There is a clear indication that politics in Nigeria has been the opposite of what it is in developed countries. Nigerian politicians are still backward in terms of their values such as unfulfilled promises, political corruption, greed, violence, tribalism and intimidation. Corruption is said to manifest through fraud, embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, inflation of contracts, sexual harassment, bribery and so on. Corruption is also seen to be caused by a misplaced sense of values, lack of accountability and transparency in government, greed, discrimination in wealth distribution and others.
There is a noticeable negative impact of corruption on the social, political and economic life of Nigerians resulting in political instability, erosion of cherished cultural values, economic distortion and underdevelopment. Very informed persons will agree that among many factors affecting political stability in Nigeria as well as most African countries, corruption has been the central factor. The crave by leaders and public servants in Nigeria to accumulate wealth while in public service has not only affected national development but also increased political instability. This is often manifested in youth nervousness, social insecurity, conflicts, social uprisings, civil strife, among others.
Corruption is a social virus which has besieged our country. Its high incidence involves public servants (civil servants and politicians) on one hand and members of the public who are seeking public services on the other. Accountability is synonymous with being answerable. This indicates that governments are accountable to the people, particularly in democratic societies, and therefore that absence of accountability creates a fertile ground for corruption and other unethical behaviours to thrive.
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Other forms of corruption found among Nigerian politicians include confidence in the instrument of power and the process which has fanned the growth of corruption in Nigeria in particular. Lack of accountability and supervision has progressively tormented our country. As a result, some Nigerian elites have corrupted themselves and the public officers have forgotten that they are accountable to the electorates. In some instances, those in authority have renounced their supervisory responsibilities and in the process laws and regulations have been breached without showing disapproval. Where this state of affair has become common, the public service has lent itself to abuse by dishonest politicians.
Corruption and political instability in Nigeria have been tactically influenced by the ‘big economic powers’ who provide haven for stolen funds by Nigerian political leaders. Some foreign construction giants, oil companies, etc also assist through contract inflation and import invoicing. Corruption has had devastating effect on Nigeria’s economy. Some of these include: corruption has affected political development negatively; political parties and electoral process in Nigeria have been plagued with corrupt practices and electoral irregularities such as violence, stuffing of ballot boxes, thuggery, intimidation and elimination of unruly opposition candidates, rigging, bribing of electoral officials, security men and party agents in order to have a free hand to change results at polling booths or elsewhere. Other practices include denying voting cards to supporters of opposition parties, as well as deliberate omission of names from the voters’ register, making of untrue returns where elections did not take place, under-age as well as multiple voting, among others.
The inability of the ruling elites to play electoral politics according to the rules of the game was partly responsible for military interventions in African politics – Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, among others, are good examples. Most of these countries are still struggling to get over the after-effects of military rule.
Corruption has been one of the most internal constraints to development in Nigeria. It has affected economic growth and resulted in erosion of cherished cultural values such as dignity of labour, fairness, honesty, faithfulness, integrity, etc. It has also affected the practice of democracy in our country and hindered transparency and accountability, leading to bad governance.
But Nigeria can attain political stability through good governance, fairness, honesty, justice, transparency, accountability and a careful nurture of democracy through good education. Political leaders, civil servants and the citizenry must therefore have the political will to fight corruption. The masses should be educated on the evils of corruption and be mobilised to eliminate the social malaise. Political leadership in Nigeria must be seen to be doing government business in transparent and accountable manner. The led should be in the know of what is going on. Their needs should be provided for through prudent management of public funds while the nation should be fully democratised.
Above all, if Nigerian politicians would change their ways in terms of their values, sanity and uprightness will be restored to our political scene. There will be positive change in the value system of politicians and Nigerians will enjoy fully the dividends of democracy.
