By Ebele Orakpo
Without strong watchdog institutions, impunity becomes the very foundation upon which systems of corruption are built. And if impunity is not demolished, all efforts to bring an end to corruption are in vain.” — Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Prize laureate
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As Nigerians battle insecurity, inflation, and multidimensional poverty, corruption – in all sectors of the economy – stands out as the root cause. This systemic greed destroys public infrastructure, leaving everyone—including corrupt officials—vulnerable to the breakdown of society. Saturday Vanguard presents expert perspectives on this devastating crisis and the way forward.
Excerpts
No sector is spared
The respondents agree that corruption affects every sector of the economy.
Governance: According to Professor Mukhtar Imam of Al-Muhibbah Open University and the National Institute for Security Studies, Abuja, corruption deeply damages governance because all sectors depend on its architecture. Diverting public funds into private pockets triggers a destructive chain reaction, replacing good governance with bad one. This causes widespread collapses in critical infrastructure, socio-economic development, and peace.
This systemic failure destroys livelihoods, public institutions, and citizen mindsets. When public security collapses, it proves that corruption is not an abstract theory; it actively undermines a society’s survival by ensuring national wealth never reaches ordinary citizens.
Dr. Omadeli Boyo, Medical Director at Pinecrest Specialist Hospitals, Lagos, notes that “in the area of health, governance is the difference between life and death. Poor public health weakens national productivity, harms the entire economy and drives social injustice by disproportionately hurting the poor, who rely on failing public facilities while the rich buy private care abroad. Corruption in the Health sector means that money voted for drugs, equipment, staff welfare and infrastructure does not always reach the people and facilities for which it was intended. The WHO warns that weak governance drastically reduces financing efficiency, limiting patient access to essential, life-saving medical services.”
An Igbo adage says a dog does not eat the bone hung on its neck but in Nigeria, that adage does not hold true due to what Dr. Lionel Von Frederick Rawlins, ex-US Marine and the National Security Advisor to the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, calls grand corruption – corruption at the highest level of government.
“It is very devastating because that is where everything comes in and everything goes out. Corruption at the top means the whole country is corrupt.”
Dr Friday Okpara, President at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development and Small Business Management, paints a grim picture: “Corruption retards development in all sectors. Nigerian corruption is endemic. The agencies to solve the problem are also corrupt.”
Corroborating Robert Reich’s assertion that corporate money in politics rigs the system for those at the top, Rawlins says legal corruption occurs when political donations buy policy influence rather than genuine support—such as oil executives funding parties to secure protective regulations. While technically legal, altering public policy for private benefit remains fundamentally corrupt, undermining national progress.
Health
According to Boyo, corruption in the health sector is a public health crisis, not just financial crime. “Health drives human development, yet Nigeria’s 2018 Demographic and Health Survey revealed a crisis with 512 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births and 132 under-five deaths per 1,000, driven by underfunding and corruption. Ranking 155th on the 2023 Corruption Perception Index, Nigeria faces severe institutional failures. Every stolen naira leaves patients without medicine, vaccines, or beds, forcing patients to cover 76% of health costs out-of-pocket and pushing households into poverty.
“Families must choose between life-saving treatment and food, rent, or school fees. “Rural mothers delay crucial antenatal care due to drug stockouts, a father abandons vital diabetes treatment. When poor procurement weakens public clinics, inequality is institutionalized. Despite having talented professionals, the system suffers from mismanagement, procurement fraud, and failure to meet the 15% Abuja Declaration budget allocation, forcing patients to purchase basic supplies like gloves and syringes. While initiatives like the Basic Health Care Provision Fund aim to strengthen primary care, reforms fail when funds are delayed, diverted, or poorly monitored.”
Brain drain: Imam and Boyo regret that Nigeria subsidizes medical education by €40,000 to €60,000 per student, yet professionals migrate to the UK, USA, Canada, and the Middle East due to systemic failings, causing a massive loss of national investment. With a ratio of one doctor per 5,000 patients and one bed per 10,000 patients, Nigeria falls well below WHO standards.
While improvements are occurring, they are driven by Diaspora funding—which supported six of the top 13 private hospitals—rather than government efforts, as professionals seek better compensation and infrastructure.
Corruption kills
Bringing it home, Boyo says apart from diseases, weak systems, delayed treatment, medicine shortages, inflated contracts, procurement fraud, record falsification, ghost workers, diverted supplies and poor planning, fuelled by corruption, also kill.
“When healthcare resources are diverted, preventable tragedies become permanent statistics. Nigeria’s soaring maternal mortality rate reflects systemic collapse. For instance, when maintenance budgets are stolen, a failing theater generator during obstructed labor can cost a woman her life.
“Corruption also paralyzes routine care, transforming treatable conditions into death sentences. Children die from malaria when public drugs are diverted or falsified. Hypertensive patients suffer fatal strokes because clinics lack functional blood pressure monitors. Corruption has effectively crippled vital emergency, child, and maternal healthcare systems.”
Boyo argues that during emergencies, procurement becomes an opportunity for personal enrichment. “The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted this crisis. In Nigeria, journalists exposed severe procurement opacity, uneven palliative distribution, and weak accountability. Transparency and public trust are as critical as speed.”
Security
Citing former U.S. Secretary of Defense and World Bank President Robert McNamara’s claim that security and development are linked, Imam notes Nigeria’s corruption subverts its vast resource wealth. Despite holding the world’s sixth-highest oil deposits and third-highest gas reserves, the continent’s most populous nation suffers from a low Human Development Index.
