...Corruption in Nigeria: A New Paradigm for Effective Control Written by Victor E. Dike Published on 30 November -0001 Created on 18 November 2003 • Print • Email Posted by Victor E. Dike in Guest Articles on November 18, 20030 Comments | inShare Causes of Corruption The causes of corruption are myriad, and they have political and cultural variables. Some studies point to a link between ‘corruption and social diversity, ethno-linguistic fractionalization, and the proportions of country’s population adhering to different religious traditions’ (Lipset and Lenz, 2000). Yet, other studies note that corruption is widespread in most non-democratic countries and particularly in countries that have been branded ‘neo-patrimonial,’ ‘kleptocratic’ and ‘prebendal’ (Hope, et. al (eds.) 2000; Lewis, 1996; also see NORAD 2000). Thus the political system and the culture of a society could make the citizens more prone to corrupt activities. Recently, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had to relieve some of its officials of their posts recently because they were corrupt. And it was not too long ago that all the commissioners of the European Union (EU) resigned because they, too, were found to be corrupt beyond acceptable limits. And quite recently, the Enron Corporation (energy giant) and World-Com (a telecommunication company) in the United States were perceived corrupt because they ‘manipulated their balanced sheets, profit and loss account and tax liabilities.’...
Words: 10015 - Pages: 41
...CHAPTER THREE CONCEPT OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 1. MEANING AND NATURE OF DEVELOPMENT Development is a multi-dimensional process. Development according to international encyclopedia of social science "is a rapid sustained rise in real output per head and attendant shift in technological, economical and demographic characteristic of a society together with the more concept of social development and political development". Walter Rodney opined that "Development in human society is a many sided process. At the individual level it implies increased skill and capability, greater freedom, creativity, self discipline, responsibility and material well being". Amaucheaz, in his submission stated that, development is a multi-dimensional process involving the totality of man in his political,, economical, psychological, social relations among others. Development as a concept is multi-dimensional phenomenon that embraces economics, political and socio-cultural aspect of a nation. When the political, social and economic conditions of a state are in good shape, that state qualifies to be termed developed or developing state. 3.2 NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES, NEED AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. The national development strategy is a means, way, and plan in which the government formulates and implements its policies in order to accelerate the rate of development in the policy. Obasanjo administration made series of efforts to lay a solid foundation for the socio-economic growth...
Words: 4660 - Pages: 19
...48 Years Of Nigeria’s Underdevelopment: A Fruit Of Failed And Recycled Policy! * By L.Chinedu Arizona-Ogwu * Published 09/27/2008 * Nigeria Matters * Rating: L.Chinedu Arizona-Ogwu Arizona-Ogwu writes from Oyigbo, Rivers State, Nigeria. View all articles by L.Chinedu Arizona-Ogwu All over the world, there has been progress in many areas over the last 48 years -- life-saving medicines, the Internet, oil boom and , under-water exploration, airbus, the advent of mobile phone and whatsoever -- yet the same poor way of doing things as seen within October 1960 looms even today in Nigeria. Instead of coming up with better innovations and development strategies, this government makes life miserable and put across one of the worst ideas ever: confused, drawing plans, postponing and re-introducing bills yet the years were exhausting. Even if our governments are not the only ones that are bad, they have ranked low for decades on most international comparisons of corruption, state failure, red tape, lawlessness and dictatorship. Our platform "nigeria4betterrule" does not recognize such lousy but tyrant government-- this would be an insult to the many of us who risk their lives to protest this government. Instead, corrupt and mismanaged governments inside this country reflect the unhappy way in which our colonial masters artificially created most nations, often combining antagonistic ethnicities. Anyway, the results of states economics by bad states was a near-zero rise in GDP...
