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[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_row_inner el_id=”newsletters”][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Seven Feeders of Corruption” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:22|text_align:justify|color:%236699cc|line_height:1.8″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”25px”][vc_column_text]
One of the buzz words during an election period is ‘’corruption’’. Candidates are being accused of corruption or candidates are promising the electorate that they will tackle corruption if voted into office or incumbents are being measured on how well they tackled corruption. Corruption is just a hot topic from different perspectives and it is not a topic that will fade away anytime soon in Nigeria.
Alan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. His famous quote is that ‘’Corruption, embezzlement, fraud, these are all characteristics which exist everywhere. It is regrettably the way human nature functions, whether we like it or not. What successful economies do is keep it to a minimum. No one has ever eliminated any of that stuff.’’
Alan Greenspan thinks corruption will never be eliminated and I daresay I agree with him. I think the challenge therefore is to reduce it to the barest minimum. To do this, I think we need to first understand the factors that feed corruption and make it thrive. If we can starve it from its source then you are on your way to reducing its weight.
The first thing that feeds corruption, particularly with public servants is that the pay is actually very poor and not enough to meet basic needs. In one word we can call it poverty. Today in Nigeria, the monthly salary of a police recruit is N9, 019.42, while his annual salary amounts to N108, 233. When he gets promoted to police constable his monthly salary becomes
N43, 293.80, while his annual salary is N519, 525.6. How many people on this kind of salary who are exposed to the elements (sun, rain, violence) would not accept or demand bribes? The day anyone accepts the job as a
policeman you know that you are going to have to generate sundry income to make ends meet. This theory applies to judges. Many people join the judiciary for the sundry income – favours, bribes, and extra curricula payments. Many years ago, I had a friend who was a fantastic litigator but he was still struggling to survive in the early days and he said to me one day he was thinking of applying to become a magistrate and I said ‘’but magistrates are poorly paid how will you survive’’. His response was swift and simple: ‘’litigants will bring goats to my house, I will never lack’’.With this mindset, the goats will surely keep coming and so will compromise.
The second phenomenon that feeds corruption is the fact that to stay relevant in politics in Nigeria one must have enough money to throw around as you ply your trade. Therefore, many governors fight tooth and nail to ensure they have a proxy based 3rd, 4th and 5th terms. They enthrone proxies so they can continue to steal from the till. That is why career politicians feed fat on public funds so they have enough stash to continue to strut their stuff when they become ex-governors. Until we can stop such grand larceny such monies would only go to buy judgments, buy votes, compromise our agencies and institutions. Theodore Roosevelt, who served as America’s 26th President (1901-1909) said: “A man who has never gone to school may steal a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.” Many of these politicians own the railroads!
The third catalyst that nurtures corruption is the fact that there is no social welfare system that guarantees a Nigerian public servant or even a private citizen a basic standard of living. Judges and policemen also want to send their kids to the best schools because the public school system has broken down. They want to have enough money to afford healthcare because the healthcare system is in the dumps. They want to own a retirement home but there is no housing policy or affordable mortgage system to make this dream come true. To afford what should otherwise be basic amenities in their twilight they must have a side hustle and accept favours or cut the chase and simply ask for bribes.
The fourth feeder of corruption is opportunity. Many institutions have such porous accounting checks and balances that the cash is simply there for the taking on a discretionary basis. Have you ever wondered why people steal pension monies that are supposed to be the commonwealth of millions of citizens? How?
The fifth feeder is inflation – if the cost of goods and services continues to increase then actual income is shrinking. Inflation in Nigeria in 2014 was 8.05%, in 2015 it became 9.01%, in 2016 it was 15.7% and became 16.5% in 2017. So, incomes have shrunk by 8% over the last 4 years. It is clear that many more people would have accepted and demanded for more bribes in this period to subsidize their salary.
The sixth feeder of corruption in Nigeria is the bottom to top approach to fighting corruption. Our anti-corruption agencies spend more time castigating our institutions – civil service, judiciary, police – for being corrupt without corresponding efforts at fighting those who are actively corrupting our institutions. These people who can afford to give six to
nine-digit bribes in foreign currencies are the people enticing our judges. If nobody makes judges offers, perhaps they would simply do their jobs. These high net-worth individuals and corporates (Nigerian and foreign) are the
people who have high stakes that require mind blowing bribes. Until major corporates begin to feel the heat from our anti-corruption agencies, we would only be scratching the surface in the fight against corruption.
The seventh and perhaps most dangerous feeder of corruption is when the anti-corruption agencies or law enforcement agencies become tools in the hands of government or private citizens to settle scores. And you will agree with me that this is where the pack of cards come tumbling down and hope ebbs into hopelessness.
