Corruption in Nigeria: A Historical Perspective

Abstract

Given the notoriously recurring character of corruption as a social phenomenon in the Nigerian polity from colonial times to the present, it is my humble opinion that the enterprise for the study, analysis, explanation and solution of this persistent and progressively worsening problem is too serious and important to be left alone to social scientists, historians, philosophers and lawyers. Hence, the need for scholars to involve their readers and listeners in the process of analysis and explanation by making their presuppositions and, therefore, their predilections explicit in their works, this has been taken into consideration for the purpose of this exercise. A historical perspective therefore of corruption in Nigeria can serve as a panacea to its continuity.