Nigeria’s citizens have long sought an opportunity to react to corruption. But this opportunity never seemed to present itself. Taking a long look at Nigeria, corruption in the country transcends from the top tier in government. Bad political leadership and corruption are key factors in the under-development and insufficiency of facilities in the country. A team of social scientists worked alongside filmmakers in Nollywood on this subject. They produced a Nollywood movie that illustrates corruption to study the behaviours of people towards the practice.
‘Water of Gold’
The group partnered with a civic organisation in Nigeria, Integrity Nigeria, in the production of the feature film ‘Water of Gold’. The cast of the movie includes Nollywood actors Yemi Blaq, Clem Ohameze and Mike Ezuruonye. Local streaming service, iROKOtv were the producers of the movie.
The story follows a local resident, Natufe, who relies on fishing as a means of survival. His brother Priye is on an entirely different path in life, where he accumulates wealth at all possible means, including corruption. Eventually, Natufe speaks out against the corrupt system in which they live.
The movie encourages people to report corrupt actions through an SMS short-code “SMS 50500”. The code is repeatedly displayed on the screen and is accompanied by a text that reads “Report corruption to Integrity Nigeria. Tell us your story. Text for FREE. Your number kept secret.”
‘Water of Gold’ was written by Kabat Esosa. It focuses on the corrupt practises of government officials in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria. It was shot in locations around the same region where there is a rich supply of crude oil.
Results From The Campaign
The concept of the campaign was first presented to activists in Nigeria who didn’t think anyone would participate.
However, the study which is documented in the journal Science Advances says differently. A good number of Nigerians reported corruptions after the movie campaign. The researchers received texts messages from 1,685 unique senders after applying the procedure. There were reports of politicians and law enforcement participating in bribery and embezzlement from people who watched the movie.
The resentment for corruption is proven by this number of respondents. It also shows that people will take positive action to report a crime if prompted by good role models. The film had a great effect on the norm that says reporting corruption is dangerous.
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