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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Empirical and conceptual literature acknowledged corruption to be a universal quandary for both the developing and the developed economies. The United Nations Global programme against corruption (UNGPAC) equally acknowledged corruption to be “abuse of power for private gain”. The government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2014 in instituted that, corruption and its constituents constitute a basic challenge to the growth and sustainability of the Nigerian economy. The history of Nigeria is characterized by corruption amplified by her encounter with the European imperialists. The encounter took three stages namely slave trade, the partition of Africa by the European powers who scrambled for territories therein, and the Christianization of Africa which occurred during the partition era (Uka, 1980, Ayandele, 1966). Corruption as a way of life in Nigeria is a kind of belief or practice that defies any reasonable solution, a deliberate attempt to set forth one line of argument so forcefully, as repeatedly, and so uncompromisingly that the learner is unable to consider other alternatives of better life styles. It may not be an overstatement to say that corruption in Nigeria has reached cancerous proportion, so pervasive is this phenomenon in African continent that it has become a threat to good governance, democratic processes and fair business transaction in a competitive environment. Researchers theoretically and empirically defined, corruption based upon the political, cultural and advancement of the society of which it strives (Olatunji &Muhammed, 2013). Dike as cited in Ola, Mohammed and Audi (2015) stipulate that, economic and financial corruption is not only a product of democratic and dictatorial politics, but also imbalances in religious structure.

World Bank report domicile corruption at over $1 trillion per year accounting for about 12% of the GDP in Nigeria, Kenya and Venezuela (Nwabuzor as cited in (Ola, Mohammed & Audi 2015). CBN report in 2013 alleged that gigantic sums are lost by means of fraud and forgery. The abundance of wealth and resources of the nation has little or no impact on the lives of the people, as majority live in abject poverty. Thus, Mimiko (1998) traces the institutionalization of corruption in Nigeria to the Babangida military dictatorship when he argued that under the eight year-rule of Ibrahim Babangida, corruption was more legalized as government itself took the lead in what became known as the ―settlement syndrome‖. Corruption as of today has become the norm, the effect of military rule and their civilian collaborators in governance had modernized corruption over the years such that it has become part of the Nigerian society. Basically, any country where corruption became the norm will remain perpetually poor. On this note, Odunuga (2012: 10) posits that with ―the way the scale at which this nation‘s economy is being sucked dry by the incorrigible kleptomaniacs in the system, it is becoming inevitable that some sort of rules of engagement on corruption would have to be developed in order to save the country from slipping into permanent paralysis‖ In fact, corruption in Third World nations has been a global concern and it is receiving serious global attention particularly from Transparency International and other agencies. This is amidst constant call for transparency, accountability and adherence to ideals of democratic principles. The high level of corruption in Nigeria is due to poor leadership and bad governance which in turn make corruption to be endemic. Today, corruption is very rampant in both public and private sectors and it manifests itself through nepotism and favoritism, bribes, fraud, etc. Basically, the ravenous and devastating issue of corruption and corrupt practices touches all in its various forms of gratification, influence and tardiness, etc. (Ogbonna, 2014).