The problems caused by corruption can never be overemphasized. All over the world, there are levels of corruption and an attempt to reduce or completely annihilate makes growth and development more rapid.
Over the years, the sub-Saharan African leaders have come up with fantastic policies but implementation problems linger. Nigeria for example has had five mid term plans with very good policies. The fifth (the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies) which is an offspring of the Millennium Development Goals harps on the need to alleviate poverty, to create jobs, provide basic primary education, reorienting values and lots more. I was actively involved in the program during my youth service days and of a truth the plan has much of what it takes to turn around the economic situation of the country. But you still ask yourself; why is there still power failure, poor infrastructure, high level of crime, political instability, fluctuations and hike in prices of fuel? The simple answer is corruption. In implementing these policies, funds are misappropriated, over budgeted, not completed and poor maintenance program follow-up for completed projects is seen.
However, it must be emphasized that fingers must not be pointed at the government alone. The citizens play a lot in supporting and diminishing of growth and development in the sub-Saharan African countries. The concept of an individual wanting to amass wealth for himself and his immediate family at all costs is now becoming their mind set. Corruption is so wide that it can be seen from over 1000 angles. A new means of fraud by some individuals is via the internet. Some youths these days engage themselves on how to basically defraud others through the internet and after making money through these ugly means, they worsen the economic situation of the country by claiming properties at any cost. I shall give a practical example of a case in my country. A young man (who has been caught recently though) defrauded someone and made away with about $100,000. Now since this money had no value for him, he lavished it on cars and built a house twice the original cost. The effect of this was that the prices of cars sold in almost all these areas became higher. A struggling civil servant who pays his taxes and has been saving to buy a car finds it very difficult now. There are a lot of these fraudsters worsening the economy. Thank God for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in my country that is fighting these individuals.
If all forms of corruption are fought to grassroots, development will increase at a geometric progression. If every individual both in the government and in the private sector can have a rethink and a redefinition to wealth and life in general, and that there are other ways of becoming great than cheating, stealing and swindling people, I think these countries will develop faster because they are richly blessed with both natural and human resources.
Fighting corruption, I thus suggest should be the first agenda in development planning strategies and others which include reducing poverty, instituting basic primary education, creating new jobs, eradicating deadly diseases, controlling environmental hazards and so on can come later.
