Corruption in Nigeria: How to Solve the Issue

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Disparity can be compared to the essence of corruption where in a system does not function according to what is originally intended and balances the natural forms. It can be termed as an improper way of acting the original purpose of a certain thing. It is very blatant in most governments to have a corrupted form of administration due to the political powers of its leaders.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria is seen as one of the countries that prevail to have a politically corrupt system of government. Nigeria consists of 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory. Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and appears to be the eight among the countries all over the world. The economy of the Republic is described as an up-and-coming market that quickly comes within reach of the middle income status of the people. This is depicted through the copious supply of resources, legal, communications, transport sectors and the Nigerian Stock Exchange and a well-developed financial system which is said to be the second largest in Africa. As of 2007, Nigeria is placed 37^th all over the world when it comes to the Gross Domestic Product rate. Nigeria supplies fifth of United States oil and appears to be their primary trading partner. Thus, United States is Nigerias largest investor for their products and services which make them emerge in the international market (Tignor, 1993).

The economic development of the country had been under the military rule, corruption and discrepancies. The restoration of democracy is also impacted as well as the consequent economic changes have made Nigeria to slowdown in its development to be the Africas most progressive economy. The oil boom of the country in 1970s has made vital foreign debt in order to finance the main infrastructural investments of the country. Considering the decline of the oil prices in the following year, the country struggled for the debts they acquired from loans and apparently defaulted on its major repayments for debt. Penalty is also acquired by Nigeria for the unpaid major debts which made it grow bigger. But after the negotiations of the authorities in Nigeria recently, it repurchased its debt with a discount of about sixty percent. The country used a part of its oil profits in order to pay the outstanding forty percent and became the very first African country to fully pay off all its debt in 2006 with the help of Paris club (Tignor, 1993).

The law in the federal Republic of Nigeria comes in four different systems. The first one is the English law which is influenced by its colonial retrospect with Britain. Another is the common law that serves as the development of its independence, customary law which is from the indigenous old framework and practice that includes the argument declaration meetings of the pre-colonial hidden organizations. The last law is the Sharia law which is only practiced in the north Muslim part of the country.

This paper aims at describing the corruption in Nigeria and presenting the related details which will be apparent for its resolution. This paper will discuss the causes of corruption and the reasons why a strong corruption is viewed in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Discussion

Corruption is an extensive dilemma as it is known for many countries throughout the world. It slows down the countrys economic growth and development. The practice of corruption like favors, bribery, nepotism and other are affects the system and lessens the chances for the corrupt states to get important amounts of foreign capital (La Franiere, 2005). This may result to rigorous consequences for the production and employment of the affected society. Thus, having a corrupt government makes the biggest hindrance for the development of the economy. It lessens the efficiency of foreign aid which fosters growth for the developing countries (Abed and Gupta, 2002). It appears to be a unusual that the economic assistance of allocating the bilateral foreign aid is not limited to the developing countries which are seen to be corrupt. Considering the fact that all involved countries are exposed to the criterion of being a corrupt country, still the reputation is dismissed as the countries show improper use of resources (Warren, 2004).

Forms of Corruption

Generally, corruption comes in different senses as it is characterized by the economists. Political corruption, bureaucratic corruption and electoral corruption are three various divisions of corruption that economists regard as. Political corruption falls into the political authorities. It exists through the politicians and rulers who have the power and authority to establish and implement laws in the name of the people. It basically distinguishes a corruption when a politician creates a law which is for his benefit (Mbaku, 2000). It is more often regarded as greed as to the decision making policy of the politicians prevails to benefit a small number of people related to him or her.

A bureaucratic corruption is a form of corruption which is primarily seen in the public administration. It is more often encountered by the people in public offices where in it is termed as a bureaucratic pretty corruption in comparison with the corruption of need. This is where a business can be obtained though a wrong action (Mbaku, 2000).

On the other hand, electoral corruption is the vote-buying of the officials in order to reserve a position in the government. Special favors, buying of votes, crimes are committed just to win in the election process. The corruption in offices includes the governmental appointment and other. Bribery is often considered as a form of corruption where in payment is accepted in exchange of a favor (Mbaku, 2000).

Other forms of corruption include fraud, embezzlement, extortion, favoritism, and nepotism. Fraud is described as a kind of swindle and deceit which corrupts a person. Stealing from the public institutions where in a person is employed is embezzlement depicts. The extortion form of corruption is money which is from a crime committed by the corruptor. Being biased for a certain side is the corruption described as the favoritism (Abed and Gupta, 2002). Favoring for friends or other colleagues may result to disparity and apparently relates to the distribution of wealth among family members as to the interest of the official. On the other hand, nepotism is a different kind of favoritism that favors for a family member such as being excluded in a law and the like.

