Even though most people in Nigeria find the abuse of public office for religious reasons unacceptable, this research suggests that religious institutions should not automatically be seen as the most effective means of tackling corruption, because the context is more nuanced. Public sector corruption in Nigeria is a negotiated or fluid, rather than fixed, moral and cultural phenomenon, as this quantitative data analysis demonstrates. While most respondents believe that corruption is unacceptable, for those who do find it to be acceptable, its acceptability almost doubles when it is for religious communities or purposes. This suggests that anti-corruption efforts that seek to leverage religious perspectives or authority may be undermined by the sociability and justifiability of abuses of public office for religious reasons.
In the Nigerian context, norms of religious giving, reciprocity and social pressures associated with expectations of prosperity as a reward for faith can tip the balance against norms of integrity, modest living or ethical behaviour. Equally, the line between normal inclusive public goods and exclusive club goods provided by religious institutions to a community can be blurred, so moral and evaluative judgments about siphoning or diverting government funds to religious purposes are not clear-cut. Consequently, faith-based anti-corruption interventions need to be reframed or developed to be sensitive to:
- the potential acceptability or expectation of misuse of government funds for religious purposes;
- the influence of social expectations of religious giving, reciprocity and in-group favouritism; and
- the general association of religiosity or devotion with material prosperity and philanthropic behaviour.
In Nigeria, moralizing language, specifically religious discourse and expressions, is often used to justify corrupt behaviour and condemn individuals who refrain from engaging in corruption. Descriptions of behaviours and actions as ‘good’ or ‘evil’, ‘wicked’ or ‘virtuous’ are very commonly used in public discourse on corruption in Nigeria. Anti-corruption interventions that rely on or seek to appeal to moral beliefs may be misdiagnosing the problem or potentially exacerbating it, as the drivers of the corrupt practices tend to be complicated and require solutions that address a range of beliefs and expectations.
This analysis provides a basis for moderating expectations regarding the role of religious perspectives and for re-evaluating the role of religious leaders and institutions in addressing corruption. This does not invalidate a religious or faith-based approach to anti-corruption but rather shows how, in specific ways, religious reasons, language and rationale can have the opposite effect. Anti-corruption efforts – whether faith-based or not – intervene in social contexts where other norms and values are present and can considerably influence outcomes.
Religion-based approaches and networks are valuable and can certainly be effective, for example by enabling coordination within communities to undertake collective action so that individuals do not carry the risks and costs of changing behaviour on their own. Religious leaders and institutions can support anti-corruption interventions with signalling and messaging built around evidence of communities’ beliefs and expectations: for example, helping to highlight when people within a community have mistaken beliefs about the behaviours and beliefs of others with regard to corruption.
Alternative faith-based approaches to anti-corruption that focus on strengthening democratic values among citizens and supporting citizen-monitoring initiatives can also be very valuable. As an important part of civil society, religious leaders and institutions can be powerful advocates and partners in strengthening Nigeria’s burgeoning citizen-led accountability movement, which is exploring and finding innovative ways to bridge gaps in the capacity of state institutions to respond to citizens. The proliferation and embeddedness of religious institutions in Nigerian society places them in strategic positions to amplify the voice of citizens, encourage democratic citizen–government engagement and support citizen advocacy for human rights protection. Faith-based interventions that focus more on encouraging civic engagement and citizen participation in demanding good governance, budget monitoring and human rights protection can be particularly effective, given the central role of religious leadership and institutions in Nigerian society.
Such approaches would mean a shift from the current emphasis on faith-based anti-corruption interventions built around integrity and morality messaging – which tend to emphasize individual choices and multiply costs to individuals if they reject corruption – to participation-enhancing efforts that encourage collective action. In this way, systemic corruption is addressed through a nuanced collective action approach that is context-specific and avoids paying into or reinforcing pre-existing power and resource dynamics.
