Nigeria Ranked Low On Corruption Fight, Security in Global Rule of Law Index

The World Justice Project has ranked Africa’s giant Nigeria 108th out of 128 countries surveyed in its 2020 Rule of Law Index.

WJP, which works to promote and measure rule of law around the world and to support practitioners, conducts annual survey to ascertain progress in key areas: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, Criminal Justice and Informal Justice.

According to WJP, Absence of Corruption measures three forms of corruption: bribery, improper influence by public or private interests and misappropriation of public funds or other resources.

WJP explained that, “These three forms of corruption are examined with respect to government officers in the executive branch, the judiciary, the military, police and the legislature.”

Order and Security measures how well a society ensures the security of persons and property. It measures this in the areas of “absence of crime”, “absence of civil conflict”, and “absence of violent redress”.

Nigeria particularly performed poorly in Absence of Corruption and Order and Security by falling below the 100 top countries. Nigeria was ranked 127th out of 128 countries in terms of how well it ensured the security of its people and property, performing worse than some countries like Cameroon, DR Congo, Pakistan, Venezuela and even Myanmar.

WJP said, “Security is one of the defining aspects of any rule of law society and is a fundamental function of the state. It is also a precondition for the realisation of the rights and freedoms that the rule of law seeks to advance.”

Besides the 128 countries and jurisdictions surveyed, interviews were conducted in 130,000 households and 4,000 experts were surveyed on 500 variables, according to the results contained in the WJP website.

In the latest results published in March, Nigeria scored 0.43 on a scale of 0 to 1 in the overall Rule of Law Factor Score and was ranked 108 globally on the Factor Rank. The overall score indicates the strongest adherence to rule of law.

Generally, Nigeria ranked 108 out of 128 countries in the World Justice Project rule of law index for 2020.

Here’s how Nigeria performed in rankings based on each individual factor

Open Government – 94/128
Absence of Corruption – 109/128
Regulatory Enforcement – 99/128
Civil Justice – 75/128
Criminal l Justice – 76/128
Fundamental Human Rights – 99/128
Constraints on Government Powers – 98/128
Order and security – 127/128

In the Order and Security index, Nigeria scored 0.36 to rank 127 globally, just above Afghanistan, which scored 0.29 to rank 128 out of the 128 countries surveyed.

In Absence of Corruption, Nigeria scored 0.33 to rank 109 globally, which was still below the top 100 countries. Rwanda scored highest in Sub-Saharan Africa with 0.63 and ranked 36 globally. Togo scored the highest in West Africa with 0.43 and ranked 78 globally.

In Fundamental Rights, Nigeria scored 0.46 to rank 99 globally. South Africa had the highest score in Sub-Saharan Africa at 0.64 and ranked 41. Ghana scored highest in West Africa at 0.61 and ranked 47 globally.

In Open Government, Nigeria scored 0.43 and ranked 94. South Africa scored Africa’s highest with 0.62 and ranked 30 globally. Rwanda had Africa’s second highest score with 0.58 and ranked 39 globally.

Under Regulatory Enforcement, Nigeria scored 0.43 to rank 99 globally. Sub-Saharan Africa’s highest score went to Rwanda at 0.59, with ranking of 37 globally. Ghana came second with 0.55 and ranked 50 globally.

Under Civil Justice, Nigeria had an improved score at 0.50 to rank 75 globally. Rwanda had Sub-Saharan Africa’s highest score with 0.64 and ranked 30 globally. South Africa scored 0.50 and ranked 75 globally.

Under Criminal Justice, Nigeria scored 0.40 and ranked 76 globally. Rwanda scored 0.54 as Sub-Saharan Africa’s highest score and ranked 42 globally. This was followed by South Africa with 0.53 score and ranked 44 globally.

Below are the Highest Ranked African Countries

Methodology

The WJP calculated the scores using data they collected in each country through a “general population poll” conducted by local polling companies using a representative sample of 1,000 respondents per country, and a questionnaire answered by in-country practitioners and academics with expertise in civil and commercial law, criminal justice, labor law, and public health.

The study surveyed more than 130,000 households and 4,000 legal practitioners and experts.