CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1   Background of the Study
Corruption has destroyed the basic concept of the Rule of Law in Nigeria. In Nigeria the law has lost much of its operational force as people breach the law with impunity. The concept of the Rule of law is fast becoming a mantra in the Country as many people are fast losing their fear of the law. The law regulates the conduct of affairs in a nation; it spells out the rights and duties of the citizens. It also defines the way of doing things20. Appropriately, the law can be said to be the oil that ensures the smooth running of the engine of every nation. Where there is no respect for the law, there will be chaos and anarchy The effects of corruption have debilitating impact on the economy of Nigeria which in turn has a negative effect on the well-being of her citizens. The country has continued to grapple with the problem of balance of payments, weak and decaying infrastructure, bad and inconsistent political and economic policies which renders the Country unattractive to both foreign and local Investors. The return of the Country to democratic governance in 1999 ushered in hope that the economic decline of the Country would be halted but since then, many Multinational Corporations have had to close shop in Nigeria and relocate their investments to other Countries that have clement investment environment. Many other companies that remained in the Country have resorted to mass job cuts and raise in prices of their products and services to remain afloat. The result of this is high rise in unemployment which in turn promotes restiveness and rise in criminality. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 42.24 percent of Youths in Nigeria were unemployed as at the First Quarter of 2016 23. This percentage represents close to half the Youth population in the Country. This level of unemployment portends grave danger to the security of the nation as no nation can long endure and prosper which wastes the talents of so many of their citizens more especially the Youths Usman24 stated and rightly so, that no economic growth or political stability is possible in Nigeria unless this cancer of corruption is tackled and largely overcomed. On her part, Dachung lamented that corruption is Nigeria’s “prime economic malady”25 Quoting Essien, she stated: Corruption is the biggest and the fastest growing industry in Nigeria. While petroleum is the largest revenue earner (accounting for between 90-95% of National wealth), corruption is the largest consumer of revenue. Unfortunately, its consumption is into the accounts of a few individuals and corporate persons while the nation wallops (sic) in abject poverty, hunger, disease and debt…. Corruption should be attacked with the same velocity with which HIV/AIDS has been tackled26 From a historical perspective, the problem of corruption is not a new phenomenon in Nigeria. Before the amalgamation of 1914, Nigeria did not exist as a country. It evolved from the different Empires, Kingdoms and Chiefdoms which existed before the advent of colonialism. Many of these Empires and Kingdoms grappled with the problem of corruption notably amongst their Rulers and Nobles. Some of these Rulers and Nobles were accused of using the public treasury to finance opulent and ostentatious lifestyles. It was not only the Rulers and Nobles that stained themselves with corruption. The rich and powerful people also used their wealth to pervert the cause of justice28. The vibrancy of the Jihad movement which Shehu Usman Dan Fodio led in 1806 had one of its anchors in the problem of corruption in the society.
In pre-independent Nigeria, at one time or the other, some of the founding fathers of the nation found themselves at the receiving end on allegation of corruption. Some of them were either indicted or convicted of misappropriation of public funds or for improper conduct resulting from their management of public funds30. Since independence in 1960, successive military interventionists in Nigeria have often sought legitimacy by claiming that the previous regime was corrupt and that their intervention was to rid the Country of the cancer of corruption. Regrettably however, all the military interventions in Nigeria failed to cure the Country of the problem of corruption. Rather, many of such interventionists leave the Country more corrupt than they met it. Lamentably also, the democratic regimes in Nigeria which symbolized the will of the people, perpetrated corruption on a large scale that brought untold hardships on the same people they represented.