If you've ever received an e-mail from a Nigerian prince or oil baron, asking you to help wire money out of his bank account in return for a share of the fortune, then you're not alone. Even Citibank fell for a Nigerian scam. Last October, the bank sent $27 million to a Nigerian con artist.
It has since recovered the cash.
But much of that famous Nigerian corruption takes place inside the country. In 2007, the watchdog organization Transparency International rated Nigeria the 32nd-most corrupt country out of the 180 it investigated. And that was actually an improvement: Nigeria used to be in the top 10.
Now a government effort is enlisting the help of the Nigerian people to fight corruption. Richard Lough reports. |