Words: 2080 - Pages: 9
...Political Corruption in Nigeria: Theoretical Perspectives and Some Explanations Ilufoye Sarafa Ogundiya Department of Political Science, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto,Sokoto State, Private Mail Bag 2346, Post Code 840001, Nigeria Mobile Phone: +234 8036059225, +234 8053426560; E-mail: oisarafa@yahoo.com KEYWORDS Ethnicity. Prebendalism. Patrimonialism. Clientelism. Democratic Instability. Corruption ABSTRACT Corruption has been the bane of legitimacy, democratic stability and socio-economic and political development in Nigeria. Indeed, any attempt to understand the tragedy of development and the challenges to democracy in Nigeria must come to grips with the problem of corruption and stupendous wastage of scarce resources. All attempts by successive regimes to nip the problem in the bud have failed. With the benefit of hindsight, virtually all the Nigerian leaders who have come in as physicians have left office as patients. What factors precipitate political corruption and why has corruption become endemic and intractable in Nigeria? The paper interrogates corruption in Nigeria through the prisms of Clientelism, Prebendalism, Patrimonialism, Neopatrimonialism, Soft State thesis and the theory of Two Publics. The article contends that these theories for a very long time have not only provided credible theoretical frameworks for the understanding of the development tragedy in Africa in general but also of the pandemic and seemingly insoluble problem of political corruption in Nigeria...
Words: 8603 - Pages: 35
...omKennesaw State University DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects 4-1-2013 A Case Study of Corruption and Public Accountability in Nigeria Chinelo Okekeocha Kennesaw State University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd Part of the Public Administration Commons Recommended Citation Okekeocha, Chinelo, "A Case Study of Corruption and Public Accountability in Nigeria" (2013). Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects. Paper 566. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. A Case Study of Corruption and Public Accountability in Nigeria Chinelo Okekeocha A Practicum Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Public Administration Kennesaw State University May 2013 A Case Study of Corruption and Public Accountability in Nigeria Executive Summary In 2011, Nigeria was ranked 143th out of 182 countries surveyed by the Transparency International in its corruption perception index indicating the level of corruption in the country as compared to other countries. Although this came as an improvement from the previous years, it did not result from an improved system of governance, rather it was due to an increase...
Words: 13127 - Pages: 53
...Hewlett-Packard [Year] CORRUPTION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA: Introduction Nigeria is rich in natural and human resources, with a population of over 150 million people; the most populous country in Africa. At the time of her political Independence, on 1st October 1960, Nigeria excelled in production of agricultural produce such as groundnut, palm oil, cocoa, cotton, beans, timber and hides and skins. Then, during the oil boom period of the seventies Nigeria made headlines with her oil wealth, as a country richly endowed with oil and natural gas resources capable of financing a number of important projects to meet basic consumption and development needs (Salisu, 200:2). With per capital income of around $1,100 during the late 1970’s Nigeria was regarded as the fastest growing country in Sub-Sahara Africa (Salisu, Ibid). Yet it remains predominantly underdeveloped due to the scourge of corruption that has corroded it. Corruption denies the ordinary citizen the basic means of livelihood, it worsen unemployment and erodes our image as a nation and as individual (Danjuma Goje 2010:1). It has undermined Nigeria’s economic growth and development potential, with a per capital income of $340, Nigeria now ranks amongst the least developed countries in the World Bank League table (Salusi, op.cit). Nigeria’s higher education system once regarded as the best in Sub-Sahara Africa is in deep crisis. Health services are woefully inadequate, graduate unemployment...
Words: 2922 - Pages: 12
...A Look into Nigeria’s Economy The Republic of Nigeria, more commonly known as Nigeria is the largest country in Africa and was under the control of Great Britain until 1960 when they gained independence. In 1999 Nigeria returned to a democratic form of government which has worked well for them until just recently when security concerns began to arise due to the presence of the radical Islamist sect, Boko Haram. Nigeria has the continent’s largest population with 173.6 million people and the largest economy as well. Although Nigeria’s economy is the largest in Africa, 61 percent of the residents are reported to survive on less than $1.00 per day with corruption within the government being the main reason for poverty. Nigeria is also the largest oil producer in Africa and the 10th largest oil producer in the world and as of 2009, the Nigerian film industry was the second largest movie producer in the world. When looking at economic freedom, Nigeria is ranked 120th in the world and 22nd in the Sub-Saharan Africa region and has an Economic Freedom Score of 55.6. The labor force of Nigeria is roughly 54.2 million or 56.1 percent of the population and the unemployment rate is 8%. Nigeria has experienced strong economic growth averaging 6.5 percent within the past ten years and inflation has decreased in recent years to the rate of 8 percent. It is my goal to explore unemployment in Nigeria, the reason for its strong economic growth as well as the improvement and decline in...
