CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

In Nigeria, bribery and corruption are twin evils with many heads that have eaten deep into the fabric of society. From the colonial period through independence in 1960 and the long years of military rule, they have advanced steadily and seemingly unstoppably to the present day, becoming a recurring feature of national life. Historical studies of political leadership trace the entrenchment of corruption from the nationalist and colonial era, through the First Republic (1960–1966) and the successive military regimes, to the later civilian republics, and argue that the political leadership class bears primary responsibility for institutionalising it (Ogbeidi, 2012). Smith (2007) likewise shows that corruption has become part of everyday expectations in Nigerian life. Scholars also commonly argue that the roots of corruption lie in the structures of colonial administration. Colonial rule created a public realm that many Africans regarded as alien and amoral, so that looting it was tolerated even as obligations to kin and community were upheld (Ekeh, 1975). The corruption that surged soon after independence in 1960 and the declaration of the Republic in 1963 grew to galloping proportions in almost every sphere of life. The problem has persisted into the present: in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index, Nigeria scored 26 out of 100 and ranked 142nd of 182 countries (Transparency International, 2026).

Corruption has also been shown to harm the poor most. Ordinary citizens suffer its consequences, while members of the ruling class often condemn in public the very practices from which their own circle benefits (Smith, 2007). Over the years, a majority of Nigerians have learned about bribery and corruption and, in various ways, experimented with it, so that it appears to have become part of daily life. This is largely because the conditions in which many Nigerians find themselves make corruption easy, and it is only when good and responsible governance prevails that corruption can recede. Few Nigerians believe that hard work pays, and fewer still believe that honesty is worth trying. Hard work has, in effect, been sacrificed at the altar of quick money-making, including advance-fee fraud ("419"), ritual killings and corruption in its many forms. Materialism has penetrated the national psyche so deeply that spiritual values are de-emphasised, as can be seen even in the prosperity messages of some well-known preachers and in their lavish lifestyles. Falako (2021) draws attention to the paradox that Nigeria ranks high on both religiosity and corruption indices.

Achebe (1983) famously argued that the trouble with Nigeria is simply a failure of leadership. In his view, nothing is fundamentally wrong with the Nigerian land, climate, water or air; the problem lies in the unwillingness or inability of the nation's leaders to rise to their responsibility and to set the personal example that marks true leadership. It follows that ordinary people look to the ruling elite for direction and example in avoiding corruption, but this expectation has not been met. Democracy, which is supposed to be government by the people, has largely failed to deliver. When the first generation of rulers became widely corrupt, a group of young army officers led by Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu staged the coup of 15 January 1966. In his broadcast, Nzeogwu declared that the plotters had come to rescue the country from inept and corrupt leadership, naming as enemies the political profiteers, swindlers and officials in high and low places who demanded bribes and a percentage of public contracts. The intention was therefore to give the vast majority of Nigerians good governance. The military, however, consistently failed to rescue the masses through its own rule; by many accounts, it entrenched corruption further (Ogbeidi, 2012).

Corruption and abuse of power have long been features of Nigerian public life. Joseph (1987) described the political order of the Second Republic as one of "prebendal" politics, in which public offices are treated as benefits to be appropriated and used to reward clients, and he showed how pervasive corruption and the violence that accompanied electoral manipulation contributed to that republic's collapse. Despite its enormous oil wealth and its economic, social and political strengths, Nigeria has not yet earned the title of "giant of Africa." Political corruption under military rule left a legacy of executive dominance and of patronage networks controlled by powerful political "godfathers" who view government principally as a means of personal enrichment. Because of this instability, the focus of leadership became narrow and tied to personal survival rather than national development, and attempts to consolidate democracy were frustrated by emerging political figures who used state power to advance personal agendas. Where centralised political and economic structures allowed those who controlled key state offices to become enormously wealthy, the majority of citizens sank into abject poverty. Poor leadership has produced stagnation and alienation, leaving citizens with a weak sense of belonging and little identification with the political system.

