ABSTRACT
Writing on a project topic like ‘combating corruption
in Nigeria; case study of the EFCC has presented numerous challenges, bearing
in mind that not very many people are aware of the scope of responsibility
being handled by the ant -graft body.
The journey takes one through in the
first instance the creating of an overview
of the fact that corruption really has Nigerian in its stragle hold, the
recognition of the harm the corruption endemie has wrought on the Nigerian
psyche and the need for fighting this human created cancer.
The need for the creation of an anti-graft
body becomes very apparent when one look at the presidents set by other matters
of corruption (huge as it were) swept under the carpet for lack of gats to deal
with same.
The response of Nigerian as to whether the
aims, objectives for the setting up of the EFCC have been met is also dealt with
therein
How much can the EFCC achieve, and the
question of whether Nigeria can in the end say ‘Uhuru is tackled therein.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Nigeria
became an independent nation on the 1st of October 1960.
A
country richly endowed with monumental geographical and diverse natural
resources ranging from crude oil to gas (natural), coal al, et.
Nigeria
possesses potential market ability for rapid economic development.
However,
inspite of these obvious resources and its advantage, Nigeria remains a poor
and underdeveloped country.
Scholars
have achieved and advanced several reasons to explain this parlous and
depleting state.
One
of the major and prominent factors advanced is corruption
Corruption
has been a major problem in Nigeria since independence.
Perhaps,
it may be that we even inherited ‘the problem’ from our colonial masters.
Numerous
state institutions have become dysfunctional because of large-scale corrupt
practices.
Projects
are routinely abandoned, and no one is brought to book, public goods and
resources are diverted to private ends.
Corruption
endangers the good governance and the democracy we see today.
Corruption
was cited as one of the more prominent reasons for Nigeria’s first military
coup by the coupists of January 15, 1966 military putsch.
Massive
corruption and resource brigandage also were sited as reasons for the military
takes over by the regime of Buharil Tunde Idiagbon on December 31st
1983.
This
is in-spite of the fact that even the military elite cannot be called saints on
the one side.
Due
to the pervasive nature of corruption in Nigeria, Nigeria’s former President
Olusegun Obasanjo in his inaugural speech on May 29 1999 affirmed that
corruption, the single greatest bane of our society today would be tackled
head- on, at all levels.
No
society can achieve its full potentials if it allows corruption to become a
full blown cancer as its has become in our nation.
According
to the World Bank (1997:5), “corruption thrives when economic policies are
poorly designed, education levels or standards are low, civil society
participation is weak, public sector management is poor, and accountability of
public institutions are weak”.
Corruption
has become the order of the day in our public institution, and because
Government business is nobody’s business, the country continues to suffer
(Nzemeke and Erhagbe: 2002:131).
Corruption
has been cited as the major reason why developmental prescription, aids and
policies imposed on Nigeria by international financial organizations have
inexplicably failed.
Thus,
corruption is indeed, to the society and the polity what HW/AIDS is to the
human body
While manifestation of the
“acquired immune deficiency syndrome” caused by a bio-virus, corruption is an
expression of the “Deficiency of integrity syndrome” caused by a socio-virus
(corruption).
‘As
HW/AIDS breaks down our immune system thereby making it susceptible to ills and
sicknesses, so also corruption breaks down the law and order, structure of the
economy, thereby making it easy for the nation to be infested with all sorts of
deficiencies and crimes.
Sam
Adesua (1987: 8-9) noted that “in Nigeria, …corruption is a well – organized and
well entrenched social malady bestriding the nation, but which tends to have
the tacit approval of almost every Nigerian in the social ladders”.
This
is an opposite description of the corruption status in the Nigerian nation.
Corruption
is no doubt pervasive in the country.
It
permeates all strata of both public and private life.
It
is not peculiar to any regime or government, in the country.
Honesty
seems to have taken flight, and corruption has in the meanwhile tremendously
gained ground and become very rampant.
According
to Familoni (2005:51), becoming corrupt in Nigeria is almost avoidable, as
morality is lax because to survive, people have to make money.
