CORRUPTION: A BANE TO GOOD GOVERNANCE

By Amitolu Shittu

INTRODUCTION
For over twenty years as a Rights Activist, I have studied many books and research works on corruption but my experience as a grassroots activist has redefined corruption through a practical point of view; when you see a child of school age ,hawking sachet water on the street of Lagos, and on the street of Abuja you encounter a woman asking for money to feed her only child, then you see a graduate of six to eight years looking for job, then you travelled by road across Nigeria and by the grace of God you came back unscathed from many death trap called roads, then you decided to critically observe all institution of government, then you realised hospitals is gradually turning to death centre, as a layman you may not understand what a Megawatt of electricity generates in Nigeria but you realised the first words to be pronounced by your child was UP NEPA! Invariably Corruption, has made a mess of the lives of key institutions of democracy, and weakened those important pillars to such an extent that the polity is only a shade different from what obtained under a military dispensation.

KEY CORRUPTION, GOVERNANCE

WORDS: GOOD

Kalu (1991) conceives corruption as the conscious and well planned act by a person or group of persons to appropriate, by unlawful means, the wealth of another person or group of persons. Corruption can also be seen as diversion of resources from the betterment of the community to the gain of individuals at the expense of the community. Odey (2002) contextualizes corruption in Nigeria as the air which every living person breathes in and out. According to him, nobody makes any effort to breathe in the air; it comes naturally. Corruption, in Nigeria, has become so naturalized that many of us simply becomes corrupt without making any effort and often even without knowing it. Corruption, according to Harsh (1993), is a practical problem involving the outright theft, embezzlement of funds or other appropriation of state property, nepotism, and granting of favours to personal acquaintance. It has been argued that corruption involves behaviours which deviate from the moral and constitutional requirements. During Her official visit to Nigeria in 2009 American Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton said Between 1960 and now, the World Bank estimate that Nigerian leaders have stolen over $400 billion from the treasury; This may sound just as figures until you imagine the number of schools such amount would have built and the number of hospitals that would have equipped the statement explains what corruption have done to the institutions and citizen of Nigeria, therefore Corruption is the official misuse of resources for personal enrichment, this is done at the expense of the majority to satisfy the few in government ,according to Omololu Fagbadebo in the African journal of Political Science and International Relation, The history of Nigeria is tainted with the absence of good moral and ethical values in the conduct of the ruling elites. This has adversely affected

economic growth and development. As corruption impacts negatively on economic growth, it is also politically destabilizing. Corruption and the abuse of power have long been features of Nigerias economic and political landscape. The National Planning Commission has identified systemic corruption, which engenders low levels of transparency and accountability, as the major source of development failure (National Planning Commission, 2005). As Toyo has rightly noted, the underprivileged are the victims of this failure while the ruling class hypocritically engages in the condemnation of acts that benefit its fold (Toyo, 2006). An analyst attributes the prevalence of corruption in the Nigerian polity to the criminal silence of political elites (Tell, 2006). Thus, behaviours that are openly suggestive of large-scale corruption are not condemned outright, but treated with utmost cynicism. In fact since 1999 what we are experiencing in Nigeria is nothing but legalised and institutionalised looting of public treasury! Moreover,People might assume that only politicians in government are corrupt. Most often, bureaucrats provide the templates for perfected corruption. In fact, most corrupt practices are only exposed by bureaucrats when they are excluded from sharing in the proceeds. Thus, corruption in government cannot be a unilateral action. Therefore, corruption manifests in all facets of governmental activities - contracts, the allocation of benefits, collection of public revenues, and judicial pronouncements. Officials involved in performing these duties partake at one stage or the other, in the abuse of the processes Like the saying, when the head is rotten, the body will be decayed, all the public institution joined in the unholy race to out-loot other institution, from Nigeria Police, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), and Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) which I called Nigerian Seat of Corruption, the revelation is the same administrative corruption multiply by political corruption will invariably equals to bad governance!

