Corruption and Nigeria Daryn and Angela

There is an Endemic Corruption Problem in Nigeria From 1960 to 1999, more than $440 billion of public money was lost to mismanagement or theft By 2000, Nigeria was officially declared the world’s most corrupt country by Transparency International Corrupt successive military dictatorships The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC): Nigerian law enforcement agency that investigates financial crimes When Nuhu Ribadu, the former executive chairman of EFCC, prosecuted his top-level people, including ministers, parliamentarians, and chief law officers, it was a critical point in Nigerian history

There is an Endemic Corruption Problem in Nigeria Nigeria is on the Financial Action Task Force’s blacklist Money laundering and potential terrorist financing Some have accused Ribadu of aggressively pursuing political opponents of then president Olusegun Obasanjo while leaving Ribadu and his allies untouched After surviving two assassination attacks, Ribadu went into self-imposed exile in the US Nigeria had a low score of 2.5 on the 2009 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index

Updates From Daily Post Nigeria, “Ezekwesili Reveals Cause of High Level Corruption in Nigeria” by Fikayo Olowolagba http://dailypost.ng/2018/04/16/ezekwesili-reveals-cause-high-level-corruption-nigeria/ Former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, has blamed the discretionary allocation of oil blocks for the high level of corruption in the country The Nigerian government must create policies in the oil and gas sector in order to encourage local control of these industries and avoid political sentiments

My Opinion I believe corruption in Nigeria will continue to prevail unless the Nigerian people gain control of at least part of the oil revenues from companies, such as Shell. As of now, the oil funds are not trickling down from the corrupted Nigerian government to its people, and any leader who tries to combat corruption, such as Ribadu, is threatened or assassinated. Because it is difficult for the Nigerian people to unite against the Nigerian government due to a lack of a solid middle class and of technological advancements, I believe the corruption in Nigeria does not seem to be disappearing any time soon.

Political Cartoon

Corruption Is Not the Main Problem in Nigeria General Overseer believes that if Nigeria can handle tribalism then they can move past corruption in public office Tribalism is the biggest issue in Nigeria Due to it there is no patriotism Saying there is corruption in public office is to distract the people from the issue of tribalism Crime and Poverty Citizens live in poverty with few resources, country’s main concern is bringing crime rates down and providing essentials Terrorism Many terrorist groups in Nigeria are attacking the population and becoming more prevalent Bombing and kidnapping rates have not lowered, Boko Haram is still very powerful with no plan of being stopped Women and kids are kidnapped hundreds at a time, such a prevalent issue that it became national news in 2014

Corruption Is Not the Main Problem in Nigeria Unemployment Due to their lack of education and resources many citizens are not employed, especially the younger generation (38% of those under 24) There was once a stampede that killed 16 people because there was 5,000 job openings at an immigration office and 500,000 people showed up Main issue is they lack the necessary skills for most jobs Infrastructure No reliable power supply, workers do not have the proper tools or skills to operate Water resources and railways are incredibly poor and inadequate Nigeria needs more power and better roadways but without better employees and tools this will never happen

Update “Corruption Not Peculiar to Nigeria” http://saharareporters.com/2018/04/30/corruption-not-peculiar-nigeria-says-okonjo-iweala Former Minister of Finance, Dr.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,announced in Washington D.C that corruption is global and not Nigeria’s main issue Part of their culture Not peculiar to them because it has happened for years Corruption can be solved only from the inside only, outside countries cannot fight against it but help the inside

My Opinion I believe that the main issue in Nigeria is corruption and that most of their other problems have a direct-link back to the corruption in public office. Corruption will continue to be an issue throughout the country because the people are “comfortable” with it, as they believe that it is apart of the culture and is now just something that they are used to. As corruption continues the other problems will just continue to get worse and be ignored, as they care more about money and power than the good of the people.

Political Cartoon

Discussion Questions Is Nigeria on the path towards reform or will it remain entrenched in corruption? Why or why not? What are some solutions to prevent oil companies and the Nigerian government from reaping benefits from the oil industry and neglecting environmental consequences? At what point Will Nigerians finally agree that it has gone on too long and attempt to do something about the corruption? Will it take other countries to step in and assist for Nigeria to finally work towards being a better society?