Abstract
The study investigates on the impact of corruption on socio-political and economic development of Nigeria. However, this study aims to enable us know the causes of corruption which has eaten deep into the fabrics of the Nigeria state. It also tends to examine the effect of corruption on Nigeria’s various economic and political developments and explore on the damages which this disease has caused to the image of the nation with reference to the administration of Goodluck Jonathan. Most importantly, some fundamental measures need to be taken in thinking and actions of leadership of the country. ex-post facto research was adopted and secondary source of data was used. The elite theory was used to explain the negative impact of the elite on socio-political and economic development in Nigeria. The study recommends that there should be a constitutional requirement that only men and women with proven ability and integrity should be appointed to the governing boards of public
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
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1.1          ÂÂÂ
Background of the Study
Corruption is an unethical behaviour which runs counter to the accepted
social norms and moral values. It is a behavioural pattern, which seriously
hurts public morality and leaves the society worse for it. Corruption is an act
involving dishonesty, illegality and non-conformity with accepted standard of
behaviour. And such an act or behaviour has its main aim the return for
financial or material benefit of any other person. Candidly speaking, the
unethical behaviour, corruption is the bane to socio-political development in
Nigeria. However, it has truly become people’s choice of priority of work or
carry out their duties for personal gains to the detriment of our dearly
growing economy. Bad management and misappropriation of public funds as part of
corruption has long contributed largely to this menace of decadence, thereby
ensuring the peoples need are not met. As a result people are now dying of
hunger. Not only that there is no good road network of which people cannot have
access to the few food crops made available by the peasant farmers in the rural
areas. And poor health facilities as can be witnessed in the public hospitals
whereby people die in numbers daily out of ordinary ailments. Unemployment is
in increasing rate even as the country continues yearly to produce chunk of
graduates without deeming it necessary for job creation to meet up with the
graduates. In short, infrastructure development in the country is at zero
level. And all these things mentioned and more are still the consequence of
corruption to a society, Nigeria.
         Corruption in the real sense of it has
enormous ripple effect on the socio-political development of Nigeria.
Researchers have previously shown that corrupt practices are hazardous to our
dearly economy. To that effect according to THIS DAY (12 December 2003, pp.
1-2), “Nigeria lost over five million US Dollars in the last few years to
corrupt practicesâ€ÂÂ. And it was a disclosure from Antonio Maria Costa, the
Executive Director of the United Nations on Drugs and Crime, at the conference
of the UN Anti-corrupt convention held in Mexio on 11th December, 2003.
         In Nigeria, corruption is a pervasive
phenomenon corrupt practices have become synonymous with governance and
consequently have become the bane of the Nigerian society. Thus, it is a
general malaise pervading both the public and private sector in Nigeria
(Diamond, 1991; Achebe 1980; Agedah 1993). The Nigerian state is not free from the
evils of political and other types of corruption as Hemize by Otite, (1986)
they include political, economic, bureaucratic, judicial and moral. Political
corruption of the abuse of public office by highly placed officials, no doubt
is the greatest obstacle to unity, development and good governance in Nigeria
(Yagbouaju, 2004). The social malaise has contributed more than any other
factor to the backwardness of Nigerian state and impoverishment of its people.
The social “cankerworm†which is best likened to fostering cinereous disease
has become bolder and more ravenous with successive government in the country.
In fact, it has remained the focal point for every government in the country
(Ojo, 2000).
         Corruption in Nigeria has resulted in
the leakage of resources needed for national and socio-political development
and this has led to waste and stagnant growth and development of Nigerian
state. Widespread corruption in governance makes it impossible for the
leadership to command repeat for its plans and judgement and to enlist the
support of the people for development programmes, or to ask the people to
commit themselves to efforts and sacrifices necessary for development (Alex,
1999). The malaise debases public morality and engenders public distrust of leaders
and cynics towards public institutions.
         Ruzindana (1999) captures the very
ugly cost of corruption in Africa. To him corruption has several undermined
national, social and economic development in the continent. It has led to bad
road network and decaying infrastructures, inadequate medical services, poor
schools and falling education standard, and disappearance of foreign aids and
loans and of entire tends to stunt growth and development, creates political
instability, destroys social economic life of a nation, undermines the
legitimacy of the state, makes fiscal planning almost impossible, places the
wealth of the nation in the wrong hinds and leads to uneven distribution of
social amenities. Corruption distorts the economy through the waste and misallocation
of resources, citizen fundamental needs, food, shelter, health and education is
neglected. However this paper is set out to reflect on how far Jonathan’s
regime went on combating the scourge of corruption was there a reduction in
Nigerians corrupt tendency what are the devastating effect of corruption on
socio-political development in Nigeria.                     ÂÂÂ