Corruption and Good Governance in Nigeria, 1999-2015

Abstract

Corruption is as old as human societies. For many years, it had been a serious threat to human existence across all the facets of life; social, political and economic. From the colonial period to the present, corruption had swept across the African terrain like a torrential rain due to certain policies put in place by the colonial project. Using primary data largely from newspaper reporting and secondary materials from both published and unpublished sources, this paper examines the nature and dynamics of corruption and anti-corruption campaigns in Nigeria. Despite the efforts made by successive Nigerian governments to curb out corruption through the establishment of some anti-corruption agencies such as the ICPC and the EFCC, this paper finds out that such efforts were undermined by the seeming absence of the rule of law and capital punishments for corrupt individuals in the country. The paper therefore, concludes that corruption amongst law enforcement agencies in Nigeria such as the judiciary and the police further worsens the situation.

Keywords: Corruption, Agencies, Good Governance, Rule of Law.