29 February 2018
I am writing on this just due to popular demand on my inbox. I have too many-friends inbox accusing me of keeping quite after transparency International indicted my favored government of corruption.
Well, let me set the record straight. Transparency International report is actually an indictment on Nigeria’s corruption index, but we are interpreting the meaning and application of corruption index wrongly.
In Nigeria, much of what we define as corruption is actually theft of public property. An official who took government property or funds to his private account is actually engaged in theft. That’s not the business of Transparency International in measuring corruption index.
When Nigerian government sets up anti-corruption agencies like EFCC and they recover billions from public officials, that’s great, but that’s not the business of Transparency International and it has nothing to do with the Corruption measurement index.
So what exactly do Transparency International measure? They measure and rank countries on a scale often called “Corruption Perception Index”. It is generally defined as the “misuse of public power for private benefit”. Take note, they did not say misuse of public funds, but the misuse of public power.
What we need to understand is that the misuse of public power does not only have to do with money or stolen property, misuse of public power also encompasses human rights abuse, unlawful detention of persons without trial, red tape and bribery in government offices before files can be treated, Silencing of opposition voices using the instrumentality of the state, and several other factors.
It is based on these that Transparency International ranked Nigeria very low; it has nothing to do with our anti-corruption fight by the present government in power.
More important, what Transparency International looks at are two major factors in every country selected, “Black market activity and overabundance of regulations in the financial markets”.
To those who understand Development Economics, they would actually agree that due to the recession Nigeria suffered a few months ago, in an attempt to bounce back, Black market activity was dominant due to the fluctuating and instable dollar to Naira rates, and due to lack of foreign exchange, the government had an overbearance on regulating the financial markets. So Transparency International corruption index was actually based on these factors.
In essence, the backlash from Nigerian government was uncalled for and we should rather thank Transparency International and work harder to improve on our ratings and global image going forward. Transparency International has nothing to gain neither are they a political organization attempting to give the government a bad name.
So what Transparency International does is to rank a total of 176 countries on a scale from 95% that is very clean countries to 5% being very corrupt countries. Don’t forget their definition of corruption is what informs their ranking.
You and I will agree that while our government is working hard to fight corruption from officials in past administration, collecting public looted funds and sending some people to jail, has little or nothing to do with Transparency International ratings.
So much of the factors I listed above that has to do with misuse of public power for private benefit is even worst in Nigeria today compared to past regime.
Our present government has spent so much time going after the corruption of past leaders but failed to put in place, structures, mechanisms and a change of value systems in civil service and other organs of state to prevent corruption going forward.
Also, don’t fail to understand that, The results of the corruption index is arrived at from surveys conducted by major international bodies including the African Development headed by our own Nigerian Akinwunmi, The World bank, The world economic forum and a total of 13 major organizations. It is not someone sitting in some office who hates Nigeria that wrote the ranking. This explains why it was unceremonious the way Nigerian government and her officials even attempted to blackmail the work of Transparency International in the past weeks.
The reaction of the Nigerian government was actually frowned at in some International meetings I recently attended.
Usually countries use these reports to strengthen the sectors that are lacking rather than castigate Transparent International to gain Political relevance.
Given the factors I have mentioned above, it is understandable why Jonathan administration had a better ranking than the present regime. Fighting corruption is not arrest and detention and newspaper propaganda, it is actually the development of institutions, value systems, non-use of public power for private benefit. I hope we can learn going forward.
Princewill Odidi is a Public affaires analyst writing from Atlanta.