The
1996 study of corruption by Transparency International (TI) and Goettingen
University ranked Nigeria as the most corrupt nation, among the fifty-four (54)
counties listed in the study with Pakistan as the second most corrupt country.
Also
in the 1998 transparency international corruption perception index (CPI), the
image of Nigeria dipped further as she was ranked ninety (90) out of the ninety
one (91) countries pooled – Bangladesh came first in the ranking.
The
country remained or rather retained its position in 2003.
In
2006, the transparency international perception index ranked Nigeria one
hundred and forty-two (142) out of one hundred and sixty-three (163) countries
pooled, with Haiti as the most corrupt country in the world.
STATEMENT
OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
One
of the pertinent issues in Nigeria today is the focus on one of the greatest
impediment to good governance and sustainable development corruption.
In
recent times, corruption has as an issue taken the front burner in development
discourse worldwide.
Since
1996, the World Bank has supported more than six hundred (600) anti–corruption
programmes and governance initiative developed by its member countries.
Especially
in 1999, the World Bank institute budgeted a whopping $7.5million to fight
corruption (Polzer, 200:2; Tesh, 1991:1).
Ironically,
the global financial body was embroiled in scandalous dealings that led to the
removal of its chairman.
This
goes to show the obvious relevance corruption has to sustainable growth and
development.
The
world’s major religions in their holy books are concerned with the evil of corruption
amongst the rich and powerful, and prescribed rules for punishing perpetrators
and the wiping out of corrupt acts.
The
Qu’ran chapter 83, warmed believers against the fraudulent and corrupt
practices of the Arabian society in the pre-Islamic era (Olurode, 2003:3).
The
Holy Bible in proverbs (22:8, 11:20 and 13:11)
(Olurode 2005:3) admonished the people about corruption and its
consequences, promising perpetrators that they would be losers on judgment day.
Accountability
is typically weak in Nigeria because the county is ripe for corruption and rife
with it.
The
motivation to earn extra income is extremely strong, worsened by poverty and
low and declining civil services salaries.
Thus,
corruption has become a cankerworm in the political system, stifling it of its
potential sustainable growth.
RESEARCH
OBJECTIVES
The
aim of the research is to appraise Nigeria’s anti-corruption crusade with
special focus on the EFCC
–
Identify the inherent nature of corruption
in Nigerian since independence.
–
Assess the effect of corruption on
Nigeria’s development.
–
Appraise the activities of the EFCC.
–
To ascertain if the EFCC has succeeded or
failed in its quest to wipe out corruption in Nigeria.
HYPOTHESIS
i.
The level of corruption in the Nigerian
polity is a function of bad governance and corrupt individuals
ii.
The administration (1999 till date) has the
political will to fight corruption.
iii.
The economic and financial crimes
commission (EFCC) is capable of fighting corruption.
SCOPE
OF STUDY SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
This
research therefore focuses on the two term tenure of President Olusegun
Obasanjo, and former president Yar’Adua’s short tenure, from 1999 till date
with a view to the appraisal of the efforts of the EFCC at fighting corruption
in Nigerian during the already mentioned time frame.
The
administration of Obasanjo was the first to show the commitment of fight
corruption with the appropriate mechanisms and where obvious (even if sometimes
selected results have been seen towards the fight against corruption.
METHODOLOGY
In
the course of this study, the researcher adopted primary and secondary methods
of data collection.
They include:
Primary
data: as primary data, we will make used of observation and
interview.
Secondary
data: for the secondary data, newspapers, textbooks,
electronic media and the internet were explored
ORGANIZATION
OF THE STUDY
The
study shall be divided into five chapters.
The
first chapter discusses the background to the study, statement of problem,
objectives of the study, scope of the study, hypothesis, research methodology,
and organization of various chapters.
The second shall consist
of the literature review, exhaustively discuss corruption in Nigeria, its
historical antecedents and impact on the society.
Chapter
three would focus on methodology.
Chapter
four focuses in the EFCC, and chapter five focuses on achievement in the
crusade, the summary and conclusion.