STRENGTHENING THE WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION

BY MUHAMMAD NASIR

For a very long time, corruption has been acknowledged as the single most serious obstacle to economic and democratic development in Nigeria. It is manifested mainly in the form of bribery and embezzlement of public funds. The phenomenon has contributed in no small measures to the political and economic problems. The nation has faced since independence. With the return of democracy in 1999 Clear moves were made to put in place measures for combating corruption. This culminated into the establishment of two anti –corruption agencies, the ICPC and the Economic and Financial crime Commission EFCC.
However, the nation is still grappling with the problems of governance and how to effectively combat and prevent the menace. There are no limits to the devastating effects of corruption. It leads to the waste of skills and precious time is wasted in unproductive endeavour. The government also looses a lot of money and resources in setting up committees to fight corruption. With government committing huge sums of money to tackle pressing problems, from the instability of financial markets to climate change and poverty, corruption remains an obstacle to achieving much needed progress. The issue of inconsistency of government policy is another bane to the problem. In spite of the progress made, there are calls for government to overhaul its anti-corruption agencies to gain public confidence and to ensure probity and accountability in public service. The international community had also expressed concern over the performance of the anti-graft agencies. The major problem in tackling the menace appears to be that those that get caught, instead of making examples out of them, are elevated to higher offices which make it look as if there is one set of rules is for politicians and another set is for the citizens. In our traditional settings corruption has gradually become not only organized and institutionalized but also an acceptable way of life. Few would disagree with the contention that in Nigeria today, nepotism, bribery and even extortion have become a way of life for many. There is the need therefore to check its pervasiveness and its implications for governance and the value system in general and the political culture in particular.
To address these challenges, the federal government needs to integrate its anti-corruption machineries in all spheres, from their responses to the financial crisis and to commitments by the international community to eradicate poverty. The transparency international advocates stricter implementation of the United Nations convention against corruption which should be adhered to in order to ensure the drastic reduction or even eradication of corruption. To this end, Nigeria must understand the wider implication of corruption and the impediments it creates. We must realize that eliminating corruption is central to restoring security. This can be achieved through allowing people to have access to information on the decisions and actions taken by public authorities. The promulgation of Freedom of Information Act is a step in the light direction. The media must also play a major role in exposing corruption, through awareness creation. We also need a commitment on the part of public representatives and opinion makers to control corruption.

Source: FRCN daily commentary