According to the 2024 African Youth Survey, 85 per cent of Nigerian youths are dissatisfied with the Federal Government’s effort to tackle government corruption.
The report recently published by Johannesburg-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation was based on a poll of 5,604 people aged 18 to 24 in 16 African countries, adding that corruption is seen as the single greatest hurdle faced by Nigerian and other African youths to achieve their potential.
Nigeria ranks 2nd on the list of the top three countries whose youths are dissatisfied with their national government’s efforts to tackle government corruption, with Cameroon topping the list with 87 per cent and Ghana as third with 80 per cent.
“An overwhelming majority of youth in Rwanda (92 per cent) report being satisfied with their government’s efforts to tackle corruption, while a similar proportion of youth in Cameroon (87 per cent), Nigeria (85 per cent) and Ghana (80 per cent) report high levels of dissatisfaction,” the report read.
BusinessDay reported that 54% of Nigerian young people are pessimistic about the future of the country, while only 20% are optimistic about it.
“Reducing government corruption is seen as the key priority to progressing the continent. Four in five are worried about corruption in their country with high levels of concern about corruption in government, business, and the police. Most are dissatisfied with efforts to tackle corruption and there is widespread support for a range of policies to address it, including police taskforces, tougher penalties, and banning those convicted of corruption from standing for public office,” it said.
According to the 2023 Corruption Perception Index, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the lowest average score, despite isolated improvements in some countries, with pressure mounting on both democracy and the rule of law.
The report revealed that the emphasis youth place on reducing government corruption has increased slightly from 22% in 2022 and has taken the top priority spot from creating new, well-paying jobs (20%), which has fallen from 28% in 2022.
The report added that “Looking ahead to the next five years, when asked what would be the most important thing for Africa to progress, ‘reducing government corruption’ is the highest selected priority, chosen by a fifth of African Youth (23%). This scores higher than all other priorities, such as ‘creating new, well-paying jobs’ (20%) and ‘increasing access to basic needs and services’ (17%), and is a
particular priority for youth in Kenya (35%) and Nigeria (33%).”
According to the 2023 Corruption Perception Index, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the lowest average score, despite isolated improvements in some countries, with pressure mounting on both democracy and the rule of law.
“As such, there are high levels of concern towards this issue with four in five youth (83%) reporting that they are ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ concerned about corruption in their country. Whilst levels of concern are very high, there does appear to be a downward trend with concern declining from 94% in 2020 and 85% in 2022,” it said.
To tackle corruption in African countries, the report disclosed youths in the continent widely support the introduction of policies aimed at reducing and eradicating corruption in their countries.
It stated that there is particularly strong support for the notion of creating a police taskforce to tackle corruption in government (75 per cent), and of introducing tougher penalties for those convicted of corruption (74 per cent).
The report added that 72 per cent of youths also highly approve that those convicted of corruption should not be allowed to stand for public office and that candidates running for positions in office must not have a criminal record (70 per cent), while 69 per cent approve that leaders should be required to publish their financial records and business interests each year.
The IMF aligns with the view of African youth, as they report that improved fiscal institutions with greater transparency and controls, along with measures to constrain corrupt behaviour and measures to reduce corruption opportunities, have helped countries that have managed to lower corruption.
“Given the high levels of concern about corruption in these countries, youth in Kenya (89%) and Cameroon (86%) are most likely to support anti-corruption policies in their country, while support for policies is lowest among youth in Ethiopia (62%), Gabon (63%) and Namibia (63%). However, even in these countries, a majority of youth endorse policies to reduce levels of corruption,” it concludes.
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