Is Corruption a Safety Net in Nigeria
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[Applause]
hello
happy to be back home um
so berlin 2014
germany i was sitting in a cafe
having a cup of hot chocolate and i got
into a conversation with a german lady
she must have been around 45 50 years
old
and as usual the question was where are
you from
and i said nigeria you know with a lot
of confidence nigeria
and she said oh nigeria and you know
when a foreigner
gives you that expression oh nigeria the
stereotype starts being in your head
like oh maybe she thinks one of those
internet fraudsters oh no i have a beard
probably um
ambuku haram right
so but then interestingly she said she
mentioned
okocha kanu tijani
i was like yes that’s more like it but
then as the conversation went on
she said another thing and she said you
know
about corruption in nigeria and i was
like
there i thought we were getting
somewhere and now the stereotypes
came back and i said what about
corruption
and she said you know it’s it’s
mind-boggling is it really true the kind
of monies that we hear that people steal
in nigeria
like why would anyone need to steal that
kind of money
you know like to her
from what what i got from from her was
the only reason why anyone would steal
that kind
of money is greed right
which brings us to the question of
what is corruption there’s a popular
definition of what corruption is
that it is the abuse of entrusted power
for private gains and when you hear this
definition
what comes to your mind ordinarily when
you hear corruption
is somebody collecting bribe you see
that picture of someone collecting bribe
or offering bribe
or someone sitting in his office signing
a document
to transfer illicit or illegal money to
their pockets
by a show of hands please let me see if
that is the picture you get
when you hear corruption
raise your hand if that is the picture
you get when you hear
corruption someone offering a bribe
someone
collecting a bribe so
a number of us it is very normal
to think that way but truly is that
really what corruption is
no that is not what corruption is
do you know what corruption is
corruption is
58 000 women die
needlessly in nigeria
corruption is 13 million
out of school children that is what
corruption is
13 million more than four times the
population of botswana
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corruption is a child dying
every 20 seconds to a preventable
disease
in this country
so it is not just you thinking about
someone stuffing his pockets offering
bribe or collecting
it is way beyond that and i want us to
take a second
to internalize this to introspect to
think
deeply about this and what you realize
while you’re doing this is that you are
having a change in mindset
because you are seeing it from a deeper
perspective and that is why we are here
so back to the german lady
why do these people engage in corruption
is it greed
what was my response you know as
nigerians they say
we answer questions good questions so it
was my turn to ask the questions
i told her so i i get your point i know
where you’re coming from
however i want to ask you a few
questions you’re a german right she said
yes
you have good health care she said yes
we have health insurance
she said yes do you have to travel
abroad to get quality health care she
said no we have some of the best
hospitals in the world
do you have to send your kids abroad
to study no we have some of the best
universities in the world
do you earn a good living with an
average
would you say an average german ends a
good living
he said yes of course do you feel safe
or do you feel threatened all the time
she said no
this is find a safe country the crime
rate is very low
and then i said to her so you see
if you ask an average nigerian these
same questions
they wouldn’t be able to answer yes
and she was quiet for a few seconds she
was quiet
which brings me to a theory called the
fraud triangle
and what is the fraud triangle
the theory tries to explain the reason
behind people engaging in fraud or in
this case
corruption one
pressure financial pressure so you work
in a ministry
in abuja as a graduate
and you end between 50 to 60 000 naira a
month
that is less than 200 a month clearly
that is not enough for you
to pay your bills to feed clothe and
transport yourself
monthly
on top of that
you work in an organization there are a
lot of loopholes
that it is possible for you to
perpetrate fraud
and get away with it
especially if you have the support of
your colleagues
who will cover your tracks
thirdly you are able to rationalize
you are able to rationalize these
fraud you tell yourself that well i
don’t any now
every other person is doing it i won’t
get caught
and you’re in a society that promotes
corruption
a society that celebrates people who are
corrupt
the society that sees people that are
corrupt are smart people
and see those who are not corrupt as
dumb people
you are in this society with all history
tell me with all these conditions
who won’t be susceptible to corruption
it is unfortunate that a system that we
have
has not offered an alternative
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such that
corruption becomes a safety net
because as human beings you must attend
to your needs and you will find a way
to attend to your needs no matter what
what are you going to tell your kids
your spouse how are you going to do
health care where are you going to leave
what clothes are you going to wear you
must attend to those needs
and if the system does not offer you you
will find
an alternative and that is what is
happening in this country
so what should we do
what should we do
many successive governments have made a
lot of efforts
by developing institutions the economic
financial crimes commission icpc
name it a host of organizations
to address corruption in this country
however one basic thing
that i’ve been missed is that we look at
corruption
from a very narrow perspective
and this resonates with what the german
lady was saying
because what i got from that
conversation was that corruption is
simply
an issue of greed like you don’t need a
kind of money why would you steal
you have enough clearly
she is comfortable but is that the case
in our country
no so what should we do as a people
the first thing that we should do
is change our minds change our mindsets
and when we hear corruption the first
thing that should come to our mind
it’s not just a definition of corruption
it’s not just somebody’s stuff in his
pockets
it is the implication of corruption what
does corruption do to our society and
our people
it kills people it undermines the
society’s goal
it shatters people’s dreams that is what
corruption is
and if you’re able to internalize this
next time when you hear about corruption
you’ll see corruption in a different
light
beyond that
it is also important that
we look at the factors that lead to
corruption
if we don’t address those factors as i
mentioned
in that fraud triangle that speaks about
some of the major factors
that lead to fraud we won’t get anywhere
ladies and gentlemen you’ve been a
wonderful audience thank you