THE PROBLEM OF CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA; FALLING BACK ON KANT’S CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES FOR SOLUTION

Abstract

Every human society yearns for development in its human capital, social infrastructure, culture, economy and other indices. This desire for development will remain far-fetched if there is uncontrolled and endemic corruption. This is the situation commonly observed in Nigeria and some other African countries. We have argued here that there is indeed a problem of corruption in Nigeria and that this problem is pervasive and crippling to the economy, politics, governance, morality and other spheres of social life in Nigeria. This paper argues that adherence to the tenets and principles of Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative will provide a way of escape from the deadly grip of corruption on Nigeria and Nigerians. The categorical imperative calls man back to the preservation of humanity and the dignity of the human person rather than a mere attempt to use men as means to some end. The paper adopts hermeneutical, analytical and critical methods to arrive at the conclusions.