This study was embarked on to evaluate corruption and sustainable development in Nigeria. In the process of this study three specific objectives were formulated and three research questions were poses to guide the research. The major limitation was the inability of the researcher to retrieve some relevant materials for the study from internet sources and the management of time to produce the needed result. The literature review was organized in themes which directly look into the concepts under investigation. The study adopted structural functionalism as a theoretical frame work and expos facto design. The study used secondary source as method of data collection and content analysis as the method of data analysis. Afterword’s, The study found out that corruption has contributed to lack of sustainable Economic development in Nigeria and the study recommends that EFCC and other security apparatus should strategies ways to reduce corruption in Nigeria in order to bring about sustainable economic development in Nigeria.

Table of Content

Title page i

Approval page ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgement iv

Table of content vi

Abstract ix

Chapter one introduction

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Statement of the problem 2

1.3 Objective of Study 3

1.4 Research Question 3

1.5 Significant of the Study 3

1.6 Limitation of the Study 3

1.7 Research Hypotheses 4

1.7 Operational Definition 4

Chapter two: Literature Review

2.1 Conceptualization 6

2.1.1 Corruption 6

2.1.2 Sustainable Development 15

2.2 Public Corruption 22

2. 3 Corruption in Nigeria Public Sector An Important to Good

Governor and

Sustainable Development 25

2..3 Empirical Review 28

2.4 Concluding Remarks

2.5 Perspectives of Corrupt Practices in the Nigerian fourth Republic 30

2.6 Anti- Corruption Efforts in Nigeria 38

2.7 Nigeria Anti – Graft Commission 39

2.8 The Challenges of Corruption to Sustainable Development

in the Fourth Republic 40

2/9 Empirical Review 42

2.10 Gap in Literature 44

Chapter three: research methodology

3.1 Theoretical Frame Work 46

3.2 Research Design 47

3.3 Method of Data Collection 49

3.4 Method of Data Analysis 49

Chapter Four: Data Presentation and Analysis

4.1 Causes of Corruption in Nigeria 50

4.2 Impacts of Corruption on Nigeria’s Quest for Sustainable Development 51

4.3 The Nexus between Corruption and Sustainable Development 52

Chapter Five: Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Summary 53

5.2 Conclusion 56

5.3 Recommendations 57

Bibliography 59

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study:

Political corruption in its various forms is generally believed to be the bane of Nigeria development and it has been devastating the country and destroys its image among the comity of nations. It is now fast becoming a way of life in the country as integrity is now being eroded. Little wonder why in recent times, both the past and present government in the country made the fight against corruption a top priority. But none seems to have made a considerable headway.

The reflections of their efforts were made manifest in the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). Corruption is found and practiced in every sectors of the public office in Nigeria and it is entrenched in nearly all sections of the society with many people deeply involved in it. Although, it is a global phenomenon but it is more prevalent in one environment than the other and Nigeria is a typical example of such. Iyanda (2012) argued that it is a plague that has eaten so deep into the entire fabric of the Nigerian society; it confers undue benefits on few people contrary to legal and moral norms of the society. It undermines authorities’ effort to provide suitable welfare for all citizens as the resources to do this are in the hands or at the reach of few of the populace, prior to its contagious and incurable infection.

In the words of Chinua Achebe as cited in Keeper (2012) that anyone who can say that corruption in Nigeria has not yet been alarming is either a fool; a crook or else does not live in this country. The situation has become bad to the extent that as far back as 1993, keeping an average Nigeria from being corrupt is like keeping a goat from eating yam (Achebe, 1988).This brilliantly explains the state of corruption among Nigerians and why all efforts to establish a just and egalitarian society in the country failed ever since. Corruption made development to be stunted in Nigeria. There is no effective and efficient administration in Nigeria that has not been frustrated by this evil. People bribe to get almost everything done in the country. For instance, Tokunbo (1992) alludes to the fact that you bribe to get your child into a school, you pay to secure a job and you also continue to pay in some cases to retain it. You pay 10 percent of every contract obtained, you dash the tax officer to avoid paying taxes, you pay the hospital doctor and nurse to get proper attention, and you pay the policemen to evade arrest, this catalogue of shame can continue without end. Corruption is the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development. It undermines development by distorting the role of law and weakening the institutional foundation on which economic growth depends (World Bank). It is one of the greatest challenges of the contemporary world. It undermines good government, fundamentally distorts public policy, leads to the misallocation of resources, harms the private sector and private sector development and particularly hurts the poor (Transparency International).

1.2 Statement of the Problem:

Corruption remains a universal phenomenon, which has been in existence for a very long time and always have adverse effects on the society ever since. Several people involved in it in the pursuit of the specific purpose or interests. It has overtime ruined the hopes for greater tomorrow and destroyed the value system in the country so much so that the world begins to see us as men and women without honour and dignity.

It has led to slow movement of files in offices, police extortion and slow traffic on the highways, port congestion, and queues at gas stations, ghost workers syndrome, and election irregularities among others. According to Chuta (2004) that the image of the country in the international arena has become so battered that every Nigerian psychologically feel a scorching hurt inflicted on his individual psyche. The dent has gone so far that everywhere in the world, Nigerians are said to be generally dreaded like mad dogs and criminals, cautiously approached like dangerous snakes, and avoided .Corruption is politically destabilizing, that is it has the capacity of engendering political instability, breakdown of law and order, brain drain, inefficient of the public service among others (Lawal, 2006).