The Nigerian government has remained distant from serving the interests of its people. Those who built extensive patronage networks during military rule continue to dominate politics at the federal, state and local levels, and many have cultivated private militias to secure their positions. Public coffers continue to benefit these power holders while basic infrastructure in many parts of the country remains as dilapidated as it was under military rule. Ake (1996) explained this pattern as a product of the way politics is organised in much of the developing world. Because political power carries such a high premium, the struggle for it is intense, and this hinders national development by promoting the personal interests of leaders. Beset by hostile forces, many African leaders are politically insecure and so absorbed in the struggle for survival that they can hardly address the problem of development. The leadership crisis in Nigeria, as scholars have observed, reflects the dysfunctional pattern left by years of military interregnum. It lacks the focus needed to drive national development and political stability, and leaders are preoccupied with appropriating and privatising the Nigerian state. Bad leadership also afflicted the coups and counter-coups, and their successors fared no better. As a result, development programmes slowed, and political instability persisted as attention shifted to containing insecurity and regime instability.

In this setting, the question of what the Church can and should do has gained prominence. Prominent clergy in Nigeria have publicly condemned the conduct of corrupt leaders at all levels, observing that a country in which many state governors are adjudged corrupt cannot be said to be well governed, and have urged the Church to move beyond political docility and mobilise its members for active participation in the political process. The Church, as part of civil society, has a moral stake in good governance and should speak out in a clear and articulate voice on moral failures, including those within its own ranks, so that its influence on the political process is positive. Recent Nigerian scholarship argues that the Church can contribute to curbing corruption by leading through example and by promoting accountability and transparency (Gabriel, 2025), by backing its faith claims with consistent moral practice and disciplining members of questionable character (Falako, 2021), and by engaging constructively with the political order (Ezewudo & Peters, 2022). Asogwa and Sokwaibe (2022) nevertheless raise the pointed question of whether the Church is actually helping to solve Nigeria's corruption problem, and Amadi-Nche et al. (2023) note that corruption seems to intensify even as measures against it multiply. Against this background, the present study examines the role of the Church in combating corruption among political leaders in Anambra State.

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem

Corruption is a pervasive phenomenon, as old as human society, and it has harmed communities throughout history (Nye, 1967; Tanzi, 1998). For the specific purpose of this research, the following assumptions are formulated and tested in this scholarly exercise: that there is no positive relationship between the Church and political leaders in Anambra State, and that corruption has eaten deep and replicated itself in Anambra State since the state's creation. The Church, despite its strength and spiritual authority, has not been able to wage an effective offensive against corruption in the state. The researcher expects that this work will help the Anambra State Government and the Church to reflect on the best strategy for fighting corruption and rescuing society from its evident socio-economic and political decay. With its institutional strength and moral standing, the Church should be able to mount a direct challenge to corruption. Its voice must be strong enough to confront the rising tide of corruption in the state. As the moral light of society, the Church should be able to illuminate the dark clouds of corruption that have gathered over Anambra State.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to examine the role of the Church in combating corruption among political leaders in Anambra State. Specifically, the study seeks:

1. To determine the nature of the relationship between the Church and political leaders in Anambra State.
2. To ascertain the extent to which corruption has eaten deep and replicated itself in Anambra State.
3. To examine how the Church, with its institutional strength and spiritual authority, could wage war against corruption in Anambra State and redeem the state from socio-economic and political decay.
4. To make policy recommendations.

1.4 Significance of the Study

The choice of Anambra State as the focus of this study is significant because the state offers a platform for assessing the performance of existing democratic institutions in Nigeria's democratic experiment. Corruption has undeniably eaten deep into the fabric of society. It is practised by all and sundry, but most prominently by people in governance at the federal and state levels. This research is therefore designed to show the general public the alarming rate at which corruption has spread. Readers are also expected to find in it the contemporary causes of corruption, drawn from experiences of governance, and measures for reducing this cankerworm are likewise proposed.

The study on the role of the Church in combating corruption in Anambra State is of considerable practical and theoretical (academic) importance. It is timely and apt, particularly at a historic moment when Nigeria is committed to fighting corruption, and it will serve as a source of information for members of the public. It is practical because it will provide a systematic, coherent and holistic view of the nature of the relationship between the Church and political leaders in Anambra State and of the place of the Church in the fight against corruption in the state, and it will therefore furnish data for future researchers. It will also give Nigerian policy makers insight and in-depth knowledge of the real evils of corruption for the country's development prospects. Finally, the study will add to the numerous existing works in the library on related topics.

1.5 Scope of the Study

This research concerns corruption in the leadership of politicians in Anambra State. Although it centres on corruption among political leaders in Anambra State and the role of the Church in combating it, practical examples are drawn from different parts of the country in order to show the nationwide implications of corruption in Nigeria.

