Anti-Corruption Campaign and Development in Nigeria: The Case of President Mohammadu Buhari’s Whistle Blowing Policy

Abstract

The attendant economic hardship witnessed across the national landscape of Nigeria as a result of large scale corruption, arose the search for a policy driven antidote to prevent the continuous leakages from the national treasury. President Muhammadu Buhari’s democratic administration introduced: Treasury Single Account (TSA), Bank Verification Number (BVN) and Whistle Blowing (WB) policies as potent ingredients to detoxify Nigeria of corruption. The focus of the current study is to bridge the gap created by the humongous corruption that has led to economic sabotage, insecurity and gross underdevelopment of all sectors in the nation. Using the Path dependence and elite theories to grant insight into the study, the author argued that both theories grant a clear insight into the understanding of the anti-graft war. While the former is premised on the idea that decisions to engage in corrupt dealings depends on past knowledge of the individual, on the security or otherwise around the crime environment. The elite theory, underscores the general belief that a few privileged individuals determines the success or otherwise of the fight against corruption. The study revealed that succeeding administrations were losing in their conducts of the war against corrupt practices. Moreover, a major finding is that for there to be reasonable development, corruption has to give way to transparency of processes, accountability by all public officeholders, and financial probity. The study submitted that the future success of the whistle blowing policy is left at the mercy of public office holders whose support or otherwise will determine the continuation or extinction of the policy. Key words: Corruption, anti-corruption, security, development, whistle blowing