CORRUPTION AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT: (A CASE STUDY OF HALLIBURTON)

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CORRUPTION AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT: (A CASE STUDY OF HALLIBURTON)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study

A man can be born again; the springs of life can be cleansed instantly…if this is true of one, it can be true of any number. Thus, a nation can be born in a day if the ideals of the people can be changed [William Jennings Bryan]. Nigeria is one of the Countries in Africa that loses billions of dollars yearly because of corruption. She was ranked the second most corrupt country in the world in 2004 [Olu-Olu, 2008].

In 2005 and 2008, Nigeria was ranked 13th and 17th respectively out of 146 countries by Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index [TICPI]. Although the 2007 ranking placed Nigeria as the 32nd most corrupt country out of 147 countries by TICPI, corruption still remains a serious problem in Nigeria [Shehu, 2006]. Corruption is a “multifaceted phenomenon with multiple causes and effects” [Andvig and fjeldstad, 2001: 1]. It is a trinity of illegal money, commercial and criminal activities [Baker, 2005; Guanardi, 2008].

According to section 8(1) of the Anti-Corruption Law of Nigeria (2004), it entails the act of asking for, receiving or obtaining any property or benefit of any kind for oneself or for any other person. It involves the abuse of public office for self-aggrandizement or private benefits [World Bank, 1997].

The term “corruption” covers a wide range of conduct patterns. It is a product of the socio-economic and political structure of any society. As a multi-faceted phenomenon, no single theory is equipped enough to explain its causation and/or control.

Corruption is not a Nigerian Word. It is an English Word. While corruption is an English word necessarily laced with western ideas, the concept behind it is found in other cultures. Corruption is one of the dare devils that stares humanity in the face. It is also a global problem with certain destructive tendencies in the Third World Countries like Nigeria. But the rate of corruption in Nigeria is so alarming that one is constrained to ask: Is there anything peculiar to the nature of Nigerians that makes them to be corrupt?

Achebe (1983: 35), quoting from the weekly star newspaper of May 15, 1983, wrote that the corrupt nature of the Nigerian society is such that, keeping an average Nigerian from being corrupt is like keeping a goat from eating yam. Corruption serves as a spring board to under-development in Nigeria. Most economic, political and social problems in underdeveloped societies like Nigeria emanate from corruption which manifest in many ways such as: lack of accountability, inadequate funding of programs, diversion of public resources to private ownership, different types of discriminations, ethnicity, lack of competence, inefficiency etc. The problem of corruption as a phenomenon is historically rooted in the country’s political economy. In the colonial period, it was attributed to colonialism.

Although, the government has embarked upon anti-corruption measures, these are not sincerely and properly implemented such that the expected objectives and goal are not achieved. The problem is thus rather aggravated. Consequently, corruption has continued to perpetuate underdevelopment in Nigeria. Many factors seem to have combined to make the situation severe or worse than the case in the colonial era. Firstly, Achebe (1983: 1) fascinatingly explained that: The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely, a failure of Leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigeria land and climate or water or air or anything else the Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility or to challenge of personal examples, which are hallmarks of true leadership. There is also a common belief that poverty is one of the major causes of corruption. Here, it is argued that there exists a great deal of poverty among Nigerians in almost every segment of their social life. In Nigeria today, it is just a few families that can boast of three square meals a day, wear good clothes, or enjoy the basic necessities of life, such as water, good road network and electricity. Hence, everyone takes to corruption, no matter one’s own small capacity as a way of making up or balancing the prevalent inequalities. It is also equally true that, corruption is due to the degeneration and shaky foundations of our moral upbringing. Corruption transcends nearly every structure of Nigerian society. The situation is so bad that corruption has been institutionalized to a point where it almost passes for official policy in both public and private sectors of our national life. The socio-economic and political system itself appears to be built on corruption and it thrives on it. Even the churches and other religious organizations are themselves not completely free of corrupt practices. This study attempts to assess the impact of corruption in Nigeria’s development with a view to suggesting alternative approach of tackling the phenomenon.

1.2     Statement of Problem

One of the most fundamental problems facing Nigeria today is corruption. The corruption has not only weakened the moral fiber of Nigeria, it has also wreaked havoc in its body politics. Corruption in Nigeria is so devastating and alarming that it has virtually affected every sector of the economy. Consequently, it is obvious that corruption has been a major bane of socio-economic and political development in Nigeria. This leads to the following questions on which the research is based.

• Is corruption responsible for Nigeria’s underdevelopment?
• Is the persistence of corruption in Nigeria linked to external factors?
• Can deregulation curb the menace of corruption and engender development in Nigeria?

Corruption has affected many sectors of the economy. For instance, Nigeria presents a typical care of a Country in Africa whose development has been undermined and retarded by the menace of corrupt practices.

To say that corruption has eaten deep into every aspect of the Nigerian Society is to affirm the obvious. This can be inferred from the revelations of probe panels that have been set up at different times by different regime. In Nigeria, since independence, series of reforms have been carried out in the public service so as to make the public bureaucracy more efficient and result oriented. However, the anticipated gains of such reforms have not been visible due to series of factors which include that of corruption. Whichever way one views corruption, particularly bureaucratic corruption, it involves a violation of public duty or deviation from high moral standards in exchange for [or in anticipation of] personal pecuniary going. It is connected with moral and dishonest acts. Gould D.J cited in identified more than twenty categories of corrupt practices in developing nations which are very much visible in Nigeria State. These are bribery, fraudulent use of official stationary, payment for office visit, payment for letter of recommendation, kickback for wiring, money travel documents and travel related peccadilloes, misuse of official housing two salaries, neglect of public service for per tonal business, salary computation fraud, embezzlement in its various form among other. Corruption in the bureaucratic class is the type of corruption the citizens encounter daily at places like the hospitals, schools, local counseling offices, encounters with the police, taking offices, etc. it is petty corruption of need that occurs when one obtains a business from the public sector through inappropriate procedure.

However, corruption in the bureaucratic class in Nigeria came into being when public servant not steamed in the traditions of a political professionalism, saw how politicians who hitherto, were nothing, became rich overnight through patronages, gift, bribes and actual embezzlement of government funds. It was only a matter of time before the bureaucrats joined them. In Nigeria’s fourth republic, corruption has become a Norm and practice of politics among the present political class [i.e. those that control the affairs of the state] from the presidency of the councilors of local authorities and party chairman. The furniture mentality which this political class brought to governance represents the highest form of corruption and enslavement of the popular masses of the country. Political corruption in Nigeria encompasses the use of official power and government resources by the political class for sordid and disrepute private gain. Indeed, political corruption could be said to be the “head” and other forms of corruption are the “body” cut of the head; the other parts could cease to grow. Nigeria’s main development problem is political corruption which needs to be eradicated.

1.3     Objective of the Study

The major concern of this study is to investigate how the growing incidence of corruption has stunned underdevelopment in Nigeria. However, the specific objectives are stated as follows;

1. To discover if corruption is responsible for Nigeria’s underdevelopment.
2. To ascertain if the persistence of corruption in Nigeria is linked to external factors.
3. To determine if the deregulation policy is capable of curbing the menace of corruption in Nigeria.

1.4     Significance of the Study

The study has two basic significances. They are both practical and theoretical in nature. Practically, this research work will be a guide to policy makers, economists, political analysts, policy implementers, and researchers. In other words, it will serve as a tool for the government and private organizations on how to curb and prevent corrupt practices and engender development in Nigeria. Theoretically, the study will close the existing gap in the literature in corruption and by so doing; add to the existing volume of knowledge on the connection between corruption and underdevelopment and how it can be curbed.

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