Five Reasons Why Nigeria's Battle against Corruption Will Be Hard to Win

For many years corruption has robbed many Nigerians of their future. We hear of Nigerian politicians stealing billions of Naira and running away with it or hiding it. The new APC government has shown signs of committing to tackling corruption and bringing it to an end. Experience shows that this is not going to be easy, and here is why. 

Corruption Has Become A Culture

In Nigeria, corruption has become a culture. People now see corruption as an opportunity to take part in the "eating of national cake". When a corrupt official is caught, he runs to his tribesmen for protection and spends money for them to accept him. Most Nigerians hate corruption and want the perpetrators to be brought to book except if the person is from their tribe. 

Most Nigerians Are Not Patriotic Enough

Patriotism means having a love for the place you are born or where your ancestors originated. If you love your country, you won't steal from her. Patriotism is an issue of emotions and minds. Once people have been made to believe in their country, they will try as much as possible to do good and protect her from destruction. 

Minimal Tangible Support from the Citizens

Nigerian citizens believe that the fight against corruption is the responsibility of the government. This is hardly so. In most parts of the world, the citizens play a vital role in ensuring that people who do evil and cheat the system are promptly brought to book. If Nigerians can summon courage, ignore tribalism and religious dictates and support the government, corruption wouldn't know what hit it. That said, there is a need to revamp the Nigerian justice system, not just by making it independent but also promoting only judges with a reputation of impartiality. 

It Is Like a House Against Itself

If you are trying to clean up a house from dirt, the room must be ready and subjected to your bidding. Corruption is hard to fight because the corrupt people are mixed with good people. Most people who are innocent but have relatives who are corrupt benefit from them one way or the other and will keep their mouth shut about it. They will be ready to protect them so the goodies can continue to flow. Honesty is far from being the order of the day. Most people will never be honest about dealing with corruption from their ends; hence, the fight becomes even tougher. 

Money Is Nigeria's Real Value System

The most prosperous countries in the world are like that because of their value system. China's value system is productivity; Japan's value system is honor; the Americans are crazy about their country and so on. Unfortunately, Nigeria's value system is money. In Nigeria, there is nothing money can't do. This is one of the reasons why it is hard to fight corruption. Our value system defines us and gives us directions to what we should consider as value. When money is your value system, you can't but continue to steal. 

Corruption is a national problem in Nigeria. Everyone must put hands together and support the law enforcement agencies so they can catch the thieves and help us build a great nation.