Corruption, Nation Building and Nigeria’s Aspiration Towards National Integration 1960-2015

Article Citation: Ojo Oluwole Simeon & Ifeoluwa O. James-Iduma (2021). Corruption, Nation Building and Nigeria’s Aspiration towards National Integration, 1960-2015. DEGEL: The Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Vol. 19, No. 1. ISSN 0794-9316

CORRUPTION, NATION BUILDING AND NIGERIA’S ASPIRATION TOWARDS NATIONAL INTEGRATION 1960-2015

Ojo Oluwole Simeon & Ifeoluwa O. James-Iduma

Abstract

This article is on corruption, Nation Building and Nigeria’s aspiration towards national integration from 1960 to 2015. The focus of the article is to analyse the existing literature on corruption and its effects on nation building in Nigeria. Scholars have continue to write on the factors responsible for the lack of ‘pure’ nationalism in Nigeria and why such factors have become musters hunting national integration in Nigeria. Corruption is a worldwide phenomenon though endemic in Nigeria. The monster as demonstrated in this paper has been responsible for the instability of governments, underdevelopment as well as the promotion of disintegrative tendencies among Nigerians. Corruption undermines development because resources allocated for socio-economic and political developments are siphoned into individual coffers or taken abroad to foreign bank accounts by these opportunists. Thus, the elusion of national integration since the nation state gained her independence in 1960. The paper concludes that unless institutional and legal framework for the fight against corruption is strengthened the states goal towards any form of nation building and national integration may take time to be realized in Nigeria

Introduction

It is no longer news when we mention issues of corruption in the globe; as all nations of the world are faced with the ugly phenomenon called corruption. Corruption is legally seen as a social vice due to its negative consequence on human development particularly and the society in general. Corruption however is not a new concept to human beings. It has lived with man many centuries back. However, the phenomenon has become more pronounced in this modem era as it has taken different and more sophisticated forms and dimensions.

It is a known fact that, corruption undermines democracy, good governance and development by flouting or subverting processes. Corruption in legislative bodies reduces accountability and distorts representation in policy-making: Corruption in the judiciary compromises the rule of law; and corruption in public administration results in the unequal distribution of services (Atuobi, 2007:2). More generally, corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government as procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold (Theobald, 1990:130).

Furthermore, the menace of corruption has been responsible for the vicious cycle of failed political leadership, political instability, economic mismanagement and underdevelopment, social chaos, disintegrative tendencies and subversive action. This fact becomes most poignant when viewed against the persistent of the phenomenon. As far back as the 1970s the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a frontline nationalist and former premier of the south-west region observed that:

Since independence, Nigerian governments have been a matter of few holding the cow for the strongest and most cunning to milk. Under those circumstances everybody runs over everybody to make good at the expense of others (Africa, London, 1979:25).

This situation has so deteriorated that Nigeria, a country so bountifully blessed with more than enough human and material resources, is now one of the poorest nations in Africa. As Nigeria’s ex-President, Obasanjo (2000) affirmed:

Corruption has been responsible for the instability of successive governments since the First Republic. Every Coup since then has been in the name of stamping out the disease called corruption. Unfortunately, the cure often turned out to be worse than the disease. And Nigeria has been worse for it. Nigeria’s external image took a serious bashing, as our beloved country began to feature on top of every corruption index.

As Ayua (2001) pointed out, corruption is common in Nigeria and has been rapidly increasing since independence. It has moved to the centre of heart of this country, with all its dangerous and catastrophic consequences. It is sufficient to point here that corruption is endemic in Nigeria. This affects national integration and development in no small way. For instance, many investors are cautious about being involved in corrupt environments because corruption increases the cost of transactions elsewhere. As this reluctance to invest in some countries widen, a cycle of underdevelopment evolves where the links between corruption and a lack of development could become mutually reinforcing.

