Taming Corruption in Africa: A Comparative Examination of South Africa and Nigeria

Abstract

Although corruption has long been identified as, because of its devastating effects, the greatest threat to the development and continued existence of every state, most especially, the third world states. It is however, not until recently, that it is attracting the required attention in the discourse of Third world states' underdevelopment. The subject of corruption is not only attracting more attention presently than it once did but its indispensability in understanding Third world states' underdevelopment is now widely acknowledged and appreciated. In fact, it has been argued that, based on the plethora instances of high-profile corruption cases in South Africa that is purportedly seen as a relatively developed country and Nigeria within the Third world region, corruption now manifests as a global pathological problem which is not only confined to the shores of Africa and other Third world countries but whose causes, manifestations and consequences vary from one society to another (Gupta, 1995). However, unlike the developed region, corruption alone accounts for the greatest predicament of poverty and underdevelopment bedeviling the African continent (Okojie and Momoh, 2005). While South Africa fares better in development terms than its Nigerian counterparts, both countries are still deep-rooted and neck-deep in the menace of corruption. Although, corruption accounts for the economic woes in both countries at varying degrees, its continued persistence may hinder the full realization of each of the country's potentials, and as a consequence, have serious consequences on Africa's development in general owing to the importance and leadership positions occupied by these two countries in Africa. In recognizing the need to curb and fully ground the menace of corruption before it grounds the development agenda of both countries, South Africa and Nigeria have, in the past, taken some measures through political and economic reforms as well as setting up anti-corruption agencies with a view to minimizing and eradicating corruption. Nigeria established the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; South Africa, in the same logic, is prosecuting the war against corruption through its National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). However, despite the number of cases of corruption that have been identified and prosecuted by Anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria and South Africa, it remains evident that the anti-corruption crusades in both Nigeria and South Africa have not really yielded substantial results (Enweremadu, 2012; Egwemi, 2012). Although, South Africa has fared better in taming and prosecuting corrupt cases than Nigeria, both