M-Governance for Countering Police Corruption in Nigeria - A Phenomenological Study of the Public Complaints Rapid Response Unit's Impact on Female Complainants

Abstract

In 2016, the Nigerian Police Force launched a mobile governance initiative known as the Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU) to combat the country’s issue with widespread police corruption and brutality. The platform leverages the accessibility and prevalence of mobile phones to make reporting corrupt officers easier for civilians and to streamline the process of investigation. However, the Nigerian population still shows intense distrust of the police, coming to a head in 2020 with the #EndSARS protests. Furthermore, studies have shown that women are disproportionately affected by police corruption and brutality compared to other population groups. This study examines how women have interacted with the PCRRU, and how their perceptions of the PCRRU and the NPF have been influenced in various ways. Additionally, the study compares how women view and perceive the impact of the PCRRU to the actual impact that the platform has had on rates of police corruption in Nigeria. The goal of the study is to understand how m-governance can be used as a tool for improving governance in the hands of the state, as well as how civilians feel about m-governance in its capacity to improve governance, with a specific focus on women as a group that is disproportionally targeted by the state. A phenomenological approach was adopted in this study in order to centre the lived experiences of women, which have been historically underreported. The study uses semi-structured interviews and some relevant quantitative data in its analysis of the PCRRU and its impact. The study finds that, while m-governance can have a notable impact on public perceptions, it cannot precede “real world” political will and engagement with a given issue. In the case of the PCRRU, the impact on public perception and on corruption as a whole has been extant, but negligible. Overall, the impact the platform has had on the lived experiences of women have been limited to isolated cases, rather than a large-scale systemic reform. Based on these findings, the study recommends the adjustment of the PCRRU as a tool to combat corruption, and indeed m-governance strategies as a whole, to rather be a supplement to a wider policy or set of policies, as opposed to a solution on its own. This is especially relevant in other African countries, where the accessibility of mobile technology compared to other forms of communication is quickly making m-governance initiatives a norm.