Corruption In Nigeria: A Threat To Sustainable Economic Development

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1. To appraise the nature of corruption in Nigeria

2. To determine  the causes and effect of corruption on sustainable economic development in Nigeria

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study shall project the ill effect of corruption on the economic development of Nigeria.

It shall also serve a veritable source of information on issues of corruption

1.5 STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS

1. H0 there is no relationship between the corruption index and employment level.

H1 there is a relationship between the corruption index and employment level.

2. H0  level of corruption does not have an effect on sustainable economic development in Nigeria 

   H1  level of corruption does not have an effect on economic  development in Nigeria 

3. H0 there is no effect of corruption index and employment level on sustainable economic development in Nigeria.

H1 there is an effect of corruption index and employment level on sustainable economic development in Nigeria.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study appraises corruption in Nigeria and elucidates its effect on sustainable economic development

1.8 DEFINITION   OF TERMS

CORRUPTION  

Amuwo (2005) and Obayelu (2007) consider corruption as the exploitation of public position, resources and power for private gain. Fjeldstad&Isaksen (2008, p. 3) and Ogundiya (2009, p. 5) define corruption as “the betrayal of public trust for individual or sectional gain.” Obayelu went further to identify corruption as “efforts to secure wealth or power through illegal means for private gain at public expense; or a misuse of power for private benefit.” Corruption covers a broad spectrum of activities ranging from fraud (theft through misrepresentation), embezzlement (misappropriation of corporate or public funds) to bribery (payments made in order to gain an advantage or to avoid a disadvantage). From a political point of view, Aiyede (2006, p. 5) views corruption as “the abuse or misuse of public or governmental power for illegitimate private advantages

ECONOMIC   DEVEDLOPEMENT DEFINED

According to Imhonopi & Urim (2010), national development is the ability of a country or countries to improve the social welfare of the people, namely, by providing social amenities like good education, power, housing, pipe-borne water and others. The components of national development include economic development, socio-cultural empowerment and development and how these impact on human development. Without human development, which is the development of the human capital of a nation or its citizens, national development can be thwarted or defeated. In fact, human development is one basis for judging the effectiveness of the economic development component of national development (Ogboru, 2007; Ranis, Stewart, & Ramirez, 2000). As they observed, economic development expressed in GNP can increase human development by expenditure from families, government and organizations such as NGOs. With the increase in economic growth, families and individuals will likely increase expenditures with the increase in income. This increase can lead to greater human development. Streeten (1982) put it better when he said that development must be redefined as an attack on the chief evils of the world today such as malnutrition, disease,illiteracy, slums, unemployment and inequality. In other words, development must be measured in terms of jobs created, justice dispensed and poverty alleviated.

CORRUPTION INDEX

This is the ranking of countries according to the extent to which corruption is believed to exist. The corruption perception index was created in 1995 by Transparency International. It ranks almost 200 countries on a scale of zero to 10, with zero indicating high levels of corruption and 10 indicating low levels.

EMPLOYMENT LEVEL

This simply means the level at which people are employed in Nigeria annually.