Law and social change: a socio-legal analysis of Nigeria’s Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000

The Nigerian federal legislature recently passed a piece of legislation, The Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, specifically designed to curb corruption in Nigeria. This article first analyses, and largely applauds the new Act. It then looks at the social environment within which corruption operates in the country. It points out that in the past the environment was such that anti-corruption measures were bound to fail, but it concludes, in optimistic vein, that the recent return to civilian rule has created a climate in which the new Act is likely to have an effect in the fight against corruption. Notes, ref., sum (p. I).