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[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Seven Feeders of Corruption” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:22|text_align:justify|color:%236699cc|line_height:1.8″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
One of the buzz words during an election period is ‘’corruption’’. Candidates are being accused of corruption or candidates are promising the electorate that they will tackle corruption if voted into office or incumbents are being measured on how well they tackled corruption. Corruption is just a hot topic from different perspectives and it is not a topic that will fade away anytime soon in Nigeria.
Alan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. His famous quote is that ‘’Corruption, embezzlement, fraud, these are all characteristics which exist everywhere. It is regrettably the way human nature functions, whether we like it or not. What successful economies do is keep it to a minimum. No one has ever eliminated any of that stuff.’’
Alan Greenspan thinks corruption will never be eliminated and I daresay I agree with him. I think the challenge therefore is to reduce it to the barest minimum. To do this, I think we need to first understand the factors that feed corruption and make it thrive. If we can starve it from its source then you are on your way to reducing its weight.
The first thing that feeds corruption, particularly with public servants is that the pay is actually very poor and not enough to meet basic needs. In one word we can call it poverty. Today in Nigeria, the monthly salary of a police recruit is N9, 019.42, while his annual salary amounts to N108, 233. When he gets promoted to police constable his monthly salary becomes
N43, 293.80, while his annual salary is N519, 525.6. How many people on this kind of salary who are exposed to the elements (sun, rain, violence) would not accept or demand bribes? The day anyone accepts the job as a
policeman you know that you are going to have to generate sundry income to make ends meet. This theory applies to judges. Many people join the judiciary for the sundry income – favours, bribes, and extra curricula payments. Many years ago, I had a friend who was a fantastic litigator but he was still struggling to survive in the early days and he said to me one day he was thinking of applying to become a magistrate and I said ‘’but magistrates are poorly paid how will you survive’’. His response was swift and simple: ‘’litigants will bring goats to my house, I will never lack’’.With this mindset, the goats will surely keep coming and so will compromise.
The second phenomenon that feeds corruption is the fact that to stay relevant in politics in Nigeria one must have enough money to throw around as you ply your trade. Therefore, many governors fight tooth and nail to ensure they have a proxy based 3rd, 4th and 5th terms. They enthrone proxies so they can continue to steal from the till. That is why career politicians feed fat on public funds so they have enough stash to continue to strut their stuff when they become ex-governors. Until we can stop such grand larceny such monies would only go to buy judgments, buy votes, compromise our agencies and institutions. Theodore Roosevelt, who served as America’s 26th President (1901-1909) said: “A man who has never gone to school may steal a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.” Many of these politicians own the railroads!
The third catalyst that nurtures corruption is the fact that there is no social welfare system that guarantees a Nigerian public servant or even a private citizen a basic standard of living. Judges and policemen also want to send their kids to the best schools because the public school system has broken down. They want to have enough money to afford healthcare because the healthcare system is in the dumps. They want to own a retirement home but there is no housing policy or affordable mortgage system to make this dream come true. To afford what should otherwise be basic amenities in their twilight they must have a side hustle and accept favours or cut the chase and simply ask for bribes.
The fourth feeder of corruption is opportunity. Many institutions have such porous accounting checks and balances that the cash is simply there for the taking on a discretionary basis. Have you ever wondered why people steal pension monies that are supposed to be the commonwealth of millions of citizens? How?
The fifth feeder is inflation – if the cost of goods and services continues to increase then actual income is shrinking. Inflation in Nigeria in 2014 was 8.05%, in 2015 it became 9.01%, in 2016 it was 15.7% and became 16.5% in 2017. So, incomes have shrunk by 8% over the last 4 years. It is clear that many more people would have accepted and demanded for more bribes in this period to subsidize their salary.
The sixth feeder of corruption in Nigeria is the bottom to top approach to fighting corruption. Our anti-corruption agencies spend more time castigating our institutions – civil service, judiciary, police – for being corrupt without corresponding efforts at fighting those who are actively corrupting our institutions. These people who can afford to give six to
nine-digit bribes in foreign currencies are the people enticing our judges. If nobody makes judges offers, perhaps they would simply do their jobs. These high net-worth individuals and corporates (Nigerian and foreign) are the
people who have high stakes that require mind blowing bribes. Until major corporates begin to feel the heat from our anti-corruption agencies, we would only be scratching the surface in the fight against corruption.
The seventh and perhaps most dangerous feeder of corruption is when the anti-corruption agencies or law enforcement agencies become tools in the hands of government or private citizens to settle scores. And you will agree with me that this is where the pack of cards come tumbling down and hope ebbs into hopelessness.
