1.1 Introduction
Political corruption has affected the cognitive perception of Nigerians since the current democratic experiment began in 1999. First there is doubt about the ability of the Nigerian state to organize a free, fair and credible election; second there is this perception that political appointments are one sure way to wealth and elevation of social status; and third, there is also the perception that the political office holders cannot be responsible and accountable to the citizens. The impact of this on democratic consolidation in Nigeria is clear (Ogundiya, 2006). Corruption has reached a level in Nigeria such that an average Nigerian citizen believes that there is an inextricable link between corruption and democracy.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Nigeria and political corruption – political corruption is not a recent phenomenon that pervades the Nigerian state. Since the creation of modern public administration in the country, there have been cases of officials misuse of resources, embezzlement of funds, looting of government property for personal enrichment “the rise of public administration and the discovery of oil and natural gas are two major events seen to have led to a litany of ignorale corrupt practices in the country over the years, the country has seen its wealth withered with little to show in living condition of the common man.
In this view, a Nigerian political leader, Obafemi Awolowo raised a salent issue when he said since independence, 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. Characteristically, apologist for the failings of African governments have blamed colonist for the pervasive corruption. According to this view, the nations’ colonial history may have restricted any easily influence in an ethnical revolution through out the colonial period. most Nigerians were stunk in ignorance and poverty. The trapping of flash cars, houses and success of the colonialists many influence the poor to see the colonialist as symbols of success and to emulate the colonists in different politicla ways.
Involvement in the agenda of colonial rule may also inhibit idealism in the easily stage of the nascent nations’ development. A view common held during the colonial days was that the colonist’s property (cars, houses, farms etc) is not our property. Thus vandalism and looting of public property was not seen as a crime against society. This view is what has degenerated into them or sent disregard for public property and lack of public trust and concern for public goods as collective national property.
According to Sen (1999 p. 225) states that corruption is “an effort to secure wealth or power through illegal means private gain at public expenses or a misuse of public power for private benefit”. Therefore electoral corruption includes the purchase of vote with money, promises of offices or special favours, coercion, intimidation and interference with freedom of election (Nigeria is a good example where this practice is common, botes are bought, people are killed or maimed in the name of election, losers end up as the winners where voters turns up in areas where vogues were not cast.
Generally, the implication of political corruption appears in different forms such as electoral corruptions, bribery, fraud, embezzlement, extortion, nepotism godfatherism, favouritism, madness of second tenure system and others. The implication of political corruption as an impediment to the economical, social cultural and political stability is not a recent phenomenon that pervades the Nigerian state. It started as far back as the colonial era among the colonists but grown to its apex/climax since, the creation of modern public administration in the country.
There have been cases of official misuse of resources for personal enrichment. Nigeria’s political godfathers, which came into existence as a result of inability of some aspirants of political officers to afford or sources their fund to run the election political godfathers there are those who are the powerful wealthy men who sponsor the political aspirants in Nigeria palace known as political godfathers in which their political fathering activities has been culminating to political polarizations, political traumas, political upheavals and political brouhaha which has become the talk of the day. What is known as Anambra state today was created as far back as 1991 under the leadership of Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, Anambra today is one of the largest and dominating southeast state and comprises of (21) twenty one local governments.
Since 19991, the violence, corruption and godfatherrism” occurring elsewhere in Nigeria have run a rampant in Anambra since then Anambra has been proved by some political analysis to remain the eyes of the most political corrupt state in Nigeria in which a wealthy member of Chris Uba is an iconic example of the godfathers phenomenon in Nigeria as a prove in 2003 Anambra gubernatorial election when PDP candidate Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige was sponsored and financed to rig the 2003 election in Anambra which the whole world witnessed their high level of electoral rigging, political irregularities political quagmires, political traumas and political upheavals as a result of godfatherrism, favoritism second tenure madness, nepotisms and other. By virtue of this unattainable agreement between Dr. Christ Nwabueze Ngige and his godfather Christ Uba, the two political gladiators degenerated a series of political traumas, electoral irregularities riggings, thuggery, kidnapping, killing, vandalization, false impeachment and all that.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to examine the Political Corruption and its Effect on Nigeria Government and Politics.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that Nigeria as a nation is facing serious political corruption problems namely:
- Lack of political education
- Godfatherism concept
- Electoral irregularities
- Lack of party idealogy
- Political polarizations, upheavals, quagmires, traumas and brouhaha.
- Ethnicisms, nepotism, sectionalism and tribalism among the politicians.
- Madness of second tenure concept
- Lack of patriotism among the leaders
- Marginalization
- High level of insecurity
- Poverty at its climax heralding to high level of thugry and violent.
- Centralization of power at the state level a case study of Anambra.
