Corruption, Governance and National Question in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria is richly endowed with qualitative human and natural resources but yet to find an appropriate and rightful place among the community of nations in the world. One major reason that is responsible for this socio-economic stagnation is attributable to corruption and all effort geared at stemming the tide appears to be unsuccessful.  Economically, corruption leads to the depletion of national wealth. Nigeria sits on some of the largest oil reserves in the world, which has been fuelling corruption since independence. Between 2000 and 2008 alone, it earned roughly 370 billion United States dollars in oil and gas export. In spite of this, the average life expectancy stands at 48 years and over half of Nigerians do not have access to clean water. The paper examines the effect of corruption on governance (i.e. infrastructural development) and its impact on national unity in Nigeria. It used quantitative qualitative analysis to draw conclusion. Structural Functionalism theory is the guide of the paper. Nigeria is plugging deeper into the mire of corruption with each passing year. This was recently affirmed by corruption perception index released by Transparency International. The paper concludes that corruption in Nigeria has completely undermined government’s socio-economic development strategies. Nonetheless, corruption continues to hamper government’s policies and initiatives at development. It also affects national unity and worsens the national question. The paper recommends restructuring of the legal framework of anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria.

Keywords: Corruption, Governance, National Question, Infrastructural Development, Nigeria.