Corruption: Bane of progress, hinderance to development

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Corruption at all levels of all societies is a behavioural consequence of power and greed. With no rulebook, corruption is covert, opportunistic, repetitive and powerful, reliant upon dominance, fear and unspoken codes: a significant component of the ‘quiet violence’.

Descriptions of financial corruption in China, Italy and Africa lead into a discussion of grand, political and petty corruption. Social consequences are given emphasis but elude analysis; those in Bangladesh and the Philippines are considered against prerequisites for resilience. People most dependent upon self-reliance are most prone to its erosion by exploitation, ubiquitous impediments to prerequisites of resilience – latent abilities to accommodate and recover and to change in order to survive.

Rarely spoken of to those it does not dominate, for long-term effectiveness, sustainability and reliability, eradication of corrupt practices should be prerequisite to initiatives for climate change, poverty reduction, disaster risk reduction and resilience.

The word corruption is derived from the Latin word “corruptus,” which means “corrupted” and, in legal terms, the abuse of a trusted position in one of the branches of power (executive, legislative and judicial) or in political or other organizations with the intention of obtaining material benefit which is not legally justified for itself or for others.

Corruption was referred to as a great sin already in the Bible: “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twist the words of the innocent.” However, the history of corruption is in fact related to the beginning of the creation of law and the state and was already in the antiquity considered an evil, which negatively affects the public administration and the functioning of the political system. The earliest records of corruption date back to the thirteenth century BC, to the time of the Assyrian civilization. From the found plates, written in cuneiform, the archeologists managed to discern how and who accepted bribes. Under the Roman law, the criminal offense of corruption was defined as giving, receiving or claiming benefits in order to influence an official in connection with his work.

Due to the prevalence of corruption in the country, this law was supplemented by a new law, which predicted compensation for damage in double value of the damage, and the loss of political rights for the perpetrator of the corruptive act.

Corruption increases the volume of public investments at the expense of private investments, as there are many options that allow for public expenditure manipulation and are carried out by high-level officials so as to get bribes (which means that more general government expenditures or a large budget offer more opportunities for corruption.

Corruption redirects the composition of public expenditure from the expenditure necessary for basic functioning and maintenance to expenditure on new equipment.

Corruption tends to pull away the composition of public expenditure from the necessary fixed assets for health and education, as there is less chance of getting commissions than from other, perhaps unnecessary projects.

Corruption reduces the effectiveness of public investments and the infrastructure of a country.

Corruption can reduce tax revenues by compromising the ability of the state administration to collect taxes and fees, although the net effect depends on how the nominal tax and other regulatory burdens were selected by the officials, exposed to corruption.

The truth is that the devastating combination consists of widespread state intervention and subsidies in the simultaneous absence of a strong institutional framework and detailed rules of the game, including the control of public finances and effective anti-trust legislation and legal practices. On the other hand, however, there is no clear evidence that private monopolies are more effective and less corrupt than the public ones and that privatization, especially long-lasting, gradual and non-transparent one (so-called gradualism), reduces positive developmental and social effects, including the reduction of corruption.

There should be a strong strengthening of the public procurement institution. The law is admittedly strict about the public procurement, but one of the main reasons for public procurement problems is the lack of a skilled workforce, and public procurement is thus still the breeding ground of corruption. There also exists a proverb “poverty is a curse,” which applies largely to all developing countries, as these are the countries that are most affected by poverty. Poverty destroys all ethical and moral values.

This implies that in more dispersed local bribery environments at least the majority of bribing firms receives preferential treatment from public officials, which allows them to grow fast. Their non-bribing (or less frequently bribing) competitors are likely more efficient in production and growth and are better at complying with bureaucratic regulations, as otherwise they would be displaced from the market. In less dispersed bribery environments, all firms bribe in a similar way. Bribery acts as an additional fee, or an increase in operational costs that only impedes firm performance.