Political Corruption in Nigeria

The political corruption in Nigeria depicts the excess use of official power and the resources of the government for the benefit of the person in position and authority. The corruption in politics is indeed regarded as a natural act that saturates the republic of Nigeria. This is seen since the formation of the contemporary public administration in Nigeria. A lot of cases for the improper use of the countrys resources have been tagged for the officials of Nigeria and this is consequent to the private gain of the officials. The discovery of oil and the development of public administration are seen to be two of the most significant events that have encouraged the dirty corrupt practices in Nigeria. For many years, it is viewed that that the living conditions of man in Nigeria are not raised though the country has been depicted to be wealthy enough to support its people. As such, Awolowo, a political leader opened up a vital issue upon saying that people in authority are the only ones who benefit from the possessions of the government. It falls under the scenario of benefiting from the effort of other people (Erero and Oladoyin, 2000).

However, colonialism is blamed for the consequent corruption in African governments and for the failures that it gets from the misuse of resources. With that in mind, the colonial history of Nigeria may limit any influence through the ethical revolution. The colonial period of Nigeria is almost in full poverty. Thus, it impacted the views of people where in the colonists are imitated as they prevail to be wealthy during the time of colonialism and apparently applied by the people in the modern era. Though corruption is not blatantly exercised, it affects the whole government in a large sense. The integration of colonial agenda also depicts the idealism of the area which it had colonized for its development.

Why corruption exists?

There are various reasons why corruption exists in every government in the world. Corruption does not only pertain to one country but also to all the systems of government in the world. It is seen that greed and luxurious lifestyle are the probable cause of corruption. Political leaders or those who are in authority are easily attracted by the whims that are present. Societies who are exposed to the luxurious lifestyle are into the dirty works and lacks etiquette. Also, the behavior of the society is seen to be an important factor for the corruption to exist. Ethnicity and peer pressure are also considered as the reasons why corruption exists (Ali and Isse, 2003). More often than not, political leaders are pressured by their camaraderie to do such things in order to go with the flow of their lifestyles. It is more usual that the politicians are abused by their friends through the use of the resources which should only be intended for the government and hence used by personal interests of the politicians. But, in reality, the start of the contemporary rules on the political relationships is a modern colonial and western proposal. Normally, decisions are viewed in a suspicious manner where in familiar scenarios are apparent for a corruption. A perspective for modern leadership in politics and its links has been an issue in the whole system of political process.

The causes of corruption in a wealthy country such as Nigeria is generally recognized to be associated by the peoples obsession with material things, pressure for a shortcut to material comfort, power and consent for the ill-gotten wealth. These are the primary reasons why corruption persists in Nigeria (Erero and Oladoyin, 2000). It has been put on a highlight that one of the known, but less fortunate key of good life in Nigeria is ostentatious wealth and prominent expenditure. Through this, people are involved into doubtful activities which comprise of engaging into ritual murder just for making money. The cases in Nigeria regarding the ritual murder are explicit in the country but few instances will be adequate. This may appear to be exaggerated but this fact corrupts the mind of people just to make money for their own sake. Not only in the political system but also in every single small society of a country corruption exists (Wraith and Simpkins, 1983).

Having insufficient ethical standards though the government agencies and organizations in Nigeria is viewed to be a sever dilemma. Ethics in the public sector includes a wide set of actions such as simple obedience to authority and looking into the perspective of moral judgments. However, a lot of officeholders in Nigeria do not posses a clear image and lacks ethical standards with the consideration of their position in the government (Lambsdorff, 2002).

In addition to, the Nigerians reward system which is considered as the poorest worldwide can be a factor for corruption. Unfortunately, the national priorities in Nigeria are quite different from what the good ethics posses. A hard work is not recognized and rewarded, but the rascals are often overvalued in the country. Hence, disparity knocks this particular instance.

Thus, the main reasons for the occurrence of corruption in a society is driven by the behavior of its people and how each leaders are manipulated by the influence of greed and luxurious lifestyle. The causes of corruption encompass the impulse of the person in authority as to how the next actions will be done.

Effects of Corruption

Certainly, the effects of corruption in Nigeria are visible in the slow down of the countrys economic growth. Corruption leaves a negative effect on the economic growth of the country and lessens the budget for important sectors of the government such as education, health and employment opportunities. Corruption literary corrupts education from the citizens of Nigeria and hence reduces the chances of attaining ample ethical standards for the next generations. Corrupt government officials use the tactics of shifting government expenses to the areas where in they can gather bribes and thus gain and use the resources for their own sake leaving the needs of the people behind. It is said that the impairment in incomes and poverty are relatively associated with the effects of corruption. In addition to, development projects are usually turned down into poor quality works because the budget is cut short by the officials in order to have kickbacks on the resources (Olowu, 1993).