When public funds vanish for private good, citizens lose the dividends of good governance. This economic paradox proves corruption thrives alongside insecurity, destroying national progress.
Infrastructure
According to Imam, corruption affects all spheres of infrastructure – “Major cities lack proper transport systems, light rails and proper bus system. Nigeria is facing a huge deficit in electricity distribution and so you often hear of power grid collapse as a result of corruption.”
Education:
Imam explains that education, a critical societal pillar, is not spared from decay. Nigeria’s educational system suffers from high student-to-teacher ratios, unmotivated teachers, and poorly paid lecturers; a Malaysian professor earns 15 times more than their Nigerian counterpart.
Furthermore, severe double-digit inflation and food insecurity plague the nation as vulnerable farmers flee ongoing violence, abandoning over 100,000 hectares of arable land. This agricultural crisis directly impedes effective governance. He warns that the elite’s multiple citizenships will not shield them if this volatile situation explodes. Consequently, everything possible must be done to nip these deep-rooted issues in the bud.
Eliminate corruption? Impossible!
The respondents agree corruption is endemic and cannot be completely eradicated but only reduced.
Says Engr. Idowu Desmennu, CEO of Anyigba IEDN Ltd: “You can’t eradicate corruption; it is an institution of governance. It’s a long-standing, firmly entrenched part of the system, a tool of control for the leadership, and an assumed entitled lifeline for followers. Even in Communist countries, corruption is only minimized with draconian laws against those who are careless enough to be caught.”
“We cannot stamp out corruption absolutely but we can reduce it to a level where everyone benefits. The people who are writing and passing your anti-corruption laws are corrupt; the agencies implementing, and those enforcing the laws are all corrupt, the people at the bottom of the line are also corrupt because they pay to get anything done so it’s a vicious cycle,” says Rawlins.
Penalties for corrupt public officials in different nations:
Nigeria’s standard seven-year prison sentence and asset forfeiture for public corruption is a slap on the wrist compared to global standards. China, Vietnam, and Thailand impose the death penalty or life imprisonment alongside complete asset forfeiture for severe embezzlement. In Indonesia, embezzling public funds during national crises carries the death penalty. Meanwhile, Western nations enforce strict financial and professional penalties. The UK mandates up to 10 years in prison, unlimited fines, and contract debarment. The US punishes offenders with up to 15 years in prison, multi-million dollar fines, and mandatory public office disqualification.
Solution: Respondents agree that technology and people are crucial in dealing with corruption because corruption survives when society accepts it as the norm.
Says Desmennu: “Corruption can be reduced by the people through self development, and provision of infrastructure. Communities can build tertiary roads, while the three tiers of government handle primary and secondary roads.”
For Okpara: “The only way out is technology and reduction in human involvement in any process because human interaction corrupts the system. Procurement process should be digitalized. There is no toll gate where I am now but vehicles pay the tolls through Cloud. Banks have ATMs so transfers are made easily with technology.”
Treating symptoms will not solve corruption. Rawlins argues that success requires targeting the true root causes: selfishness and greed. When individuals become selfish, they turn greedy and will do absolutely anything to get what they want. To stamp out this behavior, nations must establish good governance, strictly enforce rigid laws, and introduce a powerful fear factor that deters citizens.
Rawlins outlines a strict, multi-layered strategy combining punitive justice with structural reforms. “Corrupt public officials must face aggressive investigation, criminal prosecution, permanent bans from public office, and total asset forfeiture.”
He emphasizes treating corruption as a high-stakes crime, citing America’s rigorous Sarbanes-Oxley Act as a model. “Enforcement must shift from minor fines to heavy prison sentences, total asset recovery, and barring convicted officials from future government contracts. Furthermore, the system must enforce strict ministerial codes that compel immediate resignation when integrity breaches are uncovered.” This dual approach balances immediate punishment for current offenders with deep systemic changes to prevent future misconduct.
To retain vital talent and fix healthcare, Boyo demands stronger governance through targeted reforms. First, introduce digital e-procurement and open contracting by publishing all tender notices, winning bids, and payment schedules. Second, clean the payroll using biometric verification to eliminate ghost workers, link salaries to verified records, and mandate quarterly hospital audits. Third, protect grassroots care by increasing primary healthcare funding, tracking medicine inventories digitally, and empowering community committees to report diversions.
Achieving this requires active collaboration between health and finance ministries, audit bodies, anti-corruption agencies, civil society, and local leaders. Crisis spending must also be strictly audited to prevent economic damage.
Boyo emphasizes that reversing healthcare corruption requires strong institutions and disciplined execution, not just new laws. Leadership must be professionalized by appointing hospital CEOs and procurement officers through transparent, merit-based processes. Senior officials must complete annual asset declarations and ethics training. Patients must refuse to offer bribes, while healthcare workers must never demand them. Professional associations must enforce strict standards alongside active oversight from religious institutions, the media, and civil society.
Finally, public dashboards should display facility performance. These actions require clear timelines, strict sanctions, and political will. He concludes that technology alone is insufficient; success depends on every citizen demanding accountability over impunity.
Conclusion
he true cost of corruption is not measured in stolen billions, but in the classrooms without books, the clinics without medicine, the thousands of people being kidnapped and the lives cut short by a broken system. Something must give; it’s either Nigeria kills corruption or corruption kills Nigeria.
The post Broken Systems: How graft sabotages Nigeria’s growth governance appeared first on Vanguard News.
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