“Integrity: Panacea for Socio-Economic and Political Challenges in Nigeria” Nigeria is a nation blessed with vast human and mineral resources. Ironically, her economy is struggling to leverage the country’s vast wealth to displace the economic and political challenges that affects its population.1 Beyond the recent impressive financial projections, a good number of Nigerians still live on less than $1.00 (One dollar) a day, which is about N160.00 (One Hundred and Sixty Naira), and more Nigerians have resorted to a life of crime with some becoming ready tools in the hands of some politicians. Poverty reduction and job creation, as promised by our political leaders, have not kept pace with population growth, implying social distress for an increasing number of Nigerians. Integrity and moral values have been jettisoned to few people, who have little or no impact in the system of government and corruption has been embraced as a tool of inordinate wealth accumulation. Social vices are committed with high level of impunity and the epidemic of the ‘get rich at all cost syndrome’ has infiltrated all age levels in our society, most especially the youths; future leaders of tomorrow. Undermining, “As a partridge that broods but does not hatch, so is he who gets riches, but not by right; it will leave him in the midst of his days, and at the end he will be a fool” (Jeremiah 17:11 NKJV). In ascribing reasons for these socio-economic imbalance and political instabilities in Nigeria, it would be important to note that these reasons are cumulative and have collectively brought us to where we are today. Socio-economic and political development are measured with indicators, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), life expectancy, literacy and levels of employment. Changes in tangible factors are also considered, such as personal dignity (integrity), freedom of association, personal safety, freedom from fear of physical harm, and the extent of participation in civil society.[1] Therefore, integrity as a solution to Nigeria’s socio-economic and political challenges cannot be overemphasized. The Latin etymological root for integrity is integer meaning “entire”, “whole” or “complete”. Integrity also means sound, complete and integrated. To the extent that a person’s ethics and morality are integrated, that person has integrity. To the extent that a person’s ethics and morality are not integrated, that person lacks integrity. A person of integrity is living rightly, not divided, nor being a different person in different circumstances. A person of integrity is the same person in private that he or she is in public. The dictionary defines integrity as a firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values, or incorruptibility; incapable of being bribed or morally corrupted. In the Bible, the word integrity in the Old Testament means the condition of being without blemish, completeness, perfection, sincerity, soundness, uprightness, wholeness. Integrity in the New Testament means honesty and adherence to a pattern of good works. Biblical integrity is essentially righteousness, and righteousness is impossible apart from God. “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee” (Psalm 25:21 KJV) Israel’s high regard for Samuel comes as no surprise. Samuel was a man who exuded integrity. “Now, Samuel said to all Israel; Indeed I have heeded your voice in all that you said to me and have made a king over you. And now here is the king walking before you and I am old and gray headed, and look, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my childhood to this day. Here I am. Witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed; whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom Have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you. And they said; you have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand”. (1 Samuel 12:1-4 NKJV). The world evaluates a person's integrity from what it sees in man's outward behavior and Samuel never failed as a leader. In other words, leaders are complete people, not disparate or disjointed, when they are able to live with complete integrity with themselves, with others and ultimately towards God.