Corruption is a constant in the society and occurs in all civilizations; however, it has only been in the past 20 years that this phenomenon has begun being seriously explored. It has many different shapes as well as many various effects, both on the economy and the society at large.
There does not exist an unambiguous answer as to how to deal with corruption. Something that works in one country or in one region will not necessarily be successful in another.

Ayodeji Ologun writes from Ondo and he can be reached throughemmanologun@gmail.com

President Buhari and the dream worth pursuing

It was amusing at the start of this administration to hear the promises rolled out by the president and his promoters as well as the unrealistic hope that the people had in them.

I will end insecurity and stop killings of Nigerians President Muhammadu Buhari has said on numerous occasions.

If you were living solo on a deserted island and Buhari showed up, that might be true, but for everyone else, it’s just another one of his delusional claims.

In fact, I have met the president myself (in his previous attempts at being president when I was his returning officer), and he is off by one word.

He is not one that matches action with words but a person who does what alone appears to him as needful and beneficial.

Buhari’s supporters reading this will probably get upset and melt like snowflakes. Yet since his first time as the commander-in-chief, it has been known that the president is a racist and not a nationalist — and a congenital one at that.

Let’s dig down into the idea of hatred for justice, fairness and equity and you will realize that with a Buhari, ‘all animals are not equal’.
The truth is that, when we say someone is not a nationalist, we’re describing what we think is a feeling they have.

The president’s hypocrisy is beyond argument. This is evident in how he handles uprising in the regions. While one is criminalized, the other is colorized. While it is stick for one, it is carrot for the other.

In conservative circles especially, Nigeria is considered a fallen land that has gone into an irredeemable state of moral depravity.

More than a Mediterranean hothouse, Nigeria has always been a political laboratory, a harbinger of things to come.

What has been unfolding with Buhari has implications beyond now but generations to come. He and his cheer leaders have only succeeded in lowering the bar and debasing governance to the idea of helping a people.

More than any politician in the world today, Buhari has been testing the relationship between clicks and consensus—whether slow-moving institutions in the country, to say nothing of rival political parties, can withstand the use of lightning-fast, reactive media.

Buhari while looking for power brought his supporters closer to him, making them feel as though he is one of them but now, he is a lord of the manor and most insensitive to the plight of the people that gave him his life desire, POWER!

In many ways, Buhari is a product of circumstance. An unserious Jonathan paved the way.

Nigeria today is a fluid frame that easily and quickly expands into vaguer and more emotional questions of national identity, race, and belonging. A savvy politician can fish for years in these deep waters. There’s something of the return of the repressed.

Many politicians, chief of which is Buhari and the APC traducers have capitalized on the emotional aspect of politics.

Funny, self-aware, and sardonic, Buhari disarms his own tough talk with self-deprecating humor. While his spokesmen act like the smartest student in the class, Buhari comes across as the kid who might not have done so well in school but was always more popular, a bit of a rebel. He wears looks that that say he is unaware but yet no action is derelict of his plan or input.

We’re not promising miracles, he said at all his campaign rallies. He just wants to make Nigeria great again. Aren’t we great in killing ourselves and hunger?

The framers of the constitution wanted to ensure that the executive branch was powerful enough to act, and so they established that executive power. In Nigeria, it is vested in a president, who has certain powers. The powers of the president are known as formal powers, but over the year’s presidents have claimed other powers, known as informal powers.

Presidents campaign for office based on their policy agendas: the things they promise voters that they will attempt to accomplish while in office. They use their formal and informal powers to accomplish.

Well, somebody, someone who has consulted history to understand present and future challenges, who understands the role and risks of technology — and who can help people understand the daily chaos with the erudition of Stevenson, the humanity of Eisenhower and the wisdom of one we’ve yet to know, shall come and safe us from the rubbles of the collapsing house on us by a Buhari.

Now that is a dream worth pursuing!

Ayodeji Ologun writes from Ondo and he can be reached on emmanologun@gmail.com

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