By Femi Oyelola
Corruption is a global phenomenon, and as old as man. It is, therefore, common in all countries, irrespective of their stages of development.
However, its nature, density, and dimensions differ largely from country to country and from one environment to another.
Corruption is one of the most dangerous social ills of any society.
This is because corruption, like a deadly virus, attacks the structures that make for society’s progressive functioning, thus putting its very existence in serious peril.
This is particularly true of developing countries that have limited but valuable funds and resources. These funds, which are initially earmarked for industries, hospitals, schools, and other infrastructure are embezzled, misappropriated, or otherwise severely depleted through kickbacks and over-invoicing.
Corruption in Nigeria has reached an alarming rate that it seems every efforts made by successive governments to tackle the monster has been without any result to salvage the country’s situation and transform the economy;
Findings reveal that corruption and good governance in Nigeria are two parallel lines that will never meet and that corrupt practices do impede the country’s socio-economic development.
It is also discovered that taming the surge of corruption will help a lot in transforming Nigeria’s economy for the better.
Responding to this, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede on the Occasion of 2023 International Anti-Corruption Day said all over the world, corruption is a threat to the growth and development of individuals and nations, saying no one is immune to the contagion of corruption which is why nations are united in finding solutions to this common ailment.
Represented at the occasion by the Kaduna Zonal Commander of the Commission, ACE1 Aisha Abubakar, the EFCC chairman said it is fitting that the theme of the 2023 International Anti-Corruption Day is UNCAC @ 20: Uniting the World against Corruption.
He paid tributes to the revolutionary impact that the organ of the United Nations has had in mobilizing and directing global action against corruption, saying UNCAC, through its resolutions and interventions has become the fulcrum of the global resistance against corruption. Successful anti-corruption models across the world are built on the recommendation of UNCAC, according to him.
Olukoyede disclosed that EFCC remains committed to working with the corruption prevention template recommended by UNCAC.
“In driving this prevention focus, the commission under my watch will prioritize these focal areas: collaboration and synergy with local and foreign law enforcement agencies, professionalism, and strict adherence to the rule of law as the absolute minimum in all activities of the commission.
“Only through professionalism and adherence to the rule of law will the commission be able to contribute to economic growth by restoring investors’ confidence in our economy.
“Our focus makes it imperative for us to create conducive environments for job creation, the opening of investment space across the country, and improvement of our international image.
“Increased professionalism means that there will be zero tolerance for all forms of arbitrariness. I want every EFCC operative to be more diligent and resourceful in our assigned tasks.
“ My leadership will punish infractions traceable to unethical practices. We will ensure that the right things are done at all times.
“We are joining the rest of the world today to say, corruption is injurious to human development. I want this to be an article of faith for all of us. We must seek new ways to identify with the clarion for unity by UNCAC.
“As we do all these, every threat to development in our nation would be destroyed and as a member of the global community, EFCC will continue to play its role in the fight against corruption, and together we will achieve a corruption-free world,” he said.
In another reaction, the National President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF). Alhaji Yerima Shettima, posited that corruption is a major setback in Nigeria.
According to him, Nigerians would have expected that the country have gone beyond what they are experiencing today in terms of politics, governance, and service delivery to the people.
He explained that the corruption menace came to the fore in the beginning of the 1999 democratic dispensation and to date the citizens keep saying that yesterday is far better than today.
He premised that under normal circumstances, citizens should be able to see an advancement in terms of governance of the country, but rather than making progress, we keep retrogressing and that’s why we keep saying that Obasanjo was better than Jonathan, Yar’adua.
“Of course, there was an intervention between Obasanjo and Yar’adua but we couldn’t have seen much of him because all we could remember was at the time he assumed office, we could see a semblance of better things ahead of us unfortunately, he couldn’t stay long, as death naturally took him.
“Subsequently, Jonathan came on board. We kept saying Obasanjo is better than Jonathan.
“After him, Buhari came on board and we began to experience another case and then we began to say that we expected Buhari to be better, but his case became worse than Jonathan in terms of corruption and whatever.
“Now subsequently, we are in a new government that we cannot be too much in a hurry to preempt what is likely to happen, but it is obvious from all indications from what we are seeing today that we might likely have worse days ahead of us. But I do not want to conclude because I still have confidence in him, the president, but when I look at some characters around him, I become very much discomfortable, but let’s watch and see what President Tinubu will make of the ugly situation.
Alhaji Yerima expressed dismay that the country is certainly not winning the war against corruption, rather it is getting worse by the day.
“A case study was what happened in recent times, the last administration of Muhammad Buhari, which we thought Jonathan’s case was the worst but we realized that his was only at the surface in terms of corruption.
“The Buhari government that just exited was wasteful and more corrupt than any other government in the history of this country.
“Even at that, we thought that there should be body language by the government to say okay, let us begin to bring these guys to book but we’ve seen little of it seeing the case of Emefiele and a few of them. We expect more people to be brought to justice.
“Well, if the youths still believe that they are still leaders of tomorrow, then they are wasting their time. It’s high time we begin to accept and take responsibility; to accept that this is reality, make moves, and fight for what rightfully belongs to our cause if you continue to wait for tomorrow, it may never come.
“So I’m one of those who believe strongly that it’s high time we begin to see ourselves as stakeholders and that’s why to an extent, sometimes, I feel disappointed when somebody calls me a youth leader because it’s a responsibility that is saddled on me.
“ I still bear the youth leader but have said that, I do not see myself as just a youth, I begin to see that I’m a stakeholder and to that extent, some of us must have to take responsibility to fight corruption.
“It’s about taking it and I believe sooner than later, we will begin to harmonize ourselves to work with our counterparts across the other parts of the country to ensure that we fight for what rightfully belongs to us but if you still believe in these men of yesteryears to provide good governance, put smile on the faces of people, end corruption, and believe that the country will go to its El-dorado, we are just fooling yourselves,” he opined.
However, the Communications Officer of Legal Awareness for Nigerian Women (LANW), Mr. Femi Johnson, submitted that despite the assurances of the EFCC boss on the fight against corruption, the menace has had devastating effects on Nigeria’s economy, resulting in lower governance effectiveness, weak investment, and lower human capital.
He explained that corruption also hampers the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and causes poverty and inequality
Mr. Johnson observed that corruption in Nigeria is not limited to a particular sector but is interconnected, involving a range of behaviors that cleave across sectors.
“Corruption undermines the principles of equality before the law and weakens the judiciary and other law enforcement agencies, thus fostering a culture of impunity for the affluent and powerful.
“Nigeria has established anti-corruption agencies to combat corruption, but there have been concerns about their impartiality and effectiveness. Corruption is a pressing issue in Nigeria that affects public finances, business investments, and the standard of living. Corruption in Nigeria could cost up to 37% of the country’s GDP, which is equivalent to around $1,000 per person in 2014 and nearly $2,000 per person by 2030.
“Nigeria is facing significant challenges in its fight against corruption. Despite government’s promises and efforts, the country continues to grapple with widespread corruption, as evidenced by its low ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Index.
“The prevalence of corruption has led to a lack of trust in government institutions, weakened the capacity to address security issues, and hindered the country’s development and potential. While there have been some initiatives to combat corruption, the pervasive nature of this problem has made it difficult to achieve significant progress.
“The situation suggests that Nigeria is currently losing the war against corruption, with the need for more effective measures and strategies to address this deep-rooted issue,” he concluded.
But in a sharp reaction, Comrade Abdul Bako of Campaign For Democracy thinks that Nigerian angle of the public awareness for anti-corruption is awesome and highly engaging with lots of participants inclusively, road shows, rallies full of colorful activities, branded Tee-shirts face caps you name them, but the ironies surrounding the fight are the shortfall of what is happening to result to what we are seeing “the negative impactful nature of corruptions on our country”.
His words: “Take a closer view of happenings around the anti-corruption organisations, most especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), since inception all without doubts its leadership, the chief executives end up in Waterloo but without prosecutions even after so many kangaroo investigations carried out from Nuhu Ribadu, Farida Waziri, Lamorde, Magu to Abdulrashed Bawa all exited on the perception of wrongdoing but are all free like the flying birds out there singing songs and being glorified in most of the societies they reside within; so sad an irony that befalls our nation!
“We must crave to change such negative narrative otherwise we will have high-level public awareness but low-level outcomes.
“The awareness creation needs to equally be stepped down into our institutions of public education–colleges and schools –for more proactiveness in informing the youths the negativity around corrupt practices for most of the elderly have failed the nation, so a program tagged catch them young should be rolled out at junior school levels for a national drive on civic education movement,” he said
Corroborating this the Senior Programme Officer of Communications Empowering Women for Excellence Initiative (EWEI), Uche Brown Egbe, stressed that the biggest cankerworm crippling Nigeria and Africa as a whole is corruption.
According to him, Corruption can have devastating effects on society, leading to the loss of public trust in government, reduced economic growth, and increased inequality.
It can also lead to poor service delivery, especially in essential services like health and education.
Uche Brown Egbe opined, however, that Nigeria has made some progress in recent years, such as passing new laws and establishing anti-corruption agencies like EFCC and ICPC.
“One of the biggest challenges in the fight against corruption in Nigeria is the lack of political will. Political elites often benefit from the system of corruption, and they may be reluctant to take the necessary steps to combat it.
“This makes it difficult to implement reforms and hold those who are corrupt accountable. In addition, corruption is often deeply entrenched in the culture, making it difficult to change.
“Despite these challenges, it’s important to continue working towards a Nigeria that is free from corruption.
“This Will require a multi-pronged approach, including strengthening the rule of law, increasing transparency, and improving accountability.
The fight against corruption begins with me as a well-meaning Nigerian,” he said.
