Perception of corrupt practices among extension agents of Oyo State agricultural development programme (OYSADEP)

Abstract

Corruption has been a perennial clog in the wheel of development of all the sectors of Nigeria economy, agriculture inclusive. Staffers of different establishments engage in some conducts tantamount to corruption advertently and in some instances, inadvertently. This study focused on the perception of some practices; that were considered corrupt, by agricultural Extension Agents (EA) of Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP). Simple random sampling was used to select 85 EAs (out of the total of 170) representing the sample size. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents on their personal characteristics, awareness and perception of the different forms of corrupt practices. Descriptive statistics, (frequency counts, percentages and mean) were used to summarize the data. More (35.3%, 64.7% and 29.4%) were between 32and 36 years of age, male, and had crop production as their area of specialization, respectively. Most (88. 2%) of the respondents knew abuse of office as corrupt practice, while the least known (9.4%) corrupt practice was bureaucratic conflict of interest. So also, patronage was known by just 17.6% as a corrupt practice. Majority (55%) of the respondents perceived corruption as impeding development. There was no significant relationship between awareness of various forms of corruption and perception of different corruption related statements. Therefore, it could be inferred that there exist a fair virtue within staffers of EAs of OYSADEP, but they were not aware of the semantics used in describing the different forms of corrupt practices. Many of the different forms of corrupt practices were not known to be such, while those that were known were not so derided. Hence, high toleration for those practices was implied. The current war against corruption by the present administration in the country should be holistic in covering public officers in the agricultural sector, as well as ensure mass media orientation to enhance attitudinal change. Keywords : Bureaucratic conflict, Corrupt Practices, Extension Agents.