NCJ Number
177808
Journal
Trends in Organized Crime Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: Spring 1999 Pages: 29-59
Date Published
1999
Length
31 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the symbiotic relationship between criminals and the government in Nigeria; the discussion argues that totalitarianism leads to a predatory state and that a predatory state facilitates a political-criminal nexus, because totalitarian regimes lack the checks and balances of democracies.
Abstract
The discussion notes that Nigeria has been a predatory state since January 1966, except for a brief period of democratic reform from October 1979 to December 1983. It also argues that the highly developed and complex political-criminal nexus there has its roots in Nigeria's colonial past and in its culture. Currently, the line between the political authorities and professional crime groups is difficult to distinguish. Intense inter-ethnic struggles that began immediately after independence have contributed to the strength of the political-criminal nexus. The scramble to amass wealth following the discovery of oil boosted this relationship to new levels of sophistication. The three types of organized crime groups are the secret societies that existed long before 1960, the traditional crime groups that operated after colonial rule, and the so-called 419 syndicates that emerged in the late 1970s and now operate throughout the world. Law enforcement today is weak or nonexistent, generally corrupt, and ethnically divided. Many journalists have been jailed and murdered. However, more than 9,000 officials at the State and Federal levels have been forced out or jailed for malfeasance. However, the 1999 elections brought to power one of the former military leaders and indicates that Nigeria currently has little hope for change. Tables, reference notes, and 85 references