By Chijioke Okoronkwo
By most accounts, corruption, which has become a global cankerworm, constitutes the bulk of the ills afflicting Nigeria.
Corruption manifests in all webs of human activities – in governments, religious institutions, businesses and other interactions.
Even as some analysts contend that corruption in Nigeria is somewhat exaggerated, others describe its magnitude in the country as startling.
However, the analysts agree that for corruption to be contained in Nigeria, factors encouraging corruption should be brought to the fore and tackled head-on.
They say that the factors include greed, weak anti-graft laws, exorbitant school fees, prohibitive house rents, high cost of living and obsession of some parents who want their children to excel in exams at all costs as well as efforts of politicians to win elections at all costs.
Mr Maxwell Opara, a lawyer, said that greed was a major factor that pushed many Nigerians into corruption.
He said that many people were not contented with what they had, adding that this compelled them to do everything possible to amass wealth, even if it entailed stealing or looting public funds.
“People are not just okay with what they have; a man who owns two cars will like to add the latest car in town to his fleet.
“A man, who owns a comfortable house where he resides with his family, will also want to acquire more houses to put up for rent,’’ he added.
Opara said that another factor fuelling corruption was the fact that the Nigerian society celebrated corruption, as it honoured those who had acquired wealth through fraudulent means.
He said that most times, the society was aware that a man embezzled public funds in order to vie for a political office and yet, the people would still go ahead and vote for him in if he was able to dole out money.
“Fraudsters, looters and dubious businessmen are receiving chieftaincy titles in our communities everyday; how then will well-meaning citizens not tilt towards corruption?’’ he asked.
Besides, Opara said that religious institutions had tacitly contributed in the spread of corruption in the society by shying away from their responsibilities.
He noted that many Christian and Islamic clerics never queried the source of the wealth their adherents whenever they made donations to churches or mosques.
“A man, who is a murderer or thief, will come to the church and make huge donations; pay tithes or build churches or mosques as the case may be and the clerics would keep mute because of the material gains.
“The clerics even bless and pray for such persons steadily. In this type of situation, other faithful in such congregation will not see anything wrong in amassing wealth through dubious means and `buy’ God’s blessing with money,’’ he said. [eap_ad_1] As part of efforts to tackle the growing menace of corruption, Opara urged the National Assembly to review the existing anti-corruption laws, with a view to prescribing capital punishment for corruption, as it was done in China.
He also underscored the need for the establishment of special courts to try corruption cases, so as to ensure speedy and fair dispensation of justice.
He, however, frowned against the plea bargain provision, saying that it provided soft landing for looters of the public treasury.
Opara stressed said that people, who had once been convicted of corruption charges, should not be given appointments whether at the state or federal levels.
However, Paulinus Ijeh, a civil servant, said that the poor living conditions of most Nigerians often encouraged several people to engage in corrupt activities.
He noted that the day-to-day responsibilities of an average worker in Nigeria far exceeded what his earnings could handle, adding the ensuing dilemma often compelled the worker to engage in Machiavellian tactics to live up to expectations.
“Imagine a situation where a civil servant with an annual salary below N1 million has to pay up N1.5 million as school fees for each of his three wards in a year.
“Do you think such person, no matter how morally sound he is, will resist an opportunity to make money through illicit means?
“Imagine a situation where a family man pays up to N800,000 annually for a two-bedroom flat; and he is still faced with other obligations like school fees, feeding, hospital bills, among others; do you thing he will resist the opportunity to loot?