44 reads

MANY NIGERIANS ARE UNDER DEVELOPING NIGERIA.

INTRODUCTION

One is the best friend to oneself as one could also be the worst enemy to oneself.

An adage says ” if you don’t help yourself, no onevailable , coupled with present days experiences, Nigeria has witnessed a drastic retrogression because Nigeria in the 60s was better than Nigeria today in every ramifications.

Nigeria is not only underdeveloped but a good examination of the sociopolitical activities of the country and the present image of the country in the world affairs would show that the moral, educational, social, political, economical, religious and psychological lives of the people have been negatively affected by the people themselves, if not completely damaged. The big question here is ” who is to blame?”

When we talk about corruption in Nigeria tiday, every facet of the country is guilty. Be it religious bodies, political actors or the masses. The ostentatious lifestyle of the people of Nigeria has become their norm and it seems to be that there is a struggle for ” Who is richer” and ” Who controls others”.

Nigeria has the highest number of religious bodies and leaders of which many profess Christianity. One would, in this case, expect that the proliferation of church in the country would abate the rate of corruption in Nigeria but, ironically, many of such have helped to bamboozle the people and increase corruption.

The dominant religious bodies in the country are always at a loggerhead. This has increased assassination and insurgency in the country, thereby reducing manpower in the country.

Politically; selfishness, greed, tribalism and nepotism have eaten up Nigerian National strength and the rulership seems to be to the detriment of the minority groups.

Educationally, it is clear that that Nigeria has fallen from the mountain to the bare ground. Instead of Nigerian schools to produce Educationist, they produce experts in big grammar without real practicals.

Socially, things have really fallen apart. Many pastors now cajole their followers by making them believe they have enemies in their various families and all around them. The preach miracle money and at the end defraud them [ I mean so many of them but may not be all]. Purchase of private jet has become a challenge among Nigerian top pastors while the members who contribute to them remain in their abject poverty.

For greed, even the churches in Nigeria are in competition of ” Who gets the larger crowd and auditorium”, not who preaches repentance and morality. The fraudulent nature of many Nigerian churches has offended other religious bodies and individuals, and encouraged them to commit more crimes. How possible is this? People copy and make reference to what religious leaders do.

The politicians politicise education by the slots they share among themselves. Many teachers in Nigerian schools lack teaching efficiency but no one would quarry them because they have political influence.

One cannot be very sure if the Nigerian judiciary is really the hope of the oppressed.

To this regard, I think Nigeria my dear country, my fatherland needs to wake up from a deep sleep.

Dr. Okafor Agholor Augustine.

( A sociopolitical scientist).

[Nigerian continuous retrogression:, causes, effects and possible solutions: A lesson for other developing countries]

Dr. Okafor Augustine Agholor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE:

CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

1. Expected areas of development

2. Elements of development

3.Factors militating against development in Nigeria.

(a) Political factors

(b)Economic factors

(d) Social factors

CHAPTER TWO:

CONCEPTS OF CORRUPTION

1. Types of corruption

2. Areas of corruption in Nigeria

(a) corruption in politics

(b) corruption in religions

(d) corruption in education and social lives.

2.Causes of corruption in Nigeria

3. Effects of corruption on Nigerian National Development

CHAPTER THREE:

DEVELOPMENT OF CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA

1. First Republic

2. Second Republic

3. Third Republic

CHAPTER FOUR:

NIGERIAN YOUTHS AND INCESSANT EMIGRATION.

(a) Causes of incessant emigration

(b) Effects of incessant emigration on Nigerian economy

CHAPTER FIVE:

COMMON PERCEPTION OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES ABOUT NIGERIAN YOUTHS AND THEIR LEADERS

(a) Effects of Nigerian attitudes on Nigerians in foreign lands.

(b) Effects of Nigerian behaviors [ by ratio] on foreign investment in Nigeria.

