Monday, April 3, 2006

Sometime during the night of Friday, January 28, 15 year-old Jenissa Ryan was assaulted and raped in Alice Springs. She was discovered near the entrance of Centralian Senior Secondary College around 10:30 a.m., and a college employee called an ambulance. The attack was not reported in the mainstream national media until this week, when it became known that the victim was the great-granddaughter of famous indigenous artist Albert Namatjira.

In an article published in Saturdays Sydney Morning Herald, Russell Skelton said that the fact that she was an Aborigine, and the location of her bashing, contributed to her death. “If Jenissa had been white, she might be alive today, though the scars of her brutal bashing and rape could never be erased. If she had been bashed and left for dead almost anywhere else, assistance would have been immediate and the outrage strident.” He also said that if her connection to Namatjira had been known, Jenissa’s death would have been a “national scandal.”

Police believe that she was attacked by a number of youths her own age while walking home. She continued to walk home, but collapsed unconscious near the entrance to the college. Here, according to police, she was found by three teenage boys, who dragged her out of view and raped her.

Jenissa was still alive when found. Skelton considered it likely that people had seen her during the morning but done nothing. “That means a number of residents of middle-class Grevillea Drive probably noticed. The white T-shirt and striped tracksuit pants were hard to miss,” he said.

She was taken to Alice Springs Hospital, and then flown to Adelaide’s Women and Children’s Hospital.

On February 13 Northern Territory Police charged a 16 year-old male and a 15 year-old female with assaulting Jenissa Ryan. Three other males, aged 14, 15, and 16, have been charged with having unlawful sexual intercourse with Jenissa Ryan. Police expressed gratitude for the assistance they had received from members of the public.

Father Asaeli Raass said that both indigenous and non-indigenous people were in denial about the incident. “Yes, it’s a painful thing, but people are sweeping it under the carpet when they should be confronting the big issues Jenissa’s death raises,” he said. He also said that the initial wave of publicity “never travelled outside Alice Springs.”

Jenissa’s mother, Carmel Ryan, said that her daughter wanted to be a painter, like her great-grandfather. “She wanted to be like him, to make a creative contribution we would all be proud of. Tragically that can never be, but I feel nothing but sorrow for the parents of the children involved in this terrible event,” she said.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Lord Peter Goldsmith, the Attorney General for England and Wales before and during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, has told the Iraq Inquiry that he changed his mind about the legality of the invasion about one month before military action began.

During his six hour session of questioning, Goldsmith said that he changed his mind about whether a further United Nations resolution was needed to ensure that the invasion was legal. His testimony comes only a day after former foreign office legal advisor Michael Wood told the inquiry that his own advice, that a further resolution was required, was ignored in favour of Goldsmith’s. Goldsmith’s account was under scrutiny because he had consistently said that it would be “safer” if a further resolution were obtained—since it would have put the “matter beyond doubt and nobody could have challenged the legality”—before changing his mind and giving the “green light” only a month before the invasion. He said that he had “good reasons” for “ultimately reach[ing] a different view”, and called his previous advice “too cautious”. He based his support of the war’s legality on a series of UN resolutions dating back to the end of the Gulf War.

Until February 2002, he believed that a new resolution would be required, but he said today that—after discussions with US and UK diplomats—he realised that United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 “revive[d]” the authority of the United Kingdom to use force, as outlined in previous resolutions. One of these was United Nations Security Council Resolution 678, which was passed in November 1990. It authorized “Member States co-operating with the Government of Kuwait … to use all necessary means to uphold and implement resolution 660 (1990) and all subsequent relevant resolutions and to restore international peace and security in the area” against Iraq if Saddam Hussein failed to give up his weapons of mass destruction. However, there has been debate about whether “all means necessary” included military force.

He admitted that he had told then prime minister Tony Blair, as far back as 2002, that any justification for war other than a UN resolution (such as regime change or self defence) would be invalid. Goldsmith said, “I don’t think it [the advice] was terribly welcome.” However, he added, “The prime minister made it clear that he accepted that it was for me to reach a judgement and he had to accept it.” Goldsmith agreed that he ignored the advice of other legal advisors, including Michael Wood (who spoke before the inquiry yesterday) and Elizabeth Wilmshurst (who resigned in protest days before the invasion), who both said that invading Iraq without a new UN resolution would amount to the “crime of aggression”. Goldsmith claimed to have “paid great attention to what their views were,” but added, “Ultimately I disagreed with the views they took.”

