Police vehicles outside the National Assembly in Abuja on August 7, 2018.
Police vehicles in front of the National Assembly in Abuja on August 7, 2018. REUTERS / Afolabi Sotunde

The second season of “Integrity Idol” has just ended in Nigeria. This television program designates the most honest public servant. The winner of the 2018 edition is called Abdul Majid Oniyanyi and sits at the federal court in Abuja, the capital.

In Nigeria, Abdul Majid Oniyanyi, judge at the Federal Court of Abuja, is renowned in the judicial world for his thoroughness and transparency. He displays a constant, flawless ethic in his approach to his function as a judge. Abdul Majid Oniyanyi is also calm and his voice is very calm as can be seen on his online application video for Integrity Idol , this television competition which rewards Nigeria’s top civil servant in terms of integrity.

The judge was one of 280 participants to start the show. He was nominated by colleagues before being selected among the five finalists, which included judges, investigative journalists and a representative of the national civil service.

Each person’s story was then broadcast on national television and radio or on social media and put to the public vote. Abdul Majid Oniyanyi won the majority of the 11,000 votes. He succeeds Nuzo Eziechi, the first winner of this competition.

However, there are very few reactions on the main social networks on the distinction obtained by judge Abdul Majid Onyanyi and no results by typing his name on the search engines of Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. He himself seems to be absent from the Web.

No mad excitement either on the various accounts opened by Integrity Idol Nigeria . This television show has only been around for two years. This may explain the relative confidentiality of this prize rewarding the most honest State agent.

The weight of corruption

Corruption is indeed a pervasive subject in Nigeria. Every week, and even almost every day, a new scandal appears on the front pages of newspapers, news websites or even morning shows on private radio stations.

Nigeria is 148th out of 180 in Transparency International’s ranking This organization also counts among its founding members Obiageli Ezekwesili , former Minister of Education under the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo and candidate for the next presidential election in 2019.

Nigeria is a land of contrast. Africa’s largest economy produces nearly 2 million barrels of oil per day. At the same time, 87 million people out of 190 million live there in extreme poverty, or on less than $ 1.9 a day, according to the World Bank’s October report.

President Muhammadu Buhari has made the fight against corruption one of the priorities of his mandate. The Economic Crimes Agency has seized hundreds of millions of euros of property and funds, and made arrests in recent years.

There have so far been no major conviction-based trials in Nigeria. However, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics and the United Nations Agency on Drugs and Crime published in 2017, corruption weighs 4 billion euros in the country each year.

As it appeared on rfi.