WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- A bestselling book is helping Nigeria combat financial corruption, a former Nigerian minister said.
Calling it "the most boring bestseller ever," Nigeria's former finance minister Ngozi Okonja-Iweala said the tome has publicized how much money each state received in terms of government and oil companies. Newspapers have joined the bandwagon too and began publishing the information from the tome.
"We exposed the problem and we look for the solution," Okonja-Iweala said at a briefing in Washington. "We need drastic measures to correct this."
That includes auditing profits made by oil companies to the last penny and pushing for the transparency of business contracts. Oil is one of Nigeria's biggest exports and a significant source of foreign income.
As the truth comes out about the extent of corrupt practices both by the government and wealthy oil companies, Nigeria is getting on track for financial reform, albeit slowly.
"We set out the budget in very simple form so that people can understand what their government is using the money for," said Okonja-Iweala. "This is one of the reforms...just a small one that I'm proud of."
