Corruption and Insecurity in Nigeria

Abstract

The increasing incidence of the twin evils of corruption and insecurity in Nigeria in spite of efforts made by successive administrations aimed at reducing their tide have been issues of public concern. The major objective of this paper is to identify the causes of corruption and insecurity in Nigeria between 2001-2010 and examine the relationship between the two. The research design is content analyses of secondary data from Transparency International for corruption and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation for data on insecurity. The data has been presented in tables and analysed using percentages and averages. The Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient was used in testing the hypothesis postulated. The major cause of insecurity in Nigeria is corruption and failure of governance to achieve the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy as contained in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Others are greed by insurgent groups and the proliferation of weapons. The study revealed that there exist a perfect correlation between corruption and insecurity in Nigeria and that greed by insurgent groups and corruption by public officials caused deprivation, alienation, conflict and insecurity in Nigeria. The study recommends for improvement in the quality of governance in order to reduce the incidence of corruption and insecurity in Nigeria.