1.6 Research Methodology

This is qualitative research, and the method used is both analytical and historical. Primary data on contemporary politicians and government officials were gathered through oral interviews with knowledgeable politicians, government officials and Church officials who have information on the subject. For the secondary sources, the study made use of books, unpublished project works, periodicals, journals, newspapers, magazines and internet materials.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Religion. Religion may be understood as the feelings, acts and experiences of individuals in relation to whatever they regard as divine. Durkheim (1995) defined religion as a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is, things set apart and forbidden, which unite into a single moral community all those who adhere to them. The twin elements of belief and practice are central, because religion normally involves certain ideas or beliefs on the one hand and certain observances on the other, and these observances may be positive or negative. Aquinas (1947) described religion as the virtue that prompts a person to render to God the worship and reverence due to Him. Tylor (1871) proposed a minimal definition of religion as belief in spiritual beings, which reflects the age-long human search to explain existence, the sources of ill fortune and good fortune, and the existence of a supernatural being who rules, creates and controls the universe. Bellah (1964) described religion as a set of symbolic forms and acts that relate human beings to the ultimate conditions of their existence, an attempt to integrate the self, consciousness, the world and society. Vernon (1962) viewed religion as that part of culture composed of shared beliefs and practices which identify the supernatural and the sacred and a person's relationship to them, and which relate these to the known world so as to give the group moral definitions of good and bad. Religious groups are therefore people who share a pattern and social form of relationship between God and humanity, along with common religious values and behavioural patterns.

Politics. Politics is classically described as the question of who gets what, when and how (Lasswell, 1936). Easton (1953) defined it as the authoritative allocation of values for a society, a conception intended to apply to similar phenomena in all societies, at any time and place. Weber (1946) approached politics as the striving to share power or to influence its distribution, which embraces the seizure, consolidation and use of state power. Politics also determines who gets what, when and how, as well as the answers to other political questions, and the interests of the dominant class tend to become the driving force behind the organisation of socio-economic, political and cultural relations in society. Seen from a developmental perspective, politics is fundamentally about creating an environment that is conducive to organising production, raising productivity and thereby maximising human and social welfare, which implies that development begins with production and not with distribution or sharing. Taken together, these views allow politics to be defined, from an ethical standpoint, as legitimised efforts to use power responsibly to provide goods and services for the people.

Church. The English word "church" is commonly traced to the Greek term ekklesia, derived from the verb ekkaleo, in which ek means "out" and kaleo means "to call or summon," so that the literal meaning is "called out" (Schmidt, 1965). The English word is also thought to derive from the Greek kuriakon, meaning "belonging to the Lord" or "the Lord's house," which ancient writers used for the place of worship. In the New Testament, ekklesia is the equivalent of the Hebrew qahal of the Old Testament, and both words simply mean an assembly, the character of which is known only from the context in which the word appears (Schmidt, 1965). The Septuagint uses ekklesia to translate qahal, the term frequently used in the Old Testament for an assembly of the people of God, the place where God's rule was to exist and where teaching and discipline were exercised. On this basis the Church may be described as a "called-out" group or assembly of believers, and, in a more militant sense, as the body of living Christian believers striving to combat evil on earth. The Church is understood to have come into being at Pentecost, soon after the ascension of Jesus, when about three thousand people repented and were baptised (Acts 2). On this understanding, Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, and the Church is his body on earth, established to represent him and to continue his good works. Dulles (1974) further shows that the Church has been understood in several complementary ways, including as an institution, a community, a herald of the gospel and a servant of society, which is relevant to its prophetic role in public life.

Corruption. In broad terms, corruption is the abuse or misuse of public or governmental power for illegitimate private advantage. It is an effort to secure wealth or power through illegal means, for private benefit and at public expense (Lipset & Lenz, 2000). Nye (1967) described it as behaviour that deviates from the formal duties of a public role because of private-regarding gain, such as wealth or status, or that violates rules against certain kinds of private-regarding influence. Tanzi (1998) similarly treats it as the intentional departure from established rules for personal gain, whether for the benefit of oneself or of a party, class, tribe, friend or family. Political corruption may also occur through the deliberate and orchestrated manipulation of an unsuspecting public to win or secure political office, and it refers broadly to the fraudulent use of public funds for private gain. In Nigeria, political corruption encompasses the use of official power and government resources for disreputable private ends (Ogbeidi, 2012; Smith, 2007).

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