Why Prevention is Better than "Cure" in Nigeria's Anti Corruption Efforts

By Demola Bakare fsi, anipr

Abuja

In Nigeria’s anti-corruption discourse, we often celebrate the spectacle of arrests, prosecutions, and convictions. Headlines scream, social media roars, and public anger briefly finds relief. Yet, after the noise fades, corruption stubbornly persists—mutating, adapting, and resurfacing in new forms. This reality invites a difficult but necessary question: Are we fighting corruption only after the damage has been done, or are we doing enough to stop it from happening in the first place?

The popular saying that “prevention is better than cure” is not a call for weakness, nor is it an argument against firm enforcement. Rather, it is a recognition that enforcement alone—however strong—cannot sustainably defeat a systemically embedded problem like corruption. Nigeria’s experience shows that while punitive measures are indispensable, preventive strategies offer deeper, longer-lasting value.

This understanding increasingly shapes the work of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). Beyond investigation and prosecution, the Commission has steadily invested in preventive education, corruption risk assessments, and system studies—quiet interventions that rarely trend online, but may ultimately do more to change outcomes.

The Limits of “Cure-First” Thinking

Enforcement addresses corruption after public resources have been diverted, trust eroded, and institutions weakened. By the time a case reaches court, the damage—lost funds, compromised services, broken confidence—has already occurred. Roads remain unbuilt, hospitals underequipped, classrooms overcrowded, and ports congested. Also, it is not just controversial, but consumes enormous resources in investigation and prosecution.

Moreover, a cure-first mindset can unintentionally encourage media trials and sensationalism. Public attention often shifts from institutional reform to personalities, from systems to scandals. While public accountability is vital, an obsession with spectacle risks reducing anti-corruption to episodic outrage rather than sustained reform.

Strong enforcement must continue. But enforcement alone is reactive. Prevention, on the other hand, is proactive—it blocks opportunities, closes loopholes, and reshapes incentives before misconduct occurs.

Prevention as Institutional Strengthening.

ICPC’s preventive work reflects a simple but powerful idea: corruption thrives where systems are weak, opaque, or discretionary. Strengthen the system, and the temptation and opportunity to corrupt shrink.

Through corruption risk assessments, the Commission works with public institutions to identify vulnerabilities in processes such as procurement, licensing, recruitment, and revenue collection. These assessments do not accuse individuals; they interrogate procedures and processes. Where are decisions concentrated in one office? Where are checks missing? Where does discretion go unchecked? 

For instance, the implementation of the recommendations of the corruption risk assessment conducted by ICPC in Nigerian seaports recorded significant paradigm shift in the sector. Ports Operators, including private businesses and agencies of government operating in Nigeria’s ports sector, were brought together to collectively confront lack of integrity and corruption in the ports. 

They re-designed and harmonized their SOPs, subscribed to joint grievances handling mechanism, and the Nigeria Port Process Manual (NPPM), birthed by ICPC, was adopted for them by the federal government while an ad-hoc presidential Port Standing Task Team (PSTT), comprising of ICPC/DSS/ Shippers Council/Nigerian Ports Authority, was put together to implement the content of the NPPM. 

The results of these efforts reflected significantly in the monitoring and enforcement of vessel joint boarding for rummaging, leading to reduction of berthing timelines. It reflected as interventions in joint cargo examination, leading to reduction of illegal demands for gratification by officials. Eventually, the interventions resulted in the dismantling of corruption network militating against flow of goods and services in and out of the ports- thereby enhancing trade facilitation and reducing cost of business, even to the admiration of the international community. Such is the quiet impact of preventive measures!

Similarly, system studies conducted across critical sectors—education and health—have revealed how everyday administrative practices can unintentionally enable corruption. From admissions and examinations in schools, to drug procurement and patient billing in hospitals, to cargo clearance and port logistics, these studies focus on fixing processes rather than merely punishing outcomes. For instance, funds allocation to primary health care facilities are presently being monitored for effective corruption-free utilization.

This approach aligns with a truth Nigerians intuitively understand: not everyone who navigates a corrupt system is inherently corrupt, but many are trapped in systems that reward shortcuts and punish integrity. This truth, indeed shows that even prevention must incorporate consequences management to be effective.

Education as a Long-Term Investment.

Another pillar of prevention is integrity and preventive education. Changing laws without changing mindsets is insufficient. ICPC’s engagement with public servants, students, professional bodies, civil society, and the private sector reflects a long-term bet on values.

These engagements challenge the normalization of corruption—the dangerous belief that “this is how things are done.” Through two important documents, National Value Curriculum (NVC) and National Ethics and Integrity Policy (NEIP), they emphasize ethical decision-making, conflict of interest management, and personal responsibility etc. Importantly, they frame integrity not as moral perfection, but as everyday choices supported by fair systems.

For policymakers, this is a reminder that budgets for ethics training, integrity outreaches, and compliance mechanisms are not administrative luxuries; they are anti-corruption tools to enlist the common man into the anti-corruption crusade. Alas, a review of the National Values Curriculum (NVC) has been due since 2019; it should be well-funded while the appropriate stakeholders such as the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) etc are appropriately mobilized for the long overdue exercise. Coalition of NGOs and CSOs working with the Commission on anti-corruption outreaches should also be provided with seed-money to fully reach and mobilise the grassroots.

Collaboration Over Confrontation.

Prevention also thrives on collaboration. ICPC’s stakeholder-driven approach recognizes that anti-corruption cannot be outsourced to one agency. Ministries, departments, agencies, professional associations, port operators, school administrators, healthcare managers, and even the media are all stakeholders in integrity.

When institutions invite corruption risk reviews instead of resisting them, they demonstrate maturity and foresight. When reforms are co-created rather than imposed, compliance improves. Prevention works best when it is owned, not feared. It is encouraging that a significant number of MDAs are voluntarily making regular anti-corruption sensitization and ethics training as part of their internal control systems while others now readily embrace requests for same, when made by the Commission.

Rethinking Public Expectations.

For the general public, embracing prevention requires a shift in attitude. Anti-corruption success should not be measured only by the number of arrests or viral scandals. Quiet reforms, improved service delivery, transparent processes, and reduced discretion are victories—even if they do not make front-page news.

Supporting the anti-corruption crusade means appreciating that the absence of scandal can itself be evidence of success.

Conclusion: A Balanced Path Forward

Nigeria does not have the luxury of choosing between prevention and enforcement. We need both. Strong enforcement deters, punishes, and reaffirms the rule of law. Prevention, however, ensures that fewer citizens ever face the temptation—or pressure—to be corrupt.

By strengthening systems, educating stakeholders, and fostering collaboration, ICPC’s preventive focus offers a pathway to sustainable integrity. It invites us to move beyond outrage and spectacle, toward patience, reform, and shared responsibility.

In the long run, the most powerful anti-corruption story may not be the one that shocks us—but the one that quietly makes corruption harder to commit, easier to detect, and increasingly unacceptable to tolerate.