This
essay will provide an overview of corruption in Nigeria with the help of
existing evidence and what social mechanisms are influencing this form of
corruption
There
are two types of corruption found in Nigeria, one being to extract rents from
the state in forms of bribery and the second, to preserve power in the forms of
political patronage and judicial corruption[1]. From the evidence one can
conclude that these forms of corruption are related to Nigeria’s social norms
and structures.
Nigeria
is one of the largest oil producer in the world and 77% of its government
revenues comes from oil export. But the economic growth due to oil export has
not trickled down to the poor.[2]
It can be argued that the misappropriation of the public funds by corrupt
officials has been the cause of Nigeria’s
underdevelopment. [3]
The
following part of the essay will provide three cases of corruption and the
latter part of the essay will look at the social norms prevalent in the country
which influence the corrupt practices followed in the country
Case 1: Public funds of US$400 billion have
been lost to corruption since Nigeria became independent in 1960 (Global
Witness 2012). General Abacha alone allegedly embezzled billions of dollars
from the Central Bank of Nigeria between 1993 and 1998, (US Department of
Justice 2014)[4]
Case 2: Governor of the oil-rich state
Delta, James Ibori, was guilty of laundering money stolen from Nigerian public
coffers. While his official salary was only £4,000 per year he managed to buy
several houses around the world, luxury cars and a private jet and holding bank
accounts in several other countries (Global Witness 2012b)[5]
Case
3: In 2009 a US construction company
called Kellogg, Brown and Root pleaded guilty to paying around US$180 million
in bribes to the NNPC, the Petroleum Ministry, and other government officials.
The illegal payments were to secure contracts worth US$6 billion to build
liquefied natural gas facilities (Global Witness 2012)[6]
Social
Mechanisms influencing corruption in Nigeria
Smith
argues that patron-clientelism is the basis of Nigeria’s political economy and
society.[7]
Rather than negotiating through the country’s bureaucracy and expecting the
state to provide services, the citizens are more likely to look for support
from someone who is usually from the same ethnicity or community. This also
means that citizens are likely to support political leaders from their own
ethnic groups, in the hope that they will benefit from it if those politicians
get into power[8]
Therefore,
it is understood that a person holding a position within the government is
expected to employ others from his own community and to spend public money that
benefits his/her community
Nigeria
is known as a neo patrimonial state,whereby rulers use state resources for personal
benefit and to secure the loyalty of
clients in the general population.[9]
In essence, neo- patrimonial states fail to guarantee the fair distribution of
public resources. The above case of corruption provide evidence to such claim.
[1] U4, Transparency International, Nigeria: evidence of
corruption and influence on social norms, 2014
[4] United States Department of Justice, 2014. U.S.
Freezes More Than $458 Million Stolen by Former Nigerian Dictator in Largest
Kleptocracy Forfeiture Action Ever Brought in the U.S.
[8] Willott, C. Refashioning neopatrimonialism in an
interface bureaucracy: Nigerian higher education. 2009 http://opus.bath.ac.uk/20948/1/UnivBath_PhD_2009_C_Willo
tt.pdf
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