He said that an “unequivocal” opinion was needed before the invasion, and that this was what he gave in March, having been unsure about the war’s legality previously. He denied changing his mind only days before the invasion, as some have claimed, saying that he had advised the government that the war would be legal as far back as February, and that his advice was “consistent”. He also called claims that he was pressured into changing his opinion “nonsense”. He said that he “was ready to answer questions” and intended to debate the issue with the cabinet, but was told that they would read his advice before moving on to different issues. He said that the debate did not in fact take place – he told the inquiry that he believes cabinet ministers considered it to be “a slightly sterile exercise”.

In his testimony, Goldsmith also criticised Jack Straw’s response to Wood’s advice, saying that, while ministers could “challenge” legal advice, Straw “appeared to be rebuking a senior legal adviser for expressing his own legal view” in a recently declassified letter. He was also concerned that the cabinet ignored, or was unaware of, the caveats included in his March advice on the war’s legality, in which he said that “the safest legal course” would be to get a new resolution, despite a “reasonable case” being available based on existing resolutions. His advice warned the government that he was not “confident” that the case based on existing resolutions would stand up in court. Goldsmith also requested the declassification of documents relating to the war’s legal status, which are available to the Iraq inquiry, but not to the public. Sir John Chilcot, the chair of the inquiry, said that Goldsmith’s “frustration is shared.”

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Randall L. Tobias, the United States Director of Foreign Assistance and USAID Administrator, has resigned after he admitted to ABC News to being a customer of Pamela Martin and Associates, a call girl company.

A woman by the name of Jeane Palfrey, who worked for Pamela Martin recently revealed to the media a list of people who are allegedly customers of the call girl company. One of the names on the list is Tobias’, according to ABC News.

“[I called the agency] to have gals come over to the condo to give me a massage. [There was] no sex,” said Tobias.

Despite the claim by ABC, the U.S. State Department says that he resigned due to “personal reasons.”

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Until a patch is issued, Microsoft recommends that users close or block TCP port 3389, the port opened when the Remote Assistance service of its Microsoft Windows operating system (OS) is enabled. The Remote Assistance feature is a service of the OS that allows Internet Technology administrators of corporate workgroups remote access to other desktops to perform maintenance and other configuration tasks from their own computer. It can also be used by on-line tech support sites. A support assistant can go into a user’s machine, if the service is enabled, and themself make changes directly to another person’s computer to resolve an issue.

To initialize the remote assistance feature, the user of the helper computer must first make a request of the user of the target computer. Compliance must be granted by the user of the target machine, which then fully opens the communication port of the target machine to the helper computer. The operator of the helper computer then has control of target computer to make changes at will. The user of the target machine can watch in a separate window the actions of the helper, and either party to the session can end it at any time.

In a telephone conversation with a Microsoft representative Tuesday, it was learned that work to develop a security patch is underway, but when it will be available is unclear. It was cited that a patch must work consistently across multiple platform versions of the OS.

The vulnerability, thought at first to affect only Windows XP SP2, is now believed to affect all current Windows editions, including Windows 2000, Windows XP SP1, Windows XP Professional x64, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 SP1, and Windows Server x64.

The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is not enabled by default, however if the service is enabled, a Denial of Service attack could cause the OS to restart unexpectedly according to Microsoft, or experience buffer overflows according to Symantec. The RDP is enabled by default on Windows XP Media Center Edition.

Microsoft suggests users block TCP port 3389 (the port used by RDP) on their firewall, or disable Terminal Services or Remote Desktop if not required by the user. The remote desktop connections could also be secured using either Internet Protocol Security or a virtual private network connection until a patch is ready.

To disable Remote Assistance on a Windows XP Edition, the steps are:

1. click ‘Start’, right-click ‘My Computer’, select ‘Properties’
2. select ‘Remote’ tab on top of the ‘Systems Properties’ window, clear checkbox that says “Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer.”
3. click ‘Apply’ button

The group, Internet Storm Center, detected spikes in scanning for port 3389 beginning July 6. Larger numbers of systems scanned were reported on July 13. Crackers may be scanning for vulnerable machines, the group said.

“It’s a kernel vulnerability,” said VP of engineering for Symantec Alfred Huger, “so it will be difficult to exploit reliably. But he [the original discoverer] found the vulnerability with a commonly-used tool, so if he can find it, so can others. I don’t think it will turn it into a large-scale worm, but then, some kernel vulnerabilities have ended up as just that, like the Witty worm.”

