Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg Katholisch-Theologische Fakultät Lehrstuhl für Christliche Sozialwissenschaft Prof. Dr. Dr. Gerhard Droesser Doctoral Thesis Theme: Corruption in Nigeria: A Manifestation of Bad Governance.(A Socio- ethical Survey in the light of the Social Teachings of the Church; with particular reference to Gaudium et Spes and Poplorum Progressio) (A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Theology at the Cath-Theol. Faculty of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg) Submitted by Ejikeme Ndubuisi Reginald Hauserstrasse 18 CH 5210 Brugg Schweiz 1 OUTLINE General Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------------6 Statement of the problem-----------------------------------------------------------------7 Aim and Purpose of the work------------------------------------------------------------9 Scope of the work-------------------------------------------------------------------------9 Sources and Method of research---------------------------------------------------------9 Structure of the work--------------------------------------------------------------------10 CHAPTER ONE: Fundamental Thematic Delineation----------------------------11 Part one: Definitions and nuances -----------------------------------------------------12 1. Corruption------------------------------------------------------------------------------12 1.1. Forms of corruption----------------------------------------------------------------15 1.1.1. Bribery-----------------------------------------------------------------------------15 1.1.2. Fraud -------------------------------------------------------------------------------16 1.1.3. Embezzlement ------------------------------------------------------------------..17 1.1.4. Extortion --------------------------------------------------------------------------17 1.1.5. Favouritism------------------------------------------------------------------------18 1.1.6. Nepotism---------------------------------------------------------------------------18 Chapter One: Part two-------------------------------------------------------------------18 1.2 Society and Governance------------------------------------------------------------18 1.2.1. Governance or Politics-----------------------------------------------------------19 1.2.2. Society is natural to man--------------------------------------------------------20 1.2.3. Organisation of the society------------------------------------------------------25 CHAPTER TWO: Nigeria: Socio-Political Appreciation of Corruption--------27 Part one: Corruption in the pre-colonial Nigeria------------------------------------27 2.1. Religion in the pre-colonial Nigeria----------------------------------------------28 2 2.1.1. Priests in the Nigerian traditional religions-----------------------------------29 2.1.2. Governance in the pre-colonial Nigeria---------------------------------------30 2.1.2.1. Emirs in the pre-colonial Nigeria--------------------------------------------31 2.1. 2.2. The council of elders in Eastern Nigeria (Ndigbo case) -----------------32 2.1.2.3. Organisational structure of the council of elders --------------------------33 2.1.2.3.1. Ọfọ Symbol-------------------------------------------------------------------36 2.1.2.3.2. Judiciary-----------------------------------------------------------------------37 2.1.2.3.3. Secret societies, Masquerades and Age grade----------------------------38 2.1.2.3.4. Women folk-------------------------------------------------------------------41 2.1. 3.Bribery in the pre-colonial Nigeria---------------------------------------------47 2.1.4. Summary---------------------------------------------------------------------------48 Part two: Colonial era in Nigeria------------------------------------------------------48 2.2.1 Colonialism------------------------------------------------------------------------49 2.2.2 Effects of colonialism in Nigeria------------------------------------------------50 2.2.3 Colonialism as neo- slavery------------------------------------------------------52 2.2.4 Leadership Structure--------------------------------------------------------------53 2.2.4. 1 Warrant Chiefs------------------------------------------------------------------54 2.2.4 .2 Bribery as a colonial administrative strategy-------------------------------56 2.2.4.3. The judicial system: Court Clerk and Court Messengers-----------------56 2.2.5 Summary---------------------------------------------------------------------------57 CHAPTER THREE: Post-colonial Nigerian society-------------------------------60 3.1. Part one: The First Republic – 1960-1966--------------------------------------60 3.1.2 Coups and counter coups---------------------------------------------------------63 3.1.2.1 Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and fight against political corruption-------------64 3.1.2.2 Counter coup 1 : Lieutenant-Colonel Yakubu Gowon---------------------65 3 3.1.2.3 Counter coup II: Murtala Mohammed, 1975--------------------------------66 3.1.2.4 Shehu Shagari (1979) -------------------------------------------67 3.1.2.5 Muhammadu Buhari / Tunde Idiagbon (1983) --------------------68 3.1.2.6 Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (1985) ---------------------------------70 3.1.3 Summary---------------------------------------------------------------------------71 Part Two: Nigeria back to democracy-1999 till-------------------------------------72 3.2.1. Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration----------------------------------------73 3.2.2. The three arms of government--------------------------------------------------77 3.2.2. 1. Legislature----------------------------------------------------------------------77 3.2.2.2 Executive------------------------------------------------------------------------ 83 3.2.2. 3 Judiciary-------------------------------------------------------------------------88 3.2.2. 4 Reasons for corruption in the judiciary-------------------------------------92 3.2.3 The Nigerian Police Force and their defence----------------------------------93 Part three: CAUSES OF CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA---------------------------99 Introduction-----------------------------------------------------------------------------100 3.3.1 Ethical standard in Nigeria---------------------------------------------------100 3.3.1.2. Poor and dishonest Leadership----------------------------------------------101 3.3.1.3. Poor Welfare System - Pensions and Gratuities--------------------------102 3.3.1.4. The importance attached to wealth-----------------------------------------105 3.3.1.5 .Tribalism and Nepotism-----------------------------------------------------106 3.3.1.6. Bad government policies-----------------------------------------------------108 3.3.1.7. The rule of law in Nigeria---------------------------------------------------110 3.3.2 Effects of Corruption------------------------------------------------------------111 3.3.3. Anti-Corruption Policies and Efforts-----------------------------------------112 3.3.4 Summary--------------------------------------------------------------------------114 4 CHAPTER FOUR: SOCIAL TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH ON CORRUPTION-------------------------------------------------------------------------116 4.1. A General overview of the social teachings of the Church------------------118 4.2. Dignity------------------------------------------------------------------------------119 4.2.1 Human dignity-------------------------------------------------------------------120 4.2.2. Equality of human dignity-----------------------------------------------------121 4.2.3. Human dignity and human rights in the Nigerian constitution-----------123 4.2.4. Human dignity in the society--------------------------------------------------124 4.2.5. Food, Housing and Clothing---------------------------------------------------124 4.3. Gaudium et Spes on Public Authorities and the common good-------------125 4.4. The popes on the common goods-----------------------------------------------130 4.4.1 Populorum Progressio: Common good and the political leaders---------130 4.4.2. Solicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social concerns) ------------------------------133 4.5. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) on the society----134 4.5.1 Perfect temporary society-------------------------------------------------------134 4.5.2 Temporary society and political authority------------------------------------135 4.6. The statements of the CBCN on corruption in Nigeria----------------------137 4.6.1. Ordinary Nigerian citizens-----------------------------------------------------138 4.6.2. Nigeria: A sinking nation------------------------------------------------------140 4.6.3. Identification of the causes of corruption in Nigeria-----------------------142 4.6.4. Consequences of corruption in Nigeria--------------------------------------142 4.7. Summary ---------------------------------------------------------------------------143 GENERAL SUMMARY, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION-------------144 General summary-----------------------------------------------------------------------144 Suggestions------------------------------------------------------------------------------145 5 Equal opportunity-----------------------------------------------------------------------145 Elimination of “godfatherism” in politics. ----------------------------------------- 146 Employment opportunity -------------------------------------------------------------146 Punishments and Rewards-------------------------------------------------------------146 Change of attitude and mentality in politics and places of work-----------------147 Law enforcement agencies------------------------------------------------------------147 The elimination of “everybody is doing it” mentality-----------------------------147 One Nigeria -----------------------------------------------------------------------------148 The Church should do more ----------------------------------------------------------148 Selected Sources and Bibliography -------------------------------------------------149 6 CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA: A MANIFESTATION OF BAD GOVERNANCE. (A Socio-ethical Survey in the light of the Social Teachings of the Church: With particular reference to Gaudium et