How Corruption Deteriorates Poverty in Nigeria

International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 9, November – 2017, Pages: 152-164 How Corruption Deteriorates Poverty in Nigeria Besong, Eric Ndoma Department of Philosophy, Federal University Lafia P.M.B 146, Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria [email protected]

Abstract: Amidst plenty, Nigeria continues to wallow in abject poverty all because of corruption from the top to the bottom. Corruption is endemic and devastating. The pitiable increasing poverty level in Nigeria is mainly caused by corruption. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer, as corruption permeates every sector/phase of the Nigerian society, since the bourgeoisie and elite have held on to the pervasive popular culture of corruption and economic exploitation. It is unfortunate and worrisome that the giant and supposed richest nation of Africa, richly blessed by God with huge human and natural resources, has been one of the poorest of the poor nations of Africa and the globe. Corruption is responsible for this whole mess and irony. This paper thus rises to scholarly describe how corruption deteriorates the poverty rate in Nigeria. It maintains that corruption is both the prime cause and aggravator/accelerator of poverty in Nigeria. The status quo of corruption can be realised only through responsible, disciplined and virtuous leadership and followership. The change is very possible with willingness and diligence. The paper draws from closely related secondary sources besides intuition and observation, anchored on qualitative approach and analysis. Keywords: Corruption, Poverty, Deteriorate, Nigeria, Government

1. INTRODUCTION Poverty and underdevelopment are the off-shoot of corruption, an endemic nefarious scourge in Nigeria that has been rivetingly rocking the society since the colonial era up to the post-independence era of failed, disappointing indigenous leadership/elitism of western mimicry, anchored on the colonialists’ tailored structured institutions of capitalist precepts, ideologies and practices. Alien (2010:45) lends credence to our stance thus: Corruption is diametrically antithetical to development. Poverty and underdevelopment are the products of corruption. There is a consensus in the literature that corruption breeds poverty. The prevalence of poverty, unemployment, inflation, inequality, crime, ethno-religious and political violence, insecurity of lives and property, comatose infrastructure, lawlessness, electoral malpractices, retrogresses educational system [including sub-standard education, arising from exam malpractice and other corrupt practices], illiteracy, diseases, starvation, misery and squalor; under the stewardship of a visionless and kleptocratic political leadership is an indictment on the capacity and ability of government to engender good governance and development. In the face of these woes, corruption, no doubt, is an important part of the continuum that has ensured that the economic, governance and development crises in the country are pronounced and persistent. Corruption in Nigeria is endemic. In the same vein, Ikubaje (2006:1) notes that corruption has become so prevalent in Nigeria that almost all governance crises, economic woes and development predicaments are attributed to the problem. Prah’s (2009:13) observation also reflects the foregoing thus: The African post-colonial elites have consistently failed to provide the sort of leadership which is needed to improve the quality of life of the teeming masses of African humanity. Contestation for resources and recourse to ethnic mobilization instead of clear ideological positioning reduces politics to egotistical grandstanding and philosophically barren personality rivalries. This has been the stock-in-trade of our political elite; power at all cost in the absence of political hygiene. In our different countries, to different degrees, Pentecostalist Christian fundamentalism and Muslim fundamentalism, both, have captured the religious fancies and experience of increasing proportions of our populations. Undeclared conditions of military and bureaucratic elements have in different shapes and forms been used with sometimes the connivance of the political elite in order to dominate the state and blissfully loot.

