Nigeria improves to 121st place from 147th in latest Transparency International Corruption Index
x | September 23, 2008
In the 2008 Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index Nigeria improved to 121st place from 147th last year out of 180 countries surveyed.

The 2008 report lists 180 nations on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean) based on expert assessments and opinion surveys of public sector corruption. For the second year running, Somalia and Myanmar received the poorest marks just below Iraq.

Denmark is the world's least corrupt nation, alongside Sweden and New Zealand. Significant improvements were aslo seen in Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Mauritius, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey.

Transparency International chairwoman Huguette Labelle said in a statement, "In the poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play, and the combination of corruption and poverty is an ongoing humanitarian disaster even in more privileged countries, with enforcement disturbingly uneven, a tougher approach to tackling corruption is needed."

"Stemming corruption requires strong oversight through parliaments, law enforcement, independent media and a vibrant civil society. When these institutions are weak, corruption spirals out of control with horrendous consequences for ordinary people, and for justice and equality in societies,"
In the 2008 report, there was little change at the bottom from last year - with Somalia closely followed, as in 2007, by Myanmar, Iraq and Haiti. Just ahead of them was Afghanistan, which slipped to 176th place from 172nd.

The report also showed worsening performances by Britain, which slipped to 16th from 12th, and Italy, down to 55th from 41st.

Britain's perceived anti-corruption efforts suffered from a decision by its anti-fraud agency to halt an inquiry into whether one of the world's largest arms dealers offered bribes in exchange for lucrative contracts in Saudi Arabia; while fraud and corruption cases in the public health system weighed on Italy.

The US was in 18th place, compared with 20th last year and the report said that the US remains among the lowest-ranked leading industrial countries.

"Contributing factors may include a widespread sense that political finance is in need of reform, with lobbyists and special interest groups perceived to have an unfair hold on political decision-making,"

Transparency International also referred to corporate bribery and the questionable methods of companies in acquiring and managing overseas business, saying "The continuing emergence of foreign bribery scandals indicates a broader failure by the world's wealthiest countries to live up to the promise of mutual accountability in the fight against corruption,

"This sort of double standard is unacceptable and disregards international legal standards,"

"Beyond its corrosive effects on the rule of law and public confidence it undermines the credibility of the wealthiest nations in calling for greater action to fight.

:cheers::cheers:

I was impressed when I read it yesterday on TI's website. It is heartwarming

This is the best news I have read this year :D

you guys need to stop giving thee organizations so much power to determine whether our country is corrupt or not. i agree nigeria is less corrupt that before, but not because TI says so

you guys need to stop giving thee organizations so much power to determine whether our country is corrupt or not. i agree nigeria is less corrupt that before, but not because TI says so

I agree with you on this one but wetin ma go do? They Virtually tell us what is good and what is bad. Going by all indications, the US and UK are the most corrupt countries

I agree with you on this one but wetin ma go do? They Virtually tell us what is good and what is bad. Going by all indications, the US and UK are the most corrupt countries

And what indications are those? If you perhaps knew the criteria that goes into analyzing a country's level of corruption you'd see thats an incredibly dumb statement.

And what indications are those? If you perhaps knew the criteria that goes into analyzing a country's level of corruption you'd see thats an incredibly dumb statement.People who throw around insults like 'dumb' often times need to look in the mirror. The main criteria is "perception," - hardly an objective measure - and VERY open to criticism.

The Basics of Halliburton's Military Contracts

No-bid contracts

When a government announces a new work project to be completed by one company, it generally requires a number of different companies to submit competing proposals (or bids). The company submitting the most efficient and lowest-cost bid usually wins the contract. But under a "no-bid" contract, there is no bidding. Instead, the government awards the contract to one preferred company without determining if other companies can complete the work for a lower cost to the government.

The Army awarded Halliburton a no-bid contract in March 2003 to rebuild Iraq's oil industry infrastructure. The no-bid contract created enough outrage in Congress that the Pentagon later cancelled it and opened-up the bidding process to companies other than Halliburton.

Most of Halliburton's government contracts were awarded through competitive bidding, but the no-bid Iraqi contract, and the secret way in which it was awarded to Halliburton, touched-off a firestorm of public suspicion that Dick Cheney and Halliburton are working together to increase the revenues of Halliburton. After the no-bid contract was cancelled, the company has been exposed for the repeated fraud and abuse in its government contracts. Allegations of corruption continue today.


Cost-plus contracts

Halliburton earns money from the government primarily through its "cost-plus" contracts. Under a cost-plus contract, a government contractor like Halliburton purchases all the necessary items to complete a job order and is subsequently reimbursed all those costs from the government -- and then paid a percentage of those costs (the plus) as a fee. A typical contractor earns a base fee of 1 percent of the estimated contract cost and an "incentive fee" of up to 9 percent of the cost estimate based on the contractor's performance in a number of areas, including cost control. The upshot: The contractor will never spend $1 million to do a job when it can spend $10 million and thereby earn a higher fee. So, contractors actually earn more money by wasting taxpayer money. The cost-plus method of accounting is the primary system today for determining how much government contractors are owed by the taxpayer. Congress and whistle blowers have criticized Halliburton and the Army Corp of Engineers for inflating costs via cost-plus contracts.

