Corruption holds a prominent place in Nigerian trade and daily
living. With respect to Nigeria’s culture of corruption, Smith states,“Discontent about corruption, frustration over perceived marginalization, and aspirations for a more equal and just society are ex-pressed in religious language.
This is among the most significant
and potentially explosive trends in contemporary Nigerian society,”38 and leaves the general population “interpreting corruption and inequality in a language that highlights ethnic discrimination.”
More than anything, corruption drives a criminal element promi-
nent in Nigeria’s lucrative oil industry. A militant sector classified as “criminality” by the government emerged in the Niger Delta region with an agenda to highlight environmental abuses in the Delta.
MEND, a growing and powerful opposition force to Nige-
ria’s military since 2005, is the most prominent among these
groups. MEND is credited for reducing Nigeria’s oil production by as much as 25 percent in recent years and by 50 percent capacity for brief periods in 2009.
The combined effort of criminality in the Delta and piracy in the
Gulf of Guinea has led to the loss of 10 percent of Nigeria’s $92 bil-
lion oil industry as of 2007; oil business revenues in mid-2009 were running at around $40 billion per year.
These revenues undoubtedly strengthen forces both inside and outside Nigeria that keep the
state and region unstable.
In addition, unregulated oil production in the Delta has led to a local ecological crisis of acid rain, air pollution and fouled waters that has limited the Niger Delta population’s access to clean drinking water and stable fishing stocks.
Corruption in Nigeria is not just a domestic issue. Transnational
crime has germinated in Nigeria over the past four decades. Louise
Shelley argues that “the growth of transnational crime is inevitable
because of the rise in regional conflicts, decline in border controls greater international mobility of goods and people, and the growing economic disparities between developed and developing countries.”
These forces of instability—declining oil production, en-
demic corruption, and rising criminality—plague Nigeria and could define a path to state failure.
The corruption in Nigeria reaches to the highest levels of govern-
ment and has the potential to be a major catalyst in state failure.
The Nigerian government initiated efforts to create a perception
that it is addressing this corruption. It established the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The EFCC hasthe reputation of being the president’s storefront in that it serves to protect his financial exploits and target people of interest.
This reputation undermines government legitimacy. An Internet poll conducted by The Fund for Peace asked what single factor causes state failure.
The overwhelming response was “corruption,” appearing three times more often than that of the next category, “lack of basic education.”
Corruption challenges any notion of sound governance, effectively undermining public trust and confidence.Nigeria’s persistent poverty points to a fundamental failure in national and local governance and exposes the corruption that defines Nigerian life. The World Bank lists Nigeria as a less than a
25th percentile nation for government effectiveness. Criminality is undoubtedly a critical driver in Nigeria’s
poor performance in governance.
Source – Failed State 2030
Nigeria-A Case Study