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 9, November – 2017, Pages: 152-164 Corruption is as old as Nigeria (Aliu, 2010:49). According to Joseph cited in Ujomu (2004:24), every Nigerian government, from the regional administration under colonial rule in the 1950s to the most recent regimes, has carried corruption to an unparallel degree. This also justifies our above muse that traces corruption and impoverishment to the colonial era, from which both corruption and poverty began to degenerate upon independence in 1960, through several defunct republics and regimes to the present era. The so-carrying of corruption by every Nigerian government since the colonial epoch illustrates how corruption has been institutionalised by all the Nigerian governments across times (cf. Besong, Dibie and Robert, 2016). Ekeh (1980) argues that colonialism in Nigeria was built on corruption. Because of its corrupt disposition to exploit the state (Nigeria) for the exclusive benefits of the white colonialists, it liquidated the social structures against corruption associated with pre-colonial Africa and replaced or transformed them to suit its purpose. This process led to the emergence of two publics in Africa, such that while the primordial public was built on a system of accountability and control based on moral principles, the civil public became a contested terrain of private accumulation based on a moral principle (Ekeh, 1980; Ighadalo, 2009:22; Omotola, 2005:7; Aliu, 2010:49). Omotola (2005:7) notes that the colonial era marked the beginning of official corruption in Nigeria and the idea of a privatised state began to manifest. A state is said to be privatised when it is appropriate to the service of private interest by the dominant faction of the elite (Ake, 1996: 42). The elite class in Nigeria seems to assume dimension that is unusual of realistic functions in development context. Analysis of contemporary situations in Nigeria reveals that the country elite class has no consistent and significant linkage to its national exploit. The formation and conduct of Nigeria’s elite group have not been translated into a source of national development, despite the fact well observed by an American political scientist, John Purcell (1974) that powerful initiatives from within the elite groups is critically important for national development (Frank, 1991). This highlights the nature of the Nigerian elite class, whose powerful initiatives are antithetical and inimical to development and as well only good at the greedy welfare of elite, themselves. The Nigerian elite class had little disposition to contemplate the positive use of elite advantage as strategic instrument for engineering national development. Nigeria has realised very little of her potentials because of ineffective mobilisation of these potentials by the elites. Today, the people (masses) have limited access to education, lack of good drinking water and adequate medical care, good roads that would aid the free and easy transportation of agricultural produce, markets, storage facilities, electricity, to mention but a few. Millions of Nigerians are said to be suffering from various deadly diseases. There is a prevalence of poor income and unemployment, street trading (hawking) by children, hazardous reproductive behaviours, etc. (Kia and Vurasi 2013:162). Prah (2009), again, aptly lends credence to the above thus: Clearly, if 50 odd states in fifty years are unable to make development headway, then obviously something must be fundamentally wrong with our approach to development. We need to go back to fundamentals. If after a half-century we are bogged down in an immobilising quagmire of underdevelopment, then we can say that there are serious inadequacies with the paradigms we are using in order to approach the development challenge. Fundamentally, all governments have elites at the head. Everywhere elites are viewed as essential elements of the political and social life of the country, and in every country, the stability of the nation and its regime seem to depend, in a large measure, on the way in which the elites is organised and fits with the other sectors. There are qualities which constitute the hallmark of competent groups. These qualities are so essential for national development. Essentially, elite formation is legitimated by their identification with the most pervasive goals in society. That is, elites are an embodiment of national consensus. Elite, therefore, is a nexus of need fulfilment that binds situational demands and group membership. Thus, the failure and success of national development depends on elite’s effectiveness in knitting together political influence so that it responds to functional demand on the system. By personalising the national values and giving a relentless drive to development, the elite energise the productive capacity of their society. Indeed, the quality of a nation’s elites and the image which they project to the world constitute an important source of power (Kia and Vurasi, 2013:165). This clearly tells the quality of elites that Nigeria has always had since the colonial era into the post-colonial era. This means that greater proportion of woes suffered by Nigeria and her people of the lower class are championed/man-tailored by Nigerian elites. Therefore, through their corrupt practices and gross negligence of the poor masses entrusted upon them, they simply aggravate poverty in the country with little or no concern. They are just too self-centred and only care about themselves and their families, relatives, friends and allies. Interestingly, Stoessinger is cited by Kia and Vurasi (2013:165) to have

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 9, November – 2017, Pages: 152-164 aptly noted, ‘No amount of manpower or industrial or military potential will make a nation powerful unless its elites use their resources with maximum effect. China and America development status is a function of their elites cohesion on national development exploit.’ It is sad that Nigeria has never been lucky enough to have good elites who are worthwhile and deeply concerned about the country and its people. This assertion is because Nigerian elites have been toeing ethnic ties the absence of a coherent system of choice in politics and economics. This has prevented the emergence of leaders who will take the country as a whole, as their constituency. Nigeria is paraded with elites that regard themselves as the canonical representative of their personal and ethnic interests. Today, the elites of this nation organise their kinsmen to make various demands on the State. Rather than coming together to transform the nation economically, they mobilise their tribal forces under sub-national organisations to threaten national survival (Kia and Vurasi 2013:165). For the colonialists to draw legitimacy to the action they had to first carry along the traditional rulers, who were used as tools under indirect rule system and later public servants ‘came to be and imbibe corrupt practices from the colonial regime’ (Ajayi, 2003:156). Ibrahim cited in Omotola (2005:7) has said that the ‘structural evolution of the polity’, with regard to the over concentration of power in the centre, provided for a culture of unbridled corruption and fettered democracy’. We agree with Aliu (2010:49) that the prevalence of corruption in Nigeria has its roots in the politics of prebendalism and patrimonialism. According to Muzaffar (1989), ‘prebend’ is to compete and ‘acquire public offices’ by an individual in return for loyalty from patronage and groups within the society and for the benefit of personal gain and that of supporters. These benefits could either be political or social in nature. Patrimonialism is ‘the acquisition, personalisation, monopolisation and exploitation of public offices for personal interests and gains’ (Muzaffar, 1989 cited in Ikubaje, 2006: 22). The prebendal and patrimonial nature of the polity is fallout of the dominant role government plays as the engine of socio-economic activities in the society, as Hawthorn observes that ‘so much economic life is dependent on the state’ (cited in Ujomu, 2004:24). The endemic nature of corruption in Nigeria has helped to generate a lot of contributions from scholars as to it causes. It is noteworthy that the causes of corruption in the country, like its various dimensions, are not new to Nigerians. Lack of access to economic opportunities, absences of the rule of law, transparency and accountability in government and business, the obsession to get rich quick by Nigerians, the crave for materialism that has become the order of the day and the unnecessary pressure mounted on people in places of authority by families, friends and well-wishers are some of the common causes of corruption.

