Corruption has several times been debated, and so many bodies, regulatory agencies have been established to fight corruption in the country; yet, this lingering menace still continues to exist. Despite these several bodies put in place to curb corruption, it is still an issue that persists in the country. Hence, one begins to wonder whether corruption is part of the Nigerian culture. This is because it has become a part of the virtual existence of many and has as well eaten deep into the fabrics of the society.
It has so become a part of many people’s lives that they cannot do without engaging in one form of corruption or the other.
Bribery and corruption have indeed become the order of the day, and many do not hesitate getting involved in one form of corrupt practice or the other. People bribe their way through to get a certificate, you can’t get a job unless you know a top person in the organization, forging of documents have become a day-to-day affair, sanctity and sanity no longer exists as the rich and influential are born to “break” the law while the poor are born to obey the law and are as well punished for disobedience of such laws.
Ray Davies once said, “Money and corruption are running the land, crooked politicians betray the working man, pocketing the profits and treating us like sheep, and we’re tired of hearing promises that we know they’ll never keep”. Corruption has indeed become a part of people’s everyday existence, and it starts from the leaders/those in government and then creeps into the followers/the ruled.
In a country where there is impairment of virtue and a decline of moral principles, many now see corruption as a normal practice and a way of life. The issue of upsurge of corruption is indeed troubling, and the havoc it has wreaked in the country are astronomical and plenteous. The menace of corruption has led to police extortion tollgates and slow traffic on the high ways, port congestion, queues at passport offices and gas stations, ghost workers, syndrome that is, a situation whereby a worker doesn’t come to work, signs his/her name that he/she came to work and then receives salary at the end of the month for job he/she did not perform; election irregularities, among others.
Hence, many believe that corruption is the bane of Nigeria. Consequently, this issue keeps re-occurring in every formal and informal discussion. Corruption is pandemic in Nigeria, with many getting involved in numerous corrupt practices. If there is lack of control of corruption in every sphere in the nation, it is then like the old saying; “when water chokes you, what do you take to wash it down?” it is as well pertinent to note that corruption means different things to different people. To some, it is a perversion or a change from good to bad; to some it is a violation of laid down law, rules and regulations for personal gain and profit. To some others, it is an effort to secure wealth or power through illegal means, or an abuse of power and authority for private benefit.
Corruption takes place in every sphere of life; be it politics, academics, business, civil and public service, and many more. Those who are supposed to be law-abiding citizens now become law-defying citizens. Electoral and bureaucratic corruption appears to be on the increase in the country. Electoral corruption has to do with the purchase of votes with money, ballot box snatching, promises of office or special favours, coercion, intimidation, and interference with freedom of election. Bureaucratic corruption occurs in the civil and public service. Other forms of corruption include bribery, fraud (trickery, swindle and deceit, counterfeiting, racketing, smuggling and forgery), stealing, embezzlement that is, the theft of public resources by public officials. In Nigeria, the embezzlement of the public funds is one of the most common ways of economic accumulation, perhaps due to lack of money and other resources extracted by the use of coercion, violence or threats to use force; favouritism which is a mechanism of power abuse implying a highly biased distribution of state resources.
Nepotism is a special form of favouritism in which an office holder prefers his/her job, business, or contract when he/she does not possess the requisite knowledge and qualification for such. Nepotism is also common in Nigeria and it occurs when one is exempted from the application of certain laws or regulations, or given undue preference in the allocation of scarce resources.
Corruption has remained the principle factor hosting poverty in Nigeria. Consequently, the combination of poverty and corruption compels people to engage in more corrupt practices, and as well make them take actions that are below expected standards.
Furthermore, the security agents, particularly the police appear to be at the doorstep of corruption as they have several times been involved in various corrupt acts. The police have many times engaged in bribery, fraud, unnecessary distortion of funds from innocents’ citizens, provision and sales or arms and ammunitions to criminals for various criminal activities. In every police station, the tag “bail is free” is boldly written. However, the reverse appears to be the case in the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) as many have allegedly collected illegal fees from people before granting bail to suspect, Also, the tag “police is your friend” in police stations seem to be the exact opposite as the police have not hesitated to prove the fact that they are foes to many rather than friends.
In addition, the impunity granted to public office holders has made corruption to be on the increase. Many government officials engage in various corrupt practices such as looting of public funds, forgery, graft and the likes without facing the wrath of the law for such actions as a result of the impunity they have. Hence, for corruption to be addressed and tackled in the country, there needs to be an amendment of the section of the constitution that grants impunity to public office holders.
Let us all reiterate the words of Pratibha Patil in our minds as well as in our everyday lifestyles; “corruption is the enemy of development, and of good governance. It must be got rid of. Both the government and the people at large must come together to achieve this national objective”. Hence, we all have a role to play in eliminating, or reducing to the barest minimum corruption in the country.
Corruption has become a brand name in Nigeria, and sadly, it has negatively affected the images of Nigeria and Nigerians in the international community. Even in the airports, they screen Nigerians properly in order to ensure that they do not have fake passports and/ or visas; whenever they present money, they scan every bail to ensure it is not counterfeit. Nigerians living abroad are not trusted when it comes to jobs, contracts and businesses. Why? Corruption. Corruption has destroyed the image of this nation to the extent that everyone is now viewed as corrupt, except you are able to prove yourself not to be corrupt (that is if given the chance and opportunity to do so). Even the youths who are supposed to stand firm and uphold the legacy of the country have followed the trend of corruption by involving in various forms of corrupt practices. Kurt Cobain wrote; “the duty of a youth is to challenge corruption”. However, the youths appear to be doing the reverse by propelling corruption through their involvement in such.