CHAPTER SIX:

A CALL FOR TOTAL REVOLUTION

(a) Concept of Revolution

(b) Areas of Revolution

i Religions

ii Education

iii Politics

iv Social lives

v Economy

CHAPTER SEVEN :

NIGERIA IN THE NEXT DECADES

1. Strategies for Development

(a) Social awareness

(b) Revolutionary actions

IS THERE HOPE FOR NIGERIAN DEVELOPMENT?

CHAPTER EIGHT:

POETIC ILLUSTRATIONS OF NIGERIAN SITUATIONS AND HOPE.

CHAPTER ONE

CONCEPTS OF DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Development has been viewed in different perspectives by scholars, having many ambiguities in their views. An evaluation of the earlier views of the concepts of development could really assume Third World countries to have achieved the overall United Nations target back then in 1960s. The level of the living of the masses was not considered then. Only the gross national products were looked upon, and this made such perception erroneous. As a result of such errors, ” Development” was empirically redefined to meet ” Cost and Effects” The availability of resources, the utilization of the resources and the conceivable impact of the resources on the lives of the people. Development therefore targets the well-being of the people instead of focusing on what is available.

According to Prof. Dudley Seers(1969), development goes with growth and the basic questions to ask about a nation’s development are:

What has been happening to poverty?

What has been happening to unemployment?

What has been happening to inequality?

Except one or all of the above questions are addressed, according to him, a nation’s development remains questionable even the per capita income is doubled. This assertion gains acceptability because when wealth is available without utilization, it is good for nothing. Nigeria as a State can not boast of efficient management of her resources nor making it flow to wholesome directions.

On this extent, Professor Goulet, in regards to his view on sociopolitical sphere of development, identified three cores of development which are: Freedom, Self esteem and self sustenance.

To what extent can we say that Nigerians are living above poverty?

To what extent can we say that Nigerians are not suffering unemployment?

To what extent can we say that Nigerians are practicing equality before the law?

Can we really say that Nigerian economy is not leaning on foreign countries when we cannot live without importations?

To what extent can we say there is self esteem in Nigeria when the Nigerian youths are incessantly migrating to foreign lands and dying in the Mediterranean sea or begging to be slaves in foreign lands?

To what extent can we say we have freedom when many Nigerian youths escape from the country, trapped and crushed like serpents in foreign lands?

When the importation is far higher than the exportation from the country, how would we say there is Self sustenance? Until the above issues are addressed, Nigeria remains awkward even after sixty years of independence. In regard to the above expositions, development can be empirically defined as:

″ Development [ as pertains to a nation] is the distribution of a nation’s wealth to wholesome directions, for the reformation and transformation of the people and the society, and a good utilization of the resources for the present society and setting a land mark for the future generations”.

The above therefore takes us to what is called ” sustainable development”

THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.

The word ” sustainable” simply implies ” to last long or continue”. For example, if a man was rich some years ago and goes bankrupt for years after, the past glory would only be sympathetic and never a good reference. It ought to be that he was very poor and now becomes rich. The case of Nigeria is ” I get before” which a singer calls ” story”.

In 1987, the Bruntland Commission published its report ” Our Common Future” in an attempt to relate the issues of economic development and environmental stability. The report in the process gave an offcited definition of sustainable development as:

″ Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs”.

[ See United Nations General Assembly, 1987, p.43]

By utilizing economic tools, early theories stated policies for the protection of the environment which could promote innovations and turn a profit. Working and investing for the future.

In 1920, Arthur Pigou noted that the presence of incidental, uncharged services act as a barrier to achieving equilibrium in the market. In his work, ” Economics of Welfare”,Pigou noted that the divergence between marginal social costs and benefits and marginal private costs and benefits, create what is called ” externalities”. The externalities, according to him, are conceived as transaction spillovers, or costs and benefits unaccounted for in the given price of goods and services. In order to correct market failures, he proposed a tax on those activities that produce negative externalities at a rate equal to those external costs. By levying this charge called Pigouvian tax, the market price will more accurately reflect the comprehensive costs and benefits of the activity.

