CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Nigeria is ranked one of the richest countries in Africa in terms of natural endowment, but its people are still grappling with the scourge of poverty. The major reason for this backwardness is corruption. Corruption has been identified as a cankerworm and the major obstacle to the national development of Nigeria. Corruption is efforts to secure wealth or power through illegal means for private gain at public expense; or a misuse of public power for private benefit. Corruption like cockroaches has co-existed with human society for a long time and remains as one of the problems in many of the world’s developing economies with devastating consequences. Corruption as a phenomenon, is a global problem, and exists in varying degrees in different countries.
Corruption is indubitably one of the greatest challenges of the Nigerian economy that stands out as contributing significantly to impoverishment and loss of lives. The impact, of course, threatens the stability of the Nigerian society. The issue of political corruption has been a recurring decimal in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation that is richly endowed with immense natural and human resources but squandered in hysterical adventure of corruption that have led the nation into a state of underdevelopment due largely to uncommitted self-serving leaders to national development.
The threats of corruption remain a major dilemma issue facing Nigeria since the time of colonial period, although corruption has become a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabrics of Nigeria system. Nevertheless, its remedies rely in our hands as a people. That is why many developed and developing nations have put in place different mechanisms to checkmate and curb this ugly incidence. In Nigeria for example, the menace of corruption has been a matter of discourse at different levels of institution of learning yet this pathetic incidence keeps resurface with us at all facets of our endeavors.
The Nigerian government has taken various measures and strategies to address the incidence of corruption and bad governance in the country in order to attain national development. These measures includes public service reform (monetization to reduce waste and reduction or over-bloated personnel, reform of public procurement); establishment of anti-craft agencies (such as the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Independent Corruption and other Practices Commission (ICPC) and the on-going sanitization in the Nigeria National Petroleum Co-oporation (These challenges have hindered the attainment of goals of the anti-corruption campaign from bringing future development and prospects to the Nigerian democratic system.
Despite the successes attained by these institutions, the situation remains palatable as corruption continues to permeate and pervade every facet in our society and national life in Nigeria. It is on this background that the study seeks to examine the impact of corruption on national development in Nigeria from 2014-2019.
1.2 Statement of the Research Problem
Corruption has affected all facets of human endeavour and is threatening the existence of developing countries by weakening control institutions, undermining the rule of law and good governance and destroying the economy. The state of corruption in Nigeria has been categorized as endemic. Corruption has also been identified as one major obstacle to national growth and development of the Nigerian economy. Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural and human resources to the extent that some of these natural resources have never been extracted or tapped by the government e.g gold, some natural resources are neglected by the government since the discovery of oil well, such as cocoa, timber, etc, while only crude oil is enjoying the biggest attention and has been the largest source of revenue to the government for over fifty-eight years.
Nigeria have always been languishing in the bottom of the ranking among countries evaluated and have more than once ranked as the most corrupt country in the world. Despite having the world’s seventh largest reserve of crude oil coupled with other resources in Nigeria, poverty and underdevelopment still ravage the country, this can be seen from all indexes of development over the years. The major reason advanced for this is the prevalence of corruption in governance, public and private places. Nigerian government officials are well known for their self-servicing style of governance.
However, corruption is apparent in some countries than others because those countries with less corruption have learnt to manage corruption than others by putting the necessary checks and balances in place and curbing the opportunities of corruption while others have either not figured corruption out or lack the political will to do same. The use of public power and resources in a manner that advances individual, factional, ethnic, religious or other limited interests at the expense of more broad based social, national or global needs is corruption because power and public resources are appropriated towards private purposes and gains. Theft, bribery, extortion, patronage, nepotism, and other practices grouped together as corruption.
Though, it is evident that there is no country that is totally free from corruption, the incidences of corruption is on the increase especially in poor and underdeveloped states. The Anti-corruption efforts of the Nigerian government have proved ineffective; hence, large scale corrupt related cases, accusations and counter-accusations. There were cases of missing funds, police pensions scam, missing oil revenue or non-remittance into the federation account, contract scam, oil theft, administrative inefficiency or dereliction of duty, illegal sale or allotment of government land and property, bribery, extortion and other forms of corruption, economic and financial crimes. These acts of corruption do no good to the national development of Nigeria. It is on this note that the study seeks to examine the impact of corruption on national development in Nigeria from 2014-2019.
1.3 Research Questions
1.) What are the impact of corruption on national development in Nigeria?
2.) Does bad governance hinder national development in Nigeria?
3.) Does the activities of anti-graft agencies reduce corruption in Nigeria?
1.4 Objective of the Study
a. The main objective of the study is to examine the extent to which corruption impacts national development in Nigeria.
b. The specific objectives include:
1.) To determine the extent to which bad governance hinders national development in Nigeria
2.) To determine the extent to which the activities of anti-graft agencies reduces corruption in Nigeria
1.5 Research Hypotheses
- Corruption tends to impact negatively on national development in Nigeria.
- Bad governance tends to hinder national development in Nigeria
- The activities of anti-graft agencies tends to reduce corruption in Nigeria
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study has two basic significance. There are theoretical and empirical significance. Theoretically, the study will examine the impact of corruption on national development in Nigeria. Empirically, this study will be a guide to policy makers, economists, political analysts, policy implementers, anti-graft agencies and researchers. In other words, it shall serve as a tool for the government in understanding the menace of corruption in Nigeria and its impact on the national development.
1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study
The scope of any research is divided into three broad areas which are the spatial, temporal and contextual. The scope of this study is to examine the impact of corruption on national development in Nigeria from 2014-2019.
The limitation of the work is quite vast, since there is no availability of financial support to aid enough material for this study and the short time given for the study also made it difficult to accumulate enough information as possible for the study.