This paper therefore seeks to reflect on some of the possible linkages between national integration, development and corruption. It will examine the conceptual meanings of corruption,

How National Integration Became an Issue in Nigeria

Available historical material points to the fact that before the advent of colonialism in 1861 (annexation of Lagos) and the subsequent January 1, 1914 amalgamation; a tremendous degree of tolerance, accommodation, borrowing and interactions among the various ethnic groups existed (see Apthorpe 1968; Young 1976; Falola et al 1991; Udo 1980; Ajavi. & Alagoa 1980). As such they usually referred to themselves as people or traders from Hausaland, Yorubaland, Igboland. and Ibibioland etc. Uya (1992), Nnoli (1978), Ndoma-Egba and Ndoma-Egba (2000) are agreed that the picture of intrinsic and inherent incompatibility of ethnic groups in Nigeria w the handiwork of colonial anthropologists. According to these scholars, European anthropologists first used it as a label identity and later this was appropriated as a tool of divide and rule by the colonialists. This trend continued till 1914. The amalgamation which brought the protectorates of Northern Nigeria and that of Southern Nigeria with the colony of Lagos was only to pool the resources of the relatively richer territories of the south to meet the cost of running the north and thus, reduce the burden on the British tax payers (Ndoma-Egba & Ndoma-Egba, 2000:74). The British therefore achieved territorial integration. By this, they incorporated the various ethnicities into an amalgamated Nigeria. Thus, began the process of acrimony, distrust, suspicion, hatred, culture of parochialism in national affairs and a legacy of tension among the component parts of Nigeria (Falola et al, 1991:9).

However, the imperial Order-in-Council that established the Arthur Richards Constitution which became effective on January 1, 1947 contained integrative elements. The purpose of the Constitution as stated in the Nigeria Sessional Paper No. 4 of 1945 was:

1. To promote the unity of the country;

2. To provide adequately for the desire for the diverse elements which made up the country; and

3. To secure greater participation of Africans in the discussion of their own affairs

As noted by Adigwe (1974:188):

The constitution sought to promote the unity of the country by establishing regional councils together with a central council in Lagos... (But) the establishment of regional councils tended to weaken the unity (national integration) of the country.

This explains why subsequent review or evolutions of a new constitution (1951, 1954 and 1960) were advocated for, from purely ethnic stand-point by the Nigerian representatives. For example, those that represented the North-in the would be 1951 Macpherson constitution-demanded for parity with the South in representation in the central legislature, those that represented the West called for a revision of the Northern Frontier, so as to exclude the people of Offa, Igbomina and Kabba from the North since they are Yoruba speaking tribes; while the East in conjunction with the North requested for Lagos to be removed from Western Region and made a “noman’s land”. From the foregoing, it is clear that each of them were preponderantly interested in its hegemony over the others. Invariably, discordant views greeted the motion for “self government in 1956” which was originally conceived to:

“Present a united front of collective responsibility”. Again, as a result of the fears of the minority groups in the Niger-Delta, a commission of enquiry (headed by Henry Willink) was set up and instead of creating states as desired by them, it made a detailed list of fundamental human rights in it stead to cushion it. Adigwe, 1974: 198)

With independence in 1960, the stark reality was the need to build a strong and united country despite the presence of over 250 ethnic groups and 466 dialects (Mbeke-Ekanem, 2000:328). Thus, it became clear that Nigeria would need integrative mechanisms, just like other plural societies in the world.

Conceptual Explanation of Terms

Some terms have been used in this paper and the manner which they have been described includes:

Corruption

Corruption is a worldwide phenomenon, which has been with all kinds of society throughout history as a global crime. It is a universal phenomenon which presents itself in different colorations and dimensions depending on where it rears its ugly head. Because of its wide spread it terms of its coverage, the concept attracts different meanings from different scholars particularly the social scientists. Some of these definitions are self-limiting in what they cover as constituting corruption, while others are encompassing. A definition of corruption that falls into the first category sees the phenomenon as any transaction which involves duty of public office holder with a partial motive of acquiring or amassing resources illegally for personal advancement and self-gratification (Olusoga, 1981, Nkom, 1982; Odekunle, 1986 and Otite, 1986). Anam Ndu (1990) examining the concept from the perspective of deviancy from the norms of public morality stated that, “corruption is the behaviour of public officials which does not conform to known and publicly acceptable norms and which aims at serving the private interest of those who practice it. This involves the exchange of decision for money or material wealth.”

From the above, it is common to find people referring to corruption as the perversion of public affairs for private advantage. Therefore, corruption in this sense include bribery or the use of unauthorized rewards to influence people in position of authority either to act or refuse to act in ways that are beneficial to the private advantage of the giver and that of the receiver. It also includes misappropriation of public funds and resources for private gains. One conclusion that can be drawn from this self-limiting definition is that a public official is corrupt if he accepts money or money’s worth for doing something which he is under a duty or an obligation to do. Also by this definition, it is a corruption for a public official to accept payment of cash or kind not to do what he is supposed to do or to exercise a legitimate discretion for improper reasons (Mcmullan, 1996).

The self-limiting definition reviewed above may not be so appropriate in understanding the concept of corruption in line with the objective of this paper. This is because the definition has limited the phenomenon of corruption to the public officials alone as if private individuals in the civil society are corrupt free. In view of this therefore, there is need to find at least an encompassing definition of corruption which covers everybody in the society.

A simple, uncomplicated and encompassing definition of corruption that is found to be useful in this paper is the one that sees the phenomenon as the acquisition of that which one (as a member of society not public official alone) is not entitled. (Akinyemi, 2004). Corruption seen from this perspective therefore represents a departure from what the society considers as correct procedures in exchange of goods, services or money on the part of every body that makes up the society. This explains why corruption has been seen in various societies mostly in line with the culture or prescribed social life of the people. The implication of this is that while some societies speak of corruption mainly in terms of illegal acquisition of material things, others tend to stretch if further by bringing social and moral values under it. (Metiboba, 2002). The later explains why Bala Usman (2008) argues that corruption means much more than public officers taking bribes and gratification, committing fraud and stealing funds and assets entrusted in their care. The urge to be involved in corrupt practices runs through the veins of an average Nigerian.

Corruption in education is the pervasion of the expected standard of behaviour by those in authority in the educational system for their own personal gain to the detriments of others and the system in its pursuit of quality manpower and national development. Corruption in the system has made it easy for some scholars to describe schools are no longer institutions of learning, but instead as money exchange department to help students pass examination and gain admission into higher institutions. Onwuka (2009) stated that corruption in the political life of a nation is a tragedy while corruption in the educational sector is a double tragedy. Because the educational sectors has tremendous capacity to set in motion an uncontrollable reproductive process of corruption in the larger society and thereby mare the development structures.

Impact of Corruption on Nation Building in Nigeria

Nigeria with its cornucopia of resources, the citizens have no cause to complain of poverty. But courtesy of corruption, we are classified as one of the poorest nations on earth. Corruption has been allowed to eat too deep into the carapace of the nation. It undermines the goal of development. Public funds are often arbitrarily handled and used for private purposes, deposited in personal accounts (mostly foreign). Instead of committing such money to viable economic venture at home. The phenomenon has retarded economic development. Resources which could have been used in infrastructural development are diverted to personal use. In a similar vein, foreign investment which could act as a lever for economic development, is discouraged in an environment of pervasive corruption. Corollary to the above, nationals of a corrupt state are treated with disdain and disrepute by members of the international community as is with the case with Nigerians overseas (Odekunle, 1986).

Political corruption has created monumental poverty, which in turn has exacerbated the crime problem in Nigeria. We are daily inundated with reports of violent crimes like ethno-religious crises, armed robbery, hired assassination, kidnapping, terrorist attack or Boko Haram attack, burglaries by our unemployed youths. The unprecedented insecurity emanating from the above crimes constitute not only bane of our democracy it is also capable of truncating the Fourth Republic if not properly managed. Political corruption creates political instability, Dudley, 1978, which in turn is capable of breaking up a nation. No wonders Nigeria is on the verge of collapse if extra care is not taking. The political instability in Zaire, Liberia and Cote d’ Ivoire were direct consequences of corruption. The crises of credibility, with its attendant instability in the body polity is also a consequence of political corruption by the ruling elites in Nigeria. In the past, the military in Nigeria although itself a product of corruption had on several occasions, taken over the reign of government alleging corruption as a necessitating factor. Corruption creates mutual distrust and social isolation among the nationalities constituting the Nigerian State. It is therefore not surprising that each nationality in Nigeria is now fighting for self-determination and actualization. The basis for integration and national unity has been destroyed by corruption, which over the years, manifested itself in nepotism, tribalism and religious bigotry. What then is the way out?

Anti-Corruption Programme in the Fourth Republic

An endemic culture of corruption has continued to pose obstacle to the realization of development, human rights, and welfare for the Nigerian people. In view of this, the successive government that came to power put in place various measures, programmes and policies geared towards eradicating corruption in Nigeria. Chiefly, among these measures are: Gowon’s public officer (investigation of Asset) Decree No.5 of 1966; Muntala/Obasanjo’s Jaji Declaration of the 1970; Shagari’s Ethical Revolution of 1981; and the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) by Buhari/ldiagbon administration in 1984. Although, in 1989, Babangida set up committees on corruption and other economic crimes, but his administration never declare war on corruption. In 1994, Abacha’s administration introduced War Against Indiscipline and Corruption (WAI — C) however, these anti — corruption initiatives remained at the level of rhetoric and did not result in any significant changes.

Similarly, in 1999, when Obasanjo came to power, he told Nigerians that corruption was the clog in the wheel of Nigeria’s development and, until the social menace is cured, development will continue to elude the country. Consequently, his government put in place different anti-corruption initiatives to deal with the problem. Critical among these are the: Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC), the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (NEITI), the Public Procurement Act, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, Due Process, and e-payment to detect and deter embezzlement and other forms of Financial Fraud. In addition to the above, Obasanjo’s government also established anti-corruption departments in some of the Federal Ministries and Parastatals. He round off his anti-corruption initiatives with establishment of the Technical Unit on Governance and anti-corruption. Reforms (TUGAR). Ibrahim, 2003. These, amongst others, were the anti-corruption institutions and legal frameworks that were introduced in the current Fourth Republic. These initiatives, at the early life of Obasanjo’s administration, were greeted by a lot of hope with the expectation that changes will come to punish those persons who have carried out gross corrupt acts in the past and prevent others in the future from doing likewise. Unfortunately, these programmes, policies and strategies made no meaningful impact in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. For instance, for three consecutive years, 2000, 2002 and 2005, Transparency International, an International, non-governmental, anti-corruption organization in its Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranked Nigeria as the second most corrupt country in the world. The unimaginable greed, obtuse and prodigious in thievery, arbitrariness, contempt for rule of law and fundamental human rights, selective investigation of corrupt allegations and poor handling of the economy were only a few of the woes that Nigerian experienced under Obasanjo’s administration. Taken a step further; Obasanjo later used the excuse of an anticorruption crusade to carry out witch hunts of its opponents and perceived enemies of his government. The irony is that the anti-corruption initiatives were unraveled by various investigations into massive acts of corruption by his administration after he left office. Chiefly, among the revealing information that have emerged is that the former president waived due process for the contracts awards and gave away vast amounts of Nigeria’s hard earned resources to his friends, families and political allies. Investigation by the House of Representatives into the power Sector revealed that Obasanjo’s administration wasted public resources to the tune of $16 billion US dollars in the power sector with nothing to show for it.

Furthermore, since the inauguration of Yar’Adua/Goodluck government in May, 2007, the administration has consistently proclaimed the respect for the rule of law and due process as its anchor point. However, the actions of government have left more to be desired as its body language seems to portray the opposite of what it proclaims. Since Goodluck became the substantive president of Nigeria, many cases of corruption have occurred, but the president did not have the tenacity to call for an investigation. Specifically, there has been a decline in the tempo of prosecution of public officers from the previous regime, Ibrahim, (2008). The retention of numerous personalities reputed to be corrupt clearly eroded the credibility of this administration’s resolve to fight corruption. It is, therefore not surprising that the performance of normal state functions, which collapsed under the military, still have not been revived. Many basic facilities, such as water and electricity supply and health and education services, are not working effectively mainly because of the excessive corruption of state officials, who regularly steal much of the financial allocations of their ministries and parastatals. At this juncture, we can safely conclude that all anti- corruption measures put in place did not yield the desired result because of the wide gap between the intent and actual practice. More over it has been argued that a neo-colonial state cannot meaningfully fight corruption because it is administered on the basis of corruption, executive lawlessness, brigands, and violence. ‘The ruling cliques, because it does not have faith in the state, engage in systematic looting of the public treasury, Falana, (2010). In line with this, the late president Mobutu of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) use to sack ministers who were not indulging in corrupt practices; for him they were wasting their time in government. In a public rally in 1974, he advised his compatriots to “Steal but steal little by little and invest your fortune in the country,” Nzongola — Ntalaja, (2003). In Africa, anti-graft agencies are set up to satisfy conditions for the overseas development assistance, to impress the international community, and deliberately castrate them to render them ineffective. The experiences in Nigeria and other African countries have shown that anti-corruption officials who fail to cover up a corrupt regime and its friends may end up in a shallow grave or exile, Falana, (2010). Since a neocolonial state cannot allow anti-graft agencies to succeed, the people who are the greatest victims of official corruption should be mobilized to fight for transparency and accountability in government.

Over time, efforts to bring corruption down to the barest minimum in Nigeria have not quite yielded signiﬁcant results. Three particular agencies responsible for checking corruption in the country, namely, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, (lCPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) and the Public Complaints Bureau have all recognized their limitations in the long debacle. Even corrupt individuals know that it is bad and have even condemned it publicly. However, nothing has changed for the better. Some have satirically addressed corruption as “the grand commander of the federal republic of Nigeria”, while others have sternly warned that if Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. ‘Corruption in Nigeria has gone almost out of control over a long period of time for a number of reasons, ranging from lack of political will to absence of proper laws or speciﬁc legal backing as well as the insincerity and apathy on the part of those who should enforce it. Law enforcement agencies connive indirectly or they sometimes make laws that are obviously corrupt, contradictory and without statutory foundations. Corruption goes on because; culprits are hardly punished for others to learn from them. Above all, most people are completely ignorant of its lingering impact on economic growth. But even if all these efforts are capable of curbing corruption without dealing with the problem of poverty in Nigeria appropriately, corruption may still not be brought under control but will continue to remain like vampire in the nation’s political economy.

More fundamentally, corruption remains a national problem due to a radical approach and insufficient attention to it in the nation’s public policy formulation and towards the problem of poverty and the dangers it is posing in the nation’s political economy and to corruption in particular. For instance, the UNDP Report sees the nation’s public policies as out of date and unrealistic, which, as it were, can be linked to the leadership question in Nigeria drawing a parallel from the famous Socratic dictum that Knowledge is virtue, which argued that What is required for a good society is knowledge of the good or of the most fundamental ethical values in the realm of contemporary Socio-political action. It is generally argued that what is required are leaders who know what the society needs and in whose hands? The welfare of the society is to be entrusted. Such leaders are to formulate and equip themselves with the body of ideas or a system of ideology that ideally expresses the goals which the society ought to purse.

Effects of Corruption on Development and National Integration

The foregoing analysis has demonstrated clearly that corruption is indeed a frightening problem in Nigeria. It pervades the national atmosphere and has overwhelmed all levels of government undermining the goal of development and aspiration of national integration. Thus, public funds are often arbitrarily handled, used for private purposes, deposited in personal accounts. Consequently, governance and social economic conditions have badly deteriorated.

Corruption, therefore, adversely affects the stability of government. It is an obstacle to the greater integration of the nation. It can increase grievances and conflictual demands for political change through popular support for violent political change - coup d’etat. United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) considers “actual or even perceived massive corruption” as one of the factors that increases ‘the vulnerability of States to coup d’etat and render a coup almost unavoidable (UNOWA, 2006).

Furthermore, Nigeria has been rated as a highly corrupt nation in the sub-region, Africa and the world. The stability of the country is currently being challenged by high level of corruption and armed militia (Atuobi, 2007). Corruption has long history in Nigeria and usually involved misappropriation or diversion of large sums of money from state coffers. The effect is high cost of essential services, whilst those who cannot afford bribe payments are denied these services altogether. Without adequate reforms, group grievance will grow against the state and possibly threaten democratic gains and overall stability.

Again, corruption has retarded economic growth, development and effort and attepts at national integration sine the nation-state regained independence in Nigeria. In spite of large budgetary allocations and spending, public infrastructure has deteriorated to the extent that it can hardly support any meaningful economic growth (Ayua, 2001). Thus, macroeconomic stability has been seriously undermined by the loss of government revenue and excessive spending. Other ways that corruption has hindered economic development and meaningful attempts at national integration in Nigeria include reduced domestic investment, reduced foreign direct investment and the distortion of government expenditure away from health, education and other social services.

The consequences of corruption on economic development are further exacerbated because funds corruptly obtained are stashed in foreign bank accounts, making them unavailable to the nation for internal development and for the promotion and sustenance of national unity. Nigeria’s economy has therefore remained static and unprogressive.

The general agreement is that corruption is bad for development and attempts and sustainability of national integration. The World Bank estimates the cost of corruption that, “if just 5% of the value of all direct foreign investment and imports go into countries with extensive corruption, the yearly take would total around US $80 billion. Significantly, this only takes into account theft from commerce crossing borders, not the stealing of State assets or the fleecing of fellow citizens (Odekunle, 1986).

