Corruption in Nigeria and South Africa

Last week the global anti-corruption body, Transparency International, released its Global Corruption Barometer report titled “People and Corruption: Africa Survey 2015”. The report – the product of a partnership with Afrobarometer, a pan-African, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues across more than 30 countries in Africa – estimated that nearly 75 million people have paid a bribe in the past year and that a majority of Africans perceive that corruption is on the rise in their countries and that their governments are failing in their efforts to fight corruption. Many also “feel disempowered as regards taking action against corruption”.

Ranked among the worst performers are South Africa (83 percent), Ghana (76 percent) and Nigeria (75 percent). Four-in-five (83 percent) South Africans surveyed, for instance, say they have seen corruption rise. This is most disappointing. Nigeria and South Africa especially, as the two leading economies in Africa, are supposed to set the pace for transparency in governance and attempts to eliminate corruption from their societies. At the turn of the 20th century, both countries inspired so much hope and were at the forefront of efforts to transform governance and accountability through the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) – a sort of an African self-assessment for good governance and accountability. However, like most things African, those laudable programmes and mechanisms have faded and their promoters are even the worst transgressors.

The stories of Nigeria and South Africa’s struggles with corruption are pointers to the chronic pathologies of black Africa and why it has consistently missed the train of sustainable growth and development, unlike all other continents. Nigeria, at Independence, held so much hope, due to its vast potentials and positioning, of becoming the preeminent black power, leader and spokesperson of the continent. However, no sooner had the colonial masters departed than its leaders set about mismanaging its affairs and destroying its potentials and reputation. In 1999, after emerging from its darkest era under military rule where it was consistently rated as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, Nigeria attempted to re-launch itself onto the path of sustainable development, but its leaders have continued to show a near total lack of vision, selflessness and the ability to eschew corruption and make a clean break from its ugly past. It has therefore continued to perform very poorly on most corruption and good governance indices since then.

The South African case is most unfortunate and should have been avoided. By 1994 when the country emerged from its darkest period under apartheid and commenced its journey of democracy and majority rule, it had the experience of the whole sub-Saharan Africa to learn from. And although the black South African population had been suppressed, denied major rights and left poor, uneducated and bitter, the African National Congress (ANC) inherited a fully developed and capable state with first-rate infrastructure and a thriving private sector and business community that further flourished with the removal of sanctions against the country and its spread to the rest of Africa.

There was an implicit understanding that the ANC government would not disrupt the South African economy under the control of white South Africans, but would instead pursue a gradual integration programme, through the black economic empowerment, to bring the black majority into the economic mainstream and use government revenue generated from taxation to provide excellent education and other infrastructure to the disadvantaged black South Africans. However, the ANC has proceeded very badly since then and instead of democratising opportunities for the entire black population in South Africa, it has restricted benefits only to its leading members and officials. What the ANC has succeeded in democratising is corruption and South Africa, like Nigeria, is gradually acquiring the notoriety of being a deeply corrupt country. Meanwhile, majority of the black population have been left to wallow in penury and now blame their continued alienation on foreigners, hence the growth in xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

We urge the two governments of Nigeria and South Africa to renew their commitment to eliminating corruption in their countries and set good examples for other countries in the continent who look up to them for leadership and direction.