Nigeria Content Online

The United Nations
Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) has said that some foreign companies
refrained from investing in Nigeria because of the level of corruption
in the country.

The agency country
representative, Mrs Dagmar Thomas, made the revelation at a roundtable
on the ethical conduct of business in Abuja yesterday. She said the
organisation had conducted a study on how corruption, crime, and
insecurity impacted the marketplace in Nigeria.

“We know that about
10 percent of all companies paid bribes in the year before the study.
About 20 percent, or 450 companies, admitted that in the economic
sector, the payment of bribes to public officials was either fairly or
very frequent,” Mrs. Thomas said.

She noted that not
only did most of the companies lose profit by paying bribes, money that
could have been used for the development of the company and its staff,
many of them also refrained from making new investment for fear of
corruption.

“So, there is an
urgent need to act, since lack of company expansion means lack of
development, also for company staff and workers,” she said.

Mrs. Thomas
commended the country for putting the fight against corruption at the
forefront of its national political agenda and urged it to continue, in
order to reduce the severe negative impact on development, business,
and fair competition.“Corruption, as a phenomenon, is not new; it is
not localised to any culture, profession, or society,” she said.“It
afflicts countries and people worldwide, even more so when a system of
checks and balances are not in place or distorted.

“It is important that the fight against corruption also comes from
the people, is led by the people, and made part of our daily lives,
standards, and behaviours,” she said.