₦airaland Forum

CORRUPTION A SOCIETAL EVIL CRIPPLING OUR COUNTRY NIGERIA: WHO TAKES THE MOST BLAME, LEADERS OR THE FOLLOWERS?
Samuel, the son of a respected business mogul has tried getting at least five credits in the West African School Certificate Examination all to no avail. As he plans to sit for the exam the seventh time, he meets his father as they strategize on a do or die affair way of getting results. The young boy has brought more than disgrace to the family through his involvement in several life-threatening vices, he revels in the pool of procrastinationand always find an excuse for failure. The pampering father of the defiant boy comforts his child with the promise of meeting the Principal of a renowned secondary school the following day. The Principal of Goddy Group of Schools welcomes Chief Adegbite dressed in a flowing bulbous white agbada into his office. After the exchange of pleasantries, the principal gives attention as Chief Adegbite asks him for a favour that will see Samuel get at least a credit in all the nine subjects. The Principal replies Chief Adegbite; 'Nothing goes for free, despite the fact that you are a popular dignitary in our neighbourhood, I will still need a stipend to the tune of #50000 to carry out this job.' Chief Adegbite with a smiling face extends his hand for an handshake and asks the Principal for the details of his bank account. The deal is sealed and the Principal sees him off to his car. Welcome to Nigeria, the land of 'Nothing goes for free.'
All protocols duly observed. I am thollulope, representing the First and the Best University, the prestigious University of Ibadan. I stand on the opinion that, 'Followers and not leaders are to be blamed for the corruption that has crippled our country, Nigeria.' Corruption can be defined as dishonest actions that destroys people's trust in the person or group. The noun 'corruption' comes from Latin-com, or 'with, together,' and rumpere, meaning 'to break'. Corruption breaks ones trustworthinessand good reputation with others. Corruption also means moral perversion, impairment of virtue and moral principles. A much more difficult, scientific definition for the concept 'corruption' was developed by Prof. Petrus Van Duyne, he defines corruption as an improbity or decay in the decision-makingprocess in which a decision-maker consents to deviate or demands deviation from the criterion which should rule his or her decision-making, in exchange for a reward or for the promise or expectation of a reward, while these motives influencing his or her decision-makingcannot be part of the justification of the decision. It will also be pertinent to define who a leader and a follower is. A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal.A leader by its meaning is one who goes first and leads by example, so that others are motivated to follow him. A follower is a person who follows another in regards to his or her ideas or belief.
It is quite disheartening that corruption has become the order of the day in our country. An average Nigerian in the outside world is seen as a corrupt individual and foreigners are careful while dealing with them especially when it comes to business. Corruption is unarguably a societal evil and has become a cankerworm which has eaten deep into the fabric of Nigeria, its stench can be felt in every fibre of this fabric called Nigeria. When the issue of corruption is raised in any gathering, what comes to the mind of people is the leaders being the cause of corruption. We concentrate on political corruption(which is the use of powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain) which is just one among the forms of corruption that has crippled our nation. We have forgotten that scales of corruption exists which ranges from petty corruption, grand corruption to systemic(endemic) corruption. We must know that corruption can occur in any sector, whether they be public or private industry or even NGOs. We have corruption in the government or public sector, police corruption, judicial corruption, corruption in the educational system, corruption within labour unions and political corruption which we concentrate more on. If we do not correct this mindset of ours concerning corruption, I doubt if we will be able to eradicate this menace in our country. Let us flash our mind back to the story of Samuel and his father cited in the beginning of this essay, should we blame our leaders for that act of corruption that took place in the story? Samuel and his father and their likes are the same people who never fail to get copies of at least three popular newspapers everyday. They do this to keep themselves abreast of what is happening in the polity of the nation, the recent expose on the scandals perpetrated by the governor of a state , minister and other public officers. They get the newspapers to update themselves so as to thrive in the circle of friends as they chant about the misdeeds of these individuals who are believed to be corrupt. They are quick to castigate the Federal Government and lampoon their Local Government Chairman yet they themselves are bunch of corrupt individuals.