From the above view, Michael Porter et al (1999), theorized that pollution is a sign of inefficient resource use. Therefore, win-win opportunities for the environment and economy can be captured through improvements which reduce pollution in production processes. The theory suggests that competitive advantages rely on the capacity for innovations; thus, by encouraging innovations, strict environmental regulations can actually enhance competitiveness. As the hypothesis states, properly designed policies for the environment that makes use of market incentives can encourage the introduction of new technologies and reduce production waste. This is called ” Reward for labour which encourages more effort and equals to transformation.” In other words, it is called ” Actual Development”.

Sustainable development encompasses intergenerational equity, long term stability of the economy and the environment, which is achievable through the integration and acknowledgement of economic, environmental, and social concerns throughout the decision making processes. This seems to be lacking as Nigerian law makers sit in the National Assembly from time to time.

In regard to what sustainable development is, subtitutability of capital is important; natural and man-made capitals. Strong sustainability is said to embrace the important features of natural resources that cannot be replaced by manufactuted capital. The precautionary principle of sustained development examines and states that where there are irreversible damage or serious threat, lack full scientific certainty shall be used as an excuse for withdrawing cost effective measure to avoid environmental degradation. Conducive environment, undoubtedly attracts investors and investments; local or foreign. Where are the early companies in Nigeria? Where are the paper mills? Natural capital is not enough to grant Nigeria ( likewise any developing country) a sustained development, the management, good education to acquire managerial skills for stable peace are important factors. If this is thinkable among Nigerian leaders, I believe by now, Nigeria ought not to be looking for foreign experts for road construction nor refining oil in foreign lands till now.

EXPECTED AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

A critical examination of the Nigerian situation would reveal that every facet of the country has been dented with scars of corruption. There should be a summon for a total rebranded Nigeria in:

Social Re-branding of Nigeria.

Social vices; kidnapping, robbery, high rate of fraud, cultism are all on the rise. These social problems are not only triggered by the corrupt politicians who have been known for embezzlement, but it also appears to be that ostentatious lifestyle is in the blood of both working and non working vast of Nigerians. Wherefore, an average Nigerian would commit any crime anywhere when money is involved.

If a proper orientation is not given early enough, the future generations of Nigeria would justify crime as a norm and culture even as it is already on. You there not say ill of an internet fraudster in the face of many Nigerians. To many, it is not a crime but the smart way of making money. This is so because fraud is everyday news of the government and agencies without penalties.

Therefore, there is an urgent call for social re-branding of Nigeria through schools, workshop , seminars and other peace agencies. The laws should remain sacrosanct.

Economic re-branding of Nigeria.

Wrong policies have over the years shattered the Nigerian economy. Nigerians value any imported product to the detriment of their economy. What is happening to Nigerian lump cultivation and the plastic industries?

Nigerians would cry blood just because importation of rice is reduced. They rather prefer to bury the local cultivation of rice in the country to the detriment of the economy and go for China Rice, not minding to know anything about balance of trade. The leaders on the other hand loot the treasury and establish big companies in foreign countries. What is wrong with Nigerian soil if not the greed to steal and privatize among the people? Nigeria shall be great if all the people realize the truth on-time and put heads together to rebrand the economy.

Political Re-branding of Nigeria.

It is an open secret that Nigerian political system is sick, from the presidency down to the local governments. The temperature of Nigerian political system is worst than that of typhoid Fever. This is why violence is always accompanied and rerun of elections, going to tribunal after elections becomes a custom.

What about the judiciary? Never reliable because in the face of evidence, justice is denied.[ Reference to June12 1993 and 2019 presidential election.] Rigging of elections and imposition is not lacking in the politics. The Nigerian political situation justifies the words of late Obafemi Awolowo. According to him, Nigerian politics is a matter of ” Many holding the cow for few to drink the milk”.

If better innovations are not brought into Nigerian politics, the system will keep choosing wrong and selfish leaders who are uneducated and without clue of leadership. Nigeria has many unnecessary political offices, the counselors without duties are there not to mention SSA SA PA etc. All these wastage and Nigeria wants to develop like Dubai. I have not seen the magic for the transformation without first having transformation in attitude.

Religious Re-branding of Nigeria.

