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Difference between revisions of "Dash (Nigeria)"
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{{infobox | {{infobox | ||
| nameofpractice =Dash | |||
| flagemoji =🇳🇬 | |||
| definition =Ubiquitous tip that can also serve as a facilitation payment to a public servant | |||
| location =Nigeria | |||
| imagemap =Nigeria map.png | |||
| clusters = | |||
}} | [[:Category:Redistribution|Redistribution]] – [[:Category: Substantive ambivalence| Substantive ambivalence]] – [[:Category: Sociability of instrumentality| Sociability of instrumentality]] – [[:Category: Economies of favours| Economies of favours]] | ||
| categories = | |||
''' | [[:Category:Nigeria|Nigeria]] – [[:Category: Sub-Saharan Africa| Sub-Saharan Africa]] – [[:Category: West Africa| West Africa]] – [[:Category: Tip| Tip]] – [[:Category: Gratuity| Gratuity]] – [[:Category: Facilitation| Facilitation]] – [[:Category: Payment| Payment]] – [[:Category: Public service| Public service]] – [[:Category: Favour| Favour]] | ||
| authorofpiece =Daniel Jordan Smith | |||
| authorinstitution =Department of Anthropology, Brown University, USA | |||
One of the most common informal transactions in Nigeria is the ‘dash.’ A dash, as it is called in Nigerian English and Pidgin English, may be a gift or a bribe; indeed its ambiguity is part of its function. The wide spectrum of circumstances in which it occurs and the range of meanings associated with it attest to the complexity of the social work it does. In its most benign occurrence, to give someone a dash is to offer a present, with no strings attached. In this form, a dash is even more generous than a gift, because it is given with no expectation of reciprocity. Most gifts, as Marcel Mauss (1925) <ref>Mauss, M. 1925. The Gift, translated by I. Cunnison. London: Cohen & West Olivier de Sardan, J.-P. 1999. ‘A Moral Economy of Corruption in Africa?’ The Journal of Modern African Studies 37 (1): 25-52</ref>famously showed, come with obligations. The giver creates a social relationship with the recipient that is not easily forsaken. In contrast, in some cases when Nigerians speak of a dash, they refer to a present given freely. A passerby might dash money to a beggar; a man might dash children a soccer ball. Because so many gifts come with obligations, a dash of this sort is especially welcome. | | authorwebsite =[https://watson.brown.edu/people/faculty-fellows/smith Profile page at BU]}} | ||
<big>'''By Daniel Jordan Smith, Department of Anthropology, Brown University, USA'''</big> | |||
[[Category:Redistribution]] | |||
[[Category: Substantive ambivalence]] | |||
[[Category: Sociability of instrumentality]] | |||
[[Category: Economies of favours]] | |||
[[Category:Nigeria]] | |||
[[Category: Sub-Saharan Africa]] | |||
[[Category: West Africa]] | |||
[[Category: Tip]] | |||
[[Category: Gratuity]] | |||
[[Category: Facilitation]] | |||
[[Category: Payment]] | |||
[[Category: Public service]] | |||
[[Category: Favour]] | |||
[[Category:Entry]] | |||
[[Category: Volume 1]] | |||
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|style="font-size:1.1em;"| One of the most common informal transactions in Nigeria is the ‘dash.’ A dash, as it is called in Nigerian English and Pidgin English, may be a gift or a bribe; indeed its ambiguity is part of its function. The wide spectrum of circumstances in which it occurs and the range of meanings associated with it attest to the complexity of the social work it does. In its most benign occurrence, to give someone a dash is to offer a present, with no strings attached. In this form, a dash is even more generous than a gift, because it is given with no expectation of reciprocity. Most gifts, as Marcel Mauss (1925) <ref>Mauss, M. 1925. The Gift, translated by I. Cunnison. London: Cohen & West Olivier de Sardan, J.-P. 1999. ‘A Moral Economy of Corruption in Africa?’ The Journal of Modern African Studies 37 (1): 25-52</ref>famously showed, come with obligations. The giver creates a social relationship with the recipient that is not easily forsaken. In contrast, in some cases when Nigerians speak of a dash, they refer to a present given freely. A passerby might dash money to a beggar; a man might dash children a soccer ball. Because so many gifts come with obligations, a dash of this sort is especially welcome. | |||
|} | |||