Words: 1755 - Pages: 8
...AN EASSY ON TOPIC: CRITICALLY EXAMINE THE PEFORMANCE OF ICPC, EFCC IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRPUTION IN NIGERIA WRITTEN BY AKPANG, MERCY EBOKPO MATRIC NUMBER-10/BPA-5/014 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR CALABAR SUMBMITTED TO MR. CHRIS N. (LECTURER) DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR CALABAR IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE REQIREMENT (NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT & AND POLITICS 2 OCTOBER, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION 1.0 CONCEPTUALIZATION; CORRUPTION 1.1 A BRIEF HISTORY ON EFCC AND ICPC 1.2 CORRPUTION IN NIGERIA AND PROPELLING FACTORS THAT LEAD TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF EFCC AND ICPC 2.0 ACHIEVEMENT AND FAILURES OF EFCC AND ICPC CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY INTRODUCTION Corruption in Nigeria is an endemic, pervasive and systematic problem, which over time has been perceived as capable of threatening the very existence of the nation. Combating corruption involves rebuilding Nigeria’s Sovereign National wealth. The Natural Capital made up in particular non-renewable energy resources and materials have been severely depleted and sold off, with most of the proceeds either looted or wasted through h mismanagement and ineffective use. Moreso, the overdependence on Natural Capital has led to the neglect of her Produced capital consisting of Infrastructure and value-Added Goods. Where resources were allocated towards...
Words: 5241 - Pages: 21
...When we hear “corruption,” we often prefer to think political corruption, corruption among our leaders, and corruption among those in power and those in wealth. Wikipedia describes political corruption as “the use of power by government officials for illegitimate private gain.” (Wikipedia). Robert Tignor, writer of “Political Corruption in Nigeria before Independence” agrees that corruption is what is hindering a majority of the third world nations from actually making any progress. He says “Political Corruption is widespread in contemporary societies, and is regarded by some analysts of the Third World as the single most important obstacle to economic development and political integration.” (175). But is political corruption really the only thing that is holding nations back? Corruption among the so called “citizens” that are meant to stand for their country is vastly increasing. It is a cankerworm that has eaten too deep into the social fabric of nations and is still doing so. When we hear “corruption,” we often prefer to think political corruption, corruption among our leaders, and corruption among those in power and those in wealth. Wikipedia describes political corruption as “the use of power by government officials for illegitimate private gain.” (Wikipedia). Robert Tignor, writer of “Political Corruption in Nigeria before Independence” agrees that corruption is what is hindering a majority of the third world nations from actually making any progress. He says “Political...
Words: 1387 - Pages: 6
...CORRUPTION IS REGRESSIVE TAXATION CORRUPTION The Merriam Webster’s collegiate dictionary of English Language says the word The word corruption originated from the Latin word rumpere meaning to break. This means that something is broken such a law or ethic, protocol or code of conduct. The World Bank and IMF see corruption as the abuse of public office for private gains. Osoba (1996) defines corruption as an antisocial behavior conferring improper benefits contrary to legal norms and normal norms and which undermines the authorities capacity to secure the welfare of the citizens. Finally Todaro and Smith (2009) sees corruption as the abuse of public trust for private gain. Corruption is a global issue which is endemic to most governments of the world. It is the biggest obstacle to development. According to Tanzi (1998) corruption is the intentional noncompliance with arms length relationship aimed at deriving some advantage from this behavior for oneself or for related individuals. However, not all act of corruption culminate into bribe taking. For example not reporting to duty for which you receive monthly salary for is an act of corruption, because you are committing economic sabotage by not giving commensurate value for your salary. A governor or president who diverts projects meant for the equal development of all regions to his town or village is an act of corruption that doesn’t involve taking or giving a bribe. Therefore corruption has no universally...
Words: 2306 - Pages: 10
...Unit 1 Journal Entry In recent years, corruption and bribery become a controversial issue worldwide. Some countries including the U.S. and China have specific laws to resist these conducts, but some countries like Somalia consider corruption and bribery as a tool of doing business. This difference between countries is due to the deeply cultural distinction. After reading chapter five on ethical values, it brings me a good argument about the definitions of morality and ethics. According to the textbook, ethical relativism and ethical objectivism are two different principles (Lawhead, 2010). Ethical relativism states that the human option decides a person's standpoints to judge if a conduct is ethical or not, while ethical objectivism states the moral principles, which is universally acceptable regardless of the individual and society, do exist and it is objective (2010). These two principles are all true. For example, murder is considered as illegal and unacceptable worldwide. This conduct fits for the ethical objectivism. On the other hand, prostitution is considered as unethical and immoral conduct in China while it is a legitimate occupation in Japan. This is an instance of the ethical relativism. In this journal, I will focus on the ethical relativism. First of all, we should know the definition of bribery. It means to voluntarily offer payment by someone seeking unlawful advantages (Wikipedia). In the U.S., in order to prohibit this conduct, Foreign Corrupt Practice Act...
