Corruption and the Development Crisis in Bayelsa State (a Focus on Bayelsa State 2012-2019)
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the Study
The main focus of the study is to assess the nexus between corruption and development crisis in Bayelsa state. The following are the specific objectives of the study:
- To examine if embezzlement of public treasury affect the provision of sustainable welfare for all citizens in Bayelsa state;
- To examine if mismanagement of public fund is responsible for the decay of infrastructural development in Bayelsa state;
- To determine if corruption in the public offices has reduced poverty in Bayelsa state.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptualization
Corruption:
There is no generally agreed definition as to what constitutes corrupt behaviors. It is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that erodes the socio-economic and political value of any nation. Corruption is also a global phenomenon, intelligible only in its social context. There is a growing worldwide concern over its spread due to so many factors poverty, crime, low rate of saving, unemployment and to mention a few .Therefore, reforming public sector and government policies is essential but poverty a product of corruption limits the available options. Corruptions in developing nations are more pronounced than developed nations hence it remain impediments to good governance and development crisiss. Developed and developing nations have initiated and established various anti- corruption war and advocacy to eradicate the menace of corruption in their system. Such advocacy are the African Union (AU), the United Nation (UN), the United Nation Development Programme (UNPP), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Word Bank to mention a few (Ogbeidi,2012). The phenomena’s usually encompasses abuses by government officials such as embezzlement and cronyism, as well as abuses linking public and private actors such as bribery, extortion, influence peddling, and fraud, to mention but a few. In this regard, impunity and corruption threatens good governance, democratic process, and fair business practices (Ogbeidi, 2012). Therefore corruption has become of the greatest threats to socio-economic and political development of any nation. The threats of corruption remain a major dilemma issue facing Nigeria since the time of colonial period, although corruption has become a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabrics of Nigeria system. Nevertheless, its remedies rely in our hands as a people. That is why many developed and developing nations have put in place different mechanisms to checkmate and curb this ugly incidence. In Bayelsa state for example, the menace of corruption has been a matter of discourse at different levels of institution of learning yet this pathetic incidence keeps resurface with us at all facets of our endeavors.
The Nigerian government has taken various measures and strategies to address the incidence of corruption and bad governance in the country. These measures includes public service reform (monetization to reduce waste and reduction or over-bloated personnel, reform of public procurement); establishment of anti craft agencies (such as the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Independent Corruption and other Practices Commission (ICPC) and the on-going sanitization in the Nigeria National Petroleum Co-oporation (Adeshina, 2015). Despite the successes attained by these institutions, the situation remains palatable as corruption continues to permeate and pervade every facet in our society and national life in Bayelsa state (Fatile, 2013). Against this backdrop, this study is to examine corruption in Bayelsa state public sector and state its dare consequences on good governance and social-economic development and provide possible solution to this menace. The central theme of the argument is that corruption has been responsible for bad governance, socio-economic and political under-development in Bayelsa state public sector. Therefore, corruption, which has come to survive despite all efforts at curbing it, this is at the center of our discourse.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design:
Anikpo (1986), defined research design as a plan or structure of any aspect of the research procedure. Such plan according to him will be realized in the selection of the most appropriate concepts, hypotheses, analytical paradigms and also the most effective format to present research report.
The research design adopted for this work is ex-post facto design. Kerlinger (1977) averred that ex-post factor research is a form of descriptive research in which an independent variable has already occurred and in which an investigator starts with the observation of a dependent variable then studies the independent variable in retrospect for its possible relationship to and effects on the dependent variable Cohen and Menion (1980) further clarifies the pharse ‘’ex-post facto’’ which means ‘’after the fact or retrospectively’’. Therefore, the ex-post facto research is a systematic empirical study where by the research does not manipulate the independent variable because the scenario for the study is already in existence. However, the research can create a scenario which will be subjected to empirical verification. Asika (1991:24) equally noted that the ex-post facto design is also known as a single case study.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
- Bayelsa State’s Annual Petroleum Revenues
Below, I explain the three main sources of Bayelsa State’s annual income from petroleum. As earlier stated, they are statutory allocations, 13% derivation, and excess crude. These are terminologies used and understood in the Nigerian political economy.
a Statutory Allocations
The constitution of Nigeria empowers the national government to collect and distribute revenue to different tiers of governments in the country. Indeed, Section 160, Subsection 2 of the Nigerian Constitution (1999) stated that “Any amount standing to the credit of the federation account shall be distributed among the federal and state governments, and the local governments of each state.” In Chapter 2, I pointed out that one of the justifications for the creation of Bayelsa State was to bring the Nigerian government nearer to people who live hundreds of miles away from Abuja, the seat of the national government. The FGN, in accordance with this constitutional directive, gives the statutory allocations to the thirty-six states of the federation as provided in the statute. The federal statutory allocation is a pool of all federally collected revenues that are shared among the three levels of government – federal, state, and local.
