ASSESSMENT OF CORRUPTION AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
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ASSESSMENT OF CORRUPTION AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
CHAPITRE ONE
INTRODUCTION IN GENERAL
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
A man can be reborn; the springs of life can be quickly cleansed…if this is true of one, it can be true of any number. Thus, if people’s ideals can be transformed, a nation can be born in a day [William Jennings Bryan].
Nigeria is one of the African countries that loses billions of dollars each year as a result of corruption. In 2004, she was regarded as the world’s second most corrupt country [Olu-Olu, 2008].
Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index [TICPI] placed Nigeria 13th and 17th out of 146 nations in 2005 and 2008, respectively. Despite the fact that TICPI ranked Nigeria as the 32nd most corrupt country out of 147 countries in 2007, corruption remains a severe problem in Nigeria [Shehu, 2006].
Corruption is a “multifaceted phenomenon with multiple causes and effects” (Andvig & fjeldstad, 2001: 1). It consists of three elements: unlawful money, business activity, and criminal activity [Baker, 2005; Guanardi, 2008].
Section 8(1) of Nigeria’s Anti-Corruption Law (2004) defines it as “the act of asking for, receiving, or obtaining any property or benefit of any kind for oneself or for any other person.” It entails the use of public office for personal gain or private gain [World Bank, 1997].
The term “corruption” refers to a wide range of behaviour patterns. It is a result of a society’s socioeconomic and political framework. As a multifaceted phenomenon, no single hypothesis can adequately explain its cause and/or control.
Corruption is not a Nigerian expression. It is a word in English. While the word corruption is inherently associated with Western concepts, the philosophy behind it can be found in other civilizations. Corruption is one of the worst villains staring humanity down. It is also a worldwide issue, having destructive tendencies in Third World countries such as Nigeria.
However, the rate of corruption in Nigeria is so disturbing that one is forced to ask: Is there something distinctive about Nigerians that causes them to be corrupt? According to Achebe [1983: 35],
quoting from the weekly star newspaper on May 15, 1983, the crooked nature of Nigerian culture is such that restraining an average Nigerian from becoming corrupt is like keeping a goat from eating yam.
In Nigeria, corruption serves as a springboard to underdevelopment. Most economic, political, and social problems in developing countries, such as Nigeria, are caused by corruption, which manifests itself in a variety of ways, including:
lack of accountability, insufficient programme funding, diversion of public resources to private ownership, various types of discrimination, ethnicity, lack of competence, inefficiency, and so on.
The concept of corruption is historically ingrained in the country’s political economy. It was attributed to colonialism throughout the colonial period.
Although the government has enacted anti-corruption measures, they are not being executed truly and properly, hence the desired aims and goals are not being met. As a result, the situation has been exacerbated.
As a result, corruption has continued to exacerbate Nigeria’s underdevelopment. Many elements appear to have conspired to make the situation worse than it was during the colonial era. To begin, Achebe (1983: 1) fascinatingly explained:
The problem in Nigeria is, simply put, a failure of leadership. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with Nigeria’s land, climate, water, air, or anything else; the Nigerian problem is its leaders’ refusal or incapacity to accept responsibility or confront personal examples, all of which are hallmarks of effective leadership.
There is also a widespread assumption that poverty is a key source of corruption. It is suggested in this article that Nigerians are impoverished in practically every aspect of their social lives.
Today, only a few families in Nigeria can boast of three square meals a day, good clothes, or the basic requirements of existence, such as water, a good road network, and power.
As a result, everyone resorts to corruption, no matter how minor, as a means of compensating for or balancing out the existing inequities. It is also true that corruption is caused by the deterioration and fragile foundations of our moral education.
Corruption pervades practically every aspect of Nigerian life. Corruption has become so institutionalised in both the public and business sectors of our national life that it virtually passes for official policy.
The socioeconomic and political system appears to be constructed on and thrives on corruption. Even churches and other religious organisations are not entirely free of unscrupulous practices.