We should ask ourselves this question. which came first- the corrupt citizen(followers) or the corrupt government(leaders)? There is no iota of doubt that the corrupt citizen come first. Before any one can become a leader, he or she must have one time or the other been a follower. As they say, the great palm tree which produces oil palm for years started out as a plant been planted in the soil and the giant pyramids of Egypt could only stand on the small building blocks which served as the foundation. Another question that comes to mind is, who are the corrupt? Are public office holders the only corrupt people? Did I hear you say YES? Maybe you are right after all probably because they have developed their theft faculty to the level of dealing with billions of naira, but you will agree with me that they never started from one billion naira, they must have all started like Samuel, cheating in the examination hall and getting away with it.
How can we blame our leaders for the corruption that exists in the educational sector? Should we blame our leaders when students pay money to get live answers to examination questions? Not also forgetting those who devise all means to pass their exams such as carrying instructional materials(textbooks) to exam halls, writing answers on their palms, hands, wrists and every other body parts you can think of. Is corruption also exempted in our higher institutions of learning? A situation whereby a lecturer makes it compulsory for all his students to get textbooks made by him at exorbitant prices otherwise, they will not pass his course, to worsen the case, these textbooks do not corelate with what they are being taught. What about students that sleep with lecturers so as to pass their courses not forgetting those who bribe lecturers in order to pass. Are these not all corrupt practices carried out by followers? Leaving the educational system, what about those followers that evade taxes. Do you want to tell me that evasion of tax is not corruption? Many followers evade taxes and the money realized from the taxes are what the government use to provide basic amenities and social infrastructure for the citizens. Someone had this to say about evasion of taxes, 'I came across a Nigerian forum a while ago in which the issue of tax is being debated. One poster claimed that it was for the best that Nigeria was not fully developed because perks of evading tax made life for him, a lot more comfortable.' Can you imagine such a statement? These are the same set of people that will be condemning the government due to their bad performance yet they do not contribute their quota to the development of the country. Are the market women also left out of corruption? Certainly, NO! Most market women cheat their customers, they devise means by which they measure their goods inaccurately so as to accrue much profit. What about those marketers that inflate the prices of good so as to maximize profit. Even we the users of mobile technology are not left out of corruption, we look for means by which we will browse the internet without paying a dime. We tweak a lot of IMEIs and dial different codes so as to surf the internet without paying. These are little things that we followers do not see as corruption yet they are corrupt practices.
As corruption tries to obstruct the vision of Nigeria's spectacles, there is need for sensitization against the miniscule acts of corruption in our sphere of influence. Corruption found its way into the corridors of power because it was not nipped in the bud. Nipping it in the bud starts from the fight against exam malpractices which falsifies the intelligence of a student. Moral ethics have been eroded from the list of our core values. All public office holders might be corrupt but what about students, lecturers, contractors among many others? Are we not all corrupt in our dealings with people? All our debates and arguments about Jonathan's frivolities did not made him exude transparency.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that if we are interested in a Nigeria free of corruption, then we must be ready to wage war against it. The crusade for a corrupt free Nigeria starts with a bottom to top approach, it starts with you and I. Nigeria will never be free from corruption until the followers learn to stand for what is right in their localities and say an emphatic NO to all forms of corruption.