[edit]

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

The 22nd Fan Expo Canada took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this weekend, attracting thousands to the event, one of the most popular in North America. Crossing between the genres of science fiction, horror, anime, fantasy and comics, the event sprawled throughout all corners of the facility. Hundreds of vendors offered products new and old, joined by celebrity guests like Stan Lee, Mark Hamill, and Margaret Atwood. Various local fan organizations were there in a charitable capacity, and thousands of fans donned costumes, many of which they themselves created.

Atwood, a Booker Prize-winner, was there to launch her graphic novel Angel Catbird, with illustrator Johnnie Christmas. Lee was making his final Canadian convention appearance, part of a larger farewell tour. Hamill’s schedule included a panel with Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman in Batman: The Animated Series, in which the Star Wars lead played the Joker.

Ubisoft, Microsoft, and PlayStation VR all had large areas set up for attendees to try their latest games. In the 20-minute PlayStation VR demonstration of Batman: Arkham VR, players are dropped down a secret elevator in Bruce Wayne’s manor, to the Bat Cave, to suit up. From there, the demonstration took players to investigate the murder of Nightwing.

The Northern Arena Esports Championship ran throughout the weekend, facing off teams of video gamers in a packed hall. Even in early rounds, the event was well attended, with the stands full of gamers, watching the matches with live colour commentary. The finals saw US team Cloud9 and Immortals, from Brazil, face off in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Both unbeaten teams going in, the Brazillian team won the championship and $50,000.

Gameplay was delayed during the “third map” (third round) of the finals, when one Immortals player was caught with their headset off. After nearly half an hour, the team was deducted a point, leading to a sudden but temporary rush of success by the US team.

The Canadian garrison of 501st Legion returned with their setup of photo-ops, with proceeds to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Volunteer organization Comic Corps of Canada collects donations of comics, to distribute to children and youth in the hospital. Along with collecting comics on-site, the group was fundraising through raffles and button sales.

Other charitable fan-based groups included The Ontario Ghostbusters, Doctor Who Society of Canada, and Klingon Assault Group.

• Brampton Spider-Gwen and Symbiote Spidey pose at the Comic Corps booth.Image: Nick Moreau.

• A showdown at the 501st Legion booth.Image: Nick Moreau.

• Successful Stormtroopers share a high-five.Image: Nick Moreau.

The thousands of cosplay outfits on parade around the various halls offered a tremendous cross-section of genres and eras of pop culture. The majority of outfits involved at least some elements made from scratch, a fantastic display of craftsmanship. Of the thousands, Wikinews spoke with a cosplayer going by the name “The Katherinator”. She was outside the building in the gardens, waiting for a photographer she had arranged to shoot her new Epic Mickey costumed character-style outfit. With shoes as wide as a forearm, and a rigid torso of carved foam, she remained exuberant even when caught in the traffic between halls, many hours into wearing the outfit.

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ABSTRACT The research seeks the linkage between corruption and economic recession in Nigeria. The finding of this research has shown that corruption in Nigeria has a direct effect on the current economic backwardness of the country. It was revealed that corruption is one of the greatest obstacles to the development of the Nigerian economy as it has brought about high level selfishness, misallocation, diversion and improper allocation of scarce resources. In this, there is a review of relevant literature, an adoption of a theoretical framework which is the public interest theory. This shows that when public fund is being used to satisfy private interest, the purpose to which such fund would have been used for is aborted, thereby resulting to economic recession. The causes of recession as well as corruption are examined and how corruption affects economic recession in Nigeria. At the end, the researcher suggested some way forward for the Nigerian economy.

? INTRODUCTION Nigeria is one of the countries in Africa that loses billions of dollars yearly because of corruption. She was ranked the second most corrupt country in the world in 2004 (Obu-Olu, 2008). In 2005 and 2008, Nigeria was ranked 13th and 17th respectively out of 146 countries by transparency internationals corruption perception index (TICPI). Although the 2007 ranking placed Nigeria as 32 most corrupt country out of 147 countries by TICPI, corruption still remains a serious problem in Nigeria (Shehu, 2006). Corruption is not a Nigerian word but an English word laced with western ideas, the concept behind it is found in other cultures. Corruption is one of the dare devils that stares humanity in the face. It is also a global problem with certain destructive tendencies in the third world countries like Nigeria. The term serves as the spring board to under development in Nigeria. Most political, economic and social problems in the count4y emanate from corruption which manifest in many ways such as lack of accountability, inadequate funding of programs, diversion of public resource to private ownership, ethnicity, lack of competence and efficiency, thereby culminating to a poor economic structures, leading to the current state of economic recession in Nigeria. In Nigeria today, it is just a few families that can boost of 3 square meals a day, wear good clothes or enjoy the basic necessity of life, such as water, good health facilities, electricity and good road network. Hence, everyone takes to corruption no matter ones owns small capacity as a way of making up or balancing the prevalence inequality which in one way or the other contribute to the economic recession. Corruption transcend nearly every structure of the Nigeria society, the situation is so bad that corruption has been institutionalized to a point where it almost passed for official policy in both public and private sector of our National life. In the course of my research I shall examine the linkage between the corruption and economic recession in Nigeria and prescribed the way forward.

