Nigeria’s Fantastic Corruption

By Francis Ejiroghene Waive

Except that it was a public slap on our face, the British Prime Minister’s description of corruption in Nigeria as fantastic is true.  Many blame President Buhari for referring to our country as corrupt on the international scene and so hold him responsible for the label. We forget that Transparency International has held this position for years. Perhaps, our grouping with a failed or failing State like Afghanistan is what shocks our sensibilities this time. To some Nigerians, however, this could be the wakeup call to kill corruption in our country before it kills all of us.

While social media is filled with Nigerians claiming not to be corrupt I doubt if there is any Nigerian who has not been a victim of the scourge of corruption. I agree that not all of us are perpetrators of this ugly phenomenon but the malaise is so widespread that one brush seems to fit all. There is no sector of our economy that is not affected. As a young person starts life, you encounter it when you want to get into school and while in school. When you rent your first house and need electricity and other utilities, it stares you in the face. When you begin looking for a job or you start a business, you will be overwhelmed by it. For a foreigner, you first meet it at our borders or entry points into the country. The harassment and extortion of staff of the several agencies will cow you. Even our religious institutions and leaders are not immune from this disease.

All our public institutions are infected by it. What document do you want to process in our courts or ministries, government agencies or departments that you won’t pay a bribe for? What business do you want to transact that won’t involve kick-backs and kick-fronts?  Shamelessly, even the private sector is now an integral part of corruption. Private companies are wrecked by mangers and other officials. Is it a bank loan you are processing or a dealership in a product manufactured by a local company? There is no need to discuss the image of our police force battered by corruption. Most of our parastatals are simply run aground with corruption. Nigeria Airways, Railways, NITEL, NEPA and an unending list of many others. Even the privatization option was compromised as our leaders used government money to appropriate our national assets to themselves and their cronies. Top civil servants ensure ghost workers exist and they pad budgets and thereafter award contracts for capital projects to themselves and political office holders.