THE IMPACT OF CORRUPT PRACTICES ON ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY IN NIGERIA PUBLIC SERVICE

1.1 Introduction

Corruption is an unethical practices and behavior that are contrary to the practice commonly advocated by the constitution or which include looting public fund “lootocracy” misappropriation, money laundering abuse of the office. Corruption has become a household word in the Nigerian society. It pervades all strata of society, from the highest levels of the political and business elites to the ordinary person in the village. There are divergent opinions on what constitutes corruption just as is commonly the case with other concepts in the Social Sciences. Corruption occurs most in public service which hindered efficient and effective service delivery. The Public Service reflects the state of the nation and no nation has been able to advance beyond its Public Service. Studies have shown that no nation can attain sustainable development for the enhancement of the living standard of the people without a properly organized public service to implement government policies.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitation of the study and Definition of terms.

1.2 Background of Study

This concept corruption is a disease to governance and in any organization. We are going to look into what and how corrupt practices are being carried out in an organization. Most of us have an idea of what corruption is, but we don’t necessary share the same idea. That is why we need to ask the question about what corruption is. For example,

1. Do you believe giving money to seep up the procession of an application is corruption?
2. Do you think awarding contracts to those who gave large campaign contribution is corruption?
3. Do you think using government construction?

Corruption is not just the clearly “Bad” cases of government official skimming off money for their own benefit. It includes cases where the system don’t work well and ordinary people are left in a bind needing to give a bribe for the medicine or the licenses they need.

All of the above examples of public corruption they all involve the misuse of public office for private gain in other words, they involved a government officials benefiting at the example of the tax payer or at the expense of the average person who comes into contact with the government.

No matter how the word “corruption” is perceived it denotes “decayed” and actions that borders on immorality, dishonesty, disparity, imparities or debasing actions.

The Longman dictionary of contemporary English defines corruption as “dishonesty” illegal or immoral behaviour especially from someone with power: Agoha C. (2004:129-130) posits that if a person of integrity condescends by doing things unexpected from him, he becomes corrupt.

Bribery which is both corruption and moral perversion constitute corruption what construes as corruption may be regarded otherwise by another that is to say that corruption is in the eyes of the condemned and not the beneficiary.

Corruption of course has two phases, the good and the bad, it is good to him that benefits from it and bad when is unfavorably affected by corruption. Agoha also sees corruption “as a virus of mind need for materialism competition setting fear of denial of reward after honesty service to private and government institution, poor corruption of service”. Corruption also facilitated unemployment, poverty, extended social responsibilities as it is caused by the privileged rich.

The Public service is a service where federal, state or local government has an interest or where its presence is felt. It is a very wide organ, encompassing the civil service, the school system, the judicially, the local government system, the security agents, government companies and public service is of great importance to any given state. The purpose of the state is to maximize the potentials of its citizens by providing basic rights, liberty, security and welfare. And government exist to enable the state realize the above objective. For such to be done, the government needs efficient and well-informed public service. The bulk of decision and actions undertaken by government are influenced and implemented by the public service.

Therefore, in Imo State Civil Service Commission where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impact of Corrupt Practices on Organizational Productivity in Nigeria Public Service.

1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that corruption is such a sensitive issue that has destroyed the successful running of organizational productivity in Owerri civil service commission. In the course of research work several problems emerged which are not only fundamental but their proper understanding is very necessary. Those problems are as follows.

1. Corruption
2. Poor conditions of service generally resulted to the loss of managerial and professional expertise from the civil service commission.
3. Godfatherism
4. Nepotism
5. Absence of clear objective at agency level and weak leadership at administrative level.
6. There is lack of predictable and transparent regulatory procedure for the private sector.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Impact of Corrupt Practices on Organizational Productivity in Nigeria Public Service using Imo State Civil Service Commission as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine how corrupt practices have contributed in great measure to the failure of the public service in Nigeria;
2. To examine how top officers enrich themselves from the organizational fund;
3. To first fight corruption from minds of the people with the lender showing good example in probity and accountability;
4. To ensure that laws are not only created but are implemented to fight against corruption; and
5. To strengthen the independent investigation and prosecuting agencies such as ICPC, EFCC, NIA etc. to ferret out corruption in government regardless of the rank and official involved.

1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Can civil service commission get out all of the glamour of corruption?
• What are the causes of corruption in the public service?
• Why do people engage in corruption?
• What are the strategies used to fight corruption?
• Why are these strategies not winning the war against corruption?
• What can be done to reduce corruption to a minimum level in such a way that will not hinder development?

1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There is no relationship between corrupt practices and underdevelopment of the Nation’s economy
• H1: There is a relationship between corrupt practices and underdevelopment of the Nation’s economy

1.7 Significance of Study

This research work aims at exposing the causes of corruption in any organization so that when one is involves in the act an observer realized that he is in the act (corruption).

It goes a long way revealing that corruption brings about under development, poverty to nations and it is well seen as an evil winds that blows no society good.

It also aims at identifying the consequences of corruption in any economy and in Nigeria public service.

This research work also aim at the researcher to know why people engage in corrupt practices in Nigeria.

This research work also aims at the researcher all the necessary medicines to effective control of corruption.

1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on Impact of Corrupt Practices on Organizational Productivity in Nigeria Public Service using Imo State Civil Service Commission in Nigeria as a case study.

1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
3. Initial Cooperation Delay from Respondents: A particular limitation of this work came as a result of the respondent refusal to offer their cooperation at the initial time they were contacted. This contributed in making the success of this research study difficult.

1.10 Definition of Terms

Corruption:

This is the act of falling rectitude through indecent behaviour and bribery.

Mismanagement:

It means to manage wrongly or badly by destroying things.

Public Service:

Public service is a service which is provided by government to people living within its jurisdiction, either directly or by financing provision of services.

Political Instability:

Political instability can be defined in at least three ways. A first approach is to define it as the propensity for regime or government change.

Organization:

These are processing units transform certain input from the environment into specified output desired society.

Productivity:

Efficiency in production of life and properties or in societal measure by comparing the amount of peace produced with the time taken.