A society is believed to get the leadership it deserves. This is an apt reflection of the reality of Nigeria today. Our leaders, past and present, having rigged themselves into government, do not feel any obligation to the people they represent. They give lip-service to the importance of character, knowing that rules and promises can be changed without questioning. Yet, it is the ordinary masses that sell out their rights on a platter of gold. Until there is a change of attitude, the nation will continue to experience bad leadership. General Olusegun Obasanjo, during his swearing-in as President in May 1999 raised the hopes of Nigerians with his epoch inauguration speech where he promised to lift Nigerians again, to the heights discernable Nigerians know it is capable of reaching. But it was a forlorn hope, as with the passage of time, President Obasanjo and others in the helms of affairs across the country (state governors, local government chairmen, councillors) delivered short of their promises. According to Corruption Perception Index (CPI) result by Transparency International (2001), Nigeria was rated the second most corrupt nation in the world.1 More tension, insecurity and poverty were created among the populace despite the large petro-dollar earnings during the year 1999-2004. State and local government councils got revenue allocations from the Federal pool, as much as four times they got before.1 During that regime of harvest, our nation experienced minute improvement in economy, less the promises and commitments of our leaders. Proverbs 29:27 says; “A righteous man considers the cause of the poor, but the wicked does not understand such knowledge”. One of the traits of a good leader is to act his words; integrity. A leader’s words may be forgotten but his actions are always indelible. From the foregoing, it has been established that a man of integrity is one who is whole, sound and upright. Integrity requirement includes some character traits such as trustworthiness, honesty and public testimony; we are the epistles people read. In other words, people often judge our truthfulness of Christianity by how it reflects in our personal life. Every day we rub shoulders with people who are watching us, they make value judgment of our Christian faith by our attitude and actions. After ministering on Sunday, the Pastor of a church in London got on a trolley Monday morning to return to his study hometown. He paid his fare and the trolley driver gave him too much change. The Pastor sat down and fumbled with the change and looked it over, counted it eight or ten times. And you know the rationalization, “it is wonderful how God provides”. He realized he was tight that week and this was just about what he would need to break even, at least enough for his lunch. He wrestled with himself all the way down that old trolley trail that led to his office. Finally, he came to the stop and concluded he couldn’t leave with the money. So he walked up to the trolley driver and said, “Here, you gave me too much change. You made a mistake”. The driver said, “No, it was not a mistake. I was in your church yesterday when you spoke about honesty, and I thought I will put you to test”. [2] Fortunately, the Pastor passed the test but not many Nigerians would pass a similar test. Living a life of integrity passes a message across to our audience (immediate society) to emulate, thereby fostering a morally sound society.

Nigeria has myriad of socio-economic challenges ranging from corruption, inconsistent or unsustainable policies, ethnicity, religious intolerance, non-justifiable nature of socio-economic rights, to mention a few. All these have combined to hinder the production of high quality environment to propel the economy but have given birth to poverty, criminality, high rate of unemployment, insurgencies and international embarrassment. Talking about ethnicity (tribalism), an average Nigerian firstly sees himself as Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba, not as a Nigerian. This creates a platform for ethnic battles and pogroms where members of a particular ethnic group are marginalized and disenchanted. Many Nigerians are self-centered and adjust every situation to conform to their parochial needs. If asked to empower someone, he picks from his niche, justifying the saying; “when a madman is given a hoe, he will drag heaps to himself”. It does not allow for true quality to shine as better qualified individuals are left out in favour of less qualified who has a relationship with the man in power. Persistence of such abysmal orientation in our society will always retard the progress of our economy and lead to frequent civil strife. A very good example is the Nigerian Civil war otherwise known as the Nigerian-Biafran war of 1967-1970 which emerged as a result of ethnic, cultural and economic tensions among the various ethnic groups of Nigeria. “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3).

Religious intolerance in the nation has also contributed largely to Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges. Karl Marx describes religion as “the opium of the people”. Some Christians are uncomfortable with Muslims and vice-versa. Such religion addicts get infuriated when it seems their religion has been spat on which leads to distrust, disharmony, religious vices and riots. The poverty-stricken populace, who has nothing to lose, readily spearheads such destructive ventures. The present deadly “Boko Haram” (meaning: boko; fake, haram; forbidden or literally; Western education is a sin) insurgence in Nigeria started under the cover of differing religious beliefs.[3] Boko Haram, an Islamist religious sect and terrorist group, believes that Nigeria is run by non-believers, even when Nigeria had a Muslim president. The Jama’atul Alhul Sunnah Lidda’watiwal Jihad’s (people committed to the propagation of the Prophet Mohammed’s teachings and jihad), another name for Boko haram, goal is to establish a fully Islamic state in Nigeria, including the implementation of criminal Sharia courts across the country. This is against the constitutional rights of the citizenry and several of the sect’s coordinated attacks have negatively affected several sectors of our economy, most especially trade and commerce.

