Nigeria: Cracking Corruption
Public Finance International, August 26, 2016
~ By Emma Rumney
Nigeria is one of the most “fantastically corrupt” countries in the world – that is, in the words of former prime minister David Cameron, who was caught boasting to the Queen in May that a delegation from Nigeria was to attend his flagship anti-corruption summit.
Even Nigeria’s president, 73-year-old former general Muhammadu Buhari, would later agree with Cameron’s description – but not without wryly pointing out that the proceeds of much of that corruption remained secreted away in the UK, making the ex-PM’s on-camera faux pas that bit more embarrassing.
In a much lesser known segment of the ill-famed exchange, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby made an important qualification: Nigeria’s current president was “not actually corrupt”, he told the Queen. In contrast, he was “trying very hard” to rid the country of one of its biggest curses.
Indeed, since Buhari first came to power in the 1980s following a military coup, he has made a name for himself as incorruptible. His 20 months as head of state in 1984-85 were marked by a strict and heavy handed campaign against graft, waste and crime – as well as a poor human rights record. Around 500 politicians, officials and businessmen were thrown in jail. Read the full report on http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/feature/2016/08/nigeria-cracking-corruption.
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