Nigeria

Nigeria

Problems Identification

Monetary and Fiscal problems

Nigeria 's potential for growth and poverty reduction is yet to be realised. A key constraint has been the recent conduct of macroeconomics, particularly fiscal and monetary policies. This has led to rising inflation and decline in real incomes. What is more, the public delivery services are poor and deteriorating. Moreover, there has been little transparency and accountability in the management of public resources. An objective indicator of the traumatic experience of the Nigerian economy which at the inception of the present administration, was the persistent weak GDP growth and declining productivity. This was a manifestation of a demoralized workforce coupled with corruption that characterized government business. Lack of transparency and accountability in the execution of public sector activities was very pronounced in all tiers of government. Equally glaring is the poor socio-economic condition of the people. Poverty rate remained very high, with about 70percent of the population estimated to be living below the $1 per day consumption bar (Jelenke, 2005).

National economic management became a Herculean task, as the economy has to contend with volatility of revenue and expenditure. The widespread lack of fiscal discipline was further exacerbated by poor co-ordination of fiscal policy among the three tiers of government. Also, there is a weak revenue base arising from high marginal tax rate with very narrow tax base, resulting in low tax compliance. These have been curbed with the introduction of a new integrated tax system.

Other gray areas of the national economy include poor infrastructure, weak public service delivery and a generally weak environment for private sector development. All of these called for the recent exercise embarked upon by government for the privatization of different sectors of the economy.

Corruption

The causes of corruption are myriad; and they have political and cultural variables. Some evidence points to a link between corruption and social diversity, ethno-linguistic fractionalization, and the proportions of countrys population adhering to different religious traditions. And studies note also that corruption is widespread in most non-democratic countries, and particularly, in countries that have been branded neo-patrimonial, kleptocratic and prebendal . Thus, the political system and the culture of a society could make the citizens more prone to corrupt activities. However, we shall focus on the fundamental factors that engender corrupt practices in less developed nations, including Nigeria. Some of the factors include (CPI, 2007):

1)       Great inequality in distribution of wealth;

2)       Political office as the primary means of gaining access to wealth;

3)       Conflict between changing moral codes;

4)       The weakness of social and governmental enforcement mechanisms; and

5)       The absence of a strong sense of national community.

The causes of corruption in Nigeria cannot deviate significantly, if at all, from the above factors. However, obsession with materialism, compulsion for a shortcut to affluence, glorification and approbation [of ill-gotten wealth] by the general public, are among the reasons for the persistence of corruption in Nigeria. It has been noted that one of the popular, but unfortunate indices of good life in Nigeria, is flamboyant affluence and conspicuous consumption. Because of this, some people get into dubious activities, including 'committing ritual murder for money-making.'

The cases of ritual murder abound in Nigeria, but a few ...