Criminal Politics: Violence, “Godfathers” and Corruption in Nigeria

ights of Nigerians, Western human rights policy towards Africa is in danger of
becoming irrelevant.
There are several steps that could be taken to signal a change in attitude towards
issues of human rights and democratization in Nigeria. From now, the country’s foreign
partners should set several indispensable, yet reasonable benchmarks necessary to
improve the chances for free and fair elections in 2011. They should follow-up by
articulating clear and meaningful policy consequences that will follow if Nigeria fails to
adhere to these benchmarks for progress. The first of these benchmarks should
include urgent action to reconstitute INEC into a more transparent, inclusive and
genuinely independent body. Nigeria’s partners could also go some way towards
making amends for their timid response to the 2007 polls by urging a public inquiry
into abuses committed in connection with those polls and serious investigations into
future cases of corruption and abuse.
Nigeria’s foreign partners should also insist on the passage and robust
implementation of basic reforms such as Nigeria’s long-delayed Freedom of
Information Bill; enhanced independence for the EFCC; and reform of Nigeria’s
corrupt, abusive and overly politicized police force. Nigeria’s government should be
pressed to end the impunity that continues to surround flagrant acts of corruption
and human rights abuse attributed to state governors and other high-ranking
officials, and foreign countries should make it harder for corrupt officials to hide the
proceeds of corruption in bank accounts abroad. More straightforward but equally
important, Nigeria’s foreign partners should speak out forcefully on serious human
rights abuses where they do occur.
Such initiatives could signal the beginning of a break with business as usual in
relations with Nigeria, help generate momentum for change, and lend moral support
to the efforts of Nigerians working to transform their country. But to date there has
been no clear sign that the relationships between Nigeria’s new government and its
foreign partners will be anything other than business as usual. US Undersecretary of
State for Africa Jendayi Frazer publicly warned Congress against doing anything to
“isolate” 387 Nigeria in response to the elections, but in fact US policy has remained
387 Ike Nnamadi, “US urged to withhold election assistance,” Daily Sun, June 26, 2007.
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Human Rights Watch October 2007