Quality Education Chases Corruption Away
Corruption usually happen in an environment of high level of negative traits. And positive attributes are the antidotes to combat negative traits. The problem of corruption which has permeated deep into Nigeria’s system can be chased away by the introduction of positive-traits-focused school system.
Corruption Indicates the Prevalent of Ignorant in the Society
Ignorant is a negative trait; a lack of awareness, a poor education situation, an inability to solve problems due to the lack of skills and knowledge by the people. Such condition is where corruption, which is an outcome of destabilized structure, festers and multiplies.
Ignorant people don’t know how to solve their problems and they want them solved anyway. The result is often a corrupted form of solution. For example, a former governor of Lagos State desired to widen a road to allow for a freer flow of traffic. The problem was that to widen the road, houses must be pulled down. Those houses included business buildings, residential homes, schools, religious buildings, among others at both sides of the highway.
The governor and his cabinet members knew that people live and make use of the properties. Thus, the people must be evicted first. Evicting the people was not an easy task. Those people had lived and used the properties for many years.
Serious real estate business was going on. Banks, insurance companies, hotels, manufacturing and service rendering organizations, telecommunication companies, individual homes, were bought and sold. Some buildings were undergoing reconstruction; some were newly rented or leased.
Lagos state government issued an announcement about its plan to widen the road and asked those affected to evict themselves or adjust themselves before a fixed date. Officials went and took measurement of the length that would be cut off and marked on the walls indicating the level of adjustment and the date they would come bulldozing down the structure that were not adjusted before the deadline date. Those affected were told to present their proof of property ownership for compensation.
As the designated date drew closer, over 90 percent of the occupants were still confused. Just a handful had adjusted their properties before the due date. Then, the D-day came, the demolition officials along with heavily armed enforcement officials began bringing down structures. The destruction ranged on from people’s shops in the market to people’s living homes, to hotels, and banks.
When they came to a school, and a military barrack, they didn’t pull down the fences of those institutions which were marked, they allowed time for a new fence to be built before coming back to pull down the marked one. Shouldn’t they have shown similar treatment to the tax paying citizens properties, personal effects, and livelihoods that were destroyed? Shouldn’t they have ensured that everyone had adjusted themselves before bulldozing people’s personal effects and living properties? Many that were affected never regained themselves many years after the event.
In as much as the government has the right to widen a narrow road for a freer traffic, they ought to carryout the task in a way that do not create unnecessary pains and suffering to the affected citizens. For the citizens had bought or rented the properties. It should have been the duty of the government to ensure that the citizens never built too close to the highway. Then if the citizens happened to break the law, appropriate punishment should be carried out through a competent court of law.
So in this case, both the citizens who built structures beyond the legal requirement and the government who rendered incalculable suffering to the citizens had created a negative situation (corrupt situation). The outcome of the negative situation which was the poor way the issue was handled amounted to corruption, lack of knowledge, and lack of correcting institutions.
Strong correcting bodies like judicial body, the legislative body, civil right body, the press, etc would have weighed into the matter and forced the government to do the right thing. Even many years later no one is talking about it. Similar thing is still being done in different parts of the country and the leaders simply do not know that they are committing corrupt act by unjustly subjecting their tax paying citizens to untold suffering. They are abusing the fundamental right of their citizens with reckless abandon with the believe that they are doing the right thing.
Just as the government is ignorantly subjugating the fundamental rights of the citizens through suppressive policies, actions, and totalitarianism moves, the people are also ignorant and they do not know the appropriate ways to fight for their right. As it becomes easy for the powerful government to suppress and subjugate the weak citizens, the stage for corruption to sprout and grow luxuriantly is set.
Give multiple skills to individuals, and watch the tendencies to cheat and steal vanish.
As you have seen, the precondition of lack of knowledge of appropriate course of action due to ignorant on both the people and the government led to poor decision on both sides and the result is increased poverty and corruption. Now, if that the people had received multiple skills from the education they got, and the government, whose primary responsibility is to represent the interest of the people is skillful, they would have made a win-win decision.
Well-educated citizens would have realized that building beyond government approved line is a serious crime. In fact, it is stealing, and such act should not be condoned. And one of the duties of government officials is to monitor housing development and to ensure that home builders follow a well-defined city plan. For building plans are supposed to be approved by the government officials before any construction takes place. So some government officials must have neglected their duties. However, as the wrong had been committed, it would be the duty of well-learned government officials to handle the situation appropriately by engaging with the citizens in a discussion that bothered on what and how the citizens can right the wrong.
Intensive investigation and research would have gone into decision so that the circumstances that led to the people encroaching on government land would be unraveled and those found guilty would face the law according to their crime irrespective of whether they are government officials or the citizens.
The masses of well-trained society would have set up institutions that prevent public or private abuse of fundamental human right. Strong press, strong civil right organizations, well-functional legal institutions, among others could have deter a powerful government from abusing its citizens. Also such organizations work to prevent the abuse of public resources by the citizens.
The various institutional structures place barriers for public employee to abuse and steal. Since there are institutions of quality security that effectively monitors inflow and outflow of funds, thus cheaters and thieves would be prevented. Then also, proper welfare programs ensure that every citizen is cared for and basic living resources is available and accessible to the people. Therefore, reducing the incentive for engaging in the act of embezzlement of public resources or assets.
Ideas to curb corruption by developing institutional barriers stem from higher quality education system. When people are properly trained, they build institutions that make cheating and stealing difficult. Both the government and the citizens would be prevented from abusing each other. For through the abuse that negative traits become common and situation for corruption become easier to occur.
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