The unending problem of corruption, particularly bribery is endemic. On the one hand, it gets you instant access to things you should already have, and failure to oblige is detrimental. Then there’s the “use-to-itness” of it all, so much so that reporting occurrences is often futile.
- Thirty per cent of Nigerians paid bribe to public officials;
- Private sector bribery was 5.7% while public sector bribery was 30% in 2019;
- Direct bribery requests by public officials accounted for 60% of all bribery transaction in 2019;
- While prevalence of bribery decreased marginally, frequency of bribe payment has not;
- Prevalence of bribery increased with educational attainment in Nigeria. More educated people are more like to pay bribes;
- Forty-eight per cent of Nigerians who refused to pay bribes suffered negative consequences.
In 2019, Nigerians paid about ₦675 billion in bribes to public officials. Even more, cash bribes were about 0.52% of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product for the period. Not to mention, this figure corresponded to 6% of the average annual income of all Nigerians. These and more were revealed in the 2019 Corruption Survey (Nigeria) conducted by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime in collaboration with Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics.
Bribery and its many faces
The survey also revealed that while Nigeria made appreciable improvements in its corruption outlook, corruption is still prevalent in the country. However, the purported improvement in the corruption outlook appears to be contradictory to Transparency International’s findings in its latest corruption perception report. According to Transparency International, Nigeria is in fact just as corrupt as it has always been, or even more corrupt. In 2019, Nigeria ranked as the 146th most corrupt country in a survey of 180 countries. This is a two point drop from the position in 2018. In 2018, Nigeria ranked as the 144th most corrupt country according to Transparency International.
Public sector is where it is at
Nonetheless, both indentures agreed that the public sector was most corrupt in Nigeria. While prevalence of private sector bribery was 5.7% in 2019, public sector bribery was 30% for the same period. In fact, about 30.2% of Nigerians who made contact with a Nigerian public official paid a bribe.
The survey also indicated that 63% of Nigerians had a minimum of one contact with at least one public official in the space of 12 months. Thus, three in every five had contact with a public official and nearly one in every three had to part with a bribe. Citizens had most contact with public officials who are healthcare professionals (1), public utility officials (2), or police officers (3).
To pay or not to pay
While the rationale behind bribe payments are quite diverse, 45% of bribes were paid to speed up or formalise an administrative procedure.
Further, public officials requested for most bribes directly, 60% of the time. Indirect request for bribes was 20% and spontaneous payments to accelerate processes was 8%. About 5% of the time, people paid bribes as appreciation for services, following its execution. Yet, 67% of bribe-payers greased the wheels prior to execution. In 2019, most bribes were in cash (93%), with the average summing to ₦5,754 ($52).
While the rationale behind bribe payments are quite diverse, 45% of bribes were paid to speed up or formalise an administrative procedure. Thirty-eight per cent of the time, people paid off officials to speed up a procedure. And 21% sweetened the pot to avoid fines. With a 39.3% bribe payment rate, men in urban areas had the highest bribe payment rate in the country. Women in rural areas had the least bribe payment rate (21.6%). Further, refusing to pay bribes had negative consequences, 48% of Nigerian adults show.
Vote Buying
Beyond bribe payment, vote buying was yet another prevalent corrupt practice the survey identified. Politicians offered one in five Nigerian money, gifts, or a favour in exchange for votes during the last general election. In fact, the last polls saw 21% instances of this occurrence. Public perception also affirmed incidences of electoral fraud in the country. Eighty-six percent of the population surveyed reported that occurrence of electoral fraud was either very frequent or at least fairly frequent. But in the real sense, electoral fraud was prevalent in the 2019 general elections. This was confirmed by many observer organizations and even in the news.
Comparing the change: 2016 and 2019
Despite the prevalence of corruption in Nigeria, the 2019 corruption survey has revealed that Nigeria is indeed not where it used to be. This might well tie into the purported anti-corruption agenda of the current administration. As an example, prevalence of bribery dropped from 32.3% in 2016 to 30.2% in 2019. Also, three of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria recorded decreases in prevalence of bribery since 2016. In North-western Nigeria, prevalence of bribery decreased by 11% from 36% in 2016 to 25% in 2019. However, while prevalence of bribery may have decreased, frequency of bribe payment has not. Also, to Transparency International, Nigeria is just as corrupt as it ever was!
The challenge
The 2019 corruption survey has shown different angles to bribery in Nigeria. First of these is a citizenry that is either too accustomed to bribe-payment or so complacent and would not consider making conscious efforts to end the menace. According to the statistics, Nigerian public officials continue to meet little resistance when requesting bribes. In fact, only 19% refused to pay when confronted with a bribe request. Also, only 3.6% of total bribe-payers reported their latest bribe payment to an official institution capable of conducting investigation or acting on the report. Conversely the report identified the reason for the low level of bribery reporting. Over 51% of those who reported a bribery incident experienced no follow-up. In other instances, reporters suffered negative consequences.
On the other hand, public officials receive bribes habitually and failure of citizens to pay bribes often result in detrimental consequences. The power relationship between public officials and citizens typically favours the former. And when a public official elicits a bribe, they tend to be successful and do so with impunity; an outcome that may embolden corrupt officials to make even more bribe requests.
Making the most of the Statistics
Thus, the Nigerian government, in its effort to eliminate corruption in Nigeria, must begin to implement policies targeted at addressing impunity among public officials. It should also investigate corruption among public office holders; further penalising defaulting officers. Likewise, the government should provide real protection to reporters of corruption, likewise “defiant” Nigerians who do not pay bribes. In furtherance to this, anti-corruption agencies should address institutional weaknesses that result in poor reportage of corruption. Ultimately, the government should be more proactive in its fight against corruption. Also vital would be positioning of her anti-corruption agencies to deliver on their individual mandates.