Nigeria is located in the tropical rainforests of West Africa. She was colonized by Britain until the nineteen-fifties (1950s) when clamor for independence by prominent citizens became fierce. As a result, Nigeria was granted independence as a self-governing state on October 1st 1960. By virtue of her population, she remains the most populous black nation on earth with an estimated population of over one-hundred and forty million people. Since independence, this country has had three unsuccessful experiments with democratic governance. This is traceable to the undue interference of the armed forces which culminated in several coup d’état. On the contrary, Nigeria is in her fourth republic and the longest democratic experiment since independence. …show more content…
Corruption remains a critical issue militating against considerable development in the African continent. Specifically in Nigeria, it seems that politics is conjoined with elements of corrupt practices such as inflation of contracts, embezzlement of state funds, nepotism et cetera. Statistics from agencies such as Transparency International (TI) indicates that Nigeria sits jointly atop the list of the most corrupt countries in the world with the likes of Albania, Cambodia, Cameroon, Kosovo, Pakistan, Philippines, and Romania (4). It stated further that corruption in this country transcends looting of the treasury by politicians. It also included the manipulation of power for personal gain and self-aggrandizement at the expense of the populace by the authorities at the local, state, as well as the federal level of government. In addition, I seriously contend that corruption in Nigeria includes manipulation and inflation of government contracts as well as institution of bogus remunerations for public …show more content…
“The Political Economy of Disintegration in Nigeria.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 11.4 (Dec. 1973): 505-536. JSTOR. American University of Nigeria Library, Yola, Adamawa State. 30 Mar. 2009 <http://www.jstor.org>.
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“Nigeria has always been a divided country plagued by weak governance, ethnic cleavages, and corruption”("The Historical Background of Boko Haram", 2014). Also, “Boko Haram was born in this context, with religious fervor growing in the Muslim north and finally manifesting itself in violent Islamist terrorism"( "The Historical Background of Boko Haram", 2014). When the British pull out the region, it left the Northern parts of Nigeria unstable and not ensuring that northern Nigeria opened the door to corruption by terror groups. “The system led by Bifurcated country with a productive south flush with oil wealth and impoverishes north struggling to reconcile modernization with dictates of the orthodox and rapacious power broker”(Wall, 2015). The country was not modernized like the southern part of Nigeria and majority of the people were uneducated and poor.
Osagie, E., Ph.D. (Presenter). (1999, December 10). Benin in Contemporary Nigeria an Agenda for the 21st Century. Lecture presented at Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre, Benin City, Benin.
Corruption consists in the illegitimate agreement between a corruptor and a corrupted, in which they abuse of their public power in order to obtain personal benefit. Bribery and corruption is something that has been going on for years. According to Allen, “officials perceive themselves as immune to any penalties for demanding and receiving bribes” which she states that it is one of the main reasons for bribery and corruption in underdeveloped countries. According to Transparency International, an organization committed exclusively to end corruption, three of the most corrupt countries in the world are Somalia, North Korea and Afghanistan. This does not mean that corruption is only seen in underdeveloped countries. In international business, corporate employees often find themselves dealing with corruptors in foreign countries and, in most cases, they will give in.
Oghre, Ben. “Nigeria’s Population Is A Silent Killer .” Nigerians of America. N.p., 30 Sept. 2007. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .
...rd but in the sense of Nigeria the corruption is amongst the elites and found at the highest level of federal power.
The pocketing of profits by corrupt government officials shows characteristics of patrimonialism, which not only hinders the economy because these profits are the sole source of revenue for the nation, but also harms the democratic stability of the nation and can to some extent cause the regime changes of the nation. The civic conflicts of the nation are not handled by the government and not only do these conflicts drain revenue from the government, but shows the lack of mobilization in the government, possibly due to a lack of taxation, due to the resource curse. These claims show that the resource curse has affected the government and economy of Nigeria greatly as it leads to an ineffective and corrupt government with a hindered chance of democratization, with civic conflict that cannot be controlled by the civic government.
... Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 8(3), 77-88. Retrieved September 22, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 2349548361).
The catalytic factors which brought this phenomenon to life in Africa are imprinted in the history of African states. Following the attainment of political independence by many African countries in the 1960s, there were expectations that Africa would develop and achieve political and economic stability. The exhilaration that independence brought had barely settled when the hope for these expectations started to fade. Since their existence as independent states most African countries have grappled with visionless leadership from authoritarian regimes, characterised by flagrant abuse of democratic values, fundamental human rights, the rule of law, equality and political legitimacy. As a result, citizens have been exposed to pitiable conditions brought into being by rising poverty which eventually leads to a cycle of armed ethnic conflicts and civil wars among other crises .
However the question can be raised to what extent the conditions they lived under during colonialism resembled an authentic nation? And the answer to this question is, very little. This is because sovereignty and independence looks very different from colonialism and this proved evident when Nigeria finally received independence in 1960. Suddenly the separate kingdoms had to unify systematically and politically, not just by geographical borders. Shortly after independence Nigeria seemed as if though it would be a “beacon of hope” for Africa, the newly independent state had adopted a multi-party system, it had a constitution that promised sovereignty and it was democratic. However in 1966, three years after it was established the first republic failed. Nigeria was extremely unstable and among the reasons was the lack of tolerance among politicians and an inability to agree on policy or rule of law. It is clear that although governance was stable during the colonial era, it wasn’t prepared for the consequences of independents and culpability for this can be attributed to the British colonialists who used indirect rule to make it seem as if the Nigerians were ruling their own country when in fact, what they were doing was childsplay in comparison direct and independent
While the outside world considered Nigeria to be a united and monolithic entity, even the British colonial administration was wary of the reality of Nigerian politics; the nation was not so much a “country” as it was more than three hundred different groups coalesced into one.4 5 These tribes were divided between three main spheres of influence: the Yoruba, the Igbo, and the Hausa. Historically, their interests were often opposed, and their cultures did not come into regular contact with one another until the British occupation. In spite of the differences British administration a...
Corruption can be defined as the use of entrusted power to accumulate public wealthy for personal benefit. Corruption is not peculiar to any country, continent or state; it is sure a global issue which is an endemic to all government all over the world. However, corruption is prevalent in the Niger delta region of Nigeria; public officers in this oil producing state of Nigeria are corrupt. Consequently, it has defied the Niger delta from developing politically and economically which has left the states reputation in a mess. Radicalization of youths, abject poverty and -political instability are the three leading effects of corruption in the Niger delta region of Nigeria.
Kearney, A.T. (2001). Corruption and the Globalization Index. Last access on 27 March 2005 at URL: http://www.globalcorruptionreport.org/download/gcr2001/data_and_research.pdf NAIM, Mois´s (1995). Corruption Eruption. Last accessed on 2 April 2005 at URL: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=648 MORAN, Robert T. and RIESENBERGER, John R. (1994)
SANDU, A., & NIŢU, M. (2013). CORRUPTION AND ORGANIZED CRIME. Contemporary Readings In Law & Social Justice, 5(2), 454-460.
The Nigerian legal system is very complex as it is broken down into three different sub-systems. These subsystems are located at the Federal level, state level, and local customs. On the Federal level, there is a general federal legal system that is applicable throughout the whole country and is considered the highest law making body. It is called the National Assembly and consists of...
Corruption and fraud is a relevant topic in South Africa and will continue to be so until it is able to be limited. Corruption is committed mainly by people in power as they neglect and take advantage of this power in order to better themselves at the expense of others. Fraud and corruption is the wrongful or criminal deception that results in financial or personal gain. Government officials, police officers and some unexpected individuals such as law officials have been known to commit corruption and fraud. There have been cases of corruption in the 2014 elections and the political parties have seen that it is something the community is concerned over. Each party has addressed this concern and suggested ways in which to limit this corruption. Not only is corruption morally wrong, but it causes trust problems between the community and people in power, the people who are meant to help society. (1)