Many cases have been affected by the negative effects of corruption which sums up into the sense of poverty and details out the associated crimes, disparities and impairment in corruption for various aspects. However, some scholars regard corruption as a good one with regard to the modernization of political life. It depicts the growth or progress in politics in order to maintain the legitimacy specifically in the span of social change. It is viewed that modernization may help officials to distinguish the gap between the illiterate and literate levels in the society and thus be inform people whom to choose in administering the government.

Solving the Corruption in Nigeria

Controlling the corruption in Nigeria is a very difficult task to accomplish since the leaders are the ones involved. The society then should develop a culture of associated openness which is different from bureaucracy. Considering the fact that Nigeria is a wealthy country, people should be wise enough to vote the officials whom they think will bring profit for the welfare of the country and not just gain privately. The government officials should initiate the changes and this can be done through creating a strong law for anti-graft and corruption and be implemented with integrity. No one should be excluded no matter how significant the position of the official is, as long as the official commits disobedience. To attain ethical standards, a law should also be passed encompassing the ethical standards of an official and firm consequence for any wrong doings.

Nigeria should then be able to reinforce the fairness of power and authority of the highest political leader to instigate the anti-corruption laws. Financial transactions should be secured enough to avoid theft and fraud from office persons which primarily cause poverty (Olowu, 1993). This can be accomplished through the provision of necessary papers and dedicated leaders for the fiscal aspect of the country. Media should also be encouraged to actively participate in broadcasting the corrupt practices of the officials in the society. Regulate the government specifically the aspects that includes the issuance of licenses and other legal terms in order to dismiss corruption. It should be noted that implementation of policies that accord to the anti-graft and corruption should include all areas of the government and small agencies should then be added in order to fully accomplish the goal of cleaning up corruption in the country.

People should also participate in the resolution of corruption because the impact largely goes to them and thus, poverty arises. Each should participate in restricting the power of the officials and strive hard to avoid disparities. Political leaders should be responsible enough to carry ethical standards all the time and do not abuse the authority given by the position.

Conclusion

Corruption indeed takes the right of the people to live accordingly because it steals the welfare of people in general. Nigeria is known to be politically corrupt and its economy is largely affected. Police offices and other sectors of the government are corrupt as well. Unfortunately corruption results to poverty which impacts the people negatively. There are various forms of corruption listed and it prevails to be negative for the economy. Though positive effects are also seen from the practice of corruption, still the negative effects dominate and reflect the economic development of the country. The main reasons why corruption exists are due to the lifestyle that officials aim for and thus it results to different kinds of corruption just to get the things that will benefit such persons. It is recommended then to exert more effort for the higher political powers to develop laws that will impose an anti-graft and corruption which will exclude no one. Corruption should be solved in order to continuously develop the economy of Nigeria and benefit all people not only those who are in power.

References

Abed, G. and Gupta, S. (2002) The Economics of Corruption: An Overview, in G. Abed and S. Gupta (eds) Governance, Corruption and Economic Performance. New York: International Monetary Fund.
Ali, A.M. and H.S. Isse (2003) Determinants of Economic Corruption: A Cross-Country Comparison, Cato Journal 22(3): 449-66.
Erero, J. and T. Oladoyin (2000) Tackling the Corruption Epidemic in Nigeria, in K.R. Hope, Sr and B.C. Chikulo (eds) Corruption and Development in Africa: Lessons from Country Case-Studies, pp. 280-7. London: Macmillan.
La Franiere, S. (2005). Africa tackles graft, with billions in aid in play. New York Times.
Lambsdorff, J. G. (2002). Making corrupt deals: Contracting in the shadow of the law. Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization, 48:221-41.
Mbaku, J.M. (2000) Bureaucratic and Political Corruption in Africa: The Public Choice Perspective. Malabar, FL: Krieger.
Olowu, D. (1993) Ethical Violations in Nigerias Public Services: Patterns, Explanations, and Remedies, in S. Rasheed and D. Olowu (eds) Ethics and Accountability in African Public Services. Nairobi: ICIPE Science Press.
Tignor, RL. (1993). Political Corruption in Nigeria before Independence, The Journal of Modern African Studies > Vol. 31, No. 2.
Warren, M. E. (2004). What does corruption mean in a democracy? American Journal of Political Science 48 (2): 328-43.
Wraith, R, and E Simpkins, (1983). Corruption in Developing Countries. The Journal of Modern African Affairs.

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