Corruption and Culture

I had dinner this past weekend with five new friends I’ve made since arriving in Niamey.  One is a teacher at the local international school, one is a teacher at the local university, and the remaining four of us work for my organization.  All of us have spent multiple years in Africa.  A huge dinner and delicious dessert set the stage for an evening of good, long conversation.  Since it was ultimately a birthday celebration, we talked about birthdays, life stories, what brought some of us to where we are now etc.  Then the discussion changed slightly to Niger, culture, and the economy.  The person who had lived here longest in Niger, eight years to be exact, remarked that there seem to be a ton more ‘whiteys’ now in Niger than there ever was before, especially with the Chinese running the uranium plants, the Canadians with their gold mine that doubles as Canadian soil where they simply fly the gold directly in and out of that space and others.  I threw in how it saddened me that these companies are coming in, exploiting Niger’s resources without any of it actually going into the local economy…basically a form of rape to me.  I was surprised to see what effect this had around the table as the university teacher soon countered my comment saying the Nigeriens let it happen; someone, some Nigerien, had to have been paid off at some point and let these companies in.  She then went on to say she had a conversation with her Nigerien university students recently who were complaining about the same thing-these foreign companies exploiting Niger’s resources.  The teacher responded to the students by saying “Well, you let this happen…you put the president in power and are letting this corruption happen.”  I immediately responded asking how in the world the Nigerien people had a say in any of those decisions, even in the president they had/have, or whoever had made that decision to allow the companies to exploit their resources.  “You can’t truly believe that if Nigeriens knew the whole story they would have ‘allowed’ this corruption of their governments and exploitation of their resources to happen…”  The teacher looked at me in disbelief and went on to give a short speech to us at the table about how “of course the Nigeriens put them in power, of course they allowed this to happen.  It’s their culture.  Corruption is a part of their culture, it’s perfectly fine for those in power to exploit in any way they want to so of course the people allowed it.”  I could feel my blood pressure literally rising with the thoughts just bursting through my head, made worse by the nodding heads of agreement all around me at the table.  I wondered if I should express any of these thoughts to keep the conversation going but as I was outnumbered five to one and I felt I needed to think about it some more, I bit my tongue and forced myself to be quiet.…plus, I barely knew these people, really…and, even more, what if they were right?  

Of course, at first glance, I could see her point, myself having lived in West Africa for a couple of years and seeing it all first-hand:  the bribery that goes into getting anything done, the power struggles, the systems in place rendering basic procedures impossible, the feelings of entitlement to other people’s well earned money just because of relation or status.  Even more,  I’ve seen these situations and read about these topics in many countries across Africa.  Believe me, I’ve asked myself several times if it’s just the culture and they allow all these things to happen anyway so it’s their fault ultimately in the end that all these bad things are happening and that they can’t get a let up economically etc.  

But I also see the decades of oppressive systems these cultures have been forced to live under, the stripped resources (especially human) that has happened for over a 100 years, the desperation of living day to day and trying to feed your family.  And I’ve also lived side by side with Africans who looked down upon anything dishonest being done with community-earned money, communities mobilize to change for the better, to remove those in power who lacked integrity and put in place those who truly cared for the well-being of the whole.  I think of countries all over the world that have been faced with the same stigmas and situations.  The oppressed rising up to be the oppressors simply because that’s all they’ve known…it’s their only model of authority (see Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freire).  (Perhaps I should insert here that I’m writing this with a view that ultimately, corruption is a form of oppression)  Is corruption cultural, or is it a human race that is just naturally flawed?  Is the U.S. any different to have fled an oppressive culture in order to have religious freedom in a new land only to oppress those it encountered as soon as it landed in the new world?  And are we, as foreigners, any less corrupt for exploiting the resources of developing countries, taking advantage of their state of poverty and/or lack of systems in place, selling them and buying the goods in our own countries without a thought to where they came from?  (a whole other topic…)  

To think that if Nigeriens truly knew the big picture, if all were told exactly what was happening or what would happen if outside countries and companies came in to strip them of their land and resources, if Nigeriens knew what could happen if in fact much of that money was poured back into the economy or if the products leaving the country were taxed for better infrastructure, education, health systems, if Nigeriens really knew what life could be like if just systems were in place…well, I find it hard to believe they would actually still choose or allow all of that to still take place and for a president who made those decisions to be in power.  Ask those families in most of the villages across Niger who still don’t have schools or clinics nearby, who had no say in the last election, if they care that another country is making millions upon millions of dollars off resources in their own backyard that could be spent on providing their villages with education and health care…give them the whole picture and then ask them if they allowed it to happen as a result of their corrupt culture.  Just ask and see…then let me know.  Maybe I’m completely wrong.  Maybe my optimistic view of humankind shouldn’t be so optimistic after all…like the fact that it is much more well-known in the US about where the goods Americans buy are coming from and the conditions of the sweatshops and the child labor that is poured into the products.  Yet, Americans continue buying these products and organizations like Wal-Mart keep expanding.  So maybe knowledge isn’t what will actually move people, such as Nigeriens, to action against corruption or oppression.  Especially if it really is cultural and 'just the way they are.'

I welcome your thoughts.