The Issue of Political Corruption in Nigeria

Nigeria is one of the wealthiest countries in Africa. This is because it has copious amounts of natural resources such as petroleum, natural gas, tin, iron ore, coal and large educated class.. Despite its resources and relatively high Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Nigeria has immense poverty. The dimension of neediness is a numerical actuality is accumulated that 54% of the neighborhood populace live by one dollar for each day. Manyu scholars claim that this phenomenon is caused by the high rate of corruption.

Transparency International conducted a survey on the corruption level of ninety countries in the year 2000. These countries included Nigeria, Zambia, India, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Angola, Cameroon and Venezuela. Unfortunately, Nigeria was ranked as the most corrupt country and was placed in the 90th percentile in terms of transparency (Mike P, 2019). Hence, this paper aims to examine the challenges corruption presents to good governance, economic growth, peace, stability and development and suggest ways to tackle corruption.

Economic Growth

A standout amongst the most troublesome and perilous issues in Nigeria is corruption.

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Corruption is so normal in Nigeria that there can barely be any new point of view and way to deal with it as indicated by (Taylor and Francis, 2019). Truth be told, corruption is so unavoidable in the nation that it would be about right to opine that it is a lifestyle. To this degree, everybody in Nigeria whether instructed or something else, knows something about corruption, and can refer to cases and can endeavor some dimension of examination. By and large, a plenitude of scholarly messages exists regarding the matter of corruption over the world, particularly on the creating nations and on Nigeria especially.

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This rich writing and normal points of view while displaying logical chances, be that as it may, likewise present a test, expressed Taylor and Francis (2019). As various as the writing, normal information and viewpoints are, debasement stays high, common, mainstream, tricky, developing, and still deficiently comprehended in corruption pervaded countries, for example, Nigeria. This consequently requires crisp and current cross examinations of the risky. It is against this foundation that this article inspected the current viewpoints and offered current cross examinations of the shapes of corruption in Nigeria. This is to additionally extend the expanding group of information on the topic and offer unique and current yet revealed directions of debasement in Nigeria. Nigeria has a notoriety for being a nation of join.

The aggregate of £220 billion, the likeness six Marshall Plans has been evaluated as the sum stolen since 1966 from open assets (Blair, 2005). The most genuine part of the way of life of corruption concerns the most dominant, the individuals who may likewise appreciate protected resistance. As of late two state governors bounced safeguard while anticipating preliminary for tax evasion offenses in London, one by dressing as a lady, realizing they would arrive home in Nigeria to legitimate insusceptibility (Soniyi, 2005). This part utilizes the term 'monetary wrongdoings' and 'financial culprits' to depict the individuals who submit fantastic corruption. It takes note of the capacity of the monetary offenders to ensure themselves, including by the abuse of banking law, and the moderate and deficient speed at which both civil and universal legitimate specialists react to their exercises. In light of the troubles experienced by various nations in verifying repatriation of stolen reserves saved in abroad banks, it is recommended that an answer for the issue lies in the foundation of an International Court for Economic Crimes (ICEC). This would make the arraignment of financial lawbreakers progressively compelling, accelerate the recuperation of stolen resources and to deny them asylum in outside nations.

Challenges Toward Corruption in Nigeria

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer and exporter as well as being the largest economy in Africa. In recent years, due to the effects of corruption, frequent terrorist activities, ethnic and religious conflict, the country’s economic and social development has been greatly affected. The current president of the country, Buhari, once lamented: “Corruption has become a ‘lifestyle’ in Nigeria. It is destroying the laws and institutions of our country.” As early as the British Colonial period, corruption spread to all levels of Nigerian social life. Corruption in Nigeria can be seen in everyday life of Nigerians, either in politics, police force, or even in universities and churches. The root cause is that the country’s governance structure and institutional model was quite special during the colonial period. That is, the administration establishments that are generally socialized by the provinces utilize the institutional model that began from the United Kingdom to oversee a general public that is essentially made out of ignorant neighborhood individuals. This has created some inconsistencies between government agencies, officials and related institutional models and the public. Under this kind of social governance mode, if the supervision and control of the power of official lags behind, then the occurrence of corruption such as power rent-seeking is inevitable.This is because the public will protects their rights from public power violations, they can only provide bribes or ‘benefits’ to officials, which objectively contributes to the breeding of corruption. After the independence of Nigeria in the early 1960s, many coups occurred and the military was in power for a long time. This period of instability led to corruption. This situation is closely related to the special socio-political background of the Nigerian military.

For a long term of period, the Nigerian army has always regarded itself as the ultimate protector of national security. This lofty positioning has made them fearless of corruption, which in turn has affected the attitude of the military government and its leaders toward corruption. Despite of this, the military government has also taken some anti-corruption measures in response to its long-term ruling status and responses to the public’s demand for the end of corruption. In May 1999, the Nigerian military government handed over power to the elected government. The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Obasanjo, was elected president of Nigeria and opened a new era of political politics in Nigeria. Because of Nigeria’s long-term, large-scale and deep-seated corruption, it has seriously eroded the economic, social, political and moral foundations of the country’s institutional structure, and anti-corruption has become an imperative policy.

Updated: Feb 15, 2024
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The Issue of Political Corruption in Nigeria. (2024, Feb 15). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-issue-of-political-corruption-in-nigeria-essay

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