ANTI-CORRUPTION CRUSADE IN NIGERIA: THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH

Abstract

Corruption is a global phenomenon. It is not an exclusive preserve of any nation or race
of the world as it transcends across national boundaries. The incidence and the magnitude
of corruption vary in human society. The Nigeria phenomenon has persisted enormously
and manifested in various dimensions, nature and magnitude since independence in 1960
and continued to be unabated despite the various anti-corruption regimes established by
the Federal Government to ght the monster in the country. It is quite sad that the return to
democratic rule in 1999 has not really address the corruption but worsening the situation.
This situation in Nigeria cannot be won alone by laws or prosecutions of the perpetrators
by the federal government and its anti-corruption agencies. This paper examines roles of
the faith-based organizations like the church on corruption. The paper relied on primary
and secondary sources of data collection. The ndings showed that when the church
employs the spiritual warfare to complement the physical anti-corruption war of the
federal government through the activities of the anti-corruption agencies, it would go a
long way to halt and abate the corruption that has become a way to life in Nigeria, and
results in superlative socio-economic growth and development in the country. The study
pointed it out that in the successful crusade against corruption, the church itself would
need to rst do a serious soul-searching purging of acts of complicity in corruption within
the institution. It is only by this direction that the church has the power of attorney and
moral authority to create desired impact in anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria.