Nigeria’s Fight against Corruption: Aiming for Better Transparency with the New Administration

By Blossom Chukwu

It is on record that Nigeria, which is the most populated country in Africa, has consistently been ranked high in corruption, by Transparency International and other notable organisations that monitor corrupt practices around the world. It is also on record that high corruption rankings, affect almost all Nigerians who migrate to foreign countries, as foreigners have the perception that since Nigeria is corrupt, so too are all Nigerians.

In the year 2000, Transparency International conducted a survey on the corruption levels of 90 countries, including Kenya, Cameroon, Angola, Nigeria, Côte-d’Ivoire, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, Zambia, India, Venezuela, Moldova, and others. Nigeria was ranked as the most corrupt because the country occupied the 90th position in terms of transparency.

In 2001, Nigeria was ranked the second-most corrupt nation in the world, among 91 countries, second only to Bangladesh. This showed that corruption in Nigeria improved by one step when compared to its ranking in 2000. Still from the same source, in the year 2002, Nigeria was again ranked the second-most corrupt country in the world, after the organisation surveyed 102 countries. Ten years later, in 2012, the country ranked 139th from the 176 surveyed countries, making Nigeria the 37th most corrupt country that year.

Moving on, with the emergence of a new Government in 2015, many Nigerians were hopeful that the country’s corruption level will be minimised. That year, power was transferred from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), to All Progressive Congress (APC). One of the campaign promises made by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who just handed over power to President Bola Tinubu, was the massive eradication of corruption in the country.

Irrespective of the campaign promises, Nigeria ranked low in transparency and high in corruption in 2015. From the 168 countries surveyed, Nigeria was the 32nd most corrupt. In that year’s survey, Nigeria was number 136 on the table with Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea. The calculation showed that Nigeria and the mentioned countries, were ranked 40th most corrupt countries in 2016.

Although different Groups have commended the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, for championing the anti-corruption fight, they faulted lapses in the frameworks and institutions created, noting that they resulted in the ineffectiveness or, in some cases, the failure of these legal frameworks, anti-corruption institutions and initiatives.

With these massive dents on the nation’s appearance nationally and internationally, the stain of Corruption has not spared Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies. It’s on record that a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, was accused of fraudulently diverting N1tn proceeds from Corruption, recovered by the agency. With these strong accusations, those appointed to fight corruption in the country, were also found to be victims of the same problem they fight.

In addition to different acts of greed defacing the nation, political corruption which amounts to embezzlement of public funds has been common in Nigeria. Since the creation of the modern public administration in the country, there have been cases of official misuse of resources for personal enrichment. There were even cases of siphoned funds that were returned to Nigeria by the Swiss bank in 2006, from the money stolen by former Head of State, General Sani Abacha.

Recently, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), inducted the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Monitoring Unit (ACTU). To this end, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) ACTU, organised a One Day Sensitisation Programme for the Staff of the Agency, on dangers of Corruption, Monitoring of Budget Implementation, amongst others.

The NOA Director, Programme Research and Strategy, Mr Samuel Soghul, noted that the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Monitoring Unit (ACTU), was established to complement the ICPC’s effort in the fight against corruption, promote transparency and accountability in public institutions, and entrench ethical standards in public service.

Participants at the programme were sensitised on Whistle blowing policies, financial regulations as an instrument of ensuring due process, transparency, accountability and ease of doing business in public establishments. It is expected that participants will imbibe the ethical codes, for an effective and efficient system in the workplace.

Corruption has remained a priority concern to the Nigerian Government and People. Corruption has affected all aspects of public life, continues to undermine the social, economic and political development of the country and is a major obstacle to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. With Corruption, the Government no longer performs its functions as promised, and the officials keep enriching themselves with embezzled money.

For the current administration, a coalition of 30 Civil Society Organisations, have asked President Bola Tinubu to improve funding for anti-graft agencies in the country, as well as amend the enabling acts of the agencies. The Groups also urged the President to direct the investigation of publicly exposed persons named in the Pandora, Panama and Paradise papers, and to ensure that those found guilty are made to face the full wrath of the law.

The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, who spoke on behalf of the coalition, at a Press conference on Tuesday June 20 in Abuja, noted that some of the challenges affecting the anti-graft agencies included a slow Judicial process.

Others, he said, were low reporting of corrupt practices by citizens due to mistrust in the system, a lack of whistle-blower and witness protection laws to protect whistleblowers, and a lack of funding for the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission.

He added that improved funding for ICPC and Code of Conduct Bureau as well as review by the National Assembly of the provisions of the Acts establishing the ICPC, EFCC, and Code of Conduct Bureau, regarding the mode of appointment of the Chairman and other key laws used to prosecute cases, should be encouraged, to enable these institutions carry out their mandate effectively and independently, without undue influence. This they charged the President to take steps to ensure judicial independence, by working towards real financial autonomy for the Judiciary.

Nigeria has indeed remained one of the countries in the world that has found itself where intense bribery has a firm grip on morality. Bribery is not a new thing in the country and people seem to turn deaf ears to the drumbeat of the impending danger of bribery. No sector of the Nigerian economy is left behind in this. This is why some opinion leaders in the sector recommend the following as part of the solution to this national challenge of Bribery and Corruption.

1. Everything should be digitally and technologically operated – it is believed that if everything is done via a built-up system where man has little or no influence over it, bribery will drastically reduce.

2. People should be taught their rights and given the right backing should their rights be violated.

3. Strict rules and punishment should be enacted against bribery both in the private and public sectors. When the law comes with severe punishment attached to defaulters, people usually sit up, and try as much as possible to stay away from breaking the laws of the land.

4. Although it is not enough to make the laws, relevant agencies should also make it known to the public when a defaulter is caught and punishment measures should be carried out to such.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA), has also solicited the support of stakeholders in the fight against corruption in the country. The Chairman of ICPC, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye made the appeal at a One-Day sensitisation for stakeholders tagged: Driving Behavioural Change through National Ethics and Integrity Policy (NEIP).

The Team explained that the dialogue was to sensitise traditional and religious leaders and civil society organisations to help in rejuvenating Nigeria’s lost core values of honesty and integrity among the people. He stated further that the stakeholders whose voices and opinions were respected in the society would help create awareness among people on moral values reorientation, as a vital tool to fight corruption in the country. He however described traditional and religious leaders, as people whose opinions and voices were respected by their subjects, urging them as critical stakeholders to help in initiating and sustaining behavioural change amongst the people.

Since Corruption is believed to be the root cause of Nigeria’s offshoot problems, it has to be minimised to a bearable extent by all means and there has to be a whole new mindset towards making it work. As far as there are available solutions that can be actualised in different sectors across the country, there is still hope for a better Nigerian society that has mastered the process of overcoming the Corruption menace. This is why Nigerians at all levels have to be more conscious of making the anti-corruption drive work, for Nigeria to be classified among successful countries in the world.