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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
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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
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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
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
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
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Enthronement of Mediocrity
Nigerians(Under-qualified, unemployed)
connections with or are related to Nigerians
in positions of authority for qualified
candidates
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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 geopolitical zone where they come from)
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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)
Corruption among Nigeria NGOs, CBO, IBO
Practitioners, And Donor Agencies To Their
Organizations :
do not care to audit their annual financial
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account …OR…look for Chartered
Accountant-friends and relatives to audit the
financial accounts of their organizations
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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
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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
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Pre-Independence and the First Republic
Gowon Administration
Shagari Administration
Buhari Administration
Babangida Administration
Abacha Administration
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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.
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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.
Gowon Administration
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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.
Shagari Administration
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In 1985, a cross
section of political
gladiators were
convicted of different
corrupt practices under
the government of
General Buhari.
Buhari Administration
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The regime of general
Babangida,actually is
seen as the body that
legalized corruption.
Babangida Administration
Abacha Administration
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The death of the general
Sani Abacha revealed
the global nature of
graft.
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A Swiss banking
commission report
indicted Swiss banks.
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In 2002, the case of Julius Makanjuola.
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In 2003, the $214 million SAGEM/national ID card
affair.
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In May 2003, the improper payments case.
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In 2003, the $180 million bribe.
President Olusegun Obasanjo:
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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
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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
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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. Mustapha Akbania, chairman of
the ICPC complaint ICPC was:
- underfunding
- not empowered to investigate governors
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)
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
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According to the latest Corruption Perception
Index published by Transparency
International:
Nigeria ranked 134/178
Rank
Index
Country
2010
134
2010
Nigeria
2.4
2009
2.7
2008
2.2
2007
2.2
2006
1.9
2005
1.6
2004
1.4
2003
1.6