Indeed I can go on and on as all our facet of life has been corrupted, even today Parents train their child without any core value only to encourage them to steal and get rich, the new slogan is thou shall not be caught; in fact there is close link between corruption and bad governance

GOOD GOVERNANCE
To every action there must be a reaction, to every good there must be a bad, and since the Government came in to existence purposely to securing conditions for safe and happy life, therefore its continue existence can only be justified in term of promoting and preserving the quality of life, that was the reason why some section of Occupy Nigeria movement called for regime change because the government failed the basic test of existence; Good governance What therefore is Good Governance? When defining the concept of good governance, I realised the definition of good governance promotes many ideas that closely align with effective democratic government, in fact emphasis on good governance can sometimes be equated with promoting democratic government; So Good Governance is the use of power and authority by those in government to provide goods and services to the people to uphold the common good and fulfil the aspirations and needs of the common man. Governance, therefore, is about power, strategies, policies, plans and projects that aim at improving the substance or quality of life of citizen; hence, Governance becomes good when the decisions and actions of the government are based on peoples consent, legitimacy and accountability. Thus good governance is concerned with high quality in governance. All sections of the society today judge their government by their governance, the question we must ask ourselves is simple, are we experiencing Good Governance in Nigeria? I will like this conference to answer that.

But according to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Nigeria on August 12, 2009, she said what Africa needs is not more strong men, it needs more strong democratic institutions that will stand the test of time, Without good governance, no amount of oil or no amount of aid, no amount of effort can guarantee Nigerias success. But with good governance, nothing can stop Nigeria. Its the same message that I have carried in all of my meetings, including my meeting this afternoon with your president. The United States supports the seven-point agenda for reform that was outlined by President Yaradua.. That was during Yaradua presidency, the Goodluck Jonathan administration emphasised the inevitability of good governance in the final report of its Transformation Agenda, but many reports has emphasised the doctrine of good governance before, rhetorically we are a nation no country can surpass but to implement it has been a fundamental failure. The practise in both the private and public sector of Nigeria today is bad governance. The Transformation Agenda final report itself acknowledges this reality. It explains that bad governance which has been largely blamed for Nigeria underdevelopment arises from mismanagement of resources, especially through corruption, waste and economic crimes. The report further asserted that, Nigerias inability to tackle most of the development challenges, such as poverty, unemployment, security and disheartening state of infrastructure has been largely attributed to bad governance .The importance of good governance is underline by the fact that it ensures that corruption is minimised; that the view of minority groups are taking into account and that the voice of the most vulnerable in the society are heard in decision making.

KEY ELEMENTS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

There are fundamental elements of good governance, whether in a democracy, monarchy or aristocracy, the proponent of a form of government may have realised at least through Nigeria experience that democracy is not an ends in itself but a means to good governance, therefore lets revisit Jonathan Transformation Agenda report. The reports identified key elements of good governance as: Openness, Transparency and Accountability; Fairness and Equity in dealing with citizens; Efficient and Effective service provision; clear and transparent laws and regulations; consistency and coherence in policy formulation; respect for rule of law; and high standard of ethical behaviour, unfortunately, second year running all these element are in short supply in Goodluck Jonathan administration! To be fair to Jonathan, Nigeria history of corruption and bad governance dated back to independence, and the Jonathan apologist will always argue that a generational malady cannot be cured in three years, but the issue is beyond cure, it is the courage to implement the transformation agenda that Nigerians demands ; at least we were not consulted when Jonathan was drafting transformation agenda of his administration. Moreover, the United Nation( UN), emphasised on eight characteristics of Good governance as: Consensus Oriented, Participatory, following the Rule of Law, Effective and Efficient, Accountable, Transparent, Responsive, Equitable and Inclusive, based on these characteristics at present, we are but a great nation on paper, in our thoughts, in our potentials. Evolving from this stage will require all Nigerians.