2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Corruption as a concept has been defined variously by scholars on the basis of their experience, orientations, perceptions, environments and the factor of time (Aliu, 2010: 47; Besong, Dibie and Robert, 2016). Corruption refers to ‘efforts to secure wealth through illegal means- private gain at public expense’ (Lipset and Lenz, 2000:111). It is ‘a violation of established rules for personal gains and profits’ (Sen, 1999:275). Further, corruption is any ‘anti-social behaviour conferring improper benefits contrary to legal and moral norms, and which undermined the authority’s capacity to secure the welfare of all citizens’ (Osoba, 1996:311). According to Jang (2012), Right from the 1st Republic to the 7th Republic, corruption has proved an endemic disease in this country [Nigeria], and our rulers have come up, from time to time, with fanciful diagnosis but none has provided the antidote. The whole phenomenon of corrupt practices, conspicuous consumption and pervasion of governmental procedures in Nigeria has its roots in the ideological flux which characterises the transition from indigenous moral restraint, on one side, to the complexities of modern discipline, on the other hand. …Politics in Nigeria, for example, is sometimes hard to keep clean merely because people are moving from one set of values to another. In no other area of life is this better illustrated than in the whole issue of ethical solidarity and kinship obligations. Corruption seems to have remained with the Nigerian society since independence and only attains a higher level during civilian rule. The consequences of this social malaise has been enormous and what measures they are to eradicate it from the Nigerian society are not easy to attain. The foregoing aptly describes elitist corruption in Nigeria, which became a ravaging scourge since the independence era and seems too difficult or impossible to eradicate, having eaten so deep into the fabrics of the Nigerian society, virtually in all endeavours. It is clear thus that both military and civilian administrations have been (and latter still) characterised by corruption, a nefarious phenomenon that has been challenging good governance and national

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 9, November – 2017, Pages: 152-164 development as well as beclouding Nigeria with impoverishment- abject penury- amidst abundance of natural and human resources. Faboyede (2009) traces the root of corruption in Nigeria to the military era that subdued the rule of law, facilitated the wanton looting of public treasury, dilapidated public institutions and free speech, and instituted a secret and opaque culture in the running of government. The result has been total insecurity, poor economic management, abuse of human rights, ethnic conflict, capital flight, etc. Similarly, Dode (2007:7) observes, A number of studies show that from 1960 till date, Nigeria as a nation has had the misfortune of being ruled by a number of corrupt political leaders. In the First Republic, corruption in the country assumed a number of dimensions ranging from massive rigging of elections, stuffing of ballot boxes, outright bribing of voters, to collaboration with law enforcement agents to further the course of one party against the other. Poverty and the enormous wealth inequality in Nigeria are deeply rooted in the country’s pervasive corruption. Corruption remains a major challenge to Nigeria- against the realisation of meaningful and sustainable socio- economic, political, cultural, technological and education development of various phases. Adibe (2012) cited in Odo (2012) laments, The politicians, entrusted to protect the common patrimony of Nigerians, steal the country blind; law enforcement officers see or hear no evil at a slight inducement; government workers drag their feet and refuse to give their best; organized labour, including Universities lecturers in public institutions, go on indefinite strikes on a whim while journalists accept brown envelopes to turn truth on its head… Corruption begins from the top, the bourgeoisie, down to the ordinary citizens. In fact, because of the extreme and pervasive nature of institutionalised corruption, the corporate and the ‘minor’ ‘low cadre’ or ‘labelled’ corruption categories are easily perpetrated and wide-spread in similar manners with the advanced one, all for the flimsy excuses that because their heads are corrupt, they simply follow their footsteps. It cut across all phases and sectors (professions). Brown envelops syndrome is the order of the day. Professional ethics and moral standards have been buried alive, trampled on and abused grossly. Not only journalists accept brown envelops. All other professionals including lawyers/barristers also accept ‘brown envelops’ and turn justice to injustice; police and other Para-military officers are known with ‘roger’ cum brown envelops; technocrats and public office holders cum administrators only execute whatever projects as supposed when corrupt/sharp practices of financial gratifications are involved; academia are known for various corrupt practices such as ‘sorting’, blocking’, ‘camera way seeing,’ ‘brown envelops’ (financial bribe) and ‘seeing/paying in kind’, ‘if you want to pass, you know what to do’, ‘book a hotel’, ‘you failed my course’, (sexual bribe- sexual harassment and laxity); lobbying and bribing for favours, jobs, positions, promotion, projects, recognition, cultural/ethnic identity, solidarity and superiority, etc.; among many others, too numerous to mention. The concept of poverty is a contested one. There is no unanimity among scholars as to how it is to be defined and measured. Besides, the multidimensional nature of poverty makes it a difficult-to-define concept. Its definition covers different aspects of human, social, economic and institutional dimensions (Aliu, 2010:50). Poverty is a condition of need, indigence, and lack of means if sustenance. It means deficiency in desirable properties of life (Edith and Obadan, 2005:185). Poverty is described to mean the state of being poor, conditions of abject or extreme poverty, not having enough money for basic needs such as food, clothes and to pay for where to live (Kukah, 2000). At least three forms of poverty exist: poverty of ideas, courage and material wellbeing (Enojo, 2005:8). Some scholars define poverty in terms of absolute and relative poverty. Absolute poverty refers to the situation in which a person lacks those things that help to sustain human life; the lack of basic human needs such as food, shelter and clothing (Jegede, 1985). Relative poverty refers to the situation in which a person lacks the necessary resources to enable him/her participate in the normal and desirable patterns of life that exist within a given society at a given time (Walter, 1985). It is a condition of having fewer resources or less income than others within a society or country (Livingstone, 1992). The National Poverty Eradication Council of Nigeria defines poverty as ‘a condition in which a person or group of persons are unable to satisfy their most basic and elementary requirements of human survival in terms of good nutrition, clothing, shelter, footwear, energy, transport, health, education and recreation’ (Jensen, 1978). The World Bank defines poverty, in absolute terms from voices or perceptions of the poor, as ‘pronounced deprivations is wellbeing such as lack of adequate food, shelter and clothing, ill health, to be illiterate, not cared for and not schooled.’ The definition broadens to include vulnerability, exposure to risk, voicelessness and powerlessness (Williams, 1992).

