Babafemi A. Badejo, Ph.D
Prof., Political Science & International Relations
Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Nigeria.
Preface
igeria has a major problem of governance. In the main, this
problem centres on leadership deficit accompanied by corruption.
Of course, there are other problems including the inclement external
dynamics within which the resource rich country exists and operates.
Still, leadership deficit makes it impossible to adopt deft strategies to
address other problems like corruption and the paucity of rule of law,
with the latter being in inverse proportion relationship with the former.
The pervasiveness of corruption in Nigeria has been of serious concern
to many. Scholars and some professionals alike, have proffered
suggestions on how to reduce the presence and impacts of corruption in
Nigeria. Leaders have put some institutions in place, overtime to address
the problem of corruption. However, there have been very few attempts
to fully understand popular perceptions and reactions to the problem of
corruption in Nigeria.
In December 2023, a survey questionnaire was designed to seek the
views of a random set of Nigerians from all geopolitical zones in the
country using the questions attached. The questionnaire that arose from
discussions with focused groups and desktop reviews was administered
using the snowballing method through Google form. Using social media,
and in particular, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, reactions were
solicited over a sixty-day period.
The result of the consultations with about 1,500 Nigerian respondents
across age sets and gender from the entire six geopolitical zones of
Nigeria is detailed in the next few pages. This is the raw report from the
study on the perceptions and recommendations of Nigerians on different
aspects of the problem of corruption in Nigeria as well as perceptions
on the efficacy of the different interventions through several institutions
by the Nigerian government over the years. These are the views of
Nigerians whether at home or in the diaspora.
With buoyant views on different ramifications of the problem properly
diagnosed, it is necessary to go beyond and subsequently proffer
responses to the main question of: what is to be done?