Thoughts on The UNODC Report
UNODC reports a marginal decrease in the prevalence and frequency of bribery in Nigeria, writes Chuks Akamadu
On the invitation of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) I had flown into Uyo Tuesday afternoon (March 2nd, 2020). Being my first air trip to Uyo, reader please permit me to quickly remark that I was warmly received by an airport that could pass for one of the sanest and neatest in and around Nigeria. In like manner, the long stretch of road that takes one from the airport to Uyo town is well-paved and looks satisfactorily free of danger. Both combined, one was psychologically prepared for a pleasurable experience in Akwa Ibom.
It therefore was not much of a task for me to quickly settle down, alongside other delegates from virtually all parts of Nigeria, for the two-day assignment that made us converge on Uyo that Wednesday morning. We were not in Uyo for fun, rather for very serious business. UNODC had gathered us to witness the formal presentation of its second Corruption Survey Report in Nigeria and to critically evaluate same with a view to identifying gaps in the report and making appropriate recommendations.
For me, it was an interesting scenario for an obvious reason. Coming on the heels of President Muhammadu Buhari’s coronation as ‘African Union’s Anti-Corruption Champion’ at the 30th AU Summit in Addis Ababa for his outstanding efforts at curbing corruption in Nigeria and the recent damning Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index Report which ranked Nigeria 144 out of 180 countries, there has been an enduring debate between two parallel opinion camps arising from the conflict the AU assessment and TI’s Report present – as to whose verdict should be embraced!
As the meeting gained steam, we learnt that UNODC carried out the said survey in the months of May and June last year in collaboration with National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) supported by Department for International Development (DFID). For the avoidance of doubt, the methodology used for the survey and sample size could only have yielded credible outcomes, with over 33,000 Nigerian households covered. The summary of the report however is that bribery in Nigeria is slightly less prevalent than it was three years ago (2016) when UNODC carried out its first survey. Please do note that whilst the prevalence of bribery in Nigeria may have declined, it does not mean that the frequency of bribe-paying has also shrunk.
According to UNODC, whereas the prevalence and frequency rate of bribery in Nigeria stood at 32.3% in 2016, it dropped to 30.2% in 2019. The report’s breakdown indicates that 93% of bribery transactions is done in cash; food accounts for 4.6%; and gift items have a market share of 1.3%. Generally, men are more likely than women to pay bribes just as urban men are almost twice as likely as rural women to pay bribes. Further, in 2016, the prevalence and frequency of bribery in urban and rural areas were 34.8% and 31.0% respectively whilst in contrast, urban area bribery prevalence and frequency slightly dropped to 34.2% in 2019 as against rural area that came down from 31.0% to 28.2%.
On the other hand, states with a statistically significant increase in the prevalence and frequency of bribery are Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Osun, Enugu, Gombe and Ebonyi. Conversely, states with significant decrease are Abia, Ondo, Nasarawa and Taraba. Others are Kano, Borno, Kebbi, Zamfara and Sokoto. Lest I forget, UNODC did commendably well by expanding the scope of its second survey through the inclusion of the phenomenon of vote-buying and pervasive nepotism in recruitment processes within the public sector.
According to the survey report, 21% of adult population of Nigeria reported that they were personally offered money or a favour in exchange for their votes during the 2019 general elections just as 17% of survey respondents admitted that they were personally offered money. This revelation is frightening! The advent and rapid dominance of bribery in our electoral processes should worry every right-thinking Nigerian who has the interest of the nation at heart.
On the whole, there is the temptation to give federal government a pat on the back for the marginal decrease in the prevalence and frequency of bribery in the period under review (2016-2019), but we must to so with measured caution, so as not to compromise the sanctity of data.
(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com )
The federal government has an urgent task of quickly redoubling its efforts on the anti-corruption war, so as to make its victories unquestionably glaring