Middle East & Africa | Corruption in Nigeria

Dragon-slayers wanted

More is needed than sacking the head of the anti-corruption body

THE most moderate estimates suggest that $4 billion to $8 billion is stolen from Nigeria's state coffers every year. Yet not a single politician is serving a prison sentence for corruption or embezzlement. Charged with protecting the riches of sub-Saharan Africa's second-largest economy is the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which has brought charges against 35 prominent politicians, including 19 former state governors, since its foundation in 2003. The previous EFCC head, Nuhu Ribadu, made progress. But he foundered when he took on James Ibori, who was said to have stolen $290m. Mr Ibori was close to Umaru Yar'Adua, Nigeria's president from 2007 to 2010. State governors still enjoy immunity from prosecution while in power. Three former ones, recently arrested for the suspected embezzlement of $615m, have yet to be tried.

Following Mr Ribadu's unhappy exit, the hunt for thieving politicians slowed. Nigerians wanting to clean things up feared the anti-graft agency was failing. It received damning report-cards from abroad and was accused of being reluctant to co-operate with foreign authorities. On a visit to Nigeria in 2009, Hillary Clinton, America's secretary of state, said the “EFCC has fallen off”.

When the current president, Goodluck Jonathan, took office in 2010, hopes rose that corruption would once again be tackled properly. But he failed to remove the EFCC head, Farida Waziri, widely seen as timid in her pursuit of graft. “Fighting corruption in our country is like holding the tiger by the tail—if care is not taken the tiger will devour you,” she said.

Now it is the president that has devoured her. Mrs Waziri found out from a television news bulletin on November 23rd that she no longer had a job. The move was widely applauded but will make little difference without real institutional reforms. The justice system is as bent as the rest of the state machinery, which is why it is nearly impossible to prosecute bigwigs.

Corruption is a huge brake on Nigeria's growth. One official reckons the country has lost more than $380 billion to graft since independence in 1960. Foreign investors cite it as the main reason to avoid the country. It remains to be seen whether Mr Jonathan really wants to fight graft or will merely switch people around to keep his critics guessing.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline "Dragon-slayers wanted"

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