Despite government pro-government measures, Nigeria's systemic corruption is the country's most significant threat to stability, raising doubts about Nigerian institutions' ability to counter corruption. The 2021 Corruption Perception Index, released this month, confirmed what many Nigerians already know: a steady stream of governmental anti-graft rhetoric has hardly made a dent in what many believe is the country's most formidable chronic challenge to long-term stability. The opinion stated by President Buhari that if Nigeria does not stop corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria is widely shared. The official response to the rating was unexpected. Garba Shehu, the presidential spokesperson, called the statement "sensational and unfounded." Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, speaking on primetime television, was more helpful, arguing that the report does not support empirical data and that analyzing the progress of the administration's anti-corruption measures should not be the only duty of the Temporary import. Malami also highlighted a 2019 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Survey on Corruption in Nigeria, which recognized some improvement in the fight against corruption, as well as the African Union's recognition of Buhari as Africa's anti-corruption champion. Malami was right. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC report, which also looked at the likelihood of citizens being approached for bribe payments, as well as the frequency of such requests and actual payments, discovered that, while still high, the prevalence of bribery in Nigeria had declined found to be significant since 2016, when it was 32.3 percent.

 

 Malami mentioned the fact that by the end of last year, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the state's largest government agency for investigating allegations of fraud and corruption, had recorded over equality convictions, compared to about 103 prosecutions and beliefs when the administration took office in 2015. While a critical indicator of corruption, more serious, bribes do not begin to capture the depth and scope of everyday corruption in Nigeria, which boils down to the widely recognized reality that little gets accomplished without money changing hands. The higher the amount, the higher the value of the service being suggested. Police conversion of checkpoints into unofficial toll collecting areas is widely criticized, and rightly so, but Nigerians understand that police corruption is far from common. Wale Adebanwi, Steven Pierce, and Daniel Jordan Smith all published studies that go into great detail about different aspects of the situation. Ordinary citizens being harassed by law enforcement is simply the tip of the iceberg. The most flagrant larceny frequently involves members of the political class who, if convicted, receive little more than a legal slap on the wrist or, failing that, an official pardon. Plenty of high-profile corruption cases, the most recent of which involved Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari and former EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Magu, have cast doubt on the Buhari administration's commitment to fighting corruption and confirmed public skepticism that its anti-corruption rhetoric is only that. Nigerians pretend to take government seriously while the institution claims to fight corruption.

 

 

https://www.cfr.org/blog/nigerias-all-too-familiar-corruption-ranking-begs-broader-questions-around-normative-collapse