THE IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON MORTGAGE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA.

THE IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON MORTGAGE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Public debates recently in Nigeria have centered on the increasing rate of corruption resulting from inappropriate public finance planning and implementation mostly in some of the developing countries, Nigeria inclusive which in turn reduce the level of growth in every sector of the economy including mortgage development in the country. Corruption made itself visible when the institution of the government was founded due the behaviour of people appoint or elect to manage the government institutions (Anyanwu, 2002; Idomeh, 2006). Corruption has recently become a major issue in foreign aid and Nigeria nation as a whole. Corruption is an ancient practice that has been traced back to pre-biblical time and made itself known in the ancient civilizations of developed and developing countries. Political and social corruption is not a recent phenomenon that pervades the Nigerian state. Corruption is a social problem that has interested many scholars. Ruzindana (1999) sees corruption in Africa as a problem of routine deviation from affordable standards and norms by public officials and parties with whom they interact. The major concern for inter-nation aid policy during the last five decades has been to improve the living condition for the poor in the poorest countries of the world by way of providing affordable housing development schemes.

Nigeria has been described by many as a country not lacking in policy formulation, but on implementation. Once a need is said to be detected, the governments swoop into action by constituting a committee to look into the situation. The committee begins to sit, formulates and presents a policy to the government who in turn gives assent to it. This tradition is not peculiar to the mortgage and housing policies alone, but it has contributed in no small measure, to the failure of the housing programmes in the country. Despite the formulation of brilliant policies capable of transforming the housing programmes in the country, yet no significant improvement in the availability of affordable houses in Nigeria.

There was the 1991 National Housing Policy which reeled out so many rules and programmes, that will change the lives of the average Nigeria for the better in terms of home ownership. The policy in and of its own, was supposed to ensure that the average Nigerian has access to decent housing and accommodation at affordable cost by the year 2000, through the provision of long term loans at an interest rate of not more than four per cent per annum. There was also the 2006 National Housing Policy which went the extra mile of partially disengaging the government from involvement in housing programme and including private investors and real estate developers into the national housing programmes, by the end of the day, it all appeared like moving round a vicious circle, as those policy were only good as documents and not in implementation (Anyanwu, 2012).

THE IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON MORTGAGE DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA