An Essay By Oluchime Anita Chidinma

Question: In an increasingly globalized world, Nigeria stands as a leader in Africa; however, its citizens are faced with challenges. What do you consider to be the single most important societal problem in Nigeria? Why?

Every country has its challenges. America, Venezuela, even the great Britain and Nigeria is not excluded Most countries face problems like war, famine or poverty, genocide and so forth. In Nigeria, there are many problems faced in this country. But there is one that leads to every other problem and that is CORRUPTION.

In simple words, corruption could be defined as a person’s ability to steal government funds and dupe other people. In a more simpler way, it is the practice of taking excessive of something or a person for personal gain. This is an act that should not be heard of in a country but unfortunately, it is what Nigerian leaders indulge in. A president promises heaven to the citizens when he is running for a presidential election but when he is in power, he uses the money meant for the masses for himself: The poor country will be left in the same shape and after his tenure expires, he will return with new set of promises so as to comeback to position. Corruption is a practice that should not be heard of in a country especially dear Nigeria.

I believe that it is the most important societal problem in Nigeria because it leads to other societal problems. If corruption is lessened, we wouldn’t be facing most problems faced in Nigeria today. The first problem it causes is poverty. Poverty is a person’s inability to cater for himself and provide his/her basic needs. Now it seems that poverty is caused because the people of a country are lazy and will not look for job but that is not true. When a country is corrupted, and the money meant for the people of a country is put into the pocket of the leader in position, there with not be circulation of money around the country. Take Nigeria as a case study, the leader of Nigeria and his associates have all the money for themselves, the people of the country will definitely be poor. Even if they have jobs, the money given to them will not be equal with the services they render.

Another problem caused by corruption is lack of good social amenities. Every country in the world must have social amenities and Nigeria is one of them but what if the country is corrupted? The money eaten by the people in power was meant for the development of the country. Social Amenities include good roads, pipe borne water, hospitals, school etc. Everyone of these things are needed and are very important in a country, however most of these things are lacking in Nigeria. Some areas have no water and they are forced to drink from a stream where germs are, the people fall sick but there is no hospital or sometimes there are hospitals but they don’t have good and adequate facilities. The people of that area will die because of the shortcomings of this amenities. Schools is also another place that is not fully equipped. Students sit on the floor or the hallways to learn, no plastic chairs and tables. The teachers use a chalk and a wooden board to teach. Learning will be made very inconveniencing. And of course bad roads, in Nigeria there are a lot of cars parked on the roads damaged. Nigerians are very angry because their money used to invest on that car has been wasted especially those that don’t have an insurance. The roads are filled with potholes and bumps that shouldn’t be there in the first place. This is another problem corruption causes.

Thirdly, another problem corruption breeds is unemployment. This is a huge problem faced by many youths in Nigeria. After hard work over the years in the university, graduates come into the labour market and find no job. This is caused by corruption. When the people in power are very greedy, they use the country’s money and send their children abroad and keep the best jobs for them, jobs that they pay ₦1 million. This amount of money can save the lives of many people who can’t afford to send their children to school. The children of this “rich” politicians take the jobs and act as if they are better than everyone else. Meanwhile, there are over 400 graduates looking for jobs even if it gives them little money.

Another problem is underdevelopment of the country. Everybody wants to be a politician now because they feel you can take money and become very rich. They also want to leave a good legacy with their name and that is very wrong. A leader serves the people and not himself. A leader in Nigeria will start a good project but was unable to finish it, when he or she is voted out and another leader comes in, instead of finishing the abandoned project, he breaks down the project and starts his own. The country will be left in ruins. That is why there are bad roads and there is a dirty environment. The leader of a country (Nigeria) should not try to take the glory but continue the unfinished project. This will help in the development of the country.

Finally, the last problem corruption breeds is war. A country that is corrupted is likely to face war because citizens are not happy with the government. The sitting government will want to return every 4 years and they still wouldn’t do anything for the country. They only want to steal money. They rig elections, steal ballot boxes and even cause violence on the electoral grounds. Citizens are likely to revolt and want to impeach the sitting government but because of stubbornness, the government will refuse to go and this could lead to shedding of blood.

So you see, corruption is a major problem and should be tackled immediately. I mentioned five problems that corruption breeds and none of them should be in Nigeria if not for corruption. There are so many other problems and these are just a few. Corruption must be eradicated so that Nigeria will be a pleasant country to live in. Perhaps, I will be the next president.

Her writing has been typed out to make it more legible but you can access the original document  by clicking HERE