Corruption is one of the major causes of socio-economic imbalance in Nigeria. It is difficult to cure once it infects and it spreads terror among the victimized citizens, on the other hand, comforting those who use it as a tool of wealth accumulation. Despite the establishment of various anti-corruption agencies such as; Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the plague still persists. Frequent changes in policy framework, lack of political will, lack of continuity and political immunity are some of the factors inhibiting the complete eradication or appreciable reduction of corruption in Nigeria. Without a feat against corruption, our future is bleak. The Holy Bible categorically states that; “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34 NKJV). Though corruption is a universal problem, some afflicted countries have achieved a level of development because they have adequate punitive measures in place. One of such measures is overall social re-orientation through public enlightenment and campaigns to build national consciousness of integrity in the minds of every citizen. The role of law in the fight against corruption cannot be over-emphasized. In Nigeria, there is rampant extrajudicial killing, use of excessive force by security forces, arbitrary arrests, judicial corruption and executive influence on the judiciary. Since socio-economic and cultural rights are subsumed under the Fundamental Objectives and Directives of the State, they are recognized as duty of the State to its citizenry, albeit without corresponding right of the citizens to espouse their rights when the State fails to discharge those duties. As a result it is provided in the Constitution that chapter two rights are non-justiciable and Nigerians cannot sue to protect these rights in any court in the country.[4] Equally, the absence of appropriate criteria and indicators for measuring compliance or violations of this body of rights has impaired effective intervention in the promotion and protection of socio-economic and cultural rights. Most importantly, the pursuit of remedies for violations of socio-economic and cultural rights is tortuous, complex, rigorous, expensive and prone to long time waiting process which discourages victims from seeking redress. The foregoing constitutes the benchmark for measuring the level of integrity of the judicial sector. In the context of judicial integrity, it encompasses honesty, fairness and trust. Consequently, where a person in authority acts for his or her self interest, or for ulterior or improper purposes, then he lacks integrity. Saul made a decree in the book of First Samuel chapter14 that anyone who ate anything before evening would die. He could not abide by his decree after it was discovered that Jonathan, his son, had tasted some honey for refreshment. He was unable to keep his promise and his authority was compromised. Nigeria seems to be a country that has seen it all, especially in the political sphere. However, the country is yet to reach the promise-land due to various problems which are human oriented. Fiscal indiscipline and lack of democratic governance are some of the major causes of Nigeria’s political challenges. Nigeria lacks genuine democratic system in which the electorate would participate without coercion and hold politicians accountable for their actions. The system of government lacks checks and balances and the citizens lack freedom to challenge the autocratic tendencies of the President. Incumbent political leaders majorly influences election processes and determines who wins or forcefully impose his candidate. Political leaders often spends public fund without seeking approval from appropriate quarters. The political landscape of Nigeria is also infected by unreasoned policies, which are hastily promulgated and poorly implemented. Inconsistent and unsustainable policies are causes of the present ‘hemorrhage’ in the economy. Continuity is lacking. Every leader that comes on board often discards previous programmes and an unstable political environment scares investors off the society. Our society lacks leaders and a government that is ready, willing, politically sound and motivated to address the ills in the economy. Nigerian politicians do not practice ethical politics and their actions therefore do not add any values to the system. The ineffective and inefficient political restructuring factors over the years have failed to achieve asset stripping and even wealth distribution. Rather, wealth creation among a ruling few has become the game of the day in the name of privatization. Compared to developed countries, African leaders are known to suffer the “sit-tight syndrome”. By nature, a political ruler wants to stay in power as long as it takes.[5] The instinct in nature for him is to dominate and the exercise of political power for him is domination. Rules govern political games and the players need abide by the rules. On the contrary, Nigeria leaders do not keep to the rules of the game of politics. Politicians exploit this trend and they want to rule at all cost. The challenges of democracy in Nigeria, like most African Countries, also have their root in the foundation of the country. The failure of democracy and economic development in Nigeria is due in large part to the scramble for wealth by predator elites who have dominated politics since independence. They see the State as a source of personal wealth accumulation. Military intervention in governance has further added more woes to the plight of democratic governance in Nigeria.