REFERENCES.
1. Osho-Samuel, a corrupt Nigeria, so who is responsible? www.thescoopng. com/ osho-samuel-a-co rrupt- nigeria-s o-who-is-respon sible/
2. Which came first- the corrupt citizens or the corrupt government?
https:// thenigerianarchi ve.wordpress.co m/2011 /04/06/ which-came-first -the-corrupt-ci tizen- or-the-co rrupt-governmen t
3. https:// en.m.wikipedia.o rg/wiki/ Political_corrup tion
4. https:// en.m.wikipedia.o rg/wiki/ Corruption
5. dictionary.refe rence.com
6. www.corruptie.o rg/en/ corruption/ what-is-corrupti on/
7. www.vtaide.com/ gleanings/ leader.htm
8. www.meriam-webs ter.com/ dictionary/ follower

Thollulope
2nd speaker
representin the university of ibadan

Olalarey
this is it

Fynestboi:
Schools cleared


UNILAG
YABATECH
AUCHI POLYTECHNIC
UNIUYO
UNILORIN
OAU
ABU ZARIA
FUTMINNA
IBADAN POLYTECHNIC
LASU
LAUTECH
UNIJOS




Only this schools will get message when the time comes.

wat abt ui?

Fynestboi:
So you are joining as well?

plz wu z representin ui
gracias

treasuregr8:
I'm not on whatsapp o

what did u plan
ani rep

Fynestboi:
Pay close attention to the instructions for this stage.

Nairaland Interschool debate third edition We Are Ready (The stage for intellectual WAR begins.

25 Schools grouped into Six team will intellectually compete for a spot in the next stage which is THE 16 INTELLECTUAL GIANT.

Two Representatives from each schools are to write an essay on the topic given to their team as indicated, and have them submit on a stipulated date that will be declare soon, after the submission, our judges will analyse and score each essay,from which the first two from each groups automatically qualifies for THE 16 INTELLECTUAL GIANT. and the other qualifiers will be selected base on how high their point is...



Work your way down to the next stage with your intellectual write up.

please,have ui detailed been sent
tanx

djWALE:
*laughing in Yoruba**....
I thought the deadline for their crushing is december. ......oooh,i forgot he didnt say the year in particular....
Bt am pretty sure its nt even 2016,.....
Is bubu still in naija?

#pray4nigeria

Hav they been found
#too long

Fynestboi:
I did my research sir, but we cannot be always sure of things a times... We have judges as you can see this is the third edition, we only intend to expand the numbers of judges. @bolded I believe our judges are. You can go through the first and second edition for evidence.

wen z d deadline 4 sending our representatives
tanx

brainbucks:
Last Days

smh, endtime lastdays

Some drivers are obstinate
tank God no life lost
nw if sumfin bad had happened, u blame government
change comes 4rm we citizens
tank u

suxkill:
hmmmm,I don't understand this man,

is he a wailer?

or about to join us.


even the rat inside my house,has seen the effect of changi!!!

the negative change
smh

Nice tweet
continue having ur fame on twitter

#eyan maywheather
awon atole, e fun wo ni pampers
awon wailers, e fun wo ni handkerchief
congrats
#ybnl

Good move
.
.
.
But the end shall justify it

I love this nikka
continue ur work jae
ah dae ur back

wailers, river niger available

New here

treasuregr8:
where are they?, we have a meeting o

fb z okay since a grp has been created

cassyrooy:
JOIN THE TEAM UI FACEBOOK GROUP TO SUPPORT AND ALSO LEAVE YOUR VIEWS


TEAM UI DEBATE PLANNING GROUP


THANK YOU.

Cc.
olalerey
cassyrooy
treasuregr8
aysuccess99
Thollulope

joined bro

Igbo and their opolos
ah fear una o

hausas,una dae learn
cus nah one language u go dae talk 4 road,day and night,smh

cassyrooy:
See as u squeeze ya face, lol, since you're scared to lead us, we'll do it together then. >

ah dae ya back treasure

cassyrooy:
Hahaha! Treasuregr8 will lead the UI delegates to the debate.

make una do am well
if dem don bring topic
holla me
tanx

cassyrooy:
Reprentatives of The First, The Only and The Best University in Nigeria.

Chai! See hype

Cc: pr0ton
misspresident
olatunji21
iamlucy
bhuumhite
kelechiug
sexykaycee
getovame and all UI flag bearers, come cheer us o.

cassyrooy:
Follow the like on the post by Francistony, btw on here-Nairaland.

hav registered,make sure una win cus me dnt knw hw to debate

University of ibadan
pharmacy
thollulope@ gmail.com
thollulope

I guess Ui students/aspirants dae sleep ....

cassyrooy:
T. Fill me in on how they go about this debate, is the time randomly fix? Cos that'll be my problem, thanks.

hmmn.......4 where d stuff dae shele self

jerseyboy:
The correct word is Independence not Independent. It should be Biafra Independence Movement.

not too late, u can stil change it

Team biafra
.
.
.
.lyk i care

bewla:
End time wailers quotes

gerrarahere
zombie

bewla:
End time givers

end time wailer