CORRUPTION

The word corruption has ofter been used by many persons in different institutions. Many persons are into different corrupt practises but do not check their's however accuse others of corruption practises while absolving  self. By the way what is corruption?

The word corrupt is
 (Middle English, from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpere, to abuse or destroy.
 Impairment of integrity, virtue or moral principle.
Inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means( as bribery), and
A departure from the original or from what is pure and correct.
It is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.
Examples of Acts of Corruption
Abuse of Power; Improper use of authority by someone who has authority because he or she holds a public office.   Abuse of power is the illegitimate use of power. Abuse of Power is that situation that exists whenever someone who has power over others, for example, by virtue of his or her superior mental dexterity, social position, physical strength, knowledge, technology, weapons, wealth, or the trust that others have in him or her, unjustifiably uses that power to exploit or harm those others, or through lack of action, allows exploitation or harm to occur to them.  It also follows that the principle of human ethics and morality is  to avoid the abuse of power.  From this it follows that it is extremely unethical to put oneself  in a position of conflict of interest, i.e., where one's benefit or profit depends on harming or exploiting others. And of course, it also follows that putting a subordinate in a position of conflict of interest demonstrates a complete ignorance of ethics.
Misuse of government funds/ property ; corruption occurs when one in appropriate or divert and distribute government funds and property without proper authorisation, particularly for personal gain rather than public interest and welfare.
Examimation malpractice; any sort of cheating, which directly or indirectly falsify a student's ability.
Favouritism; been partial towards a favoured person or group against another better qualified.
plagiarism;  To appropriate another author's language, thoughts, expressions, ideas, publication,or other original  material, representating  the author as one's own original work without  acknowledging the author or source. It is a form of intellectual property violation.
Influence peddling; the act of using one's influence with persons in authority to obtain favours or preferential treatment for another, usally in return for payment.
Corporate prostitution; a condition whereby a business owner expect the employees to attract clients by offering sexual favous.
Insider Trading; Insider trading can be illegal or legal depending on when the insider makes the trade: it is illegal and corruption when the material information is still nonpublic--trading while having special knowledge is unfair to other investors who don't have access to such knowledge. Illegal insider trading therefore includes tipping others when you have any sort of nonpublic information. Directors are not the only ones who have the potential to be convicted of insider trading. People such as brokers and even family members can be guilty.
Insider trading is legal once the material information has been made public, at which time the insider has no direct advantage over other investors. The SEC, however, still requires all insiders to report all their transactions. So, as insiders have an insight into the workings of their company, it may be wise for an investor to look at these reports to see how insiders are legally trading their stock.
Cronyism; favouring one's friends in awarding government contracts or making appointments.
Nepotism; been partial to a relative, eg, in granting contracts or making appointments.
Fraud; Intentional deception carried out to secure an unjust gain.
Advanced-fee Fraud (419); Obtaining from a person anything having the inclination of being stolen, or inducing a  person to deliver to another person anything capabling of being stolen through any false pretence, and with intent to defraud.
vote rigging/buying; Delibrate interference with the process of an election.
Round tripping; Banks obtaining foreign exchange at official government rate and illegally reselling them at black market rates, making huge profits in the process.
Mismanagement; Acts of waste and abuse. Extravagant, careless, or needless expenditure of government funds or the consumption or misuse of government property or resources, resulting from deficient practices, systems, controls or decisions. Abuse of authority of similar actions that do not involve crime fraud.
Bribery; Giving or offering something to a person or organization in a position of trust to induce that agent to behave in a way that is inconsistent with that trust.
Extortion; obtaining something valuable from another either through violence or threats of violence.

CAUSES OF CORRUPTION

• Weak government institutions.

-wheak legal systems
- Mismanagement in the Civil Service.
- The Police.

• Lack of freedom of information.
• poverty and illiteracy.
• societal demands and pressures.
• lack of political and economic freedom.
• Social attitudes.
• Absence of effective checks and balances.
• Opaque rules and procedures.
• poor pay packages for members of the civil service, public and private sector.
• Excessive greed and selfishness.
• Eroded values and counter productive.
• Social attitudes.

"Crime is caused by greed, lust and cruelty. And cruelty is getting more common nowadays" English judge

Costs of Corruption.
 Corruption is a social ill that destroys society without conferring any benefits on it. A corrupt country cannot function, grow or develop properly. This leads to a range of problems, some of which are listed as,
ECONOMIC

• Stalls economic growth.
• Leads to capital flight.
• Reduces foreign direct investiment.
• Increases the cost of doing business.
• Increases the cost of living.
• Reduces productivity, efficiency and effectiveness in the private, non-profit and public sectors because it fosters the advancement of the least qualified people.
• Increases waste.
• Leads to insecurity of lives and property.
• Increases transaction cost.

SOCIAL

• Increases social instability due to increasing gap between "haves" and " have-nots"
• Creates distrust between individuals, families and communities.
• Scares off foriegn aid.
• Encourages nepotism.
• Reduces productivity.
• Destroys an individual/community/country's reputation.
• Poses limitations on "ethical" individuals e.g. Legitimate Nigerian applicants for visas often face serious difficulties.
• Erodes our value system of integrity, hard work ethics, patriotism, etc.
• ultimately wastes human life, makes life so cheap.

POLITICAL

• Fosters authoritarian rule and dictatorships.
• Limits the impact of democracy.
• Creates severe distrust between the government and general populace.
• Limits the impact and effectiveness of public sector-led initiative.

"Corruption leads to the loss o much needed revenue and human talent for development, distorts priorities for public policy, and shifts scare resources away from the public interest..polital instability, corruption, and underdevelopment are mutually reinforcing" - Stephen Ouma.