Nigeria’s perception problem
Olugbenga Ashiru, minister of foreign affairs, lately lamented: “Please Nigerians, don’t carry drug(s) again; it tarnishes the image of our country.” The minister’s cry for Nigeria is founded on facts: 9,000 Nigerians imprisoned abroad, 752 in the UK; most are incarcerated in the Asian-Pacific for trafficking cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
A 2013 report “Transnational Organised Crime in West Africa”, by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), states that Nigerians traffic methamphetamine to high-value markets – Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. On their way to these markets they pass through China, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Data compiled by UNODC shows that the number of Nigerian methamphetamine couriers arrested in Malaysia increased to 152 in 2011 from 18 in 2008. In 2011, 526 Nigerians were arrested for cocaine trafficking in Switzerland and 104 were arrested in Italy (between January and May 2011) for smuggling heroin.
South Africa is also a market. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) recently stopped two Nigerians trying to smuggle 12 kilograms of methamphetamine, concealed in weave-on, to South Africa. Though “a young flow”, trafficking in methamphetamine is generating sizable income – $360 million – and most of the profit is going to West African traffickers. UNODC contends that “Nigerian smugglers may have gotten their start in methamphetamine in their traditional role as expert transportation and distribution agents”.
The volume of cocaine flows through West Africa, though down to 18 tonnes in 2012 from its 2007 high of 47 tonnes, are worth $1.25 billion at wholesale prices in Europe – much more than “the national security budgets of many countries in West Africa”.
Profits from trafficking cocaine, arms, fake drugs and oil are so much that it’s easy to buy the cooperation of government officials. Like corruption (419, oil subsidy scam, bunkering, etc), drug trafficking, too, is now a synonym for Nigeria, unfortunately. This tiny minority is doing so much harm it will take more than branding to correct perceptions. Winning the African Nations Cup and participating in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil have their limit.
Interestingly, Nigerians based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, are said to be in control of cocaine exports by commercial air courier – 90 percent of those arrested at the Sao Paulo international airport claim they got their cocaine from Nigerian groups. Mules couriering cocaine are found on flights from Brazil to Luanda, Lagos, Doha, South Africa and Europe.
Factors, such as poverty, location (along illicit trading routes), and a large pool of desperate youth that can be recruited as foot soldiers by criminal groups, remain unchecked. The beneficiaries are powerful, connected and untouchable. Conviction rates are low. In Nigeria, no high-profile oil thief or smuggler has been brought to book. Beyond tarnishing Nigeria’s image, continued collusion between corrupt elite and criminals is a threat to stability.
Organised crime in Nigeria has been legitimised, unofficially. It is an octopus with tentacles in economic crimes, drugs, fraud, bunkering, smuggling (prostitution and migration). Antonio Maria Costa, former executive director of UNODC, says: “Drug cartels buy more than real estate, banks and businesses; they buy elections, candidates and parties. In a word, they buy power.”