Effects
of Corruption on Sustainable Development in Africa
By Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath
 |
| Some of the world leaders at the Anti-Corruption Submmit 2016 |
However, when it comes to matters
of corruption, the popular saying is that: “Both the Giver and the Taker are
guilty.”
On Wednesday, 11 May 2016, while
in London to participate in the Ant-Corruption Summit in that country, the
calm, cool and soft-spoken President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria told the UK
Prime Minister, David Cameron something to this effect: “Keep your apologies
and return my stolen moneys to me.” Obviously, he was provoked when Prime
Minister, Cameron ‘framed’ Nigeria as “fantastically corrupt.”
President Buhari, on that
occasion described corruption as “hydra-headed monster which threatened the
security of countries and does not differentiate between developed and developing
countries.” But when the wise Nigerian leader was reported by BBC to have said
that he was not “demanding any apology from anybody but return of stolen money,”
he must be speaking not only for Nigeria but for the entire Africa continent
because it was not only Nigeria whose money was stolen by the morally
gargantuan-corrupt advanced nations.
Nine
years ago, exactly, in 2007 when President Buhari was no nowhere
near the seat of government, Dr. Gbenga Lawal of Olabisi Obasanjo University in
Nigeria published a scholarly article in the Humanity & Social Sciences
Journal entitled “Corruption and Development in Africa: Challenges for
Political and Economic Change.” This
writer finds that article today as relevant as the day it was published. And
for the purpose of this write-up, it is important to share some of the salient
points with the reader.
Dr
Lawal defines Development in the article as a process by which a type of change
is introduced into a system in order to produce a better production method and
improved social arrangement. “It involves a structural transformation of the
economy, society, polity and culture of a country.” He went further to explain
that the level and rate of development of any particular society is influenced
by so many variables such as the political culture, leadership and corruption.
Because
this article is about corruption and development in Africa, I narrow the scope
on the subject matter. According to Dr Lawal, in
Africa, corruption has been at the centre of development and an impediment of
true and real development in the society. “Corruption has ravaged the entire
African system, causing the continent to be the most corrupt in the world,” he
opined.
The
author was of the view that if Africa was to be saved from this infection, the
endemic presence of corruption ought to be dealt with. Hear him: “Once
corruption becomes entrenched, its negative effects multiply. It induces cynicism,
because people begin to regard it as the norm. It undermines social values
because people find it easier and more lucrative to engage in corruption than
to seek legitimate employment. It erodes governmental legitimacy because it
hampers the effective delivery of public goods and services. It limits economic
growth because it reduces the amount of public resources, discourages private
investment and saving and impedes the efficient use of government revenue and
development assistance funds."
Even
though the author was writing about corruption in Africa, he pointed out that
the canker was a worldwide phenomenon which has long been with every society in
the world. He lamented that corruption has been a bane of most political and
economic problems in societies. He added: “A nation that condones corruption is often
besieged with a lot of economic, political and social vices.”
Dr.
Lawal observed that corruption in African countries has become endemic, as
such, it is found almost in all aspects of life. He said corruption deepens
poverty and makes it difficult for ordinary people to get ahead as a result of
their efforts. He said different
arguments have been put forward to explain the pervasiveness of corruption in
Africa. These include poverty, the personalisation of public office, the
political culture and the inability of leaders to overcome their colonial
mentality in respect of their perception of public office.
Dr
Lawal revealed in his article that in 1991 alone, United Nations estimated that
more than $200billion in capital was siphoned out of Africa by the ruling
elites. It added that, “This amount was more than half of Africa’s foreign debt
of $300billion” at that time.
The
Nigerian Professor quoted Ayittey (2002) as saying that “the wealth resulting
from corruption also forms part of capital flight and on an annual basis,
exceeds what comes into Africa as foreign aid.” The author again credited Ayittey
(2002) to have argued that “the inviolate ethnic of the ruling elite in Africa
is self-aggrandizement and self-perpetuation in power.”
For
most of these corrupt African leaders to achieve their self-aggrandizement
objectives, they take over and subvert every key institution of government to
serve their needs and not that of the people. By so doing, various institutions
as the Judiciary, Military, Media and Banking; and even various commissions
with lofty ideals that are supposed to be non-partisan and neutral are also
taken over and debauched.” Thus, Dr Lawal
concluded that the negative effects of corruption on sustainable development in
Africa are more deadly than HIV/AIDS.
Having said all this, this writer is still
optimistic that there is hope for Africa. There is hope for Africa because,
gradually but steadily, most of the immediate post-colonial African heads of
state who are corrupt to the bone are fading out of African politics. They are giving way to modern democratically
elected leaders whose national constitutions, under the eagle eyes of the
fearless media and fire brand civil society movements will not make it easy for
them to siphon African funds into their private accounts abroad.
Again,
on Thursday, 12 May 2016 when the actual Anti-Corruption Summit was held in London, the host Prime Minister,
David Cameron announced that there would be a global plan to help recover
stolen assets. It was resolved that the
said “Global Forum for Asset Recovery would bring together governments and law
enforcement agencies to discuss returning assets to Nigeria, Ukraine, Sri Lanka
and Tunisia.” That meeting will be held
in the US next year, to be co-hosted with UK, and supported by the UN and the
World Bank.
As
in Africa, when Nigeria sneezes all other countries catch a cold, so, too, when
Nigeria’s “fantastically” stolen moneys are returned, all others shall follow
suit. And Africa, our beloved continent shall be free of corruption, paving way
for sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations
of Africa.
The
author works with Information Services Department ISD in Accra abissath@gmail.com