It is no more a secret that Nigerian governance is being influenced by the two dominant religions in the country. Voting systems are also string attached to the religious beliefs. Where, therefore, is the sense of national unity? Without mincing words, the religious leaders are already compromising their faith for political benefits and they now work hand in hand with the political actors they love. As whoever they hate, they condemn to the uttermost part of the roof even without proof.

Over the years, top religious leaders in Nigeria were busy prophesying who would win the presidential election coupled with a lot of drama. Not only that, the religious bodies especially in the name of Christianity, have become too materialistic. They now eye private jets from what they gather from the poor masses. Never to build industries but to live on luxuries, praying for the gullible to get visa to foreign lands. If their prayers are genuine, why not pray for a good and established Nigeria where youths will no longer think of escaping? Example is ” Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” .

The religious leaders give too many fake prophecies and put families asunder and because they want to demonstrate power by force.

Many of them collect money for prayers and bill their members unnecessarily[ Reference to Rev. Pastor Mrs. Funke Adejumor and her $1000 and one million naira demand for new year blessings.] If many of those people have such amount, they could start up a petty business without any search for anointing. Unfortunately, Nigerians are ready to defend the cabals who cajole them with the last breath of their lives.

Psychological Re-branding of Nigeria.

Most times, Nigerians place emphasis on their tribes than their nationality. This psychologically reveal the level of tribalism and lack of national consciousness and unity. An Igbo man prefers to be called a Biafran while many Hausas believe that the Igbos have no right to be the president of the nation.

The political appointment into various offices shows the level of marginalization in the country.

Educational Re-branding of Nigeria.

It is common to see Nigerian graduates who can not defend the course they studied at the University. Why? Because many lecturers are busy talking bribes to promote the students. At the secondary school level is hard nut to crack. They create ” miracle centers where students can pass without having true intelligence. These are future leaders who later become doctors and many of such occupy the political offices to lead the great nation. Supervision of schools is a thing of the past. The primary school teacher may not plan her lessons. Sometimes, the teachers sit in the staff room with gist and when students come to call them, the usual word is ” go I’m coming”. Such teacher ends up not teaching and by month end, she receives salary. In this area, I’m speaking from experience.

The appreciation of our natural resources have been said to be our interest. Rational and effective governance truly requires a nation to consider and protect the environment and natural resources on which its current and future developments depend.

The connection between the environment and development thus seeks a powerful rationale for environmental protection. The Nigerian social environment, in this case has not encouraged sustainable development as anarchy, insurgence, violence and a lot more ruins the days. The inherent interdependence between the long term stability of the environment and the economy is the foundation of sustainable development. Similar to Porter win-win hypothesis that a trade off isn’t necessary, but sustainable development seeks to tackle the sources of environmental degradation, not just the symptoms. By tackling the sources of the degradation, incentives for economic advancement can be created.

Elements of Development:

As a tree is known by its leaves and fruits, so is development perceivable by the following:

1. Reduction of hunger in the society. If the rate of employment is higher than the rate of unemployment , many people would self dependent and hunger would reduce in the given society. Therefore, level of employment can determine the level of self sustenance in the society, which is an element of development.

2. Political stability/ Peace: As earlier discussed, no investor likes to invest in a troubled environment. The polity must be peaceful if investors would invest there in. A peaceful and stable polity is an indication of development because development does not only refer to the social amenities but the level of education and civilization of the people, the maintenance of peace and orders also prove if they are developed or not.

4. Reduction of diseases: It should be shown in the healthcare/ services of the people if a nation is said to have witnessed development. A developed nation would not be such that the president and other leaders often travels abroad for medical checkup while the masses die daily in the poorly equipped hospitals. Such situation would reveal the level of inequality because if the hospitals are put in order, why should they travel abroad for treatment? Like in the case of Nigeria, how many of the English or Indians come to Nigeria for medical checkup?

