Nigeria is known for having a long, complicated and tragic history. Since achieving independence in 1960, Nigeria has struggled to stabilize its government. Nigeria’s history is studded with military coups and corruption. The rule of numerous coups, which have occurred relatively close together over a span of about twenty nine years, make it extremely difficult for a stable form of democratic government to be created. Instead of a true democracy, Nigeria suffers under a kleptocratic government. Nigeria’s corrupt form of government consistently takes from its people for their own reward. Another factor of government instability, is that Nigeria is a state comprised without regard to the nations within its borders. The people of Nigeria …show more content…
The police force are supposed to be the vision of protection and justice for the citizens of Nigeria, but instead they are some of the people most feared and criminal. Godwin Ekpo was a Nigeria citizen who was shot through the jaw when he refused to pay a police officer a day’s wages in a bribe, “all of a sudden, I heard a gunshot twice. And…I went down, holding my jaw…and the blood was just gushing out” (“How”). This is a gruesome example of the severity of corruption in the everyday life of the locals in Nigeria. Corruption has reached even the ‘protectors’, and innocent people are targeted for not giving into the thievery. In Godwin Ekpo’s case, he was asked for just a day’s wages, however, when officers request bribes of greater amounts, escaping the grasp of an ever-growing and persistent poverty looks to be impossible. Another aspect of the local and ‘everyday’ corruption is when people seek out justice against the corruption of the government, investigations can be haulted or even over turned. In a PBS video article, Kemi Okenyodo stated “the low-level corruption makes it worse, when you come in contact with police officers, when you go and report a case, and a case can easily be turned against the person that has come to report” (“How”). There truly is no justice for the people of Nigeria in their law enforcement or in their government in charge of it all. Corruption
African countries have been going through one of the worst recessions in our day in age. Some of the things that Africa lacks as a continent are food supply, water supply, shelter, a stable government to control these key aspects in each country, and many more to come in the future because of the daily issues Africa is facing because of corruption in their individual government as countries. Recent studies show that, over 70% of major corruption cases in Sub-Saharan Africa involve phantom firms, which is financial entities that are currently almost impossible to trace or track without improvements in regulatory oversight, resulting in a tax loss of about $52 billion.
The District Commissioner’s perception of justice is Britain’s legal system. He genuinely believes that England’s system of government is the best system, and that it needs to be brought to other cultures. In his mind, “civilizing” tribal cultures in Nigeria is the right thing to do, and will eventually make the people happy. We see this viewpoint when he says “We have brought a peaceful administration to you and your people so that you may be happy. If any man ill-treats you we shall come to your rescue.” This quote also demonstrates that he views these people as needing to be saved. What he fails to understand is that the people of Umuofia were happier before the British came. The Commissioner could not comprehend how people could be happy in a culture with a different system of laws and customs than his own, because in his mind, Britain’s laws are clearly good, and Igbo laws are clearly something evil to be rescued from.
As many other governments africa’s has corruption but this corruption is coming from game officers helping to poach
Nigeria has been a country in political turmoil for a long time. The country was created in 1914 under British colonial rule and at that time it was considered a protectorate. It was not until 1960 that Nigeria received independence from the United Kingdom. One of Nigeria's problems politically is that it has over three hundred different ethnic groups. The three largest of these are the Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba. At the time of the independence of Nigeria it was split up into three states with each state being under the control of one of the major ethnic groups. The natural resources of the other 297 ethnic groups were exploited for the major three groups,
The Republic of Niger, a poor, landlocked country, located in the heart of Sub-Saharan West Africa. Niger has seen its fair share of change throughout the decades; moving away from the control of the French Parliament in 1960, Niger formally declared its independence. Despite this bold act of independence, Niger would not see its first steps towards democracy until the early 1990’s, when they held their first open election as a free state. However, even with the empowerment of the people in a democratic government, Niger has seen itself nearly torn apart as a result constant coups, that have occurred as recently as 2010. Such instability has led to incredulous amounts of corruption and poverty, within the Niger government. This lack of stability and constant turnover in government, has been a driving factor behind the lack of resources available for education in Niger.
Before we begin, let’s take a look at the country and its environs. Nigeria a former British Colony, located in the western part of Africa, it shares borders with Benin, Cameroun, and Niger. A growing population of 150million, labour force of 51million (70% Agriculture, 10% industry and 20% service), urbanisation is less than 40%, GDP is over $300billion, Per capita income is $2300. Nigeria is blessed with different cultures, languages and ethnic groups (252 in total); this was due to the colonization of the British in the early 19th century (Columbia Encyclopaedia). The British amalgamated its protectorates in 1914 to enable stable control and governance which made them create one Nation of Nigeria formed from all the groups, community and empires around the Niger area under their control. Nigeria had her independence on the 1st of October 1960 and since then various civil wars, political and religious unrest in the country to share power and resources amicably.
