Nigeria has been ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world for 2024, according to a new report by Transparency International.
The latest Corruption Perceptions Index places Nigeria in the 36th position, alongside Uganda, Mexico, Madagascar, Iraq, and Cameroon, with a total score of 26 points.
This marks a slight improvement for Nigeria, as the country gained one point compared to its 2023 ranking.
The 2024 index, released on Tuesday, evaluates 180 countries based on public sector corruption and scores them on a scale of 0, meaning highly corrupt, to 100, meaning very clean. Denmark was ranked as the least corrupt country with 90 points, followed by Finland with 88 points and Singapore with 84 points. No African country made it to the top 10 least corrupt nations, as the list was dominated by European countries.
Cape Verde emerged as the least corrupt country in Africa, ranking 35th globally with 62 points. Meanwhile, South Sudan, Somalia, and Venezuela were ranked as the most corrupt countries in the world.
Speaking on the findings, Francois Valeria, Chair of Transparency International, stated that corruption remains a serious issue worldwide but noted that some countries have made progress. She emphasized that the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that corruption is a dangerous problem in every part of the world, but change for the better is happening in many countries.
Valeria, said, “The 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) shows that corruption is a dangerous problem in every part of the world, but change for the better is happening in many countries.
“Research also reveals that corruption is a major threat to climate action. It hinders progress in reducing emissions and adapting to the unavoidable effects of global heating.
“The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories worldwide by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).”
Since assuming office, President Bola Tinubu has spoken about his commitment to fighting corruption. However, his approach differs from that of the previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari which rode to power on the promise of ending the deep-rooted corruption in the country. While past governments attempted direct crackdowns, Tinubu argues that corruption cannot be completely eradicated but should be minimized as much as possible.
“Corruption in all ramifications is bad. There is need to pay enough attention to the causes. Why are the people corrupt? The lack of social amenities, the lack of need in some areas lack of funding for children’s education.
“There are so many anti-corruption mechanisms to checkmate corrupt activities and to help people not to be corrupt,” he said in an interaction with the press late last year.
His government has introduced various policies aimed at closing loopholes that enable corruption, one of which is the removal of fuel subsidy payments.