ABSTRACT
Based on ethno graphic research in south-eastern Nigeria, this chapter explores how compet ing under stand ings of corrup tion in Nigeria reveal ongoing trans form a tions in polit ical culture. Profound changes are occur ring in Nigeria in rela tion ships of inequal ity and the moral economy that medi ates them. Using examples from Nigerians’ every day lives, I argue that the appar ently contra dict ory discourses and prac tices vis-à-vis corrup tion are windows onto these dynam ics of social change. People are embra cing new expect a tions about account ab il ity asso ci ated with a modern bureau cratic state even as they lament and struggle to slow the demise of forms of social ity and account ab il ity linked to kinship and patron-client ism. Ultimately, what Nigerians mean by corrup tion is explained by its connec tions to power, inequal ity and social rela tion ships. More than simply offer ing another society’s defi n i tion of corrup tion, an ethno graphic account suggests how understand ing local exper i ences of corrup tion can point us to what really matters for the people who are affected.
