Corruption and insecurity in Nigeria. A comparative analysis of civilian and military regimes

Terry Andrews Odisu

• Publisher: GRIN Verlag
• Edition: 1
• Year: 2016
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: National Security
• eBook ISBN:
  9783668252547
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The paper looks at the cases of corruption and insecurity in Nigeria and identifies the regime under which the problems are more prevalent, using descriptive method of data gathering. Too many people who are in public offices through appointment or flawed elections in civilian regime see politics as a meal ticket. This encourages corruption probably because the politicians and the electorate are primitive and terribly unenlightened. The quest for material acquisition has reduced politics to warfare, leading to insecurity of lives and property. The story is different under military regime whereby the degree of corruption is lower; absence of electoral violence. Among others, it is recommended that politicians found guilty of corruption or electoral violence be given a life jail term or capital punishment as it is done in Asia. Corruption and insecurity have been adversely affecting socioeconomic development in Nigeria since independence. In the first republic, corruption was so pronounced, and coupled with the political violence in the Western region, the military had to intervene in 1966. The story of Nigeria after independence is that of corruption. The predatory elites are to blame. They go into politics because of the urge for primitive accumulation of wealth. This has reduced politics to a zero-sum game. When politics becomes a do or die affair, as encouraged by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, the end result is violence/insecurity. According to Fagbadebo (2007), the Nigerian State is a victim of high level corruption, bad governance, political instability and a cyclical legitimacy crisis. Consequently, national development is retarded, and the political environment uncertain''. Political opponents are seen as enemies. Thus, mere ideological difference has become enmity in Nigeria. Thugs are recruited to unleash violence on political opponents because of corruption-driven ambition. Even members of the same political party are involved in violence before primary elections in order to eliminate or intimidate perceived formidable aspirants. The insecurity of lives and property witnessed in the then Western region in 1965 and in Ondo and Oyo States in 1983 where supporters of UPN and NPN were roasting themselves alive is a pathetic example.