[6] Not only did it adversely affect the legislative component of government, it has also brought people, the electorate, down to a revoltingly unacceptable level of acquiescence to the undemocratic actions of their rulers. Electorates now carry placards and demonstrate in favour of rulers who, apparently, are doing nothing for their good. There can be no meaningful representation to elevate the fundamental principles of checks and balances when we have a passive civil society. As rightly averred earlier, this democracy has no plan other than to serve the interest of the select few who live at the expense of the collective will and interest of the masses. Sequel to the magnitude of socio-economic and political challenges bedevilling Nigeria, correcting the anomalies requires a holistic approach. Effective institutional reforms are the keys to improving the economy and efforts must go beyond mere reformation campaigns, to tackle the underlying institutional problems that are the root causes of the malaise. A giant stride in curbing Nigeria’s socio-economic and political challenges is the integration of National Integrity Systems (NIS) in the system of government.[7] The international and national struggle against corruption; a key factor, is dependent on the quality of National Integrity System of countries (the rules, laws, organizations to curb corruption and safeguard integrity). The system should constitute institutions for information, prevention, advice, investigation and prosecution. Its effectiveness is related to the societal (political, economic, cultural and social) circumstances within which it has to function. The success of this system depends upon the availability of sufficient resources. This condition covers budget and personnel, as well as legal powers and public support. In conjunction with this, the publication of cases of corruption might be very useful. Amy Comstock, in “Maintaining Government Integrity: The Perspective of the United States Office of Government Ethics”, stresses that the ethics program of the United States is only one model, for achieving the challenging task of integrating accountability with democratic governance. It is designed to provide alternatives to relying strictly on law enforcement efforts to address wrongdoing by emphasizing prevention approaches that both complement and enhance law enforcement efforts. It has proven effective in accounting for the size, extent and diversity of the executive branch, while implementing systems of prevention, such as code of conduct and most importantly, financial disclosure. These elements are important pieces of the larger mission to prevent conflicts of interest and provide the public with the access and information it needs to hold government and individuals accountable to the highest standards of integrity and honesty. Protecting integrity in the society is also the responsibility of the private sector. Undertakings should enhance corporate governance and install compliance systems. Institutions are needed to ensure that public officers are held accountable and government operations are open to scrutiny. External accountants should be obliged to report cases of corruption to public authorities. Issue of integrity should be included in the training of public officers. Selective integrity testing can be an effective tool in checking indications of anti-economic behaviours. Every citizen should embrace integrity for the progress of the nation and their families. “The godly walks in his integrity, blessed are their children who follow them” (Proverbs 20:7 NLT). To ensure a serene political atmosphere for true democracy, economic growth and development, there is need to promote ethical standards in politics, good social and moral values, accountability and transparency in government. Mahatma Ghandi stated that; “Politics without ethical principles is among the social sins of humankind”. Politicians should eschew ethnicity, corrupt practices and imbibe the traits of an integrated leader. There is really need for paradigm shift in the manner the nation is governed because the specific problems we face today cannot be solved at the level of thinking we created them (Albert Einstein). It is important to understand that Biblical integrity is not reached by following moral standards; it is through following Jesus Christ, the Author of moral standards. Being follower of God (Ephesians 5:1) means that we have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) and Christ lives in us, where we can truly walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:4). Biblical integrity means righteousness and righteousness is impossible apart from God. It was only through David’s total inward submission to God that he could walk in the integrity of heart and uprightness (1 Kings 9:4). Integrity is more valuable than riches and God will test and judge your integrity (Proverbs 28:6, Zechariah 8:16-17). In conclusion, Nigeria’s transition to an economically and politically stable nation depends largely on the readiness of the citizens to adopt a lifestyle of integrity. Integrity preserves the upright and righteousness exalts a nation. Without a positive change of attitude, Nigerians will continue to cry of bad leadership and a poor economy. Let’s join hands to make the change. My part I will play. Sow a thought, reap an act Sow an act, reap a habit Sow a habit, reap a character Sow a character, reap a destiny
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[1] Economy of Nigeria Wikipedia

1 Nigeria's Socio-Economic Problems: Is National Conference The Solution? By Tony Ishiekwene (Nigeria World)

2 Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations (Assurance Publishers, 1990).

[2] Boko Haram: Wikipedia

[3] Judicial Integrity in Nigeria: Challenges and Agenda for Action by Dr. John Adebisi Arewa

[4] Intellectuals can solve Nigeria’s Problems by Kunni Tyessi Leadership Journal

[5] Eminent leaders magazine: The Challenges of democracy in Nigeria by Olutosin Ogunmola

[6] Cyrille Fijnaut and Leo Huberts : Corruption, Integrity and Law Enforcement Pg 5