Spes and Populorum Progressio) General Introduction Human society understands itself as a place where man enjoys an authentic human existence. In the society therefore, man should have all the basic necessities of life. The universal destination of all the created goods as God intends it, is for the good use of man in order to live a fulfilled human life.1 In so far as, man is the source, the focus and the end of all economic and social life, this must be respected.2 In order to enhance his dignity as the imago Dei3, man has natural right to all the created goods. However, there are tools that make this situation possible. One of such tools is governance which is the means of organising the created things in the society for the common good. The ultimate goal and purpose of the society is the good of man. If the goods are not brought to this use, there exist socio-ethical problems. There are so many socio-ethical ills in the world today, because of the denial of the created good to some people by the organisers of the society. The social ills include armed robbery, corruption of all sorts, official lies and deceit. These constitute a complex social problem as regards their justification in the society. Subsequently, of all these social ills in the world today, corruption is the most devastating. Most people acknowledge this fact, but some others see it only as a means of survival, especially in countries that seem to appreciate or favour rigid capitalism, whereby wealth is power. Corruption is a common phenomenon in human society, and it is as old as the human society. Otive Igbuzor confirms it thus, “Corruption is as old as the society and cuts across nations, cultures, races and classes of people.”4 Corruption knows no bound. At any rate, corrupt practices vary from country to country and even within a country it also varies from section to section in its intensity and propensity. However, the manner with which it is manifesting itself presently accounts for its recent addition to the dictionary of the most global social problems. 1 Gaudium et Spes, Nr. 69 2Ibid, Nr. 63 3Genesis 1:26 4Ogbuzor, O., Youth and the war against corruption in Africa: Roles and policy option, A paper presented at the National Youth Summit on corruption and corrupt practices in Nigeria, organised by Africa Leadership Forum at Ota, Ogun State Nigeria, September 9, 2005 7 Unfortunately, nobody admits that he is corrupt and yet corruption as a social problem is widespread. In this light, Lightowler Brain observes that, “Worldwide corruption is by its nature generally hidden, but nevertheless insidious and as potentially dangerous to society.”5 It affects the society adversely, and therefore leads to misery of some members of the society. In this line, Peter Eigen argues, “Corruption is a daunting obstacle to sustainable development, and results in a major loss of public funds needed for basic necessities of life, both in developed and developing countries.”6 These are the devastating effects of corruption. The word corruption provokes an active discussion and condemnation among all classes of people in the society. It can be situated and discussed in any discipline but more especially in Social Ethics because this discipline deals with the interaction of human beings in the society. Problems in life are divided into private problems and social problems. Julius O. Onwuka, differentiates the two thus, “When a situation affects members of the society adversely leading to misery, regret, despair, it becomes a social problem. On the contrary, when a problem is suffered by an individual alone, without other members of the society being affected, this is a personal problem.”7 From Onwuka, I understand that, social problem is more problematic than personal problem, because it concerns more than one person. Social problems are seen in the societies of human beings where the basic necessities of life are denied some people by corrupt organisers of the society. Statement of the problem In recent years, there has been an increase in corrupt practices all over the world and also in the Nigerian contemporary society. J. O. Onwuka opines: “In contemporary times, it is no exaggeration to say that the ‘giant of Africa’, (Nigeria) has been enmeshed in a plethora of social problems, most of which have become perennial and intractable.”8 Nnamdi Azikiwe acknowledges the fact that “bribery and corruption are enemies of Nigeria. It defaces the national image and brings shame to the Nigerian citizenship”9 On the international level, 5Lightowler, Brain, Corruption: Who cares?; Better Yourself Books, Bandra, 2006, p.11 6Peter Eigen at the launch of the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index 2004. (Peter Eigen is the Chairman of Transparency International) (TI) 7Onwuka, O. Jullius, Social Problems and socio-economic underdevelopment of Nigeria: Contemporary considerations, in Nigerian Peoples and Cultures: Historical and Socio-structural Perspective, Onwuka O. J.