CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Political corruption is the use of power by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality is considered political corruption. Most economic political and social problems in under developed societies like Nigeria emanate from corruption. Some of these problems include lack of accountability, diversion of public resources to private ownership, different types of discriminations, ethnicity. Lack of competence, inefficiency etc.
There are many causes of political corruption such as ineffective political processes, ineffective political financing, and poverty. Ethnic and religious difference.
A lot of secrecy still pervades government document and this underlies the need for the passage of the freedom of information bill presently before Nigeria‟s National Assembly, also law public participation in Government to mention a few.
The pervasive corrupt practices have been blamed on the colonial masters. According to this view, the nation‟s colonial history may have restricted any early influences in an ethical revolution.
Throughout the colonial period most Nigerians were struck in Ignorance and poverty.
The level of corruption raised serious alarm that attracted the concern of both Nigerians and international community which rated Nigeria as one of the most corrupt countries.
Although, the government embarked upon anti-corruption measures but were not sincerely and properly implemented such that the expected objective and goal were not achieved. The problem was rather aggravated. Since then, corruption has continued to militate against national development.
In Nigeria corruption is a problem that has to be rooted out.
Owusi (2002), however in his book, The Root Causes of Corruption in West Africa, was of the view that;
Corruption is made up of opportunist manipulation or branches of existing laws and regulation for advantages.
He emphasized that;
Our inordinate desire for wealth, power prestige and high status and its desirous consumption of scarce, expensive and prestigious import commodities is no doubt one of the roads to corruption in the society”.
Over the years, the country has seen its wealth withered with little to show in living conditions of the average people.
As with many other African nations, Nigeria was an artificial structure initiated by former colonial powers which had neglected to consider religious linguistic and ethnic differences.
The causes of Nigeria Civil War were diverse although, in his memoir, journalist Alex Mitchell blames involvement of the British, Dutch, French and Italian oil companies whose battles for the rich Nigerian oil fields started the Civil War and kept it going.
Nigerian‟s political problems also started from the manner in which the British took over power, administered and abandoned government and people of Nigeria. The British administrators did not make effort to weld the country together and unite the heterogenous group of people. Though many technologies we have today are due to their enlightenment.
Northern leaders however, fear that independence would mean political and economic domination by the more westernized elites in the south, preferred the perpetuation of British rule. As a condition for accepting independence, they demanded that the country continue to be divided into three regions with the North having a clear majority.