This study seeks to examine the influence of corruption on Nigeria’s growth in order to provide various approaches to dealing with the situation.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Corruption is one of the most serious issues confronting Nigeria today. Corruption has not only eroded Nigeria’s moral fibre, but it has also wrecked havoc on its body politics. Corruption in Nigeria is so severe and pervasive that it has impacted nearly every area of the economy.
As a result, it is clear that corruption has been a major impediment to Nigeria’s socioeconomic and political development. This raises the following questions, which serve as the foundation for the research.
Is corruption to blame for Nigeria’s development?
Is the persistence of corruption in Nigeria due to outside influences?
Can deregulation help to reduce corruption and promote development in Nigeria?
Corruption has had an impact on many sectors of the economy. For example, Nigeria exemplifies typical African caring for a country whose progress has been hampered and slowed by the threat of corrupt activities.
To claim that corruption has permeated every facet of Nigerian society is to state the obvious. This might be deduced from the revelations of probe panels established at various times by different regimes.
Since independence, a series of reforms in the public service have been implemented in Nigeria in order to make the public bureaucracy more efficient and result-oriented. However, the promised benefits of such reforms have not been realised due to a variety of circumstances, including corruption.
Corruption, in whatever form it takes, is a violation of public duty or a deviation from high moral standards in exchange for [or in anticipation of] personal financial gain. It is associated with both moral and dishonest behaviour.
According to Gould D.J, there are more than twenty forms of corrupt behaviours in developing countries that are particularly obvious in Nigeria State. Bribery, fraudulent use of official stationary, payment for office visit, payment for letter of recommendation,
kickback for wiring, money travel documents and travel related blunders, misuse of official housing two salaries, neglect of public service for per tonal business, salary computation fraud, embezzlement in various forms, and other offences are among them.
Corruption in the bureaucratic class is the type of corruption that citizens encounter on a daily basis in places such as hospitals, schools, local counselling offices, encounters with the police, taking office, and so on. It is petty corruption of need that occurs when one obtains a business from the public sector through unethical means.
However, corruption in Nigeria’s bureaucratic class arose when public servants who were not raised in the traditions of political professionalism witnessed how politicians who were previously nothing became wealthy overnight through patronages, gifts, bribes, and actual embezzlement of government funds. It was just a matter of time before they were joined by the bureaucrats.
In Nigeria’s fourth republic, corruption has become a political norm and practice among the current political class [i.e. those that manage the activities of the state] from the presidency of the councillors of local authorities and party chairman.
The furniture mindset that this political class brought to administration marks the pinnacle of corruption and subjugation of the country’s popular masses.
Political corruption in Nigeria refers to the political class’s exploitation of official power and government resources for shady and disreputable private gain.
Indeed, political corruption is the “head,” and other forms of corruption are the “body” removed of the head; the other parts may cease to grow. Political corruption is Nigeria’s biggest development issue, and it must be removed.
In any society or country, it is the job and responsibility of every good government to establish their environment and set the tone for good and successful policies, such as a conducive business climate, protection of persons and property, and so on.
The Nigerian government has been appropriately blamed. So, for failing to provide a favourable atmosphere for economic and social development over the years, especially now, when public security and safety has slowly become a major concern for individuals and corporate investors alike.
Corruption has also become a hot topic among citizens and investors, owing to a battered and depressed economy, and since then, the discussion or debate on corruption has tended to be focused or centred on the government or public sector component of the hydra-headed corruption monster. This is true even though the degrees or magnitude of corruption in the private sector are not much different.
But it is quite another thing to pretend that corruption in Nigeria is limited to public officers and public office-holders. Sellers of adulterated kerosene are engaging in unethical business practices,
if not a criminal enterprise, as is the groundnut seller who cheats you out of more groundnut because he uses a crooked cup-measure. It is corruption when banks and other financial institutions charge exorbitant interest rates, refuse to grant loans to legitimate businesses.
