights, political instability and economic mismanagement • Result: • Stagnant economic growth and development potential • With a per capita income of $340 Nigeria now ranks amongst the least developed countries in the World Bank league tables • The Nigerian higher education system, once regarded as the best in sub-Saharan Africa, is in deep crisis • Health services are inadequate • Graduate unemployment is rising • crime rate is rising

4. Definitional issues • Definition of corruption-> misapplication of public resources to private ends • Supply determined (briber-initiated) model of corruption the size of the bribe, determined by the briber, is linked to the opportunity costs of time for the briber. • Demand determined (bribee-initiated) model of corruption, the public servant sets the price of corruption • Determinant of the size of the bribe; official may be influenced by a number of factors, • Imperfect information on the part of the briber, family pressure, favouritism for a particular client and nepotism

5. Poor pay incentivePoverty and Want • more than half of the population earn less than $300.00 per annum • “Onye agu-u ka onye ala njo” A hungry man is an angry man :a person is not ready to obey any ethics or code of conduct before satisfying his hunger Potential causes Culture and acceptance of corruption by the population Culture of Gift-Giving when such a gift is meant to attract favour, the gift then becomes a means to an end and not an end in itself. Report of a Workshop for Civil Society Organisations involved in the fight against Corruption, organised by Zero Corruption Coalition, (ZCC) Lagos, December 11-12, 2008

6. Enthronement of Mediocrity Nigerians(Under-qualified, unemployed) connections with or are related to Nigerians in positions of authority for qualified candidates

7. Dual Loyalty and Patriotism of Nigerian Citizens: Colonization by the British/ the social contract theorycoming together various ethnic groups and different geo-political zones: ethnic identity in Nigeria  there is nothing wrong in embezzling federal government or state government funds (enrich themselves, their families, ethnic groups and the geo-political zone where they come from)

8. Colonial Mentality: inability / willingness to weld the British/local cultures together into one acceptable mode of behaviour • colonial mentality : warped mentality: • "Olu Oyibo“ being in the service of the European or foreigner or stranger  copying or aping the cultural behaviours and practices of their foreign colonizers(dishonest, fraudulent, and deceitful service and interactions)

9. Corruption among Nigeria NGOs, CBO, IBO Practitioners, And Donor Agencies To Their Organizations : do not care to audit their annual financial account …OR…look for Chartered Accountant-friends and relatives to audit the financial accounts of their organizations

10. Low deterrent- the punitive measures for corrupt practices need to be strengthened • Lack of access to public information. A lot of secrecy still pervades Government documents, and this underlies the need for the passage of the freedom of Information Bill presently before Nigeria’s National Assembly. • Insecurity of Informants

11. Corrupt Electoral system : Rigging of election and falsification of voters registers ; examination malpractices; false identity of candidates; manhandling;invigilators; destruction of scripts by arson; alteration of exam results

12. Important Cases

13. Index • Pre-Independence and the First Republic • Gowon Administration • Shagari Administration • Buhari Administration • Babangida Administration • Abacha Administration

14. Pre-Independence and the First Republic • Azikiwe was the first major political figure investigated for questionable practices. • In western Nigeria, politician Adegoke Adelabu was investigated following charges of political corruption leveled against him by the opposition. • In the Northern region, against the backdrop of corruption allegations leveled against some native authority officials in Bornu.

15. Administrations • a corruption scandal surrounding the importation of cement engulfed his administration. • two major individuals from the middle belt of the country were accused of corruption. • the administration of Murtala Mohammed later went on and made reformist changes. • Mysterious fires. • investigations into the collapse of the defunct Johnson Mathey Bank of London. • a Rice shortage, led to accusations of corruption against the NPN government. Gowon Administration Shagari Administration

16. Administrations • In 1985, a cross section of political gladiators were convicted of different corrupt practices under the government of General Buhari. • The regime of general Babangida,actually is seen as the body that legalized corruption. Buhari Administration Babangida Administration

17. Administrations • The death of the general Sani Abacha revealed the global nature of graft. • A Swiss banking commission report indicted Swiss banks. Abacha Administration

18. Cases • In 2002, the case of Julius Makanjuola. • In 2003, the $214 million SAGEM/national ID card affair. • In May 2003, the improper payments case. • In 2003, the $180 million bribe.

19. Action Against Corruption President Olusegun Obasanjo: • declared anti-corruption as focus of government agenda • proceeded to pass the Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Act. • established the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in 2000

20. Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) • receive and investigate reports of corruption • in appropriate cases prosecute the offenders • examine, review and enforce the correction of corruption prone systems and procedures of public bodies • educate and enlighten the public on and against corruption and related offences

21. Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) • In the first 3 years, received 942 petitions, about 400 of the petitions were under investigation, and 60 were at various stages of prosecution • After 4 years, the ICPC had failed to make any major convictions. MustaphaAkbania, chairman of the ICPC complaint ICPC was: - underfunding - not empowered to investigate governors

22. Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) The ICPC has prosecuted a number of prominent Nigerians: • Ghali Umar Na'Abba, speaker of the House of Representatives (2002) • Fabian Osuji, head of the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Education (2006) • Cornelius Adebayo, head of the Federal Ministries of Communication and Transportation (2007)

23. Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) The ICPC also started to work with other organization: • The Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) • United Nations Committee on Anti-Corruption (UNCAC) • Transparency International • the African Union (AU) Convention Against Corruption

24. Outcomes • According to the latest Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International: • Nigeria ranked 134/178