5. Good educational system: The quality of education in a country is a strong indication of development. We often hear people of Nigeria traveling to Canada, India, London and America, even to Ghana West Africa to further in their education. As one makes one’s bed, so would one lie in it. What does it insinuate? Simply that Nigerian schools are lacking efficient teachers or management. When we shall talk of development in Nigeria, one of the indications must be the quality of education Nigeria must have achieved.

FACTORS MILITATING AGAINST DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

The following among other factors have thwarted the socioeconomic and political development in Nigeria:

Sociopolitical factors:

It is no longer a strange news that the political system of Nigeria has been lying on a sick bed over the years. The end results of such problems like rig of elections, thuggery, snatching of balot boxes etc, is waste of government fund. Such wastage is a serious setback.

Nigerian government usually create unnecessary political offices that have no duties to discharge all in an attempt to embezzle funds.

Politically,

There is no uniform political system in Nigeria. It is supposed that Nigeria is practising democracy and universal adult suffrage in the voting system, but it was so clear that the (2015) presidential election, children below twelve years old were all voting while in the south, such age has no mandate of voting. The video clips were in circulation. This kind of issue can lead to political uproar than can tear the nation apart.

The political actors fight for their own selfish interests and this is why they keep regrouping in the name of defection from one political party to another. It is in Nigeria one would hear that snake has swallowed millions of Naira without a trace. To elect a credible representative in Nigeria remains a hard nut to crack because the people are easily bribed to vote against their conscience. This is why someone said that Nigerians are okay with hardship.

The Guardian Newspaper of 17th July 2018 had it that 242.4 billion Naira was budgeted for the 2019 elections. In comparison, the last population census carried out in Nigeria estimated the population of 190.9 million people. The political processes of Nigeria encourages wastage. Nigerian leaders loot the treasury to establish other countries. A typical example is the case of late Gen. Sani Abacha who, after ten years of his death, his loot was still discovered. Why wont Nigerians use such money to develop the country?

In 2000, after two years of Abacha’s death, a Switz Banking Commission Report indicted Switz Banks for failing to follow a compliance process in allowing family and friends of the late General to access his accounts and depositing the amount totaling six hundred million USD ( 600m USD) into the accounts. In the same year, mire than one one billion USD ( 1bn USD) of Abacha’s loot was discovered in various accounts across Europe. During the probes, Olusegun Obasanjo was in power and it was not clear how the recovered money added to the development of Nigeria.

According to Adams Odunayo(legit.com) 370m USD was still discovered from Abacha’s loot in 2018 in Luxembourg account.

According to Akintunde( Vanguard News), Nigeria received 322,515,931.83 dollars from Switz government into CBN from Abacha’s loot. These are few among many issues of looting from Nigerian treasury. Even if such money was recovered and added to the treasury, what has the government used it to better the masses?

A thief steals and creates a committee to look for the missing money. How would such money be found?

President Olusegun Obasanjo set up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) during his administration. Lagos EFCC commenced an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of public fund levelled against Obasanjo. The then EFCC head of general investigation, Mr. Sando Umaru said ” This is Lagos” . He claimed that the process of the investigation might be slow but that they were working.

Murtala/ Obasanjo admin (1975) issued a decree (Decree No 38 of 1975) for combating corruption. In essence, it was said that the mobilization of the resources in Nigeria was a crucial issue and as such, the fiscal aspect was significantly regulated by statute. The assertion could be reinforced by several agitations over resource control, sharing of the national cake and the cries about marginalization was to be looked into. This did not change any action.

ESTATE AND UNBRIDLED CORRUPTION: JIDE AYOBULU ( Vanguard News, Nov.1 2006)

According to Jide, president Obasanjo by 1999 vowed that his government was going to work relentlessly to curb the menace of corruption that had systematically led to the development of underdevelopment of Nigeria. In his speech, Obasanjo said nothing corrupt would be spared in the war against corruption. However, as at 1999, the president failed to explain the missing N31billion that should have been paid into the revenue account.

Secondly, it was reported that N84b was missing in NPA involving a ” big wig of the then ruling PDP, hence, the EFCC was lily-livered to make it known to the public.

Again, Nigerians waited in vain to know what happened to the N6.4bn that was collected for the controversial presidential library that was adjudged to be illegal.