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 9, November – 2017, Pages: 152-164 3. CAUSES OF CORRUPTION In a survey conducted by the Movement for New Nigeria, the following causes of corruption in Nigeria have been identified:  A fundamentally flawed structure of the Nigerian Republic;  The absence of functional government systems in the Federation;  Federal government monopoly of the economy, over centralisation of resources at the centre and a culture of unregulated informal economy;  Excessive Federal involvement in co-operated business enterprises;  Inefficient contracts awards, standards and procedures;  Inadequate enforcement of existing laws, absence of rule of law and a culture of preferential treatment in the conduct of government business;  Nepotism and tribalism in the administration of justice, running of government and conduct of business;  Political instability and military intervention in government;  Inefficient police force and police structure;  Absence of civic education and civic responsibility in the populace;  Late or non-payment of wages to public employees;  High levels of poverty, unemployment and under-remuneration or ‘slave wages’;  Late or non-payment of contractors by the government. These factors have respectively and collectively provided fertile ground for sharp practices in both public and private organisations/institutions with severe impacts and consequences on the Nigerian society and the populace (Odo, 2012). Corruption is said to have several other causes, which include greed, egoism, ethnic solidarity, political influences, military dictatorship, etc. (Besong, Dibie and Robert, 2016).

4. CAUSES OF POVERTY Although the Nigerian government has often disputed the claim that poverty is increasing in the country, and what constitute the actual poverty rate in Nigeria today remains a subject of considerable debate among development agencies and scholars, most statistics show that, indeed, poverty level in Nigeria is unacceptably high (Aina, 2014). For instance, official data published by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics shows that some percentage of Nigerians living in abject poverty, calculated on $1 USD per day, based on an adjusted purchasing power parity, had increased from 54.7% in 2004 to 61.2 % in 2010 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2012). Report by the World Bank figures suggests that poverty rates in Nigeria are significantly lower than estimates based on the 2009/2010 NBS study. In the Bank’s view, per capita poverty rate registers at 35.2 and 33.1 percent of the population in 2009/2010 and 2012/2013, respectively (World Bank, 2014:17). This is still very high considering that Nigeria is a huge country. According to the World Bank, Nigeria with 7% of the world’s poor people now ranks as the third largest contributor to the world’s poverty figures, next to China (13%) and India (32%) (Ogunbiyi, 2014). In Nigeria, the endowment of human and natural resources is immense, but their development for the betterment of the welfare of the citizens has been problematic due to corruption. Poverty can be caused by numerous factors, natural or artificial. Different people have given varied causes of poverty, though seemingly alike. Onibokun and Kumuyi in Kola (2001) identify the following causes of poverty:  Non-possession of employment generating vocational skills  Urbanisation resulting from migration of unskilled migrants from the rural areas hoping to secure employment in the urban centres  High rate of youth employment  Large family size without the necessary financial support  Inherent inadequacies of the economic policies of successive governments in Nigeria  Educational Curriculum especially at primary and secondary levels of education not skills oriented  Inappropriate development policies  Poor performance of the nation’s economy leading to low purchasing  Inadequate provision of social services and amenities-health, access to safe water, etc.  Defective management of the urbanis ation process

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 9, November – 2017, Pages: 152-164  Slow growth may also emanate from lack of technical skills or the slow pace of technical knowledge needed to raise the productivity of the citizenry and transform the economy along growth path. This course of poverty implies that any effort that can produce or generate income has the potential to ameliorate poverty.  Market imperfection For Olowonomi cited in Aleburu (2001), causes of poverty may also include inadequate production and income, lack of access to employment opportunities, poor quality of labour force, low level of technology, inefficient use of resources, lack of access to credit facilities and other productive resources and several ecological situations.

5. EFFECTS OF POVERTY Any poverty-stricken nation will experience one or more of the following:  Poor rural and urban infrastructural development  Increased cases of unemployment  Wastage of resources  Youth unrest  Poor state of national economy  Increased cases of crime  Over dependence on other countries  Lack of basic needs among the individuals (Arfo, 2007:73).