? DEFINITION OF TERMS CORRUPTION: Corruption is the misuse of public power (by elected politician or appointed civil servant) for private gain. Corruption is an improbity or decay in the decision-making process in which a decision-maker consents to deviate or demands deviation from the criterion which should rule his or her decision-making, in exchange for a reward or for the promise or expectation of a reward, while these motives influencing his or her decision-making cannot be part of the justification of the decision. Corruption is a form of dishonest or unethical conduct by a person entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire personal benefit.[1] Corruption may include many activities including bribery and embezzlement, though it may also involve practices that are legal in many countries.[2] Government, or ‘political’, corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employee acts in an official capacity for personal gain. RECESSION: A recession is when the economy declines significantly for at least six months. That means there’s a drop in the following five economic indicators: real GDP, income, employment, manufacturing, and retail sales. People often say a recession is when the GDP growth rate is negative for two consecutive quarters or more. But a recession can quietly begin before the quarterly Gross Domestic Product reports are out. A recession is a business cycle contraction which results in a general slowdown in economic activity.[1][2] Macroeconomic indicators such as GDP (gross domestic product), investment spending, capacity utilization, household income, business profits, and inflation fall, while bankruptcies and the unemployment rate rise. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). ECONOMIC RECESSION: Economic recession is a period of general economic decline and is typically accompanied by a drop in the stock market, an increase in unemployment, and a decline in the housing market. Generally, a recession is less severe than a depression. The blame for a recession generally falls on the federal leadership, often either the president himself, the head of the Federal Reserve, or the entire administration.

