Nigeria's Anti-Corruption Institutions and Fight Against Corruption: A Morality Approach

The activities of Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions have increasingly raised grave concerns in recent times with regard to the fight against corruption in the country. This is more so, as corruption is daily assuming wider spread and penetrating the fabrics of institutions that are established to fight corruption. This paper, explored Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions and their failures in fighting corruption. The paper is anchored on Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. This is because morality is the fulcrum and base upon which corruption and corrupt practices are fanned. The theory focuses on how moral logic is primarily the bases for seeking and maintaining justice with regard to the fight against corruption. Data for this paper is mainly secondary. Thus, the qualitative-descriptive model was employed as a strategy for gathering and analyzing generated data. Accordingly, qualitative content analysis procedures were adopted to analyze generated data. The paper concluded that the absence of moral correctness in the formation of Nigeria’s anti- corruption institutions and the prebendal system of appointments and selections of its officials without professionalism is hugely responsible for the failures of these institutions. Accordingly, the findings revealed that political and judicial interferences in the course of justice administration in the fight against corruption in itself is short of moral correctness. The paper recommends among others; that for Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions not to falter or fail in its fight against corruption, the functions and selections of its officials should be done on the basis of obtaining moral correctness and moral justice in the fight against corrption. Keywords: Anti-corruption, judiciary, institution, morality, moral development, moral logic, moral correctness, moral justice, prebendal system, Failures.