Nepotism and Favoritism: A Super- Hero to Fraud & Corruption – (Nigerian Experience)
This post was written by a student. It has not been fact checked or edited.
Nepotism and favouritism are types of corrupt practices that have the potential to undermine the proper functioning of the state and compromise the ability of public authorities to serve the public good. At local, state and national levels, they hinder the effectiveness and efficiency of public service delivery and diminish public trust.
Nepotism: a specific form of favouritism whereby a public official uses his/her authority or position to provide undue advantage of either job, favour, preferential treatment etc. to a family member or friends.
Favouritism on its own is an unfair support shown to one person or group, especially by someone in authority. In its various forms it represents a typical conflict of interest situation where the private interests of the public official take prevalence over his/her duty to be impartial in the exercise of his/her public function.
They have created particularistic culture in economic activities and in public life in Nigeria, which places personal loyalties and obligations to kin and friends above other considerations to economic development.
Every public system both at the local, state and national authorities are expected to have a self-checking control mechanism through the divergence of people in its recruitment, devoid of ethnicity, religious and tribal sentiments. It increases the need for controls to check dishonest official. The divergence of people both at the local, state and national authorities are public structures that are closest to the citizens and are their most common points of interaction. By virtue of being closer to the people, the local, state and national administrations have:
Favouritism on its own is an unfair support shown to one person or group, especially by someone in authority. In its various forms it represents a typical conflict of interest situation where the private interests of the public official take prevalence over his/her duty to be impartial in the exercise of his/her public function.
They have created particularistic culture in economic activities and in public life in Nigeria, which places personal loyalties and obligations to kin and friends above other considerations to economic development better chances to ‘hear’ the voice of local communities and meet their expectations greater flexibility to deliver transparent and accountable public services tailored towards economic development. But with corruption (through nepotism and favoritism), resulting to abuse of power, have virtually everything.
HOW NEPOTISM & FAVOURTISM: A SUPER-HERO TO CORRUPTION
Corruption in the form of nepotism and favouritism is a debasement or subversion of integrity or purity and occur as an ideology or personal immorality, cultural subversion of the civil service including the law enforcement or in politics. It encourages activities ranging from fraud theft through misrepresentation, embezzlement misappropriation of corporate or public funds to bribery payments made in order to gain personal advantage. It constitutes a barrier to national progress, and promotes conflict as a result of frustration and alienation; instability as a result of apathy; violence and crime. Corruption through nepotism and favouritism feeds on itself and walk on two toes, because people involved in petty corruption become increasingly involved in more and larger amounts. Corruption has many victims. Public corruption offenses affect all citizens directly and personally affected effective functioning of the state and compromise the ability of public authorities to serve the public good.
The corruption through nepotism and favourtism, has been highly detrimental to economic development. It introduces an element of tribal and religious sentiments, irrationality in all economic planning by distorting the actual course of developmental plans. The widespread knowledge of corruption counteracts the striving for national consolidation and in particular, decrease respect for and allegiance to the government in power.
NEPOTISM & FAVOURITSM: NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE
While studying the root causes of corruption in Nigeria, the study shows that corrupt practices flourish not because people genuinely consider them appropriate, but because the cost of being honest in a country infested with corruption like Nigeria is very high. When societies consider corruption as a part of their normal life, all individuals tend to act in a corrupt manner, because they otherwise risk bearing ‘losses’ because of their moral principles.
In such cases, the individuals/public authorities do not see any sense in being honest and acting against their own self-interest. Such situations create a vicious circle, where ‘the use of corrupt incentives to influence policy decisions leads to a reduction in confidence and trust of public servants, which in turn creates incentives to secure access by using officially prohibited means to further weaken the accountability and legitimacy of the political system’ through acquisition of unwanted wealth.
Of greater concern is where the society itself, see honest public officers as not been wise and genuine, and admire the acts of corruption and illicit wealth acquisition by public servants.
Comments (6)
Yes, this problem must be reduced, and it is also considered a global problem for the countries of the world to suffer from, but a question that puzzles me from when did nepotism begin and where did it start? Is it considered a modern problem or is it an old problem??? This phenomenon ????