Extant literature in Chapter 3 revealed that Nigeria almost depends on a single commodity, petroleum resources, for more than 80% of its annual revenues (Ekpo, 2004; Obi, 2004; Ojakorotu, 2005). This is further confirmed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 2000- 2013 Federal Account Operation Data. For each of the fourteen years covered in the CBN data, crude oil accounted for more than half of all federally collected revenues. For example, in the 2011, 2012, and 2013 fiscal years, oil accounted for 79.6%, 75.6% and 69.9% respectively of the country’s revenues. Non-oil revenue sources, such as import and export duties, company taxes, and federal income taxes account for the remaining fraction.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary:
Based on the content analysis of this work the researcher summarize as follows;
- In issues of the causes of corruption in Bayelsa state, it is a common belief that poverty is one of the major causes of corruption and one cannot but submit to the fact that there is a great of deal it in the land.
- The formal chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), Mustapha Akanbi summarizes the point on the ‘Impacts of Corruption on Nigeria’s Quest for Sustainable Development’ when he stated inter alia that Corruption is a dangerous foe… The endemic nature and deliberating effect of corruption on the cultural, economic, social and political foundation of the society has been most harrowing and disconcerting (Akanbi, 2004cited in Orji, 2011). He also emphasized that Corruption has been the harbinger of the messy situation in which we find ourselves today and it has always been impacted negatively on the overall development of the country.
- However, in point of the relationship/nexus between corruption and sustainable economic development, it is a fact in that about 74 percent of the population in Bayelsa state cannot feed on $1 per day (Koffi Annah, 2000 in Aluyor & Shuaib, 2011; Ogege, 2014).To further buttress the above assertion, Nigeria is ranked very low in Human Development Index (HDI). The United Nation Development Programme(UNDP) in 2008 report that Nigeria’s HDI is put at 0.453, which is lower than the average HDI for sub-Saharan Africa of 0.515 (UNDP 2008).Nigeria is currently rated as one of the poorest nations in the globe with devastating youth unemployment, with over ten million youths that are willing to work but cannot find work (NBS 2009, Otto & Ukpere 2012 as cited in Ogege, 2014).Uma and Eboh (2013)state that several policies and programmes have been put in place in this regard but hydra-headed corruption and crises have been militating against positive and meaningful results.
5.2 Conclusion:
As the concepts of corruption and development crisis have been discussed, the study reveals that the potential to be prosperous abound in the country; however corruption remains one of the major hindrances hampering the attainment of this prosperity specifically its sustainable development. Corruption has metamorphosed into high rate of poverty, and other all forms of socio-vices among the people. The reduced rate of development has significantly provided for lack of suitable health care services, qualitative and affordable education ,and other infrastructural services that its population are greatly in need of. Nigeria is currently rated as one of the poorest nations in the world with devastating youth unemployment, with over ten million youths that are willing to work but cannot find work (NBS 2009, Otto & Ukpere 2012 as cited in Ogege, 2014).As the number continue to grow exponentially per year. Developmental growth is stunted or probably at a standstill in Bayelsa state compared to other nations that are well endowed with the petroleum crude oil like Nigeria. Instead of oil being a blessing to the nation it has always being on the other side because of corruption. Several government administrations in the country have been at one point or the other accused of misappropriation of public funds or embezzlement by the successive government. However, available evidence indicates that these resources have not been judiciously used or circulated to meet the needs of the population in terms of human capital development because of high level of corruption in the country. Hence, the study in its aims critically examined the causes of corruption in Bayelsa state, its negative impacts on developmental growth and the nexus between corruption and development crisis.
5.3 Recommendations:
Based on the above discussions, the study therefore recommends the following;
- The activities or programmes of the anti-corruption agencies in Bayelsa state such as the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and related Offences Commission (ICPC) should be strengthened in terms of adequate training and retraining and finance.
- Federal government especially and the Politicians must stop interfering in the affairs of the anti-corruption agencies in the country.
- The policies that will enhance the achievement of sustainable development must be encouraged so as to reduce the level of corruption and poverty and increase the level of economic growth and development in all forms.
- There should be free and fair election in Bayelsa state so that the honest individuals who would serve as role models will be put elected into leadership positions so as to minimize the negative impact of corruption on economic growth in Bayelsa state.
- Government should encourage leaders that display transparency, honesty, probity, accountability, purposefulness and commitment to good ideals of the society before the followers will be convinced of the ingenuity of such crusade.
- Government should ensure corruption as a theme needs to be discourse on debate by government representatives at Federal, State and local level. This is will create the awareness that corrupt practices are against norms, culture and social value of the society.
- Government should formulate and implement policy on how to combat poverty and unemployment that is engulfing 95% of the Nigerian population. This is severe on the teeming graduates of different universities in the country.
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