From all indications, challenges are daily, weekly monthly and yearly and may be to complete in the near future, unless there is a panel committee set up to eradicate the situation. However, they have to educate and internalize the masses to a lager extent using electronic voting system as to ensure transparency, justice, equity, good concense and free and fair elections. A question just came to my mind now, saying how can massive thuggery, been reduced in Anambra state election? The answer says that there should be an adequate provision of job opportunity as to engage the youths in one job or the other so that it will limit their state of poverty as an off-shoot of thuggery.
Based on these, the researcher has to vividly analyze that thing that contributes to political corruption and its effect in Anambra state.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the Political Corruption and its Effect on Nigeria Government and Politics. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To provide adequate political education to the Anambra youth and other politicians.
- To provide suitable environment to enhance political stabilities.
- To give a stop to luke warm concept of godfatherism in politics.
- To provide job opportunities to Nigerian & Anambra youths to reduce the level of poverty which has been an offshoot of massive thuggery and kidnapping during election.
- To give proper causation and warning to the fraudulent INEC officials on the side of their electoral fraud and regulates which has been culminating to political traumas and qaugmire in Anambra state.
- To mandate the state government to delegate power to the local government level as to enhance mass participation and political enlightment.
- To ensure political stability which may conversely heralds to free and fair election in Anambra state
- To encourage electronic voting system in Anambra state for more effective and efficient politicking and free and fair elections.
- To ensure mass participation in the political activities
- To ensure adequate party ideology in Nigeria government and politics.
More so, the study has the following aim to explain why Anambra state elections had never once been conducted free and fair.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- To what extent does political corruption affects the Anambra state political, social and economical lives of people?
- What ways could the political leaders, followers and INEC officials would be baptized (improved) so as to ensure theoretical framework?
- How can electronics voting system effect or culminates or heralds to free and fair election in Anambra state?
- How has godfatherism contributed to the present high level of political brouhaha, political traumas, and political upheavals in Anambra state?
- How does purchasing of votes, collection of votes, where and when election was not conducted nor votes being cast contributes to the electoral malpractices in Anambra state?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: Political corruption does not affect the Nigeria Government and Politics in Anambra state political, social and economical lives of people
- H1: Political corruption affects the Nigeria Government and Politics in Anambra state political, social and economical lives of people
1.7 Significance of Study
This study will be significant in the need to improve political stability in Nigeria with particular emphasis to Anambra state is imperative in the following.
- In the view of improving political equality among the Anambrarians.
- In the view of eradicating high level of political illiteracy among the Anambra youths through political education.
- This study will also be significant in finding solution to the rampant political thugry, mass kidnapping, frequent abductions, killing etc.
- It will also be significant in eradicating high level of insecurity in Anambra state.
- This study will also be significant in prohibiting any thing concerning godfatherism in Anambra state.
- This study will also be significant in effecting political stabilities thereby resulting to free and fair election heralding to credible representatives.
- This study will be significant in giving room for the state government delegating political, financial and administrative autonomy to the local government in Anambra state.
- This study will also be significant in enlightening Nigerian politicians with party ideology rather than their formal party without ideology system.
- It will be significant in leaving little or no change for political irregularities, electoral fraud and other political traumas in Nigeria particularly Anambra state.
In this report, the researcher will also be significant in eradicating of political arsons, kidnapping and other political upheavals and how Anambra and its neighbouring states can benefit or gain from the refined effective and efficient political administration both economically, politically, socially and cultural harmony and stability.
1.8 Scope of the Study
In studying the political corruption in Nigeria government and politics, it becomes imperative to confine this to a democratic dispensation in actualizing transparency, equity, justice, good conscience and free and fair election to an extent within the constraint of time and of the study.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Corruption: in a layman understanding, corruption is defined as a perversion or change from good to bad. Therefore corrupt behaviour involves violation of established rules for personal gain and profit (Sen 1999 P. 275). Corruption is also an effort to secure wealth or power through illegal means for private gain at public expense or misuse of public power for private benefit
Godfathers in Nigeria: The term godfathers (alkla money bag, alkla loan-shacks) refers to superfluously very wealthy men (no known women yet) that finance elections.
Note: when the godfathers sponsor election, they normally cover the government treasury and control the government in order to recoup their investment.
Madness of second Tenure: This simply means the sit tight system adopted in Nigeria governance where by the governors, chairpersons, president will be on the government seat and lying or agitating for second tenure for him to be re-elected into the seat.
Political polarization: this simply means the dividing house (party) into different groups of people with different opinion or idea, in a state as a result of politics, i.e disapproval among the individual in the society as in Anambra politics.
Political Brouhaha and upheavals: this is unnecessary estimate, criticism or activity especially in news report to show disapprovals.
Electoral corruption: This includes purchase of votes with money, promises of office or special facours, coercion, intimidation and interference with freedom of election.
Fraud: It involves some kind of trickery, swindle and detect counterfeiting, acketing, smuggling and forgery (Ibid Pu).
Embezzlement: This is theft of public resources by public officials. It is when a state officials steals from the public institution in which he / she is employed.
