Peer Reviewer 1:
This is a good and fair report. I can corroborate the information the author provides on dubious police practices from my own experience: the Nigerian Police in Lokoja-Kogi state subjected me to a similar scrutiny over a laptop I own. It took quite a bit of audacity to stop the police woman from harassing and making me pay a bribe.
However, I believe the report is too narrow in focus. Police is just one of the institutions where corruption is prevalent, and that happens mostly for two reasons: officers are poorly paid and they have an easy and direct interaction with the public on a daily basis. The same type of corruption is nevertheless prevalent in the office of Customs and Immigration, local governments, media, etc. Journalists these days are so corrupt that the Daily Trust which owns the Abuja-based newspapers has had to embark on campaigning in order to prevent its journalists from collecting bribes. Editors build houses and drive cars whose value is way beyond their income.
A good point that the reporter tackles is corruption in the education sector, but I believe this account is not detailed enough. The writer should have indicated better that teachers support their students cheating in the final West Africa Examination in order to promote the excellence of their respective schools.
Peer Reviewer 2:
I agree with the Reporter's Notebook, the facts were accurately presented.
Every significant event on the spate of corruption among Nigerian police has been cleverly presented by the reporter, without any reservation.
Anyone who wants to understand the situation better should consult the Independent Advocacy Project report on Nigeria Corruption Index 2007 as well as visit Nigeria and attempt to travel on Nigerian roads. A public opinion survey will as well prove the facts correct.
Peer Reviewer 3:
While the notebook presents a true life story experienced by two journalists in Nigeria, it is not enough of a parameter to judge the endemic nature of corruption. Thefts and rape take place in South Africa MORE OFTEN THAN IN NIGERIA. It is difficult to weigh the extent of corruption fuelled by greed compared to corruption that derives from economic challenges. I believe poor remuneration and unemployment should have been addressed.
Peer Reviewer 4:
Corruption has become an endemic disease in the country. The recent fall of the speaker of the House of Representatives (the lower legislative chamber) over the 628 million naira-(US$5.3 million) scam shows that even the leaders that are expected to serve as good examples are enmeshed in the corruption crisis. Nearly all sectors of society are tainted.
The military wing that is expected to apprehend offenders and get them prosecuted is using the opportunity to strike bargains and milk innocent souls, while those who can bribe their ways are left off the hook.
Corruption is everywhere in the public and private services. Even journalists who are expected to serve as watchdogs are not different, as self-censorship is made possible only on a cash-and-carry basis.
The EFCC seemed to be making giant strides due to the principled stance of Nuhu Ribadu, the commissions spokesman, and even past and deposed governors had to run out of the country. However, the decision to merge the EFCC with the Justice Ministry has dampened the enthusiasm and the effectiveness of the anti-corruption crusade, especially since the judicial sector also reeks in corruption.
It is therefore a bad situation all around, which leaves the less privileged in the society impoverished.
Peer Reviewer 5:
The Reporter's Notebook aptly describes the rotting in the Nigerian systems, especially in the police force that has been reduced to a ridiculous cesspool of corruption. The journalist mentioned he was riding a commercial bike home not because he enjoyed the ride, but because that is the painful alternative accessible to many Nigerians. Most roads are bad and unfit to drive on because of long years of neglect and misappropriation of money allocated for repairing them.
Anywhere you see a police checkpoint; there you find a toll gate where motorists are extorted. Several campaigns against police extortion have not been effective. And why wouldnt there be extortion anyway? Police are miserably paid -- most have a paltry monthly salary of 8,000 naira (US$68). Welfare benefits and post-retirement schemes are inexistent. They get killed everyday by armed robbers who have more sophisticated weapons. They read about corruption in high places like ministries, the presidency and the National Assembly; they know that their top brass collect bribes in checks and fat parcels. A former inspector general was jailed after being accused of embezzling 7 billion naira (US$59.3 million) from police funds.
The Notebook listed other agencies steaming with corruption, such as Power Holding Company Ltd, Education Ministry and Customs among others, but I dare say that corruption permeates the whole gamut of society, including the media. Sometimes reports are tilted when palms have been greased. Some publishers collect contracts from these corrupt leaders. We had journalists who were doing media PR for the inspector general who had embezzled the 7 billion naira.
The efforts to fight corruption, even though slow and imperfect, are commendable. Until now, no governor or inspector general of police has been tried and convicted for stealing. One good thing that has been achieved is a reduction in frivolous foreign trips of governors, ministers and other top government functionaries who had the habit of stashing Nigerian money abroad.
Let me correct a fact in the Notebook: The police Inspector General Sunday Ehindero was investigated, but never indicted.
Peer Reviewer 6:
The Reporter's Notebook is a true reflection of happenings in Nigeria, especially with regard to the police-citizen relationship. Even though the Nigerian police tell citizens that the police is your friend, this has never been the case. Citizens live under perpetual fear of the police. Most motorists are constantly attempting to figure out how to avoid the several police road blocks of extortion that litter all major cities and towns (and villages) in Nigeria. Most citizens believe that a regular police officer will collude with his colleagues (in order to give the impression that the bribe is requested by the colleague and not by himself) rather than not collect money from citizens.
It is exceptional to meet a police officer who will perform any of his statutory duties without asking for gratification. Most of them also say that they are poorly remunerated and that salaries are not paid in due time, others say that they were made to give bribes in order to be accepted into the Police College, while others, as noted in the notebook, argue that their superiors collect in 'dollars' and 'pounds', and therefore they see no reason why they should not collect in the same way.
Like the two journalists, lawyers and senior government officials are able to avoid paying bribes by virtue of their professions. The major victims of the type of corruption exposed by the notebook are the poor, uneducated and helpless Nigerians who cannot afford to give bribes or hire lawyers. They are simply dumped in cells, and when cells can no longer contain them they are taken to court from where they are sent to prison as Awaiting Trial Men (ATM). Most often, ATMs remain in prison for very many years.
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