AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF CORRUPTION AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA (2011-2016)

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF CORRUPTION AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA (2011-2016)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1              Background to the Study

Since Nigeria has returned to civil rule on May 29, 1999, the government has taken a number of measures to address the problems of corruption, insecurity and bad governance in the country. These measures include public service reform (monetization to reduce waste and reduction of over-bloated personnel, reform of public procurement); establishment of anti-corruption enforcement agencies (such as the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, Independent Corruption and other Practices Commission); and the sanitization of the financial services sector by the then Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido, which have revealed mind bulging levels of bare faced theft by the management of several banks in Nigeria.

Today, Nigerians applaud and tolerate ill-gotten wealth which in reality is money looted from public coffers. This is a pointer to the fact that corruption is endemic in Nigeria. It has permeated into every facet s of the society; the family, the church and even the traditional systems are not left out of this contagious disease. Corruption therefore, affects the developmental efforts of successive government in Nigeria. This has been responsible for the non completion of projects and programmes that would have help in alleviating the sufferings of Nigerians. Corruption has been adjudged to be responsible for Nigeria’s underdevelopment. The revelation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) concerning looted resources by private businessmen, political office holders and civil servants is alarming to the extent that one ponders whether the menace can actually be stamped out in the country.

Also, in the area of security, insurgency and its associated insecurity trouble is a global problem that has continued to challenge state authority today. Some countries have been able to effectively quell such uprising others are still grappling with the problem of how best to handle it. The inability of most countries to handle the situation effectively has in part exacerbated social disorder in those countries. Conflict is the outcome of perceived irreconcilable opposing interest, concerns, needs and positions between individuals, groups, organization/institutions and societies that have interacted whether in ad-hoc or permanent relations. It is aggravated by the desire of one group to attain its selfish interest (Nnamdi 2005 cited in Akume 2011:4) over those of the other groups. Conflict as an evident character of social interactions could be functional or dysfunctional. It is functional when the different parties to the dispute openly and sincerely engage in resolving it. It is however, dysfunctional if the process of resolving the row has an overtly coercive or contentious character (Gurr cited in Danjos 2012).

With the lingering security challenges and the inability of the security apparatus of the government to guarantee safety and security in the country, the question that borders everyone in Nigeria today is “can there be security?” Is security of lives and properties achievable? He opined that government at all levels has not done enough by not confronting frontally the situation head on and dealing with it decisively, others have argued that the situation has a political undertone or inclination calculated to serve the interest of certain political gods, who have been dissatisfied and disgruntled about the political manifestations in the country. This has been the issue Nigeria has been facing not only from 2011 but from the return of civil rule in 1999 up till this present time.

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF CORRUPTION AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA (2011-2016)