A New 'Taxonomy Of Corruption' In Nigeria Finds 500 Different Kinds
Tales of corruption in Nigeria are legion. And like many analysts of the country, Matthew Page has his favorites. There's the case of the clerk at the state examinations board who was called to account for the disappearance of $100,000 in exam fees. While news accounts of her explanations varied, according to some reports, "she claimed that a magical snake had slithered into the safe and eaten the money," chuckles Page, who spent more than a decade studying Nigeria as an intelligence officer for various U.S. agencies.
Then there's the mile-long "monorail to nowhere" in the city of Port Harcourt. A state governor poured $400 million into building it, says Page. Then, shortly before completion, his successor halted construction. "So, it's never run a single train."
Page's WC amusement at such stories is tempered by concern over the larger implications – a concern widely held of an annual "Corruption Perception Index" put together by the watchdog group Transparency International. And Oluseun Onigbinde — the founder of a Nigerian nonprofit that tracks his government's spending — considers corruption "an existential threat" to his country. Nigeria, says Onigbinde, "has a huge treasure chest of oil wealth. And yet we have some of the worst socioeconomic indicators – things like maternal mortality rates – in the world."