6. HOW CORRUPTION DETERIORATES POVERTY Corruption effects on the Nigeria society since independence are grave, enormous and multifaceted. The economy, politics, public and private sectors, culture (ethics, norms, value and morality), military, government (executive, legislative, judiciary and traditional and religious institutions), social life, development, education, growth and other spheres of Nigeria are plagued by the grave effects of corruption. Odo (2012:15) elaborately writes, Corruption is a key factor in every crisis that had rocked the Nigerian nation since independence. The sabotage of the nationalists and the demise of the First Republic; [the] fall of the Gowon regime; the overthrown vagaries and the annulment of June 12 presidential election; the derailment of the Babangida transition programme; etc. are all indices of these crises. Odenkule (1994) observes that during the Babangida administration, corruption became not only intensified but institutionalised, such that the outcome of government policies often became erratic and apparently well-intentioned measures and programmes aimed at dealing with socio-economic and political problems seemed increasingly inept and sometimes futile. Corruption has posed serious challenges to economic development in the country and undermined democracy and good governance by subverting electoral process and governmental procedures. Corruption in election reduces the legitimacy of government, accountability and representation in policy-making. In the judiciary, corruption suspends the rule of law and erodes public confidence in justice dispensation (adjudication). It also erodes the institutional capacity of government as institutional safeguards are disregarded, resources are siphoned and officials are hired or promoted without recourse to performance. It undermines economic development by generating considerable distortions and inefficiency (Odo, 2012: 16). Economic growth and development efforts and logistics are shattered and destroyed by corruption. Corruption amounts to impoverishment (poverty), stagnancy, bankruptcy, regression, immorality, failed leadership and fellowship, underdevelopment, famine, social vices, bad governance, decadence, injustice, insecurity, ethnicity (ethnic solidarity), religious fundamentalism, unproductive social systems, high death rate, lack of social amenities and infrastructure, power tussle, destruction, vandalism, militancy, kidnapping, armed-robbery, thuggery, political instability and military take-over with serial coups, nepotism, oligarchy, abandonment of development projects/programmes, misappropriation and embezzlement, civil unrest, conflicts, anarchy, godfatherism, bad legacies, frustration, half-baked graduates, poor standard of education, oil/cash economy, the relegation and demise of agriculture and indigenous commerce, regionalism, gender inequality, and women low participation in politics, and decay in all facets of the society, as it permeates all aspects of human endeavours. In her contribution, Jeje (2012:134) points out the following implications of corruption to nation development:

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 9, November – 2017, Pages: 152-164 (i) Corruption amounts to underdevelopment. (ii) It poses a serious developmental challenge. (iii) It undermines democracy and governance and legitimacy of government– this is the more reason why Nigeria is still battling with political incapability, which has not been able to propel developmental strategies for constructive achievements. (iv) It reduces accountability and distorts representation in policy-making by elected or appointed members into government. (v) In the judiciary, corruption compromises the rule of law. (vi) In public administration, it results in the inefficient provision of services; procedures are discarded, and resources are siphoned. (vii) In the economic sector, corruption leads to increase in cost of business as a result of illicit payments. These dealings distort investment, quality service and infrastructure development, and increase budgetary pressures on government. (viii) Significantly, corruption scares away foreign investments (investors), which is part of the indices for national development. (ix) The recent attempt to introduce Five Thousand Naira (₦5,000) note is a means of skyrocketing corruption by devaluing the Naira the more, increase inflation and most importantly make corruption more comfortable or convenient to perpetuate for the elites. (x) The prevalence of corrupt practices breeds unruly youths and the culture of ‘everything goes’ among citizens. This tempers with the political, social and economic systems of the country and thus creates a violent ridden society which we have today as everyone would want to pursue their selfish interests at all cost, not minding who is affected. (xi) All these [the above] sum up to the hindrances to national development, a damage to the country’s image both locally and internationally. Indeed, the above points are apt, empirical and easily obtained widely. It is a clear indication of failed elitism (leadership), sprawling from greed, egoism, sheer wickedness, dead conscience, lack of statesmanship, credibility, integrity and virtue, decadence, decaying systems and, of course, imitative followership of soiled hands. Again, the plaguing trend of corruption in Nigeria and Africa in general brought to place (mind) the 1999 and 2000 corruption rankings by the Transparency International (Kurata, 1999). The rankings show that ‘Cameroon remained at the bottom of the list as the country where government officials are perceived to be the readiest to accept bribe. Nigeria came close to receiving that dubious distinction.’ Of course, institutionalised pervasive corruption only rocks a society where the elites/leaders, especially political officials, are the readiest to accept bribe, and this ‘convert’ their subjects/masses to the nefarious ravaging practice. The leaders of the widely known less corrupt or almost incorruptible societies are those strongly behind the enviable developed and sanitised state of their nations, such as those of Tanzania, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, etc. Whenever Nigerian leaders and, of course, Nigerians, the followers, change sporadically their attitudes and perceptions of corruption, the country will become rid of corruption. The task lies solidly in attitudinal change and institutional (public) cultural reorientation. It is a thankless task (Dibie and Robert, 2015) more for the Nigerian leaders, the fountain of the malaise, and the agents of socialisation. Nigeria needs the like of Nyerere, Mandela, Nkrumah, Bola Ige, Gani Fawhehinmi, etc. for the deserved change. For example, When the former President of Tanzania, Late Julius Nyerere retired as President, he possessed not more than ten jackets and single personal house. The late President has to request for a three bedroom flat from the Government of Tanzania for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, his Vice-President resorted to teaching English in a Community school (Magaji, 2000 cited in Odo, 2012). How many Nigerians can ever do so? Those who did not amass enough to their satisfaction are fighting and finding their way in to loot and cover up ‘the-left-unfilled gap’. Nigerians leaders are wicked, greedy, and dubious. Of course, there is no gain saying the fact that barely could one find 5% of the Nigerian populace without any corrupt stain, private or public, systemic or sporadic. The Centre for Advanced Social Science (CASS, 1993) captures the situation thus: The problem is that the government which is needed to defeat corruption is the core of the problem in Nigeria. It is government that has contributed mostly to lowering the moral tome of [the] society in Nigeria. It is in government that corruption thrives most, wasting resources we need, defeating all prospects of

