Organized crime across the sub-Saharan African States: the case of corruption in Cameroon and Nigeria

Abstract

Aside from sharing about 1975 km border length, Cameroon and Nigeria have issues in common which present a worthwhile opportunity for comparative research of certain socio-political occurrences manifesting themselves within the organized crime context. One of such is corruption. The 2020 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) rated both states at 149th position out of 180 states with a CPI score of 25 out of 100 (0=highly corrupt and 100=very clean). The aim of this study revolves around a comparison of corruption between Nigeria and Cameroon by way of a literature study and also measuring corruption prevalence by means of a closed-structured survey. A combination of purposive and convenient sampling was used to collect data that were analysed using frequency distributions and chi-square. Findings show that both states are not satisfactorily transparent. The judges, police, and how tenders’ officials handle the government contracts are selected as the most corrupt in both countries. Although not statistically significant, findings show that corruption is more widespread among Nigerian police departments and judges. Conversely, results significantly show that self-enrichment is the order of the day in Cameroon compared to Nigeria, especially through prevalence of fraud in the administration of state development contracts. The study is of the view that whistle-blowing strategy, prompt trial of corruption cases, true independence of anti-corruption agencies and political willpower of government could serve as deterrence measures in both states".