ICT and Human Agency in the Fight Against Corruption in Nigeria’s Public Service

Abstract

Corruption in public service is a global social problem that affects the integrity, development, and stability of institutions and countries. It is an insidious and corrosive plague on societies, undermining development, social justice, democracy and the rule of law, violating human rights, distorting markets, and fostering crimes and threats to harmonious human existence. It compromises the integrity of governance and thrives in conditions of secrecy, poor supervision and accountability, and unregulated discretion in public service. Information and communication technology (ICT) enhances service delivery through efficiency, transparency and stadardisation in data processing that can limit discretion, improve supervision and checkmate corruption. Using critical analysis based on classical deterrence and rational choice theories and library research, this paper examines the gains and limitations of ICT in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. It finds that ICT requires committed human agency to set up appropriate ICT, diligent system operation, and utilisation of the detected irregularities to effectively sanction corrupt practices. ICT has been relatively effective in curbing petty corruption by standardising official operations and enhancing transparency and supervision, but ineffective in tackling grand corruption due to policymakers' lack of commitment to applying effective sanctions to curb it.