Nigerians had wanted to know from Obasanjo, who owns Ajaokuta Steel Mill, Delia Steel Complex, Jos Steel Rolling Mill, Oshogbo MachineTools and Itekpe Iron Ore Company. Who is the real owner of Obajana Cement Factory? Who owns Eleme Petrochemical? Who had the highest shares in Arik Airline? Why did Nigeria sell the Nigerian Airways Hanger through bidding negotiation? Why did Nigeria allocate incrative international routes to Arik Air even before it brought planes when existing Airlines who were doing well in the country were denied such opportunities? Who are the people who have been importing fuel into the country since 1999?

What was the EFCC doing about the Israeli arm deals where some official made millions of dollars for themselves? What did the EFCC do about the old planes that were bought as new, which increased chances of crash? These were few among many unanswered questions about sociopolitical issues of corruption in Nigeria. [ 27/10/2007, Segun Toyin Dawodu PO Box, 710080, Hermdon , VA USA]

It should not be a surprise to hear that from 1960 Nigerian independence till 1985, Naira was greater than USD. What has been happening since then? Immediately crude oil was discovered, Nigeria abandoned Agriculture and became lazy. Nigeria began to sleep and has refused to wake up till now.

CHAPTER TWO: CONCEPTS OF CORRUPTION.

Corruption, being a social problem, is viewed in different perspectives and has no definite definition.

In a general sense, corruption is a perversion from good to bad.

Sen (1999 p.275), sees corruption as a violation of established rules for personal gain and profit making.

Lipset and Lenz (2000 p.122-114) see corruption as an effort made to secure wealth or power through illegal ways or means for private gain at public expense; a misuse of public power for private benefits.

Corruption is any behavior that deviates from the formal duties of a public as it accords to the law, for personal satisfaction regarding to greed.

To Osoba (1996), corruption is an antisocial behavior conferring improper benefits contrary to legal norms, and which undermines the authority to improve the living condition of the people.

In response to the above definitions of corruption, it can be summed up to be:

Any act or behavior, written or expressed otherwise, which violates established rules and regulations and embraces insincerity, racism, giving and receiving of bribes to pervert justice, or to acquire power, position or wealth illegally to the detriment of others.

As noted in the previous chapter, corruption is found in every organization though sometimes not noticeable. It is also important to note that corruptions are in every nation of the world but of different degrees.

TYPES OF CORRUPTION: IN NIGERIA

There are two major types of corruption in Nigeria:

*Bureaucratic (Petty) corruption and

*Political ( Grand) Corruption.

Beureucratic corruption has a great link with political corruption. Although,beureucratic( economic )corruption basically deals with the issues of investment, economic growth and expenditures. In this regard, the economic factors militating against development in Nigeria are both individuals and governmental.

According to Mauro (1997) , economic corruption reduces private investment. To me, it equally thwarts public establishments. This is because the embezzled fund cannot at the same time create revenues nor jobs for the citizens. The culture of late or refusal of payment for goods supplied and services rendered are factors that hamper development. According to Lord Bishop of Guilford, David Pack, the attitude of late payment or refusal to pay for services rendered is one of the factors scaring investor away from Nigeria. Not only foreign investors but also native investors are scared. He noted that those who fail to pay companies for the services rendered seem to forget that cash flow is the life blood of any company. He added that the prize of corruption, in terms of economy, is poverty. This is what Nigeria is facing.

According to Collaghy (1994), because of widespread of Petty and Grand corruptions, the international community regarded the whole Africa as a ” sinkhole” that swallows their money with little or no return.

According to Ndiulor (1999),the brazen display of wealth by Nigerian public officers which they cannot explain the source, points to how bad corruption has eaten up the society. Many of them lived on modest income before being elected or appointed. ( see ThisDay, June 24, 2002).

Glorification and approbation of ill-gotten wealth has become the norm and culture of Nigerians; in the government or not.