Words: 1101 - Pages: 5
...Good Leadership in Nigeria The introduction of this essay it focuses on the concept that the quality of good leadership has drop drastically in Nigeria. However In each nation, the spot of leadership in any association can't be over emphasized. There is the need to express that each person is a real leader, in spite of the fact that not everybody can be a Leader in a place at a specific time. This implies there is dependably a leader saddle with the errand of leadership at a specific time and there are those to be driven. Leadership is a vital component in the life of any individual or association. The nature of leadership of an association plays a substantial...
Words: 1762 - Pages: 8
...AN APPRAISAL OF THE ROLE OF NIGERIA SECURITY AND CIVIL DEFENCE CORPS IN CRIME CONTROL IN NIGERIA AVER TYAVWASE THEOPHILUS Abstract The study was carried out to appraise the role of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps in crime control in Nigeria. Public Sentiment Paradigm and the Interest group theoretical perspective were combined to appraise the role of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in crime control. The interest group theory was adopted for the study, based on its relevance to the working of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Nigeria. The study confirms that Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps lack the necessary equipment to fight crime in Nigeria. They are also inhibited by factors like dearth of manpower, corruption, illiteracy among others based on the foregoing the Corps lacks the necessary weapons and gadgets to check the rising wave of crime in the society especially the with the emergence of Boko Haram. It was recommended that: government should as matter of urgency provide more modern and sophisticated equipment that can match, if not surpass, those of armed bandits, Government should also embark on a very thorough and massive recruitment of able young men and girls to address the issue of death of manpower and finally government should also address the issue of corruption in Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps by punishing member of the corps that involve in sharp practices in the society. Introduction The most rampant phenomenon...
Words: 6311 - Pages: 26
...Why corruption is responsible for slow economic growth Corruption around the world is believed to be endemic and pervasive and a significant contributor to slow economic growth, to stifle investment, to inhibit the provision of public services and to increase inequality to such an extent that international organizations like the World Bank have identified corruption as ‘the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development’ (World Bank, 2001). More recently, the World Bank has estimated that more than US$ 1 trillion is paid in bribes each year and that countries that tackle corruption, improve governance and the rule of law could increase per capita incomes by a staggering 400 percent (World Bank, 2004). Commensurate with the place of corruption on the policy agenda, the economics literature has paid increased attention to the issue of corruption. Though the recent literature is mainly theoretical in focus, there have also been attempts – albeit relatively few in number – to address the causes and consequences of corruption from an empirical standpoint. Notable efforts in this area include, among others, Mauro (1995; 1998) on the impact of corruption on economic growth and investment and composition of government expenditure, Treisman (2000) on the causes of corruption and Fisman and Gatti (2002) on the links between political structure and corruption. In reviewing the literature of corruption, the dissertation will attempt to highlight the various definitions, forms...
Words: 3753 - Pages: 16
...ABSTRACT Nigeria is an oil rich country, as a matter of fact the sixth largest oil producer world over, the 26th largest economy in the world and Africa’s largest economy. Paradoxically, this same resource-rich nation ranks among the five “extremely poor” nations of the world, ranking 153rd with a Human Capital Development Index of 0.471 according to UNDP in 2013. Of course this does not portend economic development. What is however, not surprising is Transparency Internationals’ Corruption Perception Index which ranks Nigeria as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, coming 144th out of 177 surveyed countries. This paper therefore seeks to examine the accountability of public officers in Nigeria and their effects and bearing on the economic development of the nation. It also looks at the factors militating against public sector accountability and the ways of achieving accountability in the public sector. The study uses historical data and a descriptive approach of study; it was found that Public sector accountability is essential to economic development in Nigeria. And the nation seems to exist at two extremes, abundant resources at one extreme, and poverty at the other extreme due to lack of accountability in public sector. Amongst others, it is recommended that the legislature should champion the accountability process, the Nigerian society should be re-orientated on value process, and whistle blowers should be protected to achieve accountability and economic development...
Words: 5594 - Pages: 23
