In the light of the latest crackdown on internet fraud by the United States’ FBI, Nigeria is again in the spotlight. Is the practice a systemic problem unique to Nigerians? What do you think best explain it? Culture or Poverty?
For me, it tilts more towards culture. Poverty is a global phenomenon and fraud isn't unique to Nigerians. But the pervasiveness of it speaks to our systemic inclination for wrong incentives, lack of meritocracy, dominance of money based access, improperly formulated and unenfirced rules. All these happen bi-directionally, which speaks to institutionalised corruption. So culture in this term means values entrenched both by institutional failures and poor institution building pari pasu.
For me, it tilts more towards culture. Poverty is a global phenomenon and fraud isn't unique to Nigerians. But the pervasiveness of it speaks to our systemic inclination for wrong incentives, lack of meritocracy, dominance of money based access, improperly formulated and unenfirced rules. All these happen bi-directionally, which speaks to institutionalised corruption. So culture in this term means values entrenched both by institutional failures and poor institution building pari pasu.