The Role of Anti-graft Agencies in Anti-Corruption Campaigns in Nigeria
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the objectives of the study:
- To determine the causes of corruption in Nigeria.
- To ascertain the impact of corruption on the economic growth and development in Nigeria.
- To carefully determine the effectiveness of the Anti-graft Agencies – ICPC and EFCC in combating corruption in Nigeria.
- To determine the functional differences between ICPC and EFCC in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
- To identify the possible problems militating against the effective fight against corruption by the two Anti-graft commissions in private and public institutions in Nigeria.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
THE CONCEPT OF CORRUPTION
Section 2 of the ICPC Act 2000, defines corruption to include bribery, fraud and other related offences but in its simplest terms, it means the abuse/misuse of power or position of trust for personal or group benefits (monetary or otherwise) Okereke (2008:3).
ORIGIN OF CORRUPTION
Corruption exists in every nation of the world. What is different is its degree, mode, fashion and dimension. We need not worry about when corruption began and where it began. Corruption has been part of human civilization/development.
The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines corruption as: “dishonest or illegal behaviour, especially of people in authority”. It further states that it is, “the act or effect of making somebody change from moral to immoral standards of behaviour”.
This definition reveals that the concept of corruption goes beyond mishandling of monetary or financial items for personal or individual gains. Corruption permeates culture, tradition, values and orientation. Corruption has touched and perverted every determined effort at sustaining social and economic services all over the world.
In Nigeria, corruption had existed in our local communities even before the advent of colonial administration. The arrival of colonial administrators, the use of surrogates and the adoption of the policy of indirect rule, formally institutionalized corruption in Nigeria, (Bakare 2008:2).
In order to achieve their economic and political interest, misfits and purported community heads and representatives were used against the people they represented. The post-colonial era also witnessed these cream of people entrusted with management of public office. The level of mismanagement of public property attracted and gave rise to the intervention of the military through series of coups and counter coups, all promising to restore the dignity of public service and deliver the primary essence of government. They also failed and the mismanagement continued. Nigeria became a fertile ground for self-serving public officers who took undue advantage of their positions to get rich. The citizens quickly began to lose confidence in the Nigerian State in terms of provisions of social and economic welfare. Public property was therefore perceived and seen as nobody’s property. The decay was deep-rooted and aggravated by instability of government policies. Transparency and accountability in government played the second fiddle.
Corruption in the public sector has brought Nigeria to its knees; propelling hunger and violence, underdevelopment and insecurity, capacity underutilization and waste of scarce economic resources. Corruption has generated and fuelled sectional violence, and enthroned misfits in high positions.
It is important to note that, at the centre of every corrupt practice lies the concept of the individual. Without the human element no corruption can take place. The interests of individuals in corrupt systems usually overtake the overall interest of the system. Individuals hide in the system and project it as faulty in order to perpetrate their corrupt practices.
Before 1999, Nigeria was ranked by transparency international as the second most corrupt nation in the world. The nation was left drained and isolated in international relations. This reputation resulted in persistent brain drain and flight of human capital – the nation’s life-blood. International trade relations were at its lowest ebb. The nation was dealt with on cash-and-carry basis.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design adopted for the study was survey. The choice of this method was informed by the fact that the population and samples of the study are scattered in different locations and interviews were conducted, therefore the only way to reach them was through survey.
POPULATION OF THE STUDY
The target population of the study consisted of two groups; made up of the staff of ICPC and those of EFCC. Also involved in the study are respondents from various NGOS, local enforcement agencies, business men and women, the youths and selected members of the general public. Others are those in religious and academic circles, opinion leaders and traditional rulers. The rationale behind restricting the population to the aforementioned personnel was because some of them have the responsibility of implementing anti-graft policies. Others are in a better position to understand the negative consequences of corruption in Nigerian economy, considering their educational backgrounds, positions and experiences. Out of 1200 people that made up the population of the study, the number of staff of EFCC, ICPC and other respondents to be interviewed is 300. It was not possible to include in the study all the affected personnel in different segments of the society. Therefore, for the selection of the sample of the categories of the groups from religious, academic, law Enforcement Agencies, NGOS and anti-graft agencies, the required sample size of 8 agencies were selected using simple random sampling.
The selected personnel comprised of 300 selected from these agencies.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the data collected for the study were statistically analyzed. Among the procedures for the analysis are the uses of frequencies for the demographic variables. Means, standard deviations, standard errors and t-tests, were the necessary tools used to compare the responses got from ICPC, EFCC and other sundry individuals. Chisquare is required in the test of independence of association between variables. Each of the section of the questionnaire is analyzed separately and the related hypothesis is tested for each section.
ANALYSIS OF DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES OF THE RESPONDENTS
A total of 300 subjects made up of 15 from ICPC, another 15 from EFCC respondents and another 270 from other selected agencies were used for the study. In terms of distribution, NGOs had 10% of the respondents, while 15% were from community members/traditional rulers. A breakdown of the other respondents indicated that ICPC staff had 5% of the total respondents and EFCC had also 5% respondents.
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS,
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
In this chapter the result of the data analysis in chapter four are discussed.
In this study, the impact of anti-graft agencies in combating corruption was evaluated. Five hypotheses were raised in the study. The first was to assess the causes of corruption in Nigeria. Also effort was made at determining the impact of corruption on the economic growth and development in Nigeria. The effectiveness of anti-graft agencies in combating corruption in Nigeria was also determined. The assessment of the functional differences between the activities of EFCC and ICPC in combating corruption was also xrayed. Finally, the problems militating against anti-graft agencies – ICPC and EFCC in fighting corruption in both private and public institutions in Nigeria were examined.
CONCLUSION
From the implication of the study, there is a strong evidence that many available factors like poor funding, poor working environments, deprivation and poor incentives all tend to fuel the level of corruption in Nigeria. It is also stated that overstaying in office, waiver of laid down rules and instability in government coupled with inconsistent policies all aggravated corruption in Nigeria.
The fallout of this monumental corruption tends to cause brain drain, apathy, uneven developments and injustices in different dimensions.
The evidence that people with mundane behaviours, inordinate ambitions due to avarice and quest for material prosperity tend to aggravate corruption is vehemently buttressed.
Also the negative impact of corruption on economic growth and development of the country is being condemned from many respondents as such corruption has brought poverty, reduction in Gross Domestic Products (GDP), Gross National Products (GNP), unemployment, uneven developments and general backwardness.
EFCC has not more operational strategies to fight corruption than ICPC. On the overlapping functions of ICPC and EFCC in fighting Corruption in Nigeria, there are areas of overlapping in the functions of the two commissions.
There are also factors like politics, government interference, logistics, poor funding, all these tend to mar the effective operations of the two commissions in their fight against corruption in Nigeria.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- There is urgent need for attitudinal changes by Nigerians on the need to imbibe the philosophy of having good quality behaviours, good characters, leaving legacies rather than developing the habits of get-rich-quick syndrome. Martin Luther Junior of America died at the age of 39 and America is still observing public holidays for him because of his legacies. Also the legacies of renowned Nigerians, like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Zik of Africa, Abubakar Rimi of Kano State, Gani Fawenhnmi are all visibly there for others to emulate.
- Nigeria is our dear country and “there is no other country for Nigerians and that we must stay together to salvage it” according to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is an adage that must be put into practice through evidence of corruption eradication, so that economic growth and development of the country will be achieved.
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