Nigeria’s public sector corruption perception is worst than it has been in recent years.
Transparency International released its corruption index on Thursday. Out of the 183 countries ranked in this year’s edition, Nigeria is placed at 143, alongside Russia and Uganda.
The optimists would say that Nigeria is still doing better than Kenya --which came in at 154-- and much better than Somalia and North Korea, which had the worst rankings. New Zealand seems to be the world’s least corrupt nation; it took the #1 spot in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007…you get the picture.
Nigeria’s public sector corruption perception is worst than it has been in recent years.
Transparency International released its corruption index on Thursday. Out of the 183 countries ranked in this year’s edition, Nigeria is placed at 143, alongside Russia and Uganda.
The optimists would say that Nigeria is still doing better than Kenya --which came in at 154-- and much better than Somalia and North Korea, which had the worst rankings. New Zealand seems to be the world’s least corrupt nation; it took the #1 spot in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007…you get the picture.
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But the reality, pessimistic or not, is that the perception of Nigeria’s public sector has consistently decreased over the last 5 years.
Progress…is indeed a slow-brewing stew.
But how can a nation progress when politicians are supposedly financing the likes of Boko Haram?
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…Where more than half of the population has no access to healthcare?
…Where the removal of $7.5 billion worth of fuel subsidies may mean an oil-rich colossal power may find itself increasingly importing fuel from the likes of Ghana, Cameroon and Chad?
…Where homosexuals will continue to be criminalized and forced to rot in jails rather than be assisted and encouraged to engage in civilian democracy?
Those who live back home in Naija can fill in the blanks-- the situation is too bleak for my stomach to handle at this time.
A quick break down of the previous corruption indices released by Transparency International show that Western European nations boast higher rankings.
2010
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010
Denmark, New Zealand, Singapore (best ranked), 1
Finland, 4
Sweden, 4
Canada, 6
Norway, 10
United Kingdom, 20
Chile, 21
Unites States, 22
South Africa, 54
Ghana, 62
Zambia 101
Uganda, 27
Nigeria, 134
Cameroon, 146
Kenya, 154
Democratic Republic of Congo, 164
Somalia (worst ranked), 178
2009 http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table
New Zealand (best ranked), 1
Denmark, 2
Singapore, Sweden, 3
Finland, 6
Germany, 14,
United Kingdom, 17
United States, 19
South Africa, 55
Mexico, 89
Senegal, 99
Tanzania, 126
Nigeria, Uganda, 130
Cameroon, 146
Kenya, 146
Ivory Coast, 154
Sudan, 176
Somalia (worst ranked) 180
2008 http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2008/cpi_2008_table
Denmark, New Zealand, Sweden (best ranked), 1
Singapore, 4
Finland, 5
Australia, 9
Hong Kong, 12
Germany, 14
United Kingdom, 16
Japan, USA, 18
South Africa, 54
Senegal, 85
Nigeria, 121
Uganda, 126
Pakistan, 134
Kenya, 147
Zimbabwe, 166
Somalia (worst ranked), 180
2001
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2001
Finland (best ranked), 1
Denmark, 2
New Zealand, 3
Netherlands, 8
United Kingdom, 13
Hong Kong, 14
USA, 16
Ivory Coast, 77
Kenya, 84
Nigeria, 90
Bangladesh (worst ranked), 90
Not a single sub-Saharan African nation has been part of the 40 best ranked in Transparency International’s corruption index--with the exception of Botswana!
Ahhhh, Botswana. Land of the Kalahari Desert. The Okavango Delta. The Limpopo River Basin. And The Wizards, an eclectic, progressive hip-hop group.
The land-locked nation has the most positive public sector corruption perception ranking of all of sub-Saharan Africa.
The 2011 ranking for Botswana is at 32; last year, 33; 2009, 37; 2008, 36; 2007, 38…you get the picture.
The Republic of Botswana with a population of 1.9 million can boast Africa’s longest continuous multi-party democracy. The world’s largest diamond producer, Botswana --formerly known as the British protectorate of Bechuanaland-- has enjoyed four decades of uninterrupted civilian leadership and a growing middle class sector.
But--Botswana has one of the world’s highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection, you point out!
But, wait! Botswana has a better human rights record than Nigeria does; a much smaller economy with a much lower purchasing power parity, admittedly, however, ‘Batswana’ women are not dying in child birth at the rate of Nigerian women, since Botswana’s maternal morality rate is about 190 deaths per 100,000 live births while in Nigeria, 840 babies die per 100,000 live births.
Babies born in Botswana have a much higher chance of survival than babies born in Nigeria, yet Nigeria, ironically, has produced many more obstetricians than Botswana has!
‘Batswana’ enjoy a better life expectancy than Nigerians, more sanitized drinking water sources, healthier children and they have less infectious diseases to worry about.
And if you go to a hospital in Botswana, you’re more likely to find a patient’s bed than you would in Nigeria simply because the bed to population ration in Botswana (1.81 beds per 1,000 people) is higher than that of Nigeria, which has about 0.53 beds per 1,000 people.
Then, the percentage of literate ‘Batswana’ over the age of 15 is about 81 percent, whereas, as much as Nigerians like to brag over their foreign-sought academic credentials and systemic, pedagogical, esoteric intellectualism or what have you, only 68 percent of Nigerians over the age of 15 are literate.
Remember, a child born to an educated woman has a 50 percent higher chance of survival.
That child is human capital… that’s the next brain surgeon…or the next astronaut… they are the future and those are the ones who may not live beyond their 5th birthday just because their mothers cannot read in this 21st century.
So, which one is Africa’s Real Giant: Nigeria or Botswana?
Because in the end, it’s all about perception and while Nigeria has a mass pool of human capital, the life of humans in Botswana is less strenuous, less risky and more predictable. Less mangled by corruption, less prone to historic trauma and mismanaged leadership and more likely to thrive in the jungle of globalization.
I write this, not to spite or hate or condemn, embarrass, or ridicule the land that coaxed me from my mother’s womb, but I’ve written this editorial out of love, for love, in love and by love. Only a lover can challenge its partner to rise above the filth to fly. Nigerians, you, are my partners. Let’s soar…because if we plummet, we might as well pray to land in Botswana.
Chika Oduah is a multimedia journalist. For more visit www.chika-oduah.com and Follow her on twitter @chikaoduah
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