Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with a population of over 158 million people; it is a nation endowed with natural and human resources (Adeyemi, 2012). Despite its abundance of wealth, Nigeria, like other sub-Saharan countries, remains one of the poorest countries in the world (Dibie & Herron, 2002).
The underdevelopment in Nigeria, however, has been attributed to leadership ineptitude, corruption, an ill-conceived development framework, and general inefficiency in the public sector (Adebisi, 2012; Adeyemi, 2012; Adesopo, 2011 and Iheriohanma, 2011). Okagbue (2012) noted that lack of moral integrity among local government officials is one of the reasons for leadership failure in Nigerian local governments and the public sector in general.
The 2014 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index put Nigeria at number 136 out of 174 countries perceived as corrupt (compared to number 144 in 2013). Nigeria’s rated score was 25 out of 100, where zero (0) means very corrupt and 100 means very clean. Other countries with same score as Nigeria are Cameroon, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, and Russia. The Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer (2014) showed that practically every sector of Nigeria is corrupt. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being not corrupt and 5 being extremely corrupt, religious organizations were perceived to be the least corrupt with a ranking of 2.2; NGOs (2.4); media (2.7); business and private sector (2.9); military (3.1); public officials and civil servants (3.5); judiciary (3.7); education system (3.8); parliament and legislature (4.2); political parties (4.5); and police (4.7). Policing is perceived as the most corrupt institution in Nigeria.
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