However, in many instances in Nigeria a dash is a cover and a euphemism for a bribe, or a levy. When a police officer stops a motorist and demands ‘a dash’ to buy cigarettes, for example, the driver will experience the request as something close to extortion. If the dash is not given, the policeman will demand documents, open the car’s bonnet to look for the engine number, and most likely invent some infraction to delay the journey until something is paid. In this case, the dash is even more resented than a bribe, because nothing is gained by paying except freedom from harassment. More typically, when state officials request a dash—or citizen service-seekers offer one—it is expected that the dash-as-bribe will produce a favourable outcome for the giver. | However, in many instances in Nigeria a dash is a cover and a euphemism for a bribe, or a levy. When a police officer stops a motorist and demands ‘a dash’ to buy cigarettes, for example, the driver will experience the request as something close to extortion. If the dash is not given, the policeman will demand documents, open the car’s bonnet to look for the engine number, and most likely invent some infraction to delay the journey until something is paid. In this case, the dash is even more resented than a bribe, because nothing is gained by paying except freedom from harassment. More typically, when state officials request a dash—or citizen service-seekers offer one—it is expected that the dash-as-bribe will produce a favourable outcome for the giver. | ||
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Understanding the dash helps elucidate the nuances and complexity of official corruption in Nigeria. A dash is the lubricant that enables actors to make the mechanisms of bureaucracy more personal, not only in actual relationships between officeholders and their clients, but also by building on and reinforcing a moral economy that facilitates corruption, even in situations where citizen and bureaucrat are, in fact, complete strangers (Joseph 1987; Chabal and Daloz 1999; Olivier de Sardan 1999; Blundo and Olivier de Sardan 2001b; Pierce 2016)<ref>Joseph, R. 1987. Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: The Rise and Fall of the Second Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press</ref><ref>Chabal, P. and Daloz, J.-P. 1999. Africa Works: Disorder as Political Instrument. Bloomington: Indiana University Press</ref><ref>Olivier de Sardan, J.-P. 1999. ‘A Moral Economy of Corruption in Africa?’ The Journal of Modern African Studies 37 (1): 25-52</ref><ref>Blundo, G. and Olivier de Sardan, J.-P. 2001b. ‘Sémiologie Populaire de la Corruption,’ Politique Africaine (3) 83: 98-114</ref><ref>Pierce, S. 2016. Moral Economies of Corruption: State Formation and Political Culture in Nigeria. Durham, NC: Duke University Press</ref>. Actors on both sides of the exchange are frequently more comfortable operating in an informal idiom of accountability that humanises the transaction between citizen and state. As much as Nigerians sometimes lament the system that makes the dash so ubiquitous, many will admit that they would also feel lost without it. | Understanding the dash helps elucidate the nuances and complexity of official corruption in Nigeria. A dash is the lubricant that enables actors to make the mechanisms of bureaucracy more personal, not only in actual relationships between officeholders and their clients, but also by building on and reinforcing a moral economy that facilitates corruption, even in situations where citizen and bureaucrat are, in fact, complete strangers (Joseph 1987; Chabal and Daloz 1999; Olivier de Sardan 1999; Blundo and Olivier de Sardan 2001b; Pierce 2016)<ref>Joseph, R. 1987. Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: The Rise and Fall of the Second Republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press</ref><ref>Chabal, P. and Daloz, J.-P. 1999. Africa Works: Disorder as Political Instrument. Bloomington: Indiana University Press</ref><ref>Olivier de Sardan, J.-P. 1999. ‘A Moral Economy of Corruption in Africa?’ The Journal of Modern African Studies 37 (1): 25-52</ref><ref>Blundo, G. and Olivier de Sardan, J.-P. 2001b. ‘Sémiologie Populaire de la Corruption,’ Politique Africaine (3) 83: 98-114</ref><ref>Pierce, S. 2016. Moral Economies of Corruption: State Formation and Political Culture in Nigeria. Durham, NC: Duke University Press</ref>. Actors on both sides of the exchange are frequently more comfortable operating in an informal idiom of accountability that humanises the transaction between citizen and state. As much as Nigerians sometimes lament the system that makes the dash so ubiquitous, many will admit that they would also feel lost without it. | ||
==References== | |||