In some respects, you can't blame government leaders for adopting the self-serving, often corrupt, methods of the colonial administrators they followed after their countries became independent. Nonetheless, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pointed out in remarks in Sokoto, Nigeria (8/23/2016), bribery, fraud, inequality, humiliation, and poverty play into the hands of terrorist extremists.
In terms of government interference and corruption, when the World Bank's "Doing Business Index" and the "Corruption Perceptions Index" rank Nigeria as a worse offender than 89% and 82% of the other countries in the world, Nigeria gives a terrorist group like Boko Haram a recruiting argument and an excuse to engage in its own looting, killing, and kidnapping.
Citizens need to feel people in power work for them. Government funds need to be used to provide health care, educate their children, build roads, provide clean water and electricity, support agriculture, and attract investment and business, not head overseas to the secret bank accounts of crooked politicians.
(Also see the earlier posts, "Corruption Has Consequences," "Cheating is Easy, but...," and "Warning to Students: Don't Cheat.")
No comments:
Post a Comment