CORRUPTION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

As much as social commentators detest Jonathan's approach to governance, he is not responsible for our

societal under development. our local governments thieves are. Bring Fashola, Utomi or Elrufai, should we fail to engage our Local Governments on our community's development, things won't really change. The need to catalyse balanced development, maximize citizens participation, and arouse government responsive necessitates the creation of the local government. The local government serves as a form of political and administrative structure facilitating decentralization, national integration, efficiency in governance, and a sense of belonging at the grassroots. The local government is a unit of administration all over the world (Agagu, 2004). Although its a universal institution it, however, exists in different forms and in different political systems. Whatever the form of existence, the local government has been essentially regarded as the path to and guarantor of administrative efficiency, effective service delivery, and participatory development (Arowolo, 2005). It is a critical tier of government because of its closeness to the people (Gboyega, 1987). Local government appeals to both the people and government as a feedback institution that relays the opinions and demands of the grassroots to a higher government (Adejo, 2003). Aside from this feedback function, other competing functions of service delivery, promotion of democratization at local level, and mobilization of human resources for grassroots enhancement place the local government in a strategic position for sustainable development. The local government system has been a major feature of the Nigerian government and politics since colonial rule though, over the years, there have been changes in name, structure, and composition, while the system was operated differently all over the country (Agagu, 2004). It was on this premise that the rising tide of progress, growth, and development experienced in the local government was based. The 1976 local government reform, carried out by the military administration of General Obasanjo, brought about uniformity in the administrative structure of the system. The reform introduced a multi-purpose, single tier local government system for the whole country (Ajayi, 2000). Since these

reforms, successive governments have tinkered with the local government structure with a view of enhancing its capacity for good governance. Fundamentally, the local government is created to serve the rural communities. The local government is expected to mobilize and harness local resources and ensure their effective utilization, with the support of the state and federal governments. Unfortunately, the much needed development has continued to elude the rural communities across the nation. It has been rural poverty, rather than rural development. However, the prevalence and pervasiveness of poverty and the underdevelopment at the grassroots level is still connected with the high level of corruption and absence of democratic ethos in the local government system. In view of the above, the local government, rather than projecting democratic ideals in the rural setting, has been an instrument of oppression and wealth accumulation in the hand of the unscrupulous politicians. It has suddenly become a breeding ground for undemocratic parties. Public accountability, the consent of the governed, widespread participation, and consultation, as principles of democracy, are conspicuously absent in the local government system. This is still connected with the stunted growth of democracy in Nigeria, as a whole. The manifestations of its retardation can be perceived in the collapse of two earlier republics: 1960-1966 and 19791983. Human development and the promotion of the citizens happiness, which are important goals of democracy, are absent in the country. The absence of democracy in the local government system paves way for poverty due to the lack of democratic ideals. This absence of democratic ideals is caused by the nature of Nigeria politics. Politics in Nigeria is widely seen as a means of becoming affluent. It is seen as a short-cut to wealth. Besides, every contestant is also determined to rig the elections in his own favor. And, where rigging is made impossible, violence, arson, kidnapping, and murder of opponents are introduced into the electoral game. Electoral

competition, then, becomes a do-or-die affair, as witnessed in the general elections of 1964, 1979, 1983, 2003, 2007, and even 2011,as we observed in the killing of five innocent citizen at Ile-ife ; All these tend to undermine the confidence the people, especially at the grassroots level, in the democratic practice as a means of ensuring popular happiness and grassroots development. Corruption is the greatest bane of local government administration in Nigeria. At the grassroots level, corruption has been canonically accommodated, entertained, and celebrated within the system. In the local government setting, corruption is misnomerly labelled and euphemistically referred to as EGUNJE (a slogan which means illegal offer in Nigeria). Regrettably, democracy, which is assumed to be the antidote to corruption, is not well practiced at the grassroots level. Consequently, the level of apathy, cynicism, and poverty is high among the rural dwellers. Kolawole (2006) laments this situation when he opines that in spite of the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC), corruption still thrives in our society. In his analysis, Kolawole was of the view that the lack of funds was no more a constraint on local government performance, but a mismanagement and misappropriation of the funds accruable to it. As the chairman of Anti-Corruption Revolution in Osun state, I observed that the corruption in local government is more administrative than political, career officer aids politician to milk the local government dry, indeed some career officer acquired properties as if it is running out of circulation, in some cases, they leverage on the mediocrity of politician to enrich themselves, on the other hand, poverty is an inducement to corruption at the grassroots level. Many of the representatives in the councils are jobless. They go into politics to make money, rather than to serve their people. Apart from poverty, itself, the fear of poverty is another good factor. People are afraid of going back to poverty after the completion of their tenure or after retirement, as

the case may be, as a result, the tendency to steal public money, for future consummation becomes so high among them.

