THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION A TRUE COURSE OR REPRAISAL
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The word “corrupt” when used as an adjective literally means “utterly broken”. It was first used by Aristotle and later Cicero who added the terms bribe and abandonment of good habit. Corruption is a form of dishonest and unethical conduct by a person entrusted with a position of authority, often to
acquire personal benefit. (Wikipedia; 2015). In an attempt to distinguish between ‘corrupt act’ and ‘corruption’,
Amundsen (1999) summits that “corruption is when individuals misuse the public power they are bestowed with for
private benefit” while corrupt act occurs “when a responsible person accepts money or some other forms of reward,
and then proceed to misuse his official power by returning undue favours”. Nye defines corruption as a behaviour
which deviates from the normal duties of a public role because of private relationship. This includes such behaviour
as bribery (which is the use of reward to pervert the judgment of the person in position of trust); nepotism (bestowal of
patronage by reasons of inscriptive relationship than merit); and misappropriation (illegal appropriation of public
resources for private – regarding uses (Nye cited in Onuigbo & Eme, 2015). Khan sees corruption as an act which deviates from the rules of conduct governing the action of someone in a
position of public authority because of private regarding motives such as wealth, power and status (Khan cited in
Amundsen, 1996). Corruption could also be conceived as pervasion of integrity or state of affairs through bribery,
favour or depravity (Otite, 2000).
In a more holistic conceptualization, the International Monitory Fund (IMF) vignettes corruption as an abuse of office
or trust for private benefit: and is a temptation indulged in by not only public officials but also by those in positions of
trust and authority in private enterprise or non-profit organizations (IMF, 1998). Transparency International observes
corruption to be the use of entrusted power for private gain; and is classified as either grand, petty and political
depending on the amount of money lost and the sector where it occurs. Grand corruption – consists of acts
committed at a high level of government that distorts polity or the central functioning of the state enabling leaders to
benefit at the expense of the public good; Petty corruption refers to everyday abuse of entrusted power by low and
mid-level public officials in their interactions with ordinary citizens; Political corruption – involves manipulation of
policies, institution and rules of procedures in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision makers
who abuse their position to sustain their power, status and wealth (Transparency International, 2015 ).
Lawal (2012) identifies types of corruption to include: Moral corruption exhibited in sexual pervasiveness, greed
especially in interpersonal relationship, loose tongue, indecent dressing, etc; Economic corruption example include
manufacturing fake drugs, adulteration of drinks, piracy, plagiarism, fraud at all levels, etc; Political and bureaucratic
corruption includes illegal, unethical and unauthorized exploitation of one’s political or official position for personal
gain; Electoral corruption has to do with electoral frauds such as election rigging, manipulations, ballot stuffing,
registration of underage, etc (Lawal, 2012).
Corruption includes bribery, smuggling, fraud, illegal payment, money laundering, drug trafficking, falsification of
documents and records, window dressing, false declaration, evasion, underpayment, deceit, forgery, concealment,
aiding and abetting of any kind to the detriment of another person, community, society or nation (Mathew et. al., 2013).The arguments and definitions by the authors affirm that corruption manifests for personal gratification, selfpreservation and glory at the expense of general political and economic growth of a particular state, an organization or any establishment.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
It is generally agreed that corruption is an evil wind that affect everyone and retard societal progress. While there are
several theories that explain its prevalence in society, the point to emphasize is that it has become a way of life in
Nigeria. This explains why it has been difficult to combat its rising profile.
In spite of the fact that the country, boast of one of the most resourceful citizenry and natural endowment in the world,
these potentials have often been frittered away through corruption and mismanagement. Olugbade (1992) quoting
Diamond argued that the Nigerian state “can command and expend vast resources, but it cannot get things done.
Thus, the state has become the primary means for the accumulation of personal wealth”. It has been argued that the“
politics of competition over allocation of resources, or what in Nigeria is called „the national cake‟, has its most consequences in the transformation of offices of the state into prebends” (Joseph, 1987).However, successive
governments in Nigeria have made concerted efforts to address the issue of corruption. But their antidotes, where
applied, have often fallen short of the required impact to turn the state of corruption around for good (Akhakpe, 2014).
It would appear that the nature of the Nigerian society makes corruption a persistent and lucrative business. For
examples, during the colonial administration, stealing from the government was celebrated. Yet, years of military
autocratic regimes made accountability by public officers difficult if not impossible. The effect of this development is a
cynosure of all eyes; virtually all sectors of the economy are at varying degree of decay.
THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION A TRUE COURSE OR REPRAISAL