In Nigeria, the government has implemented some basic anti-corruption measures. The provisions are outlined in Nigeria’s federal republic constitution. These include the criminal code, investigation panels and commissions,
the anti-corruption tribunal, anti-corruption acts and the War on Indiscipline and Corruption Conduct of Bureau, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and so on.
After a successful coup d’état that deposed civilian president Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari became Nigeria’s 7th Head of State, chosen by middle and high ranking military commanders.
Buhari defended the military’s takeover of power by accusing the civilian government of being hopelessly corrupt, and the regime immediately launched a public campaign against indiscipline known as the “War on Indiscipline.”
[WAI] “indiscipline.” This campaign included public humiliation of civil personnel who were late for work, as well as guards armed with whips to enforce orderly waits at a bus stop.
He also took steps to muzzle critics of this administration, issuing orders restricting press freedom and permitting opponents to be jailed for up to three months without official charges.
He also outlawed worker strikes and lockouts and established Nigeria’s first secret police force, the National Security Organisation. This approach was somewhat effective, since it reduced Nigeria’s indiscipline until August 27, 1985, when Ibrahim Babangida Badamasi succeeded him.
Public office is a privilege that should not be misused. This necessitated the creation of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Chapter 56 LFN 1990,
which mandated the bureau to establish and maintain a high standard of public morality in the conduct of government business, as well as to ensure that the actions and behaviour of public officers conform to the highest standard of public morality and accountability [Federal Republic 2002].
The Bureau’s enlightenment programmes have helped the public understand what is expected of them and, to some extent, instilled fear in the minds of some public officials against corruption practices. Nonetheless, they have not met expectations.
As a result, the ICPC [Independent Corruption Practices and Other Related Offence Commission] was formed.
On September 29, 2002, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo established the ICPC [Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission]. The ICPC’s mandate is to prohibit and punish corrupt activities and other associated crimes.
Eventually, this anti-corruption commission was passed and signed into law.
on June 13th, 2000. The Act established the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission [ICPC], with Justice Mustapha Akambin, a former federal appeals court judge, as chairman, and the act in section 3 [4] provides for the commission’s independence and gives the chair authority to issue orders for the commission’s controls and general administration.
Despite its persistent lack of funding and people, the ICPC has been doing its duties with tremendous fervour and dedication since its inception in 2000. These issues have been exacerbated by residents who, while horrified and devastated by corruption, have greeted the ICPC with animosity, scepticism, and disbelief.
They also face the issue of a delayed judicial process, inflexible processes, and inefficiency in the National Assembly. For example, it took about a year for the National Assembly to approve the ICPC Bill into law, as has been the case with other ICPC matters in the National Assembly.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] is a major agency established during Obasanjo’s government. The agency was established in 2002 to combat financial crimes such as fraud and money laundering.
Money laundering is a criminal procedure in which criminal proceeds are hidden and then absorbed into the financial system as legitimately acquired funds.
In terms of powers, functions, and responsibilities, the EFCC Act represented a significant break from previous enabling laws in Nigeria against economic and financial crimes.
Some issues arose as a result of the EFCC’s efforts. These issues are so large and influential that they have hampered its tremendous success. The crusade is Punic in origin, and as such, it is being coordinated by politically exposed persons [PEPs] to settle political scores.
For example, it was supposedly noted that the commission, led by Ribadu, shone a spotlight on former President Obasanjo’s political adversaries. As a result, the commission becomes politicised. Furthermore, because the law allows them to claim “political community,”
the EFCC can seldom wield the Law’s Fall Wrath on these political readers. As a result, they solely serve as prosecutors of crime, contradicting their role of crime prevention. Government intervention and the lengthy pace of judicial procedures further hamper their work.
It can be seen that the government’s several crusades to combat corruption in Nigerian society have been ineffective. Furthermore, the EFCC and ICPC are not independent; they are controlled by executives,
which has hampered the battle against corruption in Nigeria. Making corruption history is the surest means of making all of Nigeria’s issues history.
