Microsoft Denies Paying Nigerians $400K To Ditch Linux 148
Da Massive writes "Microsoft has denied paying a Nigerian contractor $400,000 in a bid to retard Linux's movement into the government sector. Media reports alleged that Microsoft had proposed paying that sum to a government contractor under a joint marketing agreement last year, in order to persuade the contractor to replace Linux OS with Windows on thousands of school laptops. Although a joint marketing agreement was drafted to document the best practices for using technology in education, it was never executed, said a Microsoft regional manager for Africa. It became clear, he added, that one customer wanted a Linux OS."
Corruption is normal in Nigeria (Score:5, Informative)
I had a Nigerian colleague once and he told me you get nothing done in Nigeria without paying the right people. So actually this is not news (and certainly not a story ;) :) ), but normal business practice.
Re:nigger bribes (Score:2, Informative)
They're nigerians, not niggers.
In this case though, I hope MS did pay the bribe...
You know that any money you pay will just get you nowhere and you'll need to pay more fees later.
hohum (Score:5, Informative)
Re:hmmm... interesting bribe? (Score:5, Informative)
the average per-year income in that country is just over $2k.
That's only if you average in the poor people.
I know someone personally who is teaching in Nigeria, most of the people around him are lucky to make $2k a year, while he makes around $43k.
The have's in that country have quite a bit of cash, but they are very few, and the have-not's are the vast majority of the population... and most of them have no income at all.
So while $400k would seem like enough to live like a king to the common person, it would put you at the bottom of the upper class for a year or less.
Re:Of course they didn't pay the "partner" ... (Score:1, Informative)
Actually...it still falls under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Any block of money given out in this manner, if caught, means a felony charge for the parties that did it. It'd be a Club Fed stay, but it's still a felony and under the right circumstances would be prosecuted as such.
Re:Corruption is normal in Nigeria (Score:5, Informative)
My grandfather was an engineer for a number of years in Nigeria - and he would agree with you. Corruption exists within their normal economy.
My father was an engineer in the U.S. for decades, particularly within the military sector. Corruption exists within our normal economy as well, believe me. He told me a lot of stories about his years working as a military contractor: the corruption was all on the government's side.
Re:hmmm... interesting bribe? (Score:5, Informative)
Sorry, but I have to side with Bill on this -- it just doesn't pass the sniff test. $400k is enough money to live like a king or queen in those economic situations, and probably better than most government officials; the average per-year income in that country is just over $2k.
It is estimated that Former Nigerian President Sani Abacha ('93-'98-died in office) stole from the Nigerian government between $3 and $5 billion USD. The Nigerian government managed to negotiate for the return of $2.1 billion USD by agreeing to allow his family to keep the rest. The family later returned another $1.2 billion USD, which suggests that the amount stolen was closer to $5 billion.
The next guy was in office for a year.
After him was General Olusegun Obasanjo ('99-'07) whose estimated theft varies widely up to $20+ billion... but nobody is really. Obasanjo also got tangled up in a sex scandal when his eldest son claimed in divorce papers that his (the son's) wife slept with his father (the President) to secure government contracts for companies she was doing business with under a fake name. And this is the President who ran on an anti-corruption platform.
There are hopes that the current president will not be as corrupt as his predecessors, as he was one of the few governors in Nigerian politics with a clean record.
I tell you all this just to give you an idea of the scope of corruption in Nigeria.
$400K is pocket change compared to the money that changes hands in kleptocracies like Nigeria.
American and European companies budget for bribes. It's just how business is done.
In this case, Microsoft was going to stash the bribe under marketing costs.