In Nigeria, corruption has become the hydra which replaces any of its nine heads that is severed by two.

Over the years, the country has maintained several legislative framework and policies for fighting  corruption. Some of which are the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Money Laundering Act No. 3 of 1995, Failed Bank Act No. 16 of 1996, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act of 2000, the Economic and Financial Crimes Act 2004, and the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligent Unit.

As the President of the Federal Republic  of Nigeria for eight years, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo declared  war against corruption on several fronts of his administration. Nuhu Ribadu, a young police officer, was  appointed to head the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He assured Nigerians that the corruption battle was winnable in the country. So he plunged into it.

But the pandora’s box opened by the Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigating the activities of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) in the last 12 years reveals that winning the corruption battle is still a mirage.

From the mass of evidence before the Senate Committee regarding the rot in the country’s privatisation process and similar exercises, it has become apparent that the restlessness and heartlessness of some privileged elite in sucking the nation dry have been injected into the Nigerian psyche.

According to media reports, the BPE’s Director General, Bolanle Onagoruwa, disclosed to the Senate Committee that the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State built at the cost of $3.2billion was sold to Russel, a Russian-based company for $139million. A similar story goes for Daily Times, with Delta Steel Company in Delta State, and Eleme Petrochemical Company in Rivers State sold to Folio Communications, Global Infrastructure, and Indorama, respectively at paltry sums in comparison with the nation’s huge investments in them. Apparently, corruption has become a state of being in which the Nigerian lives daily.

In the language of the Political Bureau established in Nigeria in 1987, corruption takes many forms including: “… the inflation of government contracts in kickbacks, frauds and falsification of accounts in the public service, examination malpractices in our educational institutions including universities. The taking of bribes and perversion of justice, and various heinous crimes against the State in the business and industrial sectors of our economy in collusion with multinational companies such as over-invoicing of goods, foreign exchange swindling, hoarding and smuggling.”

The causes of corruption in the country are numerous. Some of them are poverty, ineffective and inefficient leadership, indiscipline, greed, and scarcity of goods and services resulting from low productivity. As observed by Ayodele Ikotun in his book: Ethics in the Nigerian Public Service, “Where goods and services provided by the public authorities are far below the great demand for them, corruption takes over. For instance, it is not uncommon to see people paying a small sum to a minor official for reserving a seat in public transportation, for being admitted in a hospital, for getting a telephone connection or licence, or for meeting any other administrative needs. Here, scarcity of public resources and almost unlimited demands by the community give rise to such corrupt practices.”

Does it mean that the Nigerian state cannot rise above its corruption challenge?

Yes, as many well-meaning people have identified, the corruption challenge facing the country can be tackled by social change, administrative reforms, property recovery, investigation and prosecution of culprits, encouragement of transparency, efficiency, and recruitment based on merit, public enlightenment, and global co-operation. But the solution to the problem of corruption in Nigeria lies more in poverty alleviation and exemplary leadership by which the power elite, managers, bureaucrats, and other privileged groups maintain disciplined and austere living.

Poverty alleviation programmes and policies aimed at reducing corruption therefore, call for basic commitment to full employment, free medical services, pension and other social security for the low income earners, decent housing for all citizens, and general rural pipe-borne water, electrification, and feeder roads to benefit the under-privileged.

What about leadership? How many Nigerian leaders would, like Indira Ghandi, say from the bottom of their hearts: “We would rather starve than sell our national honour.” Your guess is as good as mine.

Until our leaders have the realisation that their reward for their contribution to the growth of our nation is in service itself, not in power or volume of wealth acquired, they will not shun corruption.

Besides, in our society, where the poor and the rich co-exist, humility and self-discipline demand that the big and powerful should live austere life. In Nigeria, it is very rare to see those in leadership positions live in small houses and drive small cars. The flamboyant and affluent life style of the rich and powerful lure the poor into corrupt practices.

With the corruption culture eating deeper and deeper into the consciousness of the nation, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the goal of transforming the country and joining the elite club of 20 mega economies by the year 2020 to be achieved.

Rising above corruption is a first-order condition for the transformation of the country.