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[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Seven Feeders of Corruption” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:22|text_align:justify|color:%236699cc|line_height:1.8″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
One of the buzz words during an election period is ‘’corruption’’. Candidates are being accused of corruption or candidates are promising the electorate that they will tackle corruption if voted into office or incumbents are being measured on how well they tackled corruption. Corruption is just a hot topic from different perspectives and it is not a topic that will fade away anytime soon in Nigeria.
Alan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. His famous quote is that ‘’Corruption, embezzlement, fraud, these are all characteristics which exist everywhere. It is regrettably the way human nature functions, whether we like it or not. What successful economies do is keep it to a minimum. No one has ever eliminated any of that stuff.’’
Alan Greenspan thinks corruption will never be eliminated and I daresay I agree with him. I think the challenge therefore is to reduce it to the barest minimum. To do this, I think we need to first understand the factors that feed corruption and make it thrive. If we can starve it from its source then you are on your way to reducing its weight.
The first thing that feeds corruption, particularly with public servants is that the pay is actually very poor and not enough to meet basic needs. In one word we can call it poverty. Today in Nigeria, the monthly salary of a police recruit is N9, 019.42, while his annual salary amounts to N108, 233. When he gets promoted to police constable his monthly salary becomes
N43, 293.80, while his annual salary is N519, 525.6. How many people on this kind of salary who are exposed to the elements (sun, rain, violence) would not accept or demand bribes? The day anyone accepts the job as a
policeman you know that you are going to have to generate sundry income to make ends meet. This theory applies to judges. Many people join the judiciary for the sundry income – favours, bribes, and extra curricula payments. Many years ago, I had a friend who was a fantastic litigator but he was still struggling to survive in the early days and he said to me one day he was thinking of applying to become a magistrate and I said ‘’but magistrates are poorly paid how will you survive’’. His response was swift and simple: ‘’litigants will bring goats to my house, I will never lack’’.With this mindset, the goats will surely keep coming and so will compromise.
The second phenomenon that feeds corruption is the fact that to stay relevant in politics in Nigeria one must have enough money to throw around as you ply your trade. Therefore, many governors fight tooth and nail to ensure they have a proxy based 3rd, 4th and 5th terms. They enthrone proxies so they can continue to steal from the till. That is why career politicians feed fat on public funds so they have enough stash to continue to strut their stuff when they become ex-governors. Until we can stop such grand larceny such monies would only go to buy judgments, buy votes, compromise our agencies and institutions. Theodore Roosevelt, who served as America’s 26th President (1901-1909) said: “A man who has never gone to school may steal a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.” Many of these politicians own the railroads!
The third catalyst that nurtures corruption is the fact that there is no social welfare system that guarantees a Nigerian public servant or even a private citizen a basic standard of living. Judges and policemen also want to send their kids to the best schools because the public school system has broken down. They want to have enough money to afford healthcare because the healthcare system is in the dumps. They want to own a retirement home but there is no housing policy or affordable mortgage system to make this dream come true. To afford what should otherwise be basic amenities in their twilight they must have a side hustle and accept favours or cut the chase and simply ask for bribes.
The fourth feeder of corruption is opportunity. Many institutions have such porous accounting checks and balances that the cash is simply there for the taking on a discretionary basis. Have you ever wondered why people steal pension monies that are supposed to be the commonwealth of millions of citizens? How?
The fifth feeder is inflation – if the cost of goods and services continues to increase then actual income is shrinking. Inflation in Nigeria in 2014 was 8.05%, in 2015 it became 9.01%, in 2016 it was 15.7% and became 16.5% in 2017. So, incomes have shrunk by 8% over the last 4 years. It is clear that many more people would have accepted and demanded for more bribes in this period to subsidize their salary.
The sixth feeder of corruption in Nigeria is the bottom to top approach to fighting corruption. Our anti-corruption agencies spend more time castigating our institutions – civil service, judiciary, police – for being corrupt without corresponding efforts at fighting those who are actively corrupting our institutions. These people who can afford to give six to
nine-digit bribes in foreign currencies are the people enticing our judges. If nobody makes judges offers, perhaps they would simply do their jobs. These high net-worth individuals and corporates (Nigerian and foreign) are the
people who have high stakes that require mind blowing bribes. Until major corporates begin to feel the heat from our anti-corruption agencies, we would only be scratching the surface in the fight against corruption.
The seventh and perhaps most dangerous feeder of corruption is when the anti-corruption agencies or law enforcement agencies become tools in the hands of government or private citizens to settle scores. And you will agree with me that this is where the pack of cards come tumbling down and hope ebbs into hopelessness.
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