Another way that corruption jeopardizes development and national integration is that, it distorts public spending.’ Distortions arise in three ways: from shaping the official priorities of government, by deflecting allocated resources away from their original purpose and by undermining the tax base of government. In this case, priorities are distorted and public resources deflected in corrupt regimes, because allocations go where corrupt official and politicians personally gain the most. The public interest here is no longer the measure. As a result, the masses are alienated and live in penury. Corruption also undermines efficiency. In other words, time and money wasted through corrupt activities comes at the expense of productive activities. This has adverse effects both on public administration and private enterprises. In Nigeria, the public sector efficiency has become compromised because corrupt practices superimpose informal practices over the proper rules and procedures of government. This adds direct and indirect costs to the execution of programmes. For example, due to poor controls, Nigeria was estimated to have lost some N4OMiIlion per day in the 1990s. (www.iss.co.za!pubs!monoqraphs/No.40). Again, the Global Competitiveness Report of 1997 shows that firms confronted by corrupt regimes have had to spend vast additional time to negotiate licenses, permits, taxes and approvals. This is underscored by the results of a recent World Bank Survey in 89 countries, including Nigeria, which show that 40% of firms working in those countries have engaged in some form of bribery. One can only imagine the cumulative effect on national and international economy.

Again, corruption discourages investment and growth. Although some investors might well conduct their business through bribes, the overall implication of notoriously corrupt environments is that many potential investors avoid them. Incidences of corruption deter investment because higher bribes imply declining profitability on productive investments relative to rent-seeking investments, thus tending to crowd out the former. In a similar vein, the problem with corrupt regimes is that they are intrinsically arbitrary. Hence, they introduce risks of uncertainty that many investors are simply not willing to take. This also automatically increases the transaction cost of investment. As a result, other key economic objectives, such as job creation and the development of vibrant small and medium enterprises, are likely to suffer invariably, therefore, corruption intrinsically undermines the quality of governance and places the players at risk of international castigation. Nigeria, as a country has been worse for it due to the endemic nature of corruption in the land (Obasanjo, 2000).

Some Integrative Instruments established by Governments towards Effective National Integration Since 1960

The Constitution: As an integrative measure, the Federal Government abolished the regional constitutions and evolved a single document for the whole country. Equally, several provisions were enshrined in all the constitutions adopted thereafter including the current 1999 constitution, such as articles that are expected to promote national integration.

Federalism: Federalism is a system in which governmental powers that exist in a state are shared constitutionally between the central authority and that of the component or federating units. Through this, the concept of national integration is given expression. As opined by Obafemi Awolowo, “if a country is bilingual or multilingual, the constitution must be federal, and the consistent states must be organized on linguistic basis”. He goes further to stress that “only a truly federal constitution can unite Nigeria and generate harmony amongst its diverse racial and linguistic groups (Fagbamigbe, 1981:4-5). Basically, the amalgamation of the North and South in 1914 laid the historical foundation for federalism in Nigeria and the outcomes of constitutional conferences agreed on the use of federalism as an idea system for the country.

National Anthem: A national anthem is intended to evoke a feeling of patriotism and make people of that country work for the progress, unity and growth of the country. Usually it contains the ideals and traits which the country intends to impart to its citizens. The National Pledge is regarded as an oath of citizenship with promises to the country. It is intended to help citizens to grow to love and serve their country and reminds them of other responsibilities to the country.

Revenue Allocation: To further strengthen national integration, revenues which are generated are pooled into a common fund, arid shared thereafter to all tiers of government using agreed parameters (see Section 162(2) of the 1999 Constitution).

Establishment of Political Parties: Ethnically based political parties were known to be harbinger of distrust and violence. To avoid this, and encourage national integration section 222 (b) of the 1999 Constitution states:

The members of the association are open to every citizen of Nigeria irrespective of his place of origin, circumstance of birth, sex, religion or ethnic group. Also section 223 (2b) of the said constitution states: ‘‘The members of the executive committee or other governing body of the political party shall be deemed to reflect the federal character of Nigeria.’’

Conclusion

This paper has demonstrated that, corruption is endemic in the country and a serious crime. It has been responsible for the lack of development, instability and disintegrative tendencies in the country. Corruption pervades a sector of the Nigerian economy. It is found in the private and public sectors. The disease of corruption is an antithesis to development and dispels investors to Nigeria. The paper also discusses that the anti-corruption measures in Nigeria floated by successive administrations in Nigeria have largely been ineffective. What is important now is to put in place policy measures, both at the state and national levels to reduce the impact of corruption on economic, political and social development of the country. Again, the tendency to submerge corruption under the broader concept of good governance should be avoided. Corruption should be isolated for consideration so that human and material resources can be mobilized for addressing it. With the increasing rate of crime, poverty, unemployment, political instability and disintegrative actions in Nigeria, there is every need to fight corruption which breeds these evils of the State.

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