Professor Isaac Olawale Albert has identified corruption as Nigeria’s biggest national problem, arguing that the practice has penetrated virtually every aspect of governance and public life.
Albert, a professor of peace and conflict studies at the University of Ibadan (UI), said the country’s security, economic and governance problems could not be properly addressed without confronting corruption.
Speaking in an interview with PrimeStar News Online, Albert said Nigeria had effectively been captured by elites who controlled public resources without adequately using them to improve the lives of citizens.
He stated, “Corruption is number one,” arguing that the problem had become so deeply rooted that many Nigerians had accepted practices that should ordinarily be regarded as unacceptable.
Albert criticised the enormous privileges associated with political office and recalled an experience during his National Youth Service period in Sokoto.
He said he once visited the Governor’s Lodge as a political editor of the NYSC corps magazine and observed the lavish arrangements surrounding the governor and other officials.
He said corps members were made to wait while officials were served, and later saw the remains of the meal.
According to him, the experience made him understand why some politicians become reluctant to leave government positions.
Albert said government office should be about service rather than personal enrichment.
He noted that being in government is more lucrative than being in the armed robbery business, an anecdote he used to illustrate the extent to which public office could become financially attractive.
He argued that billions of naira allegedly diverted or accumulated by individuals could have been used to improve the lives of millions of Nigerians.
Albert said the problem was particularly troubling because some of the people accused of benefiting from the system publicly presented themselves as religious leaders or people of faith.
He questioned how individuals could accumulate enormous wealth while millions of Nigerians struggled to feed themselves.
According to him, poverty, unemployment and insecurity are interconnected with the way public resources are managed.
He said many people who protest or engage in disorder are responding to difficult social and economic circumstances, although such actions cannot by themselves justify violence.
Albert therefore argued that tackling insecurity required more than military operations.
He said government must create jobs, support businesses, improve livelihoods and establish an environment in which citizens have something meaningful to protect.
He linked good governance to peace, saying societies are more stable when citizens believe they have a stake in the future.
Albert maintained that Nigeria needed leadership that placed the country ahead of personal interests and described this as “altruistic leadership”.
He said the country’s resources should be used to create a society in which citizens can live with dignity rather than one where political elites enjoy privileges while ordinary Nigerians struggle to survive.
