Monday, 24 September 2012

Corruption Perception Index





Corruption is a global phenomenon that has hindered global development. Though it is not peculiar to a region or continent, there are areas that the effect of corruption are felt more than others; Africa is one of such places. According to an article by Nick Dearden, African leaders have impoverished the continent through corruption that many countries rely on foreign aid which is even redirected by these same leaders into to their personal gains rather than people oriented projects. Nigeria is one country known worldwide for the issue of corruption most especially bureaucratic corruption. This is a corruption that occurs in public administration where public office holders embezzle the funds meant for the citizenry.

A nongovernmental group known as the Transparency International has designed a means of measuring the rate of corruption in about 178 countries. The model is known as Transparency Perceptions Index (TPI) where countries are rated 10 to 1 with the highest number being the most transparent country and the lowest number indicates the most corrupt. From its 2010 rating, Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore are tied at the top of the list with a score of 9.3, followed closely by Finland and Sweden at 9.2. At the bottom is Somalia with a score of 1.1, slightly trailing Myanmar and Afghanistan at 1.4 and Iraq at 1.5. Nigeria is rated number 134 most transparent country in the world with 2.2 (see: http://www.transparency.org/ cpi2010/results). 

A nation with over 250 ethnic groups and finely divided into two religions (Christianity and Islam) has had a series of division using those classifications. Could these reasons be the root of Nigeria corruption or it goes beyond that?

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