Should ICPC and EFCC be merged?

 Merging of ICPC and EFCC is not a magic bullet to making the anti-corruption agencies more effective. Political will is vital to ensuring the success of the anti-corruption agencies. Although the EFCC is perceived to be more effective than the ICPC due to its arrest and prosecution of high profile individuals in both the public and private sector, both anti-corruption agencies face challenges which hinder them from operating effectively. Some of the problems facing the anti-corruption agencies include weak legal framework, lack of adequate funding, delay in trials of corruption cases and lack of adequate investigative capacity. Merging does not address these issues.

What should be done? The anti-corruption agencies should be strengthened and be allowed to operate independently from each other rather than merging. Though some of their functions overlap sometimes (as they both deal with corruption in the public and private sector), they still have different areas of focus. Based on their mandates, the EFCC is focused on combating all forms of economic and financial crimes which includes advance fee fraud (commonly known as 419), money laundering, and bank fraud while the ICPC deals with curbing corruption in the public sector.

How can they be strengthened? The laws establishing these agencies should be made stronger in order to make them more independent and effective. This should include ensuring that the agencies have financial autonomy which will make them independent from government. They should be allowed to retain a certain percentage of proceeds received from crime. The agencies need to be adequately funded in order to effectively discharge their duties.

The fight against corruption should be a holistic approach involving both citizens and governments. The government should do its part of strengthening these agencies rather than breaking them. The agencies should be allowed to operate independently without any interference. The anti-corruption agencies should not be merged; rather the government should strengthen them. Merging these agencies does not make them more effective or address the challenges facing the agencies.

                                                       

Is Nigeria’s poverty by choice?

I just read an interesting article in Nigerian Business Day newspaper, which states that Nigeria has many of its citizens living in poverty today because it has accepted its present situation rather than intensifying its efforts to lift its citizens out of poverty. [http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/editorial/24822-nigerias-poverty-is-a-choice]

Yes, I agree with the view that Nigeria’s poverty is by choice. We have the human and natural resources needed to lift millions out of poverty in Nigeria yet majority of Nigerians are poor. One of the major causes of poverty in Nigeria today is corruption. Public resources have been wasted or mismanaged. This has resulted in the inability of Nigeria to translate its oil revenues into achieving poverty reducing growth. In addition, the economy is not diversified and mostly depends on oil for its revenue which has only been beneficial to very few Nigerians. The new government has made the choice of transforming the country. It has promised to build a sustainable future for Nigerians. The government should seriously focus on tackling corruption which I identified in my first blog post (https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B2vNy3QoOvZbZGVjYTM3N2UtY2RhOC00YTIxLTgyYWMtY2IxNDNmNDA3ODBk&hl=en&authkey=COjgqKsD&pli=1) as having a perverse effect on four of the five binding constraints to Nigeria’s economic growth which are: Inadequate infrastructure, inadequate access to finance, shortage of skilled staff and high costs of inputs due to restrictive trade policies. It also needs to intensify its efforts in tackling the issue of insecurity which also poses a serious threat to Nigeria’s development. This would go a long way in helping Nigeria lift its citizens out of poverty. Nigeria has what it takes to tackle poverty; it just needs to make the right choices. 

Nigerian President reiterates his commitment to tackle corruption

[http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/i-won-t-shield-any-corrupt-official-says-jonathan/95118/]

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s return good for Nigeria

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was among the ministers confirmed yesterday by the Senate. I am thrilled by this development as Nigeria would greatly benefit from her relevant experience and skills. More importantly, I am pleased with her focus areas which include job creation, increasing the ease of doing business in Nigeria and infrastructural development.

[http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/july/07/national-07-07-2011-002.html]

I hope she will be allowed to implement these policies effectively which I believe will improve the economy and help move Nigeria forward.

Private Sector Development in Nigeria: Getting the Basics Right

The Nigerian President has vowed to create an enabling environment for private sector development in Nigeria [http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/jonathan-hard-economic-decisions-on-the-way/94057/]. The President has also promised to protect local industries from foreign competition. While this sounds like a good way to help the growth of local industries in Nigeria (if well implemented), it is also not a magic bullet for private sector development. Protectionism is not new in Nigeria. Nigeria’s trade policy to some extent is focused on trade protectionism through import bans to protect its local industries against competition from foreign firms. This has not boosted local industries in Nigeria, rather only few industries have benefited from it. On the contrary, the main success story of Nigeria’s private sector has been largely driven by foreign direct investment in the telecommunication sector from companies like MTN which has created employment opportunities and small businesses for many Nigerians. The Nigerian government should focus on keeping to its promise of  reducing the over all cost of doing business in Nigeria which would involve addressing the power crisis, maintaining roads  and improving security in order to boost private sector development. This would be beneficial to both local industries as well as attract foreign direct investment to Nigeria.