Nigeria’s worsening corruption index

The ranking by the global anti-corruption coalition, Transparency International (TI) of Nigeria as a country in which corruption phenomenon is worsening should not present a surprise to keen watchers and followers of events in the country.

The high economic and social instability pervading the polity surely are patent proofs that all is not well, as most of the situations bloom from corrupt practices.

Indeed, the persistent refusal of governments at all levels to prune spending, avoid wasteful expenditure and focus only on projects of value to the greatest number have been attributed to corruption. The result is the very poor state of the country in all ramifications.

In its 2021 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released recently, Nigeria is ranked as the second most corrupt nation in West Africa. The country dropped five places and scored 24 out of 100 points in the index.  Her current 154 ranking in 180 countries is a drop from 149 in the 2020 index. This country’s second consecutive year of a downward spiral on the CPI ranking is most unwholesome. Nigeria’s score dropped from 26 in 2019 to 25 in 2020 and further downwards to 24 in 2021. This is coming after President Muhammadu Buhari’s avowed fight against graft as the lodestar of his administration.

The CPI is TI’s tool for measuring corruption levels in countries around the world. Zero is the measure of the worst country while 100 is for the best-ranked country. The organisation’s representative in Nigeria said, during the presentation of the report, that Nigeria’s decline made corruption the greatest contributor to underdevelopment in Nigeria. Despite the boasts by the Nigerian government on fighting corruption, many public service endeavours are still filled with corrupt tendencies as officials in charge still demand kickbacks while rendering their services.

Clearly, the report shows corruption is still a major challenge in Nigeria. Corruption is hindering the country’s development, economic prosperity and it is responsible for deepening poverty in Nigeria. Corruption is destroying the country; insecurity persists because of corruption. Nepotism, a phenomenon that has gained greater traction in this Buhari era, is corruption. It is noteworthy that Buhari doesn’t see nepotism as corruption too. This is a grave error of the country’s value system.
 
The practice of alienating other ethnic groups from key leadership positions in the police, the military and the civil service amounts to a failure to observe federal character in the recruitment of personnel in the public service of the federation. Failure to appropriately remit revenue gathered by ministries, departments and agencies to the federation account is also corruption. Failure to punish corrupt officials or subject them to judicial prosecution is also corruption; just as duplication and padding of budgets by public servants are acts of corruption.
 

How to stop corruption should be a key question for Buhari’s successor, given the present administration’s low score on the issue. When governors see state money in their care as their money, it becomes difficult to check corruption. That is why the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has become a haven for corruption. The same goes for the NNPC; behind the clamour for and against the removal of petroleum, the subsidy is corruption. It is corruption that has kept the refineries with the government despite their lack of functionality. The Federal Government has no business keeping refineries. It would seem the refineries are only being used to siphon the government’s funds into private pockets.

All anti-graft agencies should investigate allegations of corruption levelled against politicians, public office holders and civil servants thoroughly and conscientiously, so as to leave no loophole for escape during prosecution. Justice delayed is justice denied. The National Assembly should also fast track the passage of relevant laws-amending statutes to strengthen the anti-graft agencies.