As source says, the Nigerian society worships and shower praises on known crooks who make jumbo donations to churches and ridicule the honest and so rich that does not spray money on sycophants. The value system of Nigeria and their nationality has long decayed. Even the religious leaders are not innocent of causing damage to the Nigerian economy. Once a warehouse is turned into a worship center with no contribution to the growth of the society. Corruption has made the quality of goods in the country to reduce to the barest minimum, even the goods imported. Corruption has made Nigeria a dumping ground for expired goods from other countries. Nigerians pay China and Dubai less and demand for inferior goods to be brought into the country. The centre point here is that products that do not give the expected utility can not thrive to enhance the development of the society.

POLITICAL (GRAND) CORRUPTION.

Political Corruption is the extreme violation of rules and regulations; a negative way of affecting the lives of the people in Power struggle and conversion of public fund and wealth to private at the expense of the State.

Usually, political corruption in African States like Nigeria and other countries in Africa can be read. The use of office power and governmental resources for sordid and disrepute for private gain.

Political corruption is not a new phenomenon that pervades the Nigerian State. Since the creation of the modern public administrations in the country, there have been cases of corruption; misuse of power for personal gain especially from the time oil was discovered in Nigeria till date that Nigeria has abandoned Agriculture to get hold of oil money.

AREAS (FACTORS) OF CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA.

Politics and Corruption in Nigeria.

As I have talked about this in chapter one, I would not like to waste pages, but to quickly assert that all is not well in Nigerian politics.

Election does not truly determines who gets his way into the office in Nigeria. Election in Nigeria is unequivocally rigged. Sometimes the candidate buys the votes having it in mind never to represent the interests of the people when in office. The national cake is not shared without bias. This is why many believe politics to be a dirty game.

Religious Factors and Corruptions in Nigeria.

According to Shadabi (2003), religion affects the transparency in Nigerian politics. For example, even if a candidate is credible, the electorates may decide to vote against him or refuse to vote at all for the sole reason that he is of the religion they don’t accept. Religious differences prompt Nigerians to criticize a given government without facts to back up their criticism, and praise the government of the person who is of the same religion with them.

Onaiyekan (2002) states that it is impossible to disconnect religion from Nigerians. This means that religious identity is more valuable than national identity. A Nigerian would favor a foreigner of the same religion than a fellow Nigerian of another religion. Over the years, the two dominant religions in Nigeria have been in an internal loggerhead. Killing follows every now and then. Burning of churches, shops and so on in the northern Nigeria. Politicians donate large sum of money to the religious bodies of their choice to the detriment of the masses. Nigerian online news platform has it that Bafarawa confessed to have received N4.6bn from Dasuki for spiritual purposes. That was during the probe of $2.1b arms as contained in the Premium Time. Report also has it that Pastor Dikwa, the executive director of Voice of Northern Christians was paid N7bn by former president Goodluck Jonathan to help him campaign against his opponent and that the money was handed over to the leadership of CAN on the 26th of January 2016. Top religious leaders in Nigeria work hand in hand with the corrupt politicians. This has reduced the teaching of truth as ought to be.

Social Factors and Corruptions in Nigeria:

Social factors here is a general issue. It refers to the misconducts of individuals and groups and their breaking of laws. This is usually aggreviated through peers and secret associations. This aspect of corruption points to the destruction of amenities and infrastructures, stealing, destruction of school property etc. Kidnapping is not left out. In a situation where there are social problems, businesses cannot grow and at the end, such places are left desolate. A typical example of such is in many towns of Rivers State Nigeria. Egbeda town is almost desolate because the youths kidnap workers a lot. No bank in the entire Elele town because of social problems.

Economy and Corruption in Nigeria.

The economy of Nigeria keeps falling because the Beureucrats have wrong mentality, not because of the available resources. They siphon public fund to make the nation weep.

Government policies are not meant to favour the masses but to enrich the elected or selected cabals. Nigerians can go to China to request for substandard products that can endanger lives.

Many smuggle fake drugs into the country and cause more illness for the nation.

As it is well known that many products are fake in Nigeria, people find it difficult to patronize the producers. In such case, the economy is thwarted by low patronage.

......