SOCIOECONOMIC EFFECTS OF CORRUPTION ON NIGERIA’S INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING: EVIDENCE FROM CAMPUS CULTISM AND STAFF RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Abstract

Higher institutions of learning are the engine room for human capital development, skills development, and leadership process which are instrumental to the economic growth of a nation. This lofty ideal of learning institutions are under siege by corrupt practices by all players involved; parents, lecturers, institutions management, and the students. It was against this background that this study employs the social learning theory to investigate the socioeconomic effects of corruption on Nigeria’s institutions of learning. This study measures socioeconomic effects using campus cultism and the staff recruitment process. This study adopts an exploratory research design using content analysis of publicly available archive documents. The study relies solely on secondary data. The research is  conducted by examining literature concerning corruption and higher institutions of learning in Nigeria. The literature was obtained through searches in publicly available material. Literature from non-serial publications, official reports, and conferences has
been included particularly if they have been cited by other references in terms of corruption, staff recruitment processes, and campus cultism. Results that emanate from this study revealed that corruption in higher institutions of learning negatively aggravates campus cultism amongst students while it also has a negative effect on the staff recruitment process of both academic and non-academic staff. The study thus concludes that corrupt practices in Higher institutions of learning are a reflection of what plays out in the
larger society since the former is not insulated from the latter. The study recommends that Federal and State Governments should involve specialized anti-graft agency units; Anti-corruption & Transparency Units (ACTUs) in the Universities in sanitizing institutions of learning of corrupt practices while whistle-bowing acts should be improved upon to remove syndicated corruption from institutions of learning for the safety of all stakeholders and the socioeconomic development of the nation at large