(ed), Echrisi &Co. Nigeria, Enugu, 2002, P. 322 8 Onwuka, J. O., op. cit., P. 323 9 Nnamdi Azikiwe, presidential Address on the anniversary of Nigerian independence to the nation, Oct 1, 1964 8 many national and regional newspapers make Nigerian corrupt situation their headlines. For instance, Welt am Sonntag, “Nigerianer-Mafia: Riesiger Betrug mit Kreditkarten10 and “Nigeria: faule Tricks mit falschen Ausschreibungen“11 Furthermore, Focus Magazine, describes Nigerian leadership thus, “Es geht um die Absetzung einer durch und durch korrupten politischen Elite, die Nigeria seit Jahren shamlos ausplündert und das Land- trotz der reichlich fliessenden Petrodollar- zu einem der grössten internationalen schuldner hat verkommen lassen”12 This was when the oil workers in Nigeria were on strike during Sani Abacha regime. With all these in mind, some Nigerians seem to be ashamed to say that they are Nigerians when they find themselves outside Nigeria. Corruption has eaten deep into the fabrics of Nigerian society especially since after independence. Emmanuel Obuna summarised it thus: “Since Nigeria became independent, our experience of government has been nothing but a vicious circle of: democracy- followed by corruption-followed by military coup-followed by attempt at democracy-followed by yet more corruption.”13 This means that corrupt practices increase as the Nigerian society changes leadership. Chinua Achebe also captures the situation better in these words: “Corruption has become the normal mode of national life, that there is no altruism in social life but calculated self-interest.”14 This means that there is an intentional effort by some Nigerians to care only for themselves at the expense of the social structure. J. O. Onwuka tends to agree with Achebe thus: “Nigeria is soaked in corruption and the degree of percolation of this monster in the society is such that it can as well be described as the people’s culture.”15 Culture is generally defined as a people’s way of life. If corruption can be described as Nigeria’s culture as Onwuka opines, then it means that corruption is in everyday life of the Nigerian nation. Achebe further argues; “The mainspring of political action was personal gain. They see their main interest as trying to find and sustain positions of vantage in the corrupt structure. Their reactions are determined by opportunism.”16 The opportunist leaders of Nigeria have continued to maintain 10 Aus Aller Welt, Tuesday 22 March, 1994 11 Welt am Sonntag, Nr. 29, Sunday 17 July, 1994, P.31 12 Focus Magazine, Number 34, 22 August, 1994, P.156, (It is absolute the dismissal or the displacement of quententially or thoroughly corrupt political elite that shamelessly looted or plundered Nigeria for years and despite the very rich petro-dollar that accrued to her, the corrupt leaders have made her one of the largest International debtors. (Translation mine) 13 Obuna Emmaunel, The Roots of Violence, Gregorian University Press, Rome, 1985, P.51 14 Achebe Chinua, The Trouble with Nigeria, Fourth Dimension Publishers, Enugu, 1983, P.76 15Onwuka, J. O.,op.cit, P..324. 16Achebe, Ibid 9 the corrupt structure to their own advantage, the effect of which is weighing heavily on all Nigerians today. Nigerians of all walks and cadres of life, the poor and the rich, find this problem manifestly impossible to ignore. Therefore, I perceive corruption to be the most serious, acute, dangerous, disturbing and devastating social problem in Nigeria today. It is regarded as the most manifest stumbling block to socio-politico- economic development in Nigeria. Indeed, apart from the apartheid government of South Africa before Nelson Mandela and perhaps the Ghana of eighties before Jerry Rawlings, no other country in the African continent has been labelled more corrupt than the Nigerian nation. So, there is the urgent need for corruption to be curbed in Nigeria so that Nigerians will enjoy the basic necessities of life, like shelter, food, clothing and overall human development. Aim and Purpose of the work The aim of this work is to find out the cause/s of corruption and why it is still a persistent social evil in Nigeria. It shall also examine the consequences of corruption and possible corrective actions made towards curbing corrupt practices in Nigeria, by using the historic-cultural data of Nigeria. The historical excursus aims at providing a clear and sound understanding of the historic facts for a better judgement of the current social situation in Nigeria. Finally, this work will make some useful suggestions on how to prevent corruption in Nigeria. Scope of the work My main concentration in this work is corruption in the Nigerian contemporary society. The scope of this work cannot cover all the aspects of corrupt practices in Nigeria. Therefore, I have chosen to discuss corruption in governance with particular attention to all the three arms of government, namely; Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. This is because they are responsible for the distribution of the created goods in the society. Even when they are not directly involved, they still make laws guiding all the activities in Nigeria thereby affecting and effecting the lives of all Nigerians. Sources and Method of research My method in this work is primarily the use of the library. The use of the library in this work means the consultation of some authors relevant to the topic. I shall make use of the writings of Theologians, Sociologists, Anthropologists and