WAY FORWARD
Since 1999 a number of institutional and legal arrangements have been made to secure the prevalence of the characteristics of a good governance, discourage corruption, and encourage internationally accepted best practise, we have not only the EFCC but also the ICPC, I have raised the issue of duplication as our way of life in many fora, pubic school is not good ,lets have private, Nigeria police is moribund and corrupt, lets create Nigeria Civil Defence, instead for the policy makers to properly diagnose the problem and proffer a solution that we stand the test of time, we tend to enjoy the duplication of agencies and making laws that we only have on paper! In order to break this cycle, accountability and transparency have to be guaranteed and the people have to be involved in issues that affect their lives and immediate community, their state and the country. There is also an organic link between people and good governance, like they say people get the government they deserve, when we engage from the governments decisively at all level, then our state may change, so will our nation It is recognized that there are laws around to effect good governance. But these laws have either not been enforced, or they have not been effective. Unenforceable laws are only good on the book. The leader who can only give orders but cannot enforce them is not a leader by the standard of many societies. Sound economic policies should also be instituted to diversify the nations mono-product economy. The diversification of the economy would help reduce

Nigerias dependence on the outside world for her basic needs (food, etc.), and lend credibility to claims that the country could someday join the ranks of superpowers. In particular, it will create employment for our burgeoning population. Among other measures to stimulate employment in the society is to monitor aid to state and local governments and accelerate public works. Our social problems (poverty, diseases, illiteracy, prostitution, crime, etc.), are in one way or another related to the sour state of the economy. These things can all be done with good governance in Abuja. Good governance requires changes in human skills, attitudes, values therefore to survive, we need a strong ethic. Furthermore, the citizen must be ready to occupy everywhere to seek good governance, all of us must become a change agent, we must ask for development, an when we ask, it shall be given, we must seek for good governance and knock on their door for transparency, this is our day, this is our time, a time to help build a new core value of transparency, a time to get rid of corruption, a time to re-strategize, to revisualise and to refocus on building a country we can call our own, our country must no collapse, our focus must be sustained because what we do or fail to do will surely determine our tomorrow.

vernance is the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a countrys economic and social resources for development. The World Bank has identified three distinct aspects of governance:*The form of political regime *The process by which authority is exercised in the management of a countrys economic and social resources for development *The capacity of governments to design, formulate and implement policies and discharge functions. The term governance is usually used to describe conditions in a country as a whole. It is a term used by international financial institutions in discussing the economic development of nations.

Governance is often linked with participatory development of human rights and democratization. It therefore, takes a holistic look at legitimacy of government. That is, degree of democratization, accountability of political and official elements of government, competence of governments to formulate policies and deliver services and respect for human rights and rule of law. As we continue our discussion of corruption and its effect on Nigeria, we shall see how this endemic cancer has impacted on every aspect of governance.

Impact of Corruption In 2003, Antonio Maria Costa, a Brazilian Scholar, said that fighting corruption is a pre-condition for good governance and the rule of law, which in turn are the foundation stones of sustainable development. It has been argued that poverty is the cause of corruption, while corruption is a consequence of poverty and loss of moral values. Poverty and ignorance persist in Nigeria because of the distorted political and economic arrangement we practice.

This arrangement has entrusted a dis-proportionate portion of the nations wealth in the hands of a few individuals. For instance, what percentage of Nigerias 150 million people actually lives above the bread line? This is why people see political appointment or election (selection) into public office as a do or die affair, because it appears to be the only way of getting access to the national cake.

There is a social synergy through which corruption occurs between politics and economy and sustainable development. It attacks the vital structures that facilitate development processes. Particularly, resources mapped out for social and human development (e.g. hospitals, schools, roads etc.) are corruptly diverted to individual pockets. Sustainable development is an app.. that tries to balance the social, economic and environmental impacts of all our actions, now and in the future. But corruption makes this objective unrealizable.