For effective control of corruption in Nigeria, the society must develop a culture of relative openness, in contrast to the current bureaucratic climate of secrecy and a merit system should be adopted in employment and distribution of natural resources, instead of the tribal bias, state of origin and nepotism or favouritism which has coloured the landscape, there should be fairness. Leaders should also lead by example by tackling corruption in the government (federal, state, and local).
In addition, the lack of ethical standards in government agencies and business organizations in Nigeria is a serious drawback to tackling corruption in the country. Poor reward system and greed can also serve as a setback to tackling corruption; Nigeria has one of the poorest reward systems in the world. Nigeria is a country where national priorities are turned upside down. Hardwork is not rewarded, whereas, rogues are glorified in the country. Bad rules and ineffective taxing system makes it difficult to track down people’s financial activities thereby breeding corruption. Hence, ineffective taxing system is a serious issue in the country. The society should institute appropriate and effective taxing system where everyone is made to explain his/her source of income, through end-of-the-year income tax filling. Also, the lukewarm attitudes of those who are supposed to enforce the laws of the land (judges, police officers, public officials and the likes) could lead to people engaging in corrupt practices with the mindset that they will get away with it, just as George Papandreou noted “unfortunately, corruption is wide spread in government agencies and public enterprises. Our political system promotes nepotism and wasting money. This has undermined our legal system and confidence in the functioning of the state. One of the consequences is that many citizens don’t pay their taxes”.
Furthermore, Nigeria cannot be considered secure if millions of people go hungry, do not have a roof over their heads, have no job, and are not provided with free health care services.
Therefore, to tackle corruption in the country, the needs of the common man has to first of all be met. Also, good governance, transparency, accountability, ands the rule of law are key to curbing corruption in the country, as corrupt leaders cannot wage effective war against corruption.
Also, the media who are supposed to be the watchdogs, crusade dogs of the society and the government have also resulted in various acts of corruption through the brown-envelop syndrome rocking in the media. Instead of checkmating the affairs of the Government and upholding objectivity and fairness as part of their codes of conduct, some media personnels do the reverse by employing propaganda in their day-to-day activities, hence, instead of being fair in the reportage, they are bias.
Atifete Jahjaga wrote; “democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is no debate, there are solutions. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation”.
Also, despite various bodies set up in the country, such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practice Commission ( ICPC), National Agency for Food, Drugs, Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and many other regulatory agencies, corruption still continues to exist in the country.
Therefore, the actions of President Muhammadu Buhari to probe corrupt government officials is indeed laudable as it will help reduce corruption in the country, and as well serve as a deterrent to others engaging in similar acts.
For corruption to be tackled in the country, every citizen of this country has a role to play in achieving this. There are also certain steps that needs to be taken in order to eliminate or reduce to the barest minimum corruption in the country.
LEAD BY EXAMPLE: Corruption begins from the leaders to the led. Therefore, in curbing corruption, leaders needs to lead by example by eliminating all forms of corruption in government, in the various ministries, civil and public service.
By so doing, followers and citizens of this country will be able to follow in like manner, hence reducing corruption to the barest minimum.
REBRANDING THE IMAGE OF NIGERIA: Nigeria as a country has several times been characterized by corruption. However, this image can be rebranded, and Nigerians can once more be seen as upright, law-abiding citizens in the international scene.
NO ONE SHOULD BE PLACED ABOVE THE LAW: Placing a selected few above the law creates more room for corruption to breed in the country. Therefore, to curb corruption in the country, there should be equality of the law. The rule of law needs to be upholded and anyone who disobeys or goes against the law should be made to face the consequences of such actions.
BE MORE ACCOUNTABLE: Government at all level (federal, state, and local) should be more accountable and fulfill their promises to the people. Several social menaces occur in the country, and poverty is a major factor that has propelled these lingering social quandaries. Therefore, the government needs to begin to meet the needs of citizens of this country through the provision of favourable environments where viable businesses can thrive, providing free education at all levels so that the poor can have access to quality education, organizing workshops where people can learn various skills, trades and investments.
CHANGE YOUR MINDSET: Having a mindset that corruption is part of the culture of Nigeria will certainly not bring us any closer to eradicating it in the country. Therefore, each and every individual needs to change his/her mindset towards corruption by not seeing it as a lifestyle, rather by viewing it as an evil and cankerworm that needs to be eliminated.
Benigo Aquino 111 once said “part of my mandate is to curb corruption and streamline a cumbersome, graft-ridden bureaucracy, to put resources where they will provide the clearest results, and to untangle a complicated regulatory environment”.
Karl Kraus as well wrote; “corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter may endanger the morals of an individual; the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country”.
Therefore, curbing corruption in our dear nation Nigeria is a collective responsibility of you and I, we all have a remarkable role to play in reducing corruption to the barest minimum, in our country, as when we all play our parts, corruption will indeed become a thing of the past in the country.
Ibrahim Lamorde, EFCC Chairman
