Corruption In Nigeria Essay examples

Situated along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea is a region about the size of South Carolina that offers a land full of sweet, light crude oil, known as the Niger Delta (Delta). The Delta sits within the country of Nigeria in West Africa and is in a constant state of crisis, underpinned by a multitude of key issues. Those issues include severe poverty, soil and water contamination, high infant mortality rates, low life expectancy, depletion of natural resources, corruption, and armed militia groups. These issues have one thing in common: oil.

Nigeria is known to have a lot of natural resources since it is the largest oil producer in Africa although it is rated among the poorest countries in the world.There is a huge number of unemployed people and there are low living standards, therefore, most people lack the basic needs.People of this region usually migrate elsewhere to seek for employment (Okojie 34).This leads them to bigger cities since parents cannot cater for their families, therefore, they end up trafficking their children, especially to Europe. Because of poverty especially in Edo, estate women were being trafficked to Italy for sex in exchange for money. Additionally, a young victim was lured from her home to serve as a housemaid only for her to

For example, Shell Oil, an MNC (Multi National Corporation), extracted 50% of Nigeria’s yearly crude output, and 14% of its own output from the Niger delta region (The Changing Nature of Third World Exploitation, 1995). Though a large number of the local populace was recruited by Shell to serve as the basic labor force, there has been no change in the deplorable conditions the locals were living in. Over a period of 15 years, due to massive and widespread oil spills, heavy land degradation of the alluvial soil has taken place. The locals, who come from an agriculture based society, have in effect, been deprived of their ancestral way of life, their heritage, all due to the greed driven actions of the partly

that the industry has on Nigeria’s environment. Since the drilling for oil began in Nigeria,

Much of the Delta’s violence stems from the decision of government officials to allocate most of the profits from the Deltas oil production to the few ethnic majorities in power. However, the difference between rich and poor in a society is not enough to generate violent conflict within a region. It takes something much more in-depth and personal to generate the level of violence the Niger Delta is experiencing. Therefore, looking at conflict from a vertical inequality perspective, meaning from the lowest socioeconomic groups to Nigeria as a whole, does not do justice for this scenario. Horizontal inequalities is what can be used to explain the degree and ferocity of violence that is generated from the unequal distribution of goods and bads associated with oil production among religion, race, or language (Ostby, G. 2008). This horizontal inequality means that

The "Curse of the Black Gold" is what they call it. The greasy money-making liquid can also cause the undoing of countries. Oil companies like Shell sometimes make as much money as the country they do business in. The hazards that come with extracting oil is understated while the rewards are often praised. To the companies, we are not important, it is the money we carry in our pockets that they care about. Shell, a billion-dollar making oil company, is slowly gaining a lot of recognition in countries as it is causing a lot of corruption due to several accidents as well as its influence on global warming. The company is most known for its fracking practices as well as its impact on Nigerian villages.

By the same token, the movie “Big Men” reveals the deprave business practices in Nigeria and Ghana, labeling Nigeria one of the most corrupt governments in the world. Between 1960 and 1999, the Nigerian government wasted over 440 billion dollars of Nigerian profit, mainly from oil wealth. Despite the majority of the oil being drawn from the Niger Delta, a very impoverished region, the natives of that region have no access to this abundant, valuable resource (00:25). Militant groups began to form in opposition to the oil corporations, intentionally cutting and sabotaging pipelines to get a part of the wealth. In addition to being selfish in their profits, businesses promoted the devastation and intentional deterioration of resident towns to distract from their unjust oil bunkering endeavors (01:05). Natives, specifically those who participate in oil pipe sabotaging, describe their situations as the equivalent of “shooting themselves in the foot”, as they hate that they are destroying their towns and worsening their circumstances, but see no other option for retribution. Fires

The creation of new states that was connected to the Niger Delta Region in 1967 gave a resurrection of hope to the many minorities in the region, yet sadly, even though the new state governments did its utmost best to grow and develop however was insufficient, particularly the complex of many ethnics groups to count on and in view of natural resources in some communities. In any case, a second endeavor at developing the region, which at this point has ended up synonymous with oil exploration and depletion was, nevertheless, made by the military President Ibrahim Babangida in 1992 when the Panel of the Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC) was initiated.

Having read your write ups, it is obvious that you are blaming the atrocities laziest people in Nigeria perpetuate on those in authority. To a large extent, I disagree with you. Inasmuch as the majority of those in authority are corrupt, I don't think that is a reason for justifying laziness, greediness, and evil that people commit. If the government had done everything it could to establish a healthy environment for Nigerians, so many people would have yet indulged in atrocities. Nigeria is an environment in which the majority of the inhabitants wants to be rich overnight, and that is what gave birth to the corruption we witness today at all levels of government and institutions in Nigeria. However, in the midst of the unhealthy environment

Corruption is cited as norm depicted by the relationship between Chief and Obinze. Through several interactions with Chief on several occasions, Obinze is exposed to a system whereby in order for one to get rich he has to commit fraud or bribery. This shows that hard work does not pay in Nigeria. Chief’s willingness to help Obinze shows how influential favours from the “Big Men” are, seeing how quickly Obinze becomes

particularly in the Niger Delta region. The people in this region are dissatisfied for many

The State of Nigeria has experienced a growing number of militants across the county. Over the past three years, there has been an increasing threat posed by growing numbers of homegrown terrorists that have managed to become a serious problem to the nation. In recent times, several terror attacks have been mounted in major towns and cities spread across the country. The major religious terrorist group, Boko Haram, has caused chaos in these areas causing substantial damage in the regions over which they have gained control. Boko Haram militants have taken over a majority of the regions in the north and declared their own version of Islamic law. In the delta region sitting directly off the coast of Guinea, armed militant groups have waged war against the government due to economic grievances. These events have come to shape the policies, ideologies, and future of the Nigeria as the country rolls into the reality of the threat posted at their own doorstep.

Nigeria declared independence in 1960 from Britain which makes them a relatively young country. The government, usually a military faction, has been riddled with corruption since there commencement. Since a freely

What has occurred in the Niger Delta is linked to its past struggles with military rule transitioning to democratic rule, which often ends in a military regime taking control nonetheless. From the start of its independence, Nigeria has slowly grown in its dependence on oil as it’s main economic revenue stream. Before the discovery of oil, the state had yam and cassava crops, palm oil, rubber, and lumbers that provided economic revenue, though modest (Jike, V.T. 2004). However once oil was found in 1956 and Independence in 1960, Nigeria has not only relinquished vast tracts of land to International Oil Companies (IOC) such as Royal Dutch Shell (later named Shell Petroleum Development Company), ExxonMobil, Chevron-Texaco, and ENI, but it has left the companies to conduct their extraction methods as they see fit (Imobighe, T. A. (n.d.); Kadafa, A.A. 2012). In 2006, the Oil Spill Intelligence Report stated, “Shell Nigeria is accused of using double standards”, referring to the outdated equipment and unethical methods Shell practices. The Niger Delta has experienced 50 years of oil spills since the beginning of oil production due to oil pipelines that are no longer in use leaking up to $10 million worth of oil a day as reported by Shell. Shell has thus been accused of using outdated and old equipment in the Delta they know they wouldn’t dare use in the other countries they operate in.

The Niger Delta has been a source of illicit international business deals (like the trans-Atlantic slave trade), as far back as the 15th century. Today a new form of syndicated criminal proclivity is threatening the very foundations of Nigeria’s petroleum industry, and by extension, the Nigerian economy, as well as putting tremendous pressure on Chief (General) Olusegun Obasanjo. That problem is the "illegal bunkering" of crude oil and/or its derivatives.