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A Culture of Corruption
Any new visitor to [Nigeria] is bound to notice the odd phenomenon that literally thousands of houses and buildings in cities and towns bear the message "THIS HOUSE IS NOT FOR SALE," painted prominently near the front door. Ask any Nigerian the purpose of the message and they will quickly tell you that it is to prevent 419 [scamming]. Apparently, one popular method of 419 is to assume the identity of a real estate agent or simply a property owner trying to sell one's house. In Nigeria's cities and towns, where the real estate market is tight, buyers can be induced to make down payments to secure a later purchase, and in some cases entire transactions have been completed before the buyer discovered that the deal was a scam.
That is from Daniel Jordan Smith's informative and entertaining A Culture of Corruption: Everyday Deception and Popular Discontent in Nigeria. Here is the book's home page.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on January 7, 2007 at 06:56 AM in Books | Permalink
Comments
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Posted by: Jeffrey Miller at Jan 7, 2007 12:18:32 PM
I thought Nigerians focused on scamming westerners over the internet. I didn't know it was that bad in-country.
Posted by: TGGP at Jan 7, 2007 3:20:19 PM
To me talking of corruption as part of a culture indicates a fatality and a belief that that corruption will always prevail and there isn’t much we can do.
http://bayesianheresy.blogspot.com/2007/01/condemned-to-corruption-for-all.html
-MJ
Posted by: MJ at Jan 8, 2007 9:46:44 AM
To TGGP, 419 is a section of the Nigerian criminal code used to prosecute scammers. Targeting foreigners is just an extension of the practice
Beyond the explanation above, the real issue is property rights. Land/property are typically owned by families and sold by consesus to willing buyers. Typically, there is always a rogue family member willing to present himself as the rightful owner, sell the land/property without the knowledge of other family members. To resolve, its either you pay off other members of the family or drag the case to court then wait 30yrs for a resolution. Worse case you lose your money and forfeit the property. There is absolutely no protection under the law.
As a Nigerian, I experienced the later and will never buy any other land/property unless its my family's
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