Comparing Nigerian states: Anti-corruption and the sub-state environment

The study of corruption is evolving: if renewed focus from the 1990s brought attention to a neglected issue, highlighting corruption's pervasiveness and harmful effects, then the priority today is to better understand what works in policy responses. I argue that one significant weakness nonetheless remains the fixation with the nation-state as the unit of analysis. This both limits the depth to which we understand more localised corruption issues and the sophistication of responses to combat the problem. Through a comparison of six sub-state units in Nigeria (here on known as 'states' as defined in the Nigerian constitution), the study will assess how the quality of governance - that is, the norms and
institutions by which authority is exercised at a level below the nation-state - influences the effects and intended goals of anti-corruption mechanisms.
The study will build on recent research in the corruption field which aims to improve the depth of analysis of corruption issues and the appropriateness of responses (Johnston, 2005; Hough, 2013; Zaum, 2013; Andreoni, Khan & Roy,2016) A common theme in this work is the importance of appreciating context - both in terms of acknowledging corruption's varying drivers, forms and effects, as well as the potential of the enabling environment for reform - to design appropriate
policy responses. The distinctive feature of this study will be to bring these ideas to the level of government below the nation-state. In focussing on the sub-state, where there is closer everyday interaction between government and people, the study aims to contribute research with high operational relevance and impact.
Nigeria is an apt country to explore this theme. Since election in 2015 President Muhammadu Buhari has embarked on a high profile anti-corruption campaign. Expectations of the programme are considerable and, given Nigeria's regional stature
and size, it is imperative to better understand what approaches can work, particularly as past anticorruption drives have proven to be false dawns. Nigeria is further a leading global recipient of international development assistance, including from the UK. The Department for International Development (DFID) has initiated a £100m programme aiming to promote public sector accountability and reduce corruption (2016 - 2021). This study therefore has high potential value to Nigerian and external policymakers and will critically consider how current approaches might be rethought.
The study will feature innovative profiles of the governance environment in six states. The research method will be qualitative, enabling in-depth of analysis of state conditions, and will draw out distinctions through paired comparisons of case
studies. The study will take a national anti-corruption intervention, support to improve standards and promote state parliamentary assemblies as an anticorruption tool, to explore how outcomes diverge due to governance. As a supervisor of behaviour of elected officials and mechanism of public accountability, the role of parliaments as an anticorruption mechanism is recognised, but has been subject to only limited research (DFID, 2012). The study will add to the evidence base and explore how the effectiveness of parliaments in anti-corruption can be improved if sub-state conditions are taken into account.
The study will use Nigeria as a stepping point to explore the broader theoretical question of the relevance of the sub-state to anti-corruption responses. Drawing on recent work in political science on the limitations of methodological
nationalism for regional study (Jeffrey, 2013), I will consider how corruption research methodologies can incorporate sub-state analysis, and what lessons from the Nigeria example might be taken elsewhere.