Nigeria Anti-corruption

Established to aid the Nigerian government in its campaign to fight corruption and institute criminal justice reform, the Fund contributes to the advancement of accountability and probity in public service in Nigeria. This initiative is a multi-level collaboration between the Nigerian government, civil society and the donor community. The Fund was established by the Open Society Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and Ford Foundation, and is overseen by TrustAfrica.

This initiative is a multi-level collaboration between the Nigerian government, civil society and the donor community. An Advisory Committee comprised of the donors, TrustAfrica and representatives of the government provided strategic oversight and programmatic leadership for the fund’s implementing partners in Nigeria. The broad objectives of the fund are to:

1. Increase the cost of corruption to perpetrators by increasing the effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies and enhancing the enforcement and sanctions regime;
2. Improve the effectiveness of the criminal justice system to foster rule of law;
3. Diminish public and stakeholder apathy to the campaign against corruption by decreasing tolerance for corruption by citizens.
Part of the funds were dedicated to assisting government driven initiatives while some parts were for support to civil society organizations. The fund’s strategy was designed to address both the supply and demand sides of the anti-corruption spectrum, to facilitate a complementary relationship between government and civil society engagements on anti-corruption and lastly, where necessary, to enable civil society to interrogate the actions and commitment of the government and its representatives in the fight against corruption. The fund supports innovative ways to use technologies like social media and citizen participation to increase public opprobrium for corruption. It also looks beyond legal and institutional reform and international processes to influencing behavior at local and national levels.