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 9, November – 2017, Pages: 152-164 democracy and development, all sense of patriotism and turning all of us into hardened cynics with no concern for public good, no faiths [sic] in public morality or even in its possible. Ake (1996) notes, ‘the state [of corruption…] in Africa is not a public force but tends to be privatised in the sense that it is appropriated to the service of private interests by the dominant faction of the elite.’ Mbachu (1993) cited in Sani (2012) laments that ‘public expenditure management in Nigeria is one of mindless plunder of National Wealth.’ To Ofeimun (1993), Nigeria is a country where the robbery of state fund is flagrantly institutionalised. As a result of corruption and its accompanying implications, citizens’ perception is that of ‘state institutions as [being] systematically corrupt and unresponsive’ (Charlick, 2000 cited in Sani, 2012), coupled with the inability of most African leaders, particularly those of Nigeria to see ‘good governance as central to development’ and flagrantly doing what they think is best for themselves rather than what is best for the masses (Goldsmith, 2000 cited in Sani 2012; Mule, 2000), many Africans, particularly Nigerians, incessantly wallow in abject poverty and have developed apathy to civic responsibility. Consequently, both the African and Nigerian states have ‘failed to achieve (real) legitimacy in the eyes of majority of African and Nigerian citizens, who are consequently forced to [cater for and] defend themselves by resorting to tribalism clientilism’ (Sani, 2012:9). Ethnic and financial loyalties have always dominated the Nigerian politics (BBC Focus on Africa, 2000). The trend had been exemplified by National Assembly’s decision to award themselves U.S. $ 30,000 each just to furnish their houses in August, 1999, which they actually and eventually did in flagrant disregard of the electorate to whom they are accountable and the need to create ‘transparency and accountability’ in governance (Fullerton, 2000). Such deeds impoverish both Nigeria and her people, and thus deteriorate poverty. Generally, corruption has caused incalculable damage to ‘social and political development of Nigeria and, indeed, of most polities in Africa (Onoja, 2000). Odo (2012: 18-20) notes that corruption has severe challenges, damages and effects to Nigeria’s development, administratively, politically, economically and socially. Also, Transparency International had listed the following among others, as direct consequences of corruption on the Nigerian society and economy (Omole, 2006):  The failure to achieve the objectives which government seeks, e.g. corruption in appointments induces inefficiency;  Pollution of the environment in which private sector has to operate;  A rise in the cost of governance;  Erosion of the legitimacy of government, etc. According to Onoja (2000), corruption with its attendant effects has been particularly so in Nigeria because Corruption has a long pedigree; as a process, it has definitely threatened the existence of all governments… as a phenomenon, [it] runs deep in the life-line of all previous governments and is even prominent in the present administration [Obasanjo’s], whose functions played such key roles in the dark days of military dictatorship. It is succinct to note at this juncture that corruption effects on Nigeria society with its populace as well as challenges to national development are legion, diverse, devastating, disturbing and endemic. One cardinal effect of corruption is poverty, which is the fact that the more corruption operates and permeates all sectors, the more it deteriorates poverty. Educationally, corruption of all forms perverted in this sector leaves many people educationally poor. High and increasing rate of illiteracy in Nigeria amidst this era of enlightenment, Western education and the availability of many schools, public and private, nursery, primary, secondary and tertiary are all because of pervasive corruption. Extortion, bribery (insistence on financial/sexual bribe to pass/be passed or for grade), embezzlement, mismanagement, misappropriation of education development (infrastructural, sponsorship, etc.) funds, the outrageous charges at schools these days, all impoverish the less privileged. It has become almost impossible for the poor and the middle class citizens to acquire education because of outrageous charges couple with bribe. Even church missions that erstwhile claim to be the Messiahs of the poor in this regard now have their schools as the most expensive ones, etc. (Ifeanacho, 2010; Nwauzor, 2014). The Human Right Watch (2007:1) published a report on such type of corruption in Rivers state, one of Nigeria’s leading oil producing states and geographic heart of Nigeria’s booming oil industry. The report detailed the misuse of public funds by local officials in many of the state’s local governments, and their harmful effects on primary education and basic health care. For instance, the report observed,