A cold, dark cell, you’re isolated and imprisoned for a crime you did not commit. This is the result of Corruption. Corruption spreads through the justice system destroying lives one by one. You may think that corruption is something only occurs in third world nation’s only affecting the most underprivileged countries, but this is incorrect. Corruption is an issue that dealt with worldwide. It affects even the most power of first world nations, including the USA, a nation known for freedom and its fights for the most basic of human rights. In this essay I will focus on four main points within the topic of corruption in the justice system. Firstly I will look at and explain what corruption is, looking at all components of it. Secondly I will
The work is aimed at taking an indebt look into the Nigeria police force, which of course is the major law enforcement agency in any country especially in a democratic setting. The evolution, roles and effectiveness of the Nigerian police force have been variously analysed by different
But, over the years, the reverse has more often than not be the case in Nigeria. Before and after independence, the state of Nigeria has always been riddled with the problem of ethnicity, and the civil service as an institution that is suppose to be transparent and impartial has been affected by this trend, so much so that the citizenry are beginning to lose faith in the civil service institution due to poor and ineffective service delivery.
Nigeria’s heterogeneity has at some point been regarded as her strength but it currently is perceived to be the crack which may cause a predicted break-down. The religious cum cultural diversity has always threatened the continued existence of the Nigerian nation as one entity. In the past, various opinion leaders have proffered secession as the permanent solution to internal crisis and terrorism in the country. Although Nigeria, the giant of Africa, describes her heterogeneity as a situation of “Unity in Diversity”, it has become one of violence and terror (Agbiboa). The various lines of division in the country have given rise to the current situation of terrorism – Boko Haram, and the end is not in sight yet.
The Nigerian government have been experiencing fluctuations between militaristic and civilian rule. During their militaristic period, they have been known to be
The first was the weak sense of nationalism caused by all the ethnic groups where religion played a major part of the division. The main three ethnicities in Nigeria are Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo; the former is Muslim while the two latter are Christians. The second cause mentioned was the “divide and rule” which was a British tactic to employ ethnic groups against one another, and thus “helped ensure that ethnicity would be the main line of political cleavage after Nigeria became an independent country.” The third cause is the personal rule system based on “big men” and what this means is that Nigerian’s who worked for the British used their personal relationships to gain power and wealth, and in a certain way it is still used today in the Nigerian government. The fourth devastating cause was the “creation of an increasingly active and interventionist state during WWII and after until its independence in 1960, but that opened the doors to patronage, which would be used to gain political power and wealth. The past reveals the problems Nigeria has had for several decades, some of which have not disappeared but seem to get progressively worse. (CITATION)
Corruption can be defined as the use of entrusted power to accumulate public wealthy for personal benefit. Corruption is not peculiar to any country, continent or state; it is sure a global issue which is an endemic to all government all over the world. However, corruption is prevalent in the Niger delta region of Nigeria; public officers in this oil producing state of Nigeria are corrupt. Consequently, it has defied the Niger delta from developing politically and economically which has left the states reputation in a mess. Radicalization of youths, abject poverty and -political instability are the three leading effects of corruption in the Niger delta region of Nigeria.
Nigeria, a country known around the world as the most hardworking place in Africa, has steadily been on the rise. Like any other country, Nigeria has faced problems within its history that has contributed to the challenges the country faces today. One of the the most notable events within its history is the civil war that occurred from 1967 to 1970. This war was caused by a variety of reasons, but the main factor that brought on the onset of the war was cultural tensions. The Nigerian Civil War can be characterized by a clash of cultures vying for control of the country.
Ethnicity is how individuals perceive themselves, and unlike race it can be changed. There are countries in which there are several different types of ethnic groups, and in some cases that could lead to conflict within a country, but as research will show it is not the only cause, and in some cases the conflict was purposely organized. In such cases it is usually in a developing country, which is “defined according to their Gross National Income (GNI) per capita per year. Countries with GNI of US$ 11,905 and less and less are defined as developing (specified by the World Bank, 2012).” (CITATION) Developing countries that have established themselves as democracies tend to have weak institutions, where elections are more about connections and winning, rather than trying to establish and follow formal rules. Nigeria is both, a developing country and one with a weak democracy, there are many causes to this, such as problems with natural resources, and unable to maintain a strong formal government, but mainly it all could be traced back to the fact that it has a divided society where there is no sense of nationality. Divergence in a country does not mean violence, in the contrary in most cases places with a lot of different ethnicities tend to be peaceful, but Nigeria is exempt from this because it was, in a sense, programmed for all the different ethnicities and religions to have conflict amongst each other by the British.