“WHAT HAVE YOU got for me this Sunday?” says the policeman, using his flashlight to tap on the window of your correspondent’s car at a roadblock in downtown Lagos, his AK47 dangling menacingly from one arm. Less than an hour earlier, an immigration official at the international airport had asked: “What have you brought me?” From the moment a traveller sets foot in Nigeria, he is confronted with the corruption that has afflicted the country for decades.
Nigerians are thankful for small mercies, and there has been some progress on fighting petty corruption. In the past travellers often faced harassment by policemen and officials if they refused to pay bribes, but your correspondent was told “you are welcome in Nigeria” whenever he politely declined to grease palms, including that of a guard at the central bank.
The improvement has several causes. First, the government has been trying to end the pervasive culture of impunity. Immigration officials’ names are now prominently displayed on counters, for instance, and documents are often scrutinised by two different people. Technology and social media play a part, too....
from The Economist: Special report http://ift.tt/1dMl0oP
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