Economic growth and development in Nigeria has become stultified as a result of corruption turning the countrys economy into perpetual underdevelopment. This is why we have continued to occupy very low positions in international ratings of human development indices. In fact, since the return of this democratic dispensation, that is 1999 to date, there has been an avalanche of pervasive corruption all over the country, at all levels of government. The nation has continued to suffer very serious hyper- inflation, which has robbed the masses of their purchasing power and further reduced their living conditions, leaving the people much more pauperized.

Corruption is a symptom of fundamental failure of governance and so the higher the incidence of corruption, the more sustainable development becomes elusive. Corruption increases poverty and disproportionately affects those in the low income group because it pulls resources from the national treasury into the hands (pockets) of a few individuals who are politically powerful. The effects of corruption on the countrys socio-political and economic development are extremely pervasive. Prominent among these effects are poverty and income inequality.

The picture painted in the foregoing part of this discussion indicates a frighteningly bleak future. This should not be so. Nigerians have realized that corruption is a very destructive element in the governance of the country and also the very derogatory way the outside world perceives this country. This, of course, has led to loss of government revenue, poor governance, failure of state institutions, brain drain, and electoral malpractice, absence of law and order, civil unrest, poor investment channels, business failure, unemployment, poverty and unsustainable development.

This realization has led the government to put in place some agencies to check or fight corruption. The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Police are some of these institutions that have been put in place to tackle corruption. These agencies can

only succeed if there is strong will by the people and political leaders are truly committed to the process and ready to implement all-encompassing anticorruption programmes in an impartial way. This is extremely important if the fight against corruption is to succeed.

Reducing Corruption The way people are selected and placed in public offices should be reviewed. Merit, not patronage should be strictly applied. Round pegs, not square pegs should be placed in round holes. (2) Provision of basic amenities for the people. If there is constant water supply, good schools, good hospitals, abundant food at reasonable cost, constant electricity supply, affordable housing and good roads for easy transportation, the craze for individuals to get these things through whatever means will vanish. (3) Public servants should be well remunerated. They should be paid living wages not minimum wages. This should also be prompt as at and when due. The effect of adequate remuneration on motivation cannot be over-emphasized.

(4) The various poverty alleviation measures should be revolutionized and made more practical. (5) Public officers should be made to swear to realistic assets declarations on assumption and also when leaving office. (6) Due process should be very strictly applied not only in the award of contracts but, in fact, in all government business. (7) Public awareness campaigns should be carried out to remind the populace of what constitutes corruption and what the public should do when any such act is detected. (8) Existing laws on corruption should be strictly applied at all times no matter the level of the culprit in the socio-economic ladder. (9) Citizens who provide information on corruption should be well-protected and adequately compensated. (10) Wealth or property found to have been acquired through corrupt practices should be confiscated by the state.

(11) People who have been found guilty of corruption should never be granted any form of pardon or given any future public appointment.

(12) The ICPC and EFCC should be merged into one strong anti-Corruption agency to avoid what at present appears like a duplication of functions. (13) Nigeria should pursue and strengthen international cooperation in the recovery of corruptly acquired wealth (loot) stashed way in foreign countries. (14) Moreover, and most importantly, our leaders should lead by examples. (15) The various law enforcement agencies should be funded and properly motivated to ensure optimal performance.

The average Nigerian is not ordinarily corrupt. He has been attracted to engage in bribery and corruption by a society built on a lousy foundation of political, economic and, in fact, a social system that depends on corruption for survival. However, Nigeria has not gone beyond redemption from this cancerous endemic known as corruption, but certain questions still persist. For instance, who has the proper character in Nigeria to fight corruption? Where shall we find the people still honest enough and ready for self-denial and the struggle for the countrys prosperity rather than their own individual interest? Where shall we find the judges, police officers and investigators to accomplish this task? And even if all these are found, will the politicians willingly support an all-out offensive against corruption? These are questions begging for answers.

Professor Sunday N. Agwu, Ph.D, MNAE, fcai, is of the Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.