Date Published: 12/30/09

10 REASONS WHY WE MUST SUPPORT EFCC IN FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN 2010 By  TERSOO DZEVER

I beseech every Nigerians, home and abroad to ponder over the ten reasons elucidated below, why we must we must galvanise our efforts at fighting corruption in Nigeria in 2010 . I make bold to warn, however, that if proper measures are not taken in the year 2010, the war against corruption will never be achieved, and our dear country will never be counted among the 20 th industrialized nation in 2020. God forbid!

But if God must forbid, it behooves on all and sundry that all hands must be on deck as the future of our dear country lies in our palms. Corruption, like all social phenomena is intelligible only in its social context. Its peculiar form, dynamics and degree of social and cultural acceptability or tolerance is critically related to the dominant mode of capital accumulation, income, wealth and poverty distribution, power configuration and underpinning moral and ethical values operating in a given society.

Corruption in Nigeria is a kind of social values, a kind of social virus which is a hybrid of traits of fraudulent anti-social behavior derived from British colonial rule and those derived from and nurtured in Nigeria context. osoba (1996; 372)

Below are ten reasons why we must galvanise our efforts at fighting corruption in Nigeria in 2010 .

1. Corruption undermines democracy, rule of law, human rights and economic development.

2. It engenders conflict, violence, crime, insecurity, and instability due to competition, inequality, poverty and lack of access to basic necessities of life.

3. Erodes values of hard work and integrity.

4. Undermines productivity and divert energy to political thuggery.

5. Discourages foreign investment because of corruption induced bureaucratic and other obstacle and high cost of doing business.

6. Discourages investment in the real sector by both foreign and domestic investors because of high profitability of contract in services and supplies motivated by corruption.

7. Engenders dependence on foreign sources for goods and services resulting in underdevelopment of indigenous technology and productive capacities.

8. Engenders leakages of national assets to foreign countries due to money laundering and conspicuous consumption.

9. Causes misallocation of resources towards program and projects amenable to corrupt practices.

10. Corruption breeds patron-client relationship that undermines democracy, efficiency in public and private sectors.

 TERSOO DZEVER A PUBLIC AFFAIRS ANALYST WRITES FROM JOS.T