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In five local governments researched by Human Rights Watch in Rivers, local administrations have failed to make more than nominal investments into healthcare and education. Much of the money that could have gone into improving these services has been squandered or outrightly stolen. Human Rights Watch found that one local government chairman habitually deposited his government's money into his own private bank account. Another has siphoned off money by allocating it towards a "football academy" that he has not built. According to state and federal government officials, civil society activists and other sources, these problems mirror the situation in most of Rivers' local governments. The phenomenon of corruption has done incalculable damage to Nigeria’s quest for development. Its effect has been devastating on national life. Its impact has been prohibitive in government and debilitating on the populace. This is logical as revenue earnings that could be used to provide the populace with basic necessities of life are diverted into private pursues and accounts, then robbing the society of much needed funds for development. One needs not look far to situate the effect of corruption on society at large. Over sixty-five percent Nigerians live on less than one dollar per day and about the same percentage live below the poverty line (Ighadalo, 2009:25). When the elite– politicians, bourgeoisie, business moguls, military/Para-military, technocrats and bureaucrats, intellectuals, traditional leaders, etc.– impoverish the teeming masses via embezzlement, misrepresentation, failed obliged responsibilities, rendering them helpless, making life unbearable for them, enslaving them, brain washing them with rhetoric’s, inciting tales and prejudiced ethnic, religious and political sentiments, inducing and converting them into corruption, denying them their human rights, stripping them off of their deserved basic amenities, such as lack of basic infrastructure/amenities because of loot/ diversion of funds, etc., poverty is aggravated. Instances of recent corrupt practices that deteriorate poverty in Nigeria include the recent report of top military bosses’ involvement in the armed deal, the corrupt practice of the Faruok-Otedola financial scandal, vis-à-vis the oil cabals, where Farouk Lawan, ‘Mr Integrity’, demanded a bribe of $3 million from Femi Otedola to remove the company’s name, ‘Zenon Oil and Gas’, from the list of saboteurs of the oil industry, the John Yakubu ₦33 billion pension scam/loot, the embezzlement of public funds by former Kwara State Governor and present Senate President of Nigeria, Bukola Saraki, that of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, and that of former Speaker of the House Representative, Patricia Ete. Under the corrupt system in Nigeria, recruitments and promotions in the public service are often not based on the principle of meritocracy but on patronage, social connections or some other political considerations of ethnic balancing such as quota system. It is not surprising therefore, that the Nigerian public service has become bloated with mediocre talents. The consequence of all this is that corruption does not only demoralise but also incapacitates the public service and corollary, the Nigerian society and economy are worse-off for it (Odo, 2012). Corruption has also been regarded as one of the factors responsible for the dismal failure of most economic policies and programmes in Nigeria. Several governments have since independence pontificated on policy, only a handful has any visible policy. Gen. Yakubu Gowon hardly had a conceivable policy nor did the subsequent military regime of late Gen. Murtala Muhammed. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo eventually attempted to arrest the drift off the path by introducing the ‘Operation Feed the Nation’, which some referred to as Obasanjo Far Nigeria at Otta. Then, Shehu Shagari equally sought to re-direct the nation back to its old reliable ways in agriculture by lunching the ‘Green Revolution.’ Irrespective of the efficacy of the policies, they tended to remind the people that agriculture remains the largest employer of labour. IBB introduced Directorate for Food, Road and Infrastructure (DIFRI) ostensibly to lure the younger generations back to land. But many say that it was largely a lip service seedlings for planting were scarce as fertilizer which became a source for the sudden wealth by the middle men, who were mostly government officials. General Sani Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubaka followed the pattern set by Gowon and left visible evidences of the huge gulf in agriculture. Even the return of Obasanjo with his celebrated focus on cassava production still left much to be desired in government’s political will to cure the sectarian decline (Andrew and Kandi, 2013). According to Ighadalo (2009:25), corruption has been regarded as one of the reasons for the failure of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) as state managers mismanaged the monies that accrued from the SAP policy. Corruption perpetrated by the so-called ‘religious’, the clergy also deteriorate poverty. For example, the clergy extort money (to amass wealth) from their laity (members/subjects) indiscriminately without minding their financial status. They only preach almsgiving, tithe/offering, thanksgiving, ‘be a cheerful giver to the church’, and so on. They simply enrich themselves with even the only available resources/funds of their poor members. With their

