Although the language of religion is very frequently used to talk about corruption and to shape both policy and programmatic solutions to the issue, religion remains one of the most under-studied sociocultural influences on corrupt activity in Nigeria. Likewise, how religious values and institutions influence issues such as development, good governance and social cohesion remains unclear and is often misunderstood. For example, during Nigeria’s democratic transition in 1998, the popular push for the reintroduction and implementation of Islamic law (sharia) in northern Nigeria was tied to the region’s problems with corruption, inequality and poor governance. These issues were strongly characterized as moral problems that, correspondingly, required a strong moral response, paving the way for the adoption of sharia in 12 of Nigeria’s northern states by 2002. However, despite almost two decades of the implementation of sharia criminal law, corruption, inequality and poor governance remain endemic and human development indicators have worsened across Nigeria’s northern states.
It is in this complex and ambiguous context that governments and non-governmental organizations have sought to frame and shape anti-corruption efforts using religious perspectives on moral standards and ethical behaviour. Partnerships with religious groups and faith-based organizations in anti-corruption programming are premised on a number of assumptions, including: 1) that integrity and ethics are central to the belief systems of the major religions practised in Nigeria (Christianity and Islam) and 2) that religious people are more likely to behave according to ethical standards established and expected by those belief systems.
It is assumed that anti-corruption efforts can be more effective if they are communicated and conducted via religious organizations or leaders, appealing to the moral standards of these major religions.
Following on from this, it is further assumed that anti-corruption efforts can therefore be more effective if they are communicated and conducted via religious organizations or leaders, appealing to the moral standards of these major religions. However, evidence to support these assumptions and demonstrate the positive impact of religion-based anti-corruption interventions remains scant, or is conditioned on other enabling factors. These factors tend to be overlooked in the design of most faith-based anti-corruption interventions.
Secondary literature points to important conditionalities for positive outcomes in religion-based anti-corruption interventions. For instance, a 2012 study of the politics of religion and corruption concluded that religion contributed to reducing corruption only in contexts where the public have strong democratic values and view corruption as destructive to democratic governance. The conclusion was that religion can be a source of good governance, but that this outcome is highly conditioned on the institutional context. So, in contexts ‘where political corruption is not viewed as an unethical behaviour, religious cues are unlikely to suppress it’.
It is also often the case that many assumptions of the role of religious beliefs and values in anti-corruption interventions tend not to be locally tested. As a result, faith-based anti-corruption interventions may be too broad; covering a range of group behaviours rather than specific forms, and symptoms rather than causes. Some Nigeria-focused research in this area has shown that while religion may have some impact on attitudes towards corruption, religious beliefs are unlikely to have a significant impact on corrupt behaviour. Religion is therefore a limited, or limiting, entry point for engagement on anti-corruption.
