Abstract
Corruption is a persistent issue in Nigeria. Corruption is a form of anti-social behavior by an individual or social group which confers unjust or fraudulent benefits on its perpetrators, is consistent with the established legal norms and prevailing moral ethos of the land and is likely to subvert or diminish by capacity of the legitimate authorities to provide fully for the material well- being of all the members of society in a just and equitable manner. The aim of this study is to examine whether corruption engendered poverty in Nigeria. Research design involves the structuring of investigation aimed at identifying variables and their relationship with one another. It is used for the purposes of obtaining data to be used in the test of hypothesis or in answering research questions. It is also an outline or a scheme that serves as a useful guide in the generation of data. To determine the sampling size is the total number of adults eligible to vote which is 119, 337, 668 within Nige
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1      Background
of the study
Corruption is a persistent issue in
Nigeria. Corruption is a form of anti-social behavior by an individual or
social group which confers unjust or fraudulent benefits on its perpetrators,
is consistent with the established legal norms and prevailing moral ethos of
the land and is likely to subvert or diminish by capacity of the legitimate
authorities to provide fully for the material well- being of all the members of
society in a just and equitable manner (Fritz, 2016). President Muhammadu
Buhari defined Corruption as the greatest form of human right Violation. Since
the Creation of Modern Public Administration in the Country, there have been
cases of official misuse of funds and resources (Gladden, 2012). The rise of
public Administration and the discovery of oil and National Gas are two major
events seen to have led to the increase in corrupt practices in the country.
However, this is attributed to colonialism. According to Gboyega, (2013), the
nation’s colonial history may have restricted any early influence in an
ethnical revolution; “the trappings of flashy cars, houses and success and to
emulate the colonists in different political waysâ€ÂÂ. Involvement in the agenda
of colonial rule may inhibit idealism in the early stages of the nascent
nation’s development. A view commonly held during the colonial days was that
colonist property (cars, houses, farms etc) is not “our†property (Gullick,
2017). The issue of embezzlement and fraudulent activities, mismanagement,
economic corruption, lack of accountability and transparency continues to elude
a country like Nigeria ever since her independence. It’s mitigating the entire
population both at the grass roots up to the political levels. Even the mentally
deterred people in the country could recognize the havoc caused by corruption.
Evidence abound that the rate of corruption especially financial crimes like
advanced fee fraud fondly known as 419 and money laundering committed in
Nigeria is alarming. Nigerian’s are treated with suspicion in all business
dealings within and outside the country, making majority of honest Nigerians
suffer the result. In regards to this, Gboyega, (2013), opined that the federal
government should try to implement an intensive programme of eradicating the
menace of corruption in the country. This is because, it has the political will
to achieve this objective. The most relevant effort is the creation of EFCC.
The EFCC was established by an act of parliament on December 13th 2002 by the
federal government they began full operation in 2003. It has support from the
presidency, the legislature, security and law enforcement agencies in Nigeria.
The commission is primarily charged with the responsibility of eradicating all
the economic and financial crimes such as: advanced fee fraud, money
laundering, counterfeits, future market fraud, fraudulent encashment of
negotiable instrument, computer credit card fraud, contracts scam, and
embezzlement of public funds and illegal acquisition of company shares which do
not exist to investors (Igbuzor, 2016). According to Jombo, (2014) our
politicians are also not exempted in this financial crime. In Nigeria today,
people see politics as a short cut to becoming a millionaire. Those voted into
power use it as an opportunity of looting the public funds, diverting them to
their personal account instead of providing the people with dividends of democracy.
According to Lawal & Johnson, (2012), corruption has continued to be a
destructive element in the government of Nigeria and the perception of the
country in the community of nations. It has resulted to a lot of problem, thus:
loss of government, brain drain, electoral malpractices and absence of law and
orders. Thus, vandalism and looking of public property was not seen as a crime
against society. This view is what has degenerated into the more recent
disregard for public property and lack of public trust and concern for public
goods as a collective national property. The government has aimed at containing
through the enactment of laws and the enforcement of integrity systems, but
success has been slow. As at 2012, Nigeria is estimated to have lost over $400
billion to corruption since independence. Many attributed this to flagrant
graft and exists in the country. Many blamed greed and Ostentatious life-style
as a potential root cause of these problems. The effects of corruption on
the socio-economic landscape of any society can be so devastating that noting
meaningful works in the midst of this malaise (Adeyanju, 2017).
In the midst of all the strands of
corruption it can be said that political corruption predominates (Gauba, 2011).
And this area of study constitutes the potential issue of study. This is
because those at all helm of affairs of government, the political elite
accounts for the sharing and allocation of values in the society. This
misallocation of these values and resources seem to be at the heart of
Nigerian’s Socio-Economic problems upon which multidimensional social vices the
country passes through (Ojo, 2016).ÂÂÂ