‘Corruption has increased’ – say majority of Nigerians, ‘but we can make a difference’

                                                                                                                            

According to Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer which surveyed a 1000 Nigerians, there is good and bad news for Nigeria’s fight against corruption:

Bad News

• 85% of Nigerians believe that corruption has increased over the last two years.
• 94% believe corruption is a problem in the Public Sector.
•  72% believe Government is run by a few big entities acting in their own self-interest
• 75% believe the Government is ineffective in its fight against corruption.The institutions perceived to be the most corrupt were political parties and the police, while 81% admitted to having paid a bribe to the police.
• 24% reported paying a bribe to the judiciary.

Good news

• 56% of Nigerians (a slight majority) believe that ordinary citizens can make a difference in the fight against corruption.

Despite the depressing statistics on what Nigerians believe and have experienced on corruption, we can take encouragement that a slight majority believe that ordinary citizens can make a difference. The challenge for Nigeria is working out how.

http://www.transparency.org/gcb2013/country/?country=nigeria