THE IMPACTS AND POSSIBLE WAYS OF MANAGING CORRUPTION AND INSECURITY IN NIGERIA

Résumé

This paper scrutinized corruption and problem of insecurity in Nigeria. Nigeria is a country with potentials for greatness; a large population comprising of a dynamic workforce, a growing economy, natural resources, raw materials and oil deposits which make her the largest exporter of crude oil in Africa. Despite these indices for greatness, fifty-nine year plus after independence Nigeria is yet to find her feet among the community of nations as insurgency continues to take its toll on the country and make life insecure and miserable for the ordinary Nigerian citizens. Corruption is a major cause or causes of conflicts, insecurity and backwardness which continued to be seen as an enormous challenge to the development of the country. There was a period in Nigeria when security, peace and tranquility were the priority of the government, during this period one could sleep with two eye closed without thinking of the unknown to occur . Those were the days Nigeria stood tall among African Nations with the reference title of “Giant of Africa” owing to its large population, economy and corruption in its minimal but today, Nigeria is living on past glory. Presently, security tension in Nigerian is associated with Nigeria historical development. Nigeria originated from British colonial rule and took it with the merging of Southern protectorate and Northern protectorate in 1914. It’s first threat to peace and tranquility after independence from 1966 to 1970, the beginning of struggle for peace. Nigeria experienced numerous military coups and long periods of uncivilized, autocratic and brutish military rule from 1966 until 1999 when democratic civilian government was established. This study adopted psychoanalytical Theory and rational choice theory. The study used a descriptive survey research design. Primary and Secondary source of data collection were used to gather information for this study, for primary sources, oral interviews and questionnaires, while journals, textbooks and newspapers were used as secondary sources. The study used SPSS to analyze the data collected. This paper investigated the issues of corruption and insecurity in Nigeria and the negative effects of the insecurity and corruption to the development of the country. The findings according to Transparency International Statistics,2020, showed that Nigeria is the number146 out of the 180 countries of the world with the highest corrupt practice index it was also ascertained that corruption is a major cause of insecurity in the country. However, it is recommended that the Nigerian Government should establish a special court for the speedy trial of individuals accused of corrupt practices, capital punishments is also canvassed .And finally, government should give top priority to management of corruption than eradication of corruption in its change agenda.