The Purpose of the Research
The primary goal of this research is to look into how the rising frequency of corruption has stifled progress in Nigeria. However, the following are the specific objectives:
a determine whether corruption is a blame for Nigeria’s underdevelopment.
To determine whether the prevalence of corruption in Nigeria is due to external forces.
To examine whether the deregulation approach is capable of reducing corruption in Nigeria.
The Significance of the Research
The study has two main implications. They are both theoretical and practical in character. This research will serve as a resource for policymakers, economists, political analysts, policy implementers, and scholars. In other words, it will be a tool for the government and business organisations to use in curbing and preventing corruption and promoting growth in Nigeria.
In theory, the study will fill a gap in the literature on corruption and, as a result, add to the current body of information on the relationship between corruption and underdevelopment and how it might be reduced.
Hypotheses
The researcher has presented the following hypotheses for guidance and to meet the issue statements and objectives of this study:
Corruption is to blame for Nigeria’s underdevelopment.
H0: There is no significant relationship between external causes and the persistence of corruption in Nigeria.
H0: Deregulation has the potential to reduce the threat of corruption while also fostering development in Nigeria.
Data Collection and Analysis Methods
We used secondary sources of data as the primary method of data collecting in this study. The usage of secondary data sources is justified due to their intrinsic values. For any research to be significant, scientific facts and concepts must be supported by empiricism.
Secondary materials such as textbooks, newspapers, periodicals, government publications, research papers, journals, and so on were heavily used.
Scope and Limitations of The Study
The study’s scope is restricted to the association between corruption and underdevelopment in Nigeria.
This research, like almost everything else done by man, has limits. This was primarily due to a lack of time.
Second, there were too many data to manage because, for example, the library that was consulted did not have enough current phenomenon of corruption and underdevelopment has elicited a plethora of literature from scholars and analysts in the field of social sciences, and particularly political science.
Another constraint was a lack of sufficient funds on the side of the researcher, which made it feasible for the researcher to purchase fresh materials and conduct required trips to various sources of knowledge.
Time was also a constraint. The time allotted to the researcher to complete the research task was insufficient because the researcher also had other academic obligations to meet. As a result, the breadth of the task was influenced by the time constraints.
Definition of Terms
According to the Americana encyclopaedia, corruption is a broad phrase for the misuse of a public officer or position of trust for private gain.
In his book “Political Economy of Africa,” Claude Ake [1981:2] sees corruption as prevailing in capitalist and class societies due to the prevalence of private property and scarcity generated by the capitalist state.
Underdevelopment: this is economic backwardness caused by a country’s inability to deal with its environment; underdevelopment is characterised by a lack of indigenous industry, insufficient food production, and unscientific agriculture; underdevelopment is not the absence of development;
it only makes sense as a way of comparing levels of development. Underdevelopment is closely related to the fact that human social development has been unequal, with some human communities advancing more economically by producing more and becoming wealthier.
Capitalist countries are western allied nations based in Europe and North America with colonies in Africa and other third-world countries.
Capitalism: a production system in Nigeria in which individuals own both the factors and the means of production.
Syphoning is the act of transferring money from one location to another, often from one bank to another.
dishonestly or illegally.
Corrupt practices are those that are contrary to the formal procedure or method of carrying out something. Comprador bourgeoisie: Nigerians who prolong corruption in the country.
Bribery: The act or practice of offering or accepting bribes. It is the deliberate use of improper influence on public authorities in order to gain an advantage, for example. Contract award- Chambers 21st century dictionary.
Dependency: Reliance and reliance on someone or something, such as Nigeria’s reliance on Westerners, is one of the roots of corruption.
Bourgeoisie: These are the individuals who own and control the means of production obtained via the comprador’s exploiting of the nation.
Loans are a type of aid offered to less developed countries (LDCs).
Power is the power to make people (or objects) do things they would not have done otherwise. It may appear or be used in a manipulative, coercive, aggressive, or persuasive manner. Disobedience may result in punishment.
Colonialism: a strong power’s policy and practices of expanding territorial control over a lesser nation or people.
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