LOGCAP and other cost-plus contracts require the company to purchase items only from a vendor offering the lowest price if the amount of the purchase order exceeds $2,500. Thus, purchase orders exceeding $2,500 require KBR to search for competing vendors in order to find the lowest price available. But KBR often takes a purchase order exceeding $2,500 and breaks it down into its parts so that the order becomes more than one purchase order, each valued below $2,500. This allows the company to avoid searching for the lowest-priced vendor, which results in higher costs to the U.S. taxpayer. About 70 to 80 percent of KBR's purchase orders are below $2,500 - mainly because large-value purchases are broken down so they don't exceed $2,500.

A former employee of Halliburton said the company's motto is "Don't worry about price. It's cost-plus." Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) said "The higher Halliburton's costs are, the larger its profits will be." Of the firms for which Halliburton purchased items, Waxman said "Many of the preferred firms were unreliable or charged 'outrageous' prices. [Halliburton] Supervisors did not encourage buyers to identify alternative vendors and, in some cases, wanted to use a higher price vendor on the preferred list rather than a new, cheaper vendor."
This is corruption the American way: billions of dollars per contract gone up in smoke. And now the Thief-in-Chief in the White House is demanding that we give him $700 billion to bail out investment firms. Madness.

Cheney denied any relationship with Halliburton as vice president, he conveniently forgot to mention that he continues to receive from the company deferred salary of over $150,000 while maintaining 433,333 shares of unexercised stock options. Certainly, Cheney has a "financial interest in Halliburton" while working as vice president. ...

Cheney's deferred compensation and stock option benefits are in addition to a $20 million retirement package paid to him by Halliburton after only five years of employment; a $1.4 million cash bonus paid to him by Halliburton in 2001; and additional millions of dollars in compensation paid to him while he was employed by the company.

In 2002, Cheney's total assets were valued at between $19.1 million and $86.4 million. http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/

Halliburton remains eligible to bid for the new logistics contracts in Iraq, despite a horrendous record of dubious cost overruns, waste, employees who took kickbacks, the torching of $85,000 trucks that required only minor repairs, $45 cases of soda, $100 per bag of laundry, and evidence that Halliburton served contaminated water to the troops. All of this and so much more have been uncovered by the Pentagon’s auditors, the Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, numerous whistleblowers, Waxman and Dorgan, and plenty of outside investigators, including my colleagues at Halliburton Watch. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/07/21/halliburtons_hella_good_deal.php

That's the result of a cost-plus contract, the destruction of brand new trucks.

Wow, an example, you've proven that their is corruption in the U.S, can't say I disagree. Still doesn't go against the premise of my argument, one that affects society and individuals on a daily basis. One that includes both the public and private sector. One where the rule of law is composed of checks and balances that places the up most importance on the idea of transparency. By taking all those things into account by saying that the U.K and the U.S are the most corrupt countries on the planet is indeed dumb.

^^ Dude, listen to yourself! People are losing their homes and retirement savings due to shady practices ("derivatives"). Meanwhile, the regulatory 'check and balance' is asleep at the wheel. Pleeez, enough with the transparency b.s.. Someone tell me, how do they plan to spend the $700 bil, abeg make them share am reach us.

^^ Dude, listen to yourself! People are losing their homes and retirement savings due to shady practices ("derivatives"). Meanwhile, the regulatory 'check and balance' is asleep at the wheel. Pleeez, enough with the transparency b.s.. Someone tell me, how do they plan to spend the $700 bil, abeg make them share am reach us.

So would you then say that Nigeria is more transparent than the U.S? Listen to yourself say that. Whatever your beliefs I'll stop here, this thread is about Nigeria and their improvement in the corruption index (ironically the U.S has also improved).

This was supposed to be a celebration thread :(

So would you then say that Nigeria is more transparent than the U.S? Listen to yourself say that. Whatever your beliefs I'll stop here, this thread is about Nigeria and their improvement in the corruption index (ironically the U.S has also improved).

In my opinion..America is one of the least transparent countries on the planet.

If we are talking about Sweden, or Brazil, or Singapore, yeah you can chuch a tantrum about Nigeria.

But America cannot me mentioned in the same sentence as transparency.

This was supposed to be a celebration thread :(

Yes it is supposed to be and It still is!!

Alex wrote that my statement was 'dumb'.... that's laughable.

Alex, my message to you...you can moan all I care but can not stop me from expressing my views.

I am glad to hear about the improvement rather they need to do more about transparency for the benefit of the people and the nation.

Hmm, just yesterday after reading RDOkoye's post about this been the best news he heard this year. I thought to myself "Well, that will be until Alex Roney comes around to tell us why this is not worth celebrating!".

Well he hasn't proved me wrong.

Alex Roney just can't stop stalking Nigeria and Nigerians...until you reared your ugly head it has been peaceful here

Nigeria improves to 121st place from 147th in latest Transparency International Corruption Index

:cucumber::applause:

However, I am still no fan of Yar´ Adua, the day he retreats from office, I will be happy man again!

I want to see a young and dynamic president in Nigeria, I am so much yearning for it!

US of America is one of the least corrupt nations on earth.....just being sarcastic.

Alex Roney open your eyes.....US of America is not a fairy Land but a country with human beings like you and I

em_XyTeNA1g