Corruption and economic growth in Nigeria (1980-2017)

Abstract

The study was carried out on impact of corruption on the Nigerian economic growth. This study made use of secondary data in analyzing the relationship between corruption and Nigerian economic growth. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the examined the causes and effect of corruption in Nigeria, how corruption can be curbed in the Nigerian society and also examined the factors impeding the efforts of government in fighting corruption; and the strategies/policies to be adopted to combat corruption. This research work employed Ordinary Least Square (OLS) of simple regression model in order to test the corruption on the economic growth in Nigeria. The study period covers from 1980 - 2017 which is a period of thirty seven years. This study used the ordinary least squares (OLS) to determine the relationship between corruption and economy growth. Using the p values to check for significance of 5% critical values. (0.05) note that from the results log(Gex) and PS are determined corruption index in Nigeria. Unemployment rate, political stability, government expenditure, debt stock all have positive impact on corruption index, as they increase so does corruption which conforms to apriori expectation. But GDP has a negative impact on corruption index, an increase in GDP will lead to a fall in corruption in Nigeria. This goes contrary to apriori expectation. The findings show that corruption has a significant negative effect on economic growth and. It is recommended that the Nigerian government should employ the strict application of anti-corruption codes as stipulated in the legislations that created the anticorruption agency without prejudice or double standard irrespective of the culprit’s stature or position in the society. The results also revealed that corruption impairs and impacts economic growth. It is on this basis, we draw our conclusion and suggest that Private Anti-Corruption Initiatives, Public anti-corruption initiatives and Public education campaign/programmes should be strengthened and motivated in to address the cause of corruption rather than its effects.