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 9, November – 2017, Pages: 152-164 gathered wealth, the clergy build and live in expensive houses, drive expensive cars and private jets, run trips of overseas businesses and visits, etc. By impoverishing the religious by their corrupt money-mongers clergy, the people, the ordinary people, are made poorer. This is clear that religious corruption of extortion deteriorates poverty in Nigeria and the like nations. Corruption has an immediate effect on the poor because it depresses overall growth. As the country’s overall income slows down, that of the poor is negatively affected as well. In fact, a slowdown in the economy is likely to affect disproportionately the poor more than the wealthier members of the society, especially given that the poor have less diversified sources of income. Conversely, empirical evidence shows that an improvement in GDP growth is associated with a relatively large increase in the growth rate of the income of the poorest segments of the population. According to the study carried out by Gupta, Davoodi, and Alonso-Terme (1998), a one percentage point increase in per capita GDP growth is associated with a 1.2 percent growth of the income of the 20 percent poorest (see also Gupta, Davoodi, and Alonso-Terme, 2002). Inflation disproportionately hurts the poor and fixed-income households in general by eroding their purchasing power. Moreover, by increasing uncertainty, inflation will discourage business expansion, which in turn discourages employment creation. Therefore, macroeconomic imbalances caused by corrupt management of government’s budget contribute to deepening poverty by eroding the purchasing power of the poor and by undermining employment creation in the private sector (Ndikumana and UNECA, 2006:22). For a given level of publicly provided services, corruption causes low effective use of services. Bureaucratic corruption creates delays in service delivery and shortages of services as a way of generating opportunities for bribes and through embezzlement of supplies. Corruption thus creates artificial congestion and increases the effective costs of public services. Given that the poor are least able to pay for these extra costs, they are excluded and further marginalized, which deepens poverty. Deterioration of public services deepens inequality and perpetuates poverty across generations. As the quality of public education deteriorates, the children of the poor are denied the chances for upward social mobility and remain trapped into low standards of living. Similarly, as public health care deteriorates, the poor suffer the most as they cannot afford private health care. Vulnerability to diseases erodes the ability of the poor to access the labour market, which undermines their chances of overcoming poverty. Corruption thus perpetuates poverty by reducing the quantity and quality of public service delivery (Ndikumana and UNECA, 2006:23). Politically, by compromising democracy and good governance, with the various dubious acts of corruption, the Nigerian society, like her contemporaries of other parts of the globe, remains politically poor, as corruption retards political growth, development, stability, wealth, progress, and threatens the survival of the polity. The adopted political culture that grossly disregards the ruled is a means (an instance) of how corruption deteriorates poverty (Dare, 2010; Mimiko, 2006). Unemployment is on the increase, this is due to corruption. As such, the employable (productive) unemployed graduates/individuals are deliberately/institutionally made to suffer/bear unbearable poverty that most times leads many into various forms/phases of corruption, as the available means of livelihood. A job seeker would need to offer a whooping amount, not less than ₦50,000, to employers/their associates and/or job agents as bribe for a job placement (see Dibie, 2014; Besong, 2016). Alanamu et al. (2009:38), in view of this, assert that mass unemployment, high level of literacy, poor infrastructural facilities and low standard of living are basically poverty indices in Nigeria. When money meant for development projects are embezzled by government officials in the process, millions of Nigerian citizens are unemployed and uneducated. It is a fact that mass poverty has been a breeding ground for all forms of extremism in the country.

7. CONCLUSION It is crystal clear that the increasing alarming rate of poverty in Nigeria is made manifest mainly by corruption, which is synonymous with Nigeria and Nigerians for decades now. Corruption could be eradicated completely if every government and every individual, Nigerian and alien residents, turn a new leave, imbibe virtuous life of shunning corruption no matter what, and change for good in such regard. Although there are poor (lower class) people, everywhere in the globe, including the developed nations, when the average citizens of a nation can barely feed normally three times a day, the poverty rate is known to be high and worrisome, as obtained in Nigeria and other developing nations across the ages. What is most worrisome and ironical is the fact that Nigeria is too rich to be poor, but corruption keeps impoverishing it with its people by its people– the state custodians/elite (Robert, 2016). It is a sect of Nigerians that impoverish the other sect of Nigerians, leaving ‘Mother Nigeria’ in tears of perpetual poverty (Robert, 2014).

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International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) ISSN: 2000-000X Vol. 1 Issue 9, November – 2017, Pages: 152-164 If the government can win this (its) battle against corruption and mismanagement, the money will start to turn into functioning schools, health services and water supply, thus laying the foundation for poverty eradication (see Aluko, 2009:12). Combating corruption amounts to helping to alleviate poverty. This is in line with Aderonmu’s assertion that poverty and retarded development are the twin babies of corruption. Nigeria ranks among the poorest countries in the world. Majority of the population live below the poverty line and are also stark illiterates. This is in-spite of the abundant human, natural and material resources that the country is endowed with (Aderonmu, 2003:15; Omotola, 2005:1).

8. RECOMMENDATION Eradicating corruption is a challenging task, especially because it is a systemic phenomenon that exhibits a strong tendency for hysteresis. Countries that are corrupt tend to remain corrupt for a long time. While those who benefit from corruption have incentives to perpetuate it, the victims of corruption learn to cope with it so that corruption becomes expected and self-perpetuating. Practical attitudinal change is a requisite and a panacea. We must learn and tell the bitter truth about corruption and poverty, and work out pragmatic modalities and measures of ameliorating this twin scourge in Nigeria. The task, though thankless and complex is yet rewarding and simple. Also, cultural orientation and re-orientation in imperative towards imbibing moral virtues, standards, discipline, ethics (norms/values), aesthetics, and African (Nigerian) erstwhile incorruptible culture. Poverty alleviation/eradication requires dedication, committed, God-fearing (honest/just), altruistic and philanthropic leaders and followers. And, all institutions, governments and individuals must have to truly rise to this challenge– corruption scourge with its draconic effects– so as to at least alleviate poverty, if not totally eradicate it. For example, institutions like the police, the armed forces, the Para-military forces, the court, government arms: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, civil societies, schools, the mass media, pressure groups, the family, and anti-corruption and crime agents, e.g. EFCC, ICPC, etc. should be reformed, restructured, standardised and made efficacious, to attain the deserved change (see Dibie and Robert, 2015; Besong, 2016; Robert, 2016; Aliu, 2010; Ifeanacho, 2010; Nwanzor, 2014).

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