The word nepotism comes from the Italian word for nephew, nepote. Apparently back in the 17th century a lot of people tended to promote their nephews to powerful positions at the expense of other candidates and so far it has been practiced for years amongst so many people.
Nepotism can really "save corruption". Nepotism can promote corruption all over the world. Nepotism itself is a form of corruption. Nepotism has been said not only to save corruption but to be the root of corruption itself. Nepotism is a practice that has the potential to undermine the proper functioning of the state and compromise the ability of public authorities to serve the public good which is corruption. Nepotism can be considered immoral and even banned in some society. One of the most basic themes in the ethics of every community is fairness. Nepotism interferes with fairness because it gives undue advantage to someone who does not necessarily deserve it.
Favoritism can lead to a loss of trust and respect from others, it can lead to a loss of self-confidence and guilt, it can affect personal and professional relationships, it can lead to a loss of credibility and respect from others, and it affects the chances of success and progress in work and life, it can affect the Justice and equality in society, and exacerbate corruption and injustice in the social system. Favoritism can lead to the loss of true friendships and strong family relationships, and affect personal and social growth. Favoritism can lead to feelings of loneliness and isolation, and affect mental and physical health. Favoritism can It exacerbates disputes, conflicts, and violence, and affects stability and peace in society.I believe that anyone can challenge corruption, whether they are a superhero or not.
From my perspective: No, favoritism is not a superhero of deception and corruption. In fact, favoritism is a phenomenon that sometimes occurs in the workplace where a particular employee is given an advantage or opportunity without it being based on performance or competence. This violates the principles of equality and fairness.
However, it should be understood that favoritism is not necessarily considered fraud or corruption in the strictest sense. It is a phenomenon that biases employees and hinders equal opportunities in the workplace. Nevertheless, there may be unethical or corrupt actions associated with favoritism in some cases, but this is not a general rule.
Therefore, it is important to work towards achieving a fair and favoritism-free work environment where employees are evaluated based on their abilities and actual performance. Opportunities and promotions should be based on merit and tangible achievements rather than unfair and unprofessional factors.
Nepotism is indeed the defender of fraud and corruption in our society today, it is the excuse of helping a family member that some leaders of today use that is causing the underdevelopment of some countries today. Like in Nigeria many people are leaving the country because the country has adapted to ways of fraud, nepotism and corruption! and many people leaving the country are those who can help the country develop but because of nepotism they are not given the chance to.
Are nepotism and favoritism a super-hero to corruption?
Nepotism and favoritism are types of corrupt practices that have the potential to undermine the proper functioning of the state and compromise the ability of public authorities to serve the public good.Favoritism can create an environment where people feel like they have to compete for a favor, rather than being judged on their merits. And nepotism can lead to resentment and division, as people who are not related to the person in charge feel like they will never get a fair chance.
I agree because... Corruption is dishonest or fraudulent activities by those in power mostly typically involving bribery. Nepotism is almost the same thing as corruption just that instead of bribery, one uses the ties or relationship he/she has with someone in power. Nepotism has many bad effects on organisations. It can lead to a toxic working environment which reduces organisational success. When employees spot nepotism, they feel unwanted. Nepotism also breaks trust in a working environment. I am sure that no one will ever want to trust anyone who got into a job through nepotism. Workers will also lose trust in their employer knowing that he/she engaged in nepotism. Teamwork is an essential part of a working environment. Workers will not be able to work with someone who got into the job through nepotism.
Yeah I agree that nepotism and favouritism are corrupt practices because they correspond to my own thinking thinking but " what have we got to do" we should make those who like nepotism to be aware of the risks and realise their negative effects on people around them so justice should prevail and we should encourage them to favour others equally just like being their advisers .
Corruption has totally broken down the economy in my country and this is going on till date but I think if the minister in charge of handling corruption cases suits up this bad habit we can develop our country and continent because if people in my country are corrupt they can also affect another country's economy because my country is landlocked people who are corrupt smuggle a lot of stuff from Kenya though some are arrested others continue, but if the enforcers come hand in hand such cases of other people at boarders allowing others to smuggle because they are relatives[nepotism] ,will end and peace will remain.