Social media is a powerful weapon in Africa’s much-needed struggle against corruption.
We gained another example of this truth on Monday, when, speaking to the BBC, a Nigerian senator uncovered a scandal in his nation’s political establishment.
Shehu Sani explained that he and his fellow senators receive $37,500 each month towards expenses. The money is effectively unaccountable, which means senators pocket the additional sum as a bonus payment.
According to my calculations, considering the BBC’s report that Nigerian senators are officially paid more than $2,000 a month, were members of the U.S. congress to receive a proportional bonus payment, they would take home at least an additional $3,262,500 each year.
Unsurprisingly, Nigerians aren’t terribly amused by what Sani has revealed.
Also, unsurprisingly, the Senate’s reaction has been one of total arrogance. A Senate spokesman told the BBC that “Almost all holders of elective and appointive offices have running costs allocated to their offices that cannot be said to be part of their salaries.” What the spokesman fails to mention, and the BBC also reports: that each senator receives $5.5 million a year to handle their constituency business.
Still, there’s a lot of hope here, because the Nigerian social media reaction to Sani’s revelation has prevented corrupt interests from concealing their misdeeds. Africa’s traditional synergy between media companies and government power has meant a cozy patronage relationship in which the public is denied necessary information. This has meant that the opportunities for those, like Sani, who want to do the right thing were limited. If they risked publicizing corruption and misdeeds, they might find themselves in a car accident or simply being shot.
For all their ills, outlets like Facebook and Twitter make that kind of response much less practical. By allowing whistleblowers to start a wild fire of public attention, they carry the news in a politically powerful direction that cannot easily be constrained.
And Sani isn’t the first Nigerian to benefit from social media attention. As German magazine DW reported in 2016, social media campaigns have also helped to shine a light on corrupt mismanagement of aid projects.
And this isn’t just about Nigeria, either. In South Africa, for example, the recent fall of Jacob Zuma was precipitated by a social media campaign drawing attention to his exceptional corruption.
In the years ahead, as more Africans acquire the means of tweeting and posting, expect more of this.
