11 - Corruption

Summary

Principally, corruption is the willingness to gain or the act of gaining, what one is reasonably not in the position to earn or has not earned legally. It is as good a practice as it is a phenomenon that boils down to human actions and consequences. Truthfully, no human society is totally immune to this phenomenon, the question is only in matter of magnitude; both in practice and effects on the state. In all, corruption on a prebendal scale and sustained by a rentier/patrimonial system has been noted to be the worst of all. Exploring the culture and anatomy of corruption in Nigeria, the chapter presents new insights and interpretations to this phenomenon through the lens of the sociopolitical morphology of the country. This comes with the view of expanding the debate on corruption in Nigeria and contributing to the wide array of extant literature on the interesting, but unfortunate topic. Meanwhile, hardly anything is more talked about in the current Nigeria than this discourse. This provides this chapter with a plethora of sources to tap in addition to existing relevant literature.