? LITERATURE REVIEW Several scholars have had their take on how corruption affects economic recession in Nigeria. They all have their own distinct views on how corruption affects the economic recession. While some tend to support corruption as a necessary tool of manoeuvring by entrepreneurs, politicians and government, others posit it has adverse shock on societal living standard. Actually, there are controversies about the effect of corruption. Corruption is taken to operate as piece-meal reward to bureaucrats which motivates them to render public services. It also empowers investors to function by circumventing some rules and regulations. This view is attributed to the works of (Leff, 1964, Huntington, 1968, Lui, 1985, Kaufmann, 1997, Acemoglu and Verdier, 1998, Kaufmann and Wei, 2000). Their views are associated with the “Grease-the-wheel” theory. The protagonists of this theory are of the view that corruption and bribery economically benefit the society thus: (i) an efficient resources allocation system that equates demand and supply. It is believed that efficient and cost effective managers willingly pay up bribe and get the needed services and goods from source points, thereby improving resources allocation; (ii) people who are able to pay bribe escape from waste of time in obtaining goods and services in consideration of perceived advantages of such resources; (iii) more competitiveness of monopolistic industry can be achieved through bribery by instilling of fundamentals of competition for better resources allocation; (iv)with the aid of bribery, burdensome rules and regulations, inefficient organizational pattern and ineffective legal frame-work can be thwarted or evaded; and (v) more value is accorded to firms’ resources due to their higher cost associated with corruption. On the contrary, critics of corruption posit the devastating, inefficiency and selfishness associated with corruption by those meant to be at the helm of resources allocation. However, recent studies have opposed grease-the –wheels proposition by asserting that corruption brings rising, undue and flexible and restricted regulations of rules as public agents’ desire for additional chances to extort bribes; again the numerous independent corrupt individuals cannot individually regulate the entire process as taking bribe cannot accelerate efficiency neither does it retard progress. Consequently, bribe cannot enhance efficiency instead it raises inefficiency of allocation of resources. However, it is pertinent to note that the bribe giver may not be so certain of the Fulfilment of his desire by the receiver as no contractual agreement was reached. Firms who give bribe are not efficient in cost minimization and so sell their low quality output at high prices so as to recover cost incurred in bribery. This means the society paying for cost of corruption in form of high prices. Manpower may not be efficiently employed as the desire for a rewarding sector leadership by party acolytes may be associated with lack of requisite training and ability but mainly interested in personal gain as against efficiency and productivity. The adverse effects of that are borne by the society (Murphy, 1991; Bardhan, 1997; Kaufmann, 1997 and 2000). The opposers of corruption have shown that the perceived benefits of corruption are the canker worms that destroy the society. Treisman (1998) in his study of the causes of corruption: a cross-national study, found that countries that were more economically developed and those which are former British colonies were rated less corrupt. Those which have a federal structure were more corrupt. In other words economically developed countries were indeed associated with lower corruption. A country with larger gross national product (GNP) per capita has a lower corruption rating and vice versa for a country with lower GNP per capita. This result can be said to be an axiom given visible events in Nigeria, apart from the Transparency International Corruption Perception of various years, individuals’ perception and experiences of people about Nigeria. Nigeria is not economically developed but a federal country with a lower GNP and a British colony. Obayelu (2007) in his review of the effects of corruption and economic reforms on economic growth and development: lessons from Nigeria, found that there have been significant reductions in the level of corruption in the country through the introduction of government anti-corruption instruments. Besides, he found a negative correlation between levels of corruption and economic growth thereby making it difficult for Nigeria to develop fast. Aidt (2009) in his critical study of corruption, institutions and economic Aidt (2009) in his critical study of corruption, institutions and economic development, asserted that the evidence supporting the ‘greasing-the-wheels proposition’ is very weak and shows that there is no correlation between a new measure of managers’ actual experience with corruption and gross domestic growth. The study unravels a strong negative relationship between growth GDP per capita and corruption and so corruption is a likely source of unsustainable development. Gyimah-Brempong (2002) employed a dynamic panel estimator in analysis of panel data from African countries in his study of corruption, economic growth and income inequality in Africa. He found that corruption reduces economic growth directly and indirectly through fall in investment in physical capital; increased corruption is positively correlated with income inequality and the combined effect implies that corruption adversely affects the poor more than the rich in African countries. In a similar study, Ugur and Dasgupta (2011) reported that corruption has a harmful and real effect on growth in low income countries, but the direct impact of corruption on growth in low income countries (LICs) is small but negative (-0.7). So, the indirect effect through the public finance and human capital channels is relatively lower (?0.52 percent). The over-all effect of corruption on per capita gross domestic product growth in LICs is -0.59 percent. Ajie and Wokekoro (2012). in their study of the impact of corruption on sustainable economic growth and development in Nigeria using the method of ordinary least square, found among others, that weak institution of government; dysfunctional legal system; lack of transparency; high poverty/unemployment rate and political interference on the operations of anti-corruption agencies constitute the major causes of systemic corruption in Nigeria.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: Having carefully and painstakingly reviewed the topic of the study, it became imminently imperative that a theoretical framework must be adopted which will serve as a guide in describing, analyzing, interpreting and predicting phenomenon. This theoretical guide will also serve as an arbiter in legitimizing the review. In the course of this research, I shall employ the PUBLIC INTEREST CENTRED PERSPECTIVE as my theoretical basis. The proponents of this perspective believe that corruption is in some way injurious tp or destructive of public interest. They see corruption has constituting a betrayal of trust, especially in democracy where public office is held in thrust of the people. It emphasizes the deleterious effect of corruption on development, insisting that whether in the private or the public sphere, corruption results in the abuse and misuse scarce resources that significantly affect an entire economy through multiplier effect. The Nigerian situation has shown that the misuse of public fund that would have been used to execute life changing policies by politicians to satisfy their selfish interest has generated to the current economic recession. This theory justifies the extent to which mismanaged funds through corruption cripples the Nigerian economy, which tantamount to economic recession.

HISTORY OF CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA The trend of corruption in the first republic of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Tafawa Balewa level of corruption period which has maintain until 1975 but this does not mean that there was atom of corruption but quantifies corruption as a very low and does not affect so much the social life, but which as this stage almost everything could be achieve without extortion. At this time, political leaders who has been marginalized economically by the discriminating economic policy of the colonial period or regime used to the state power accumulation and these has little experience of entrepreneurial activities and little or low capital. But due to the in effectiveness of the probe panel then much was not recorded of their corrupt practices. Meanwhile in the Second Republic or castrated by Shagari’s administration, the president address the participant in the graduation ceremony of the senior executive course of the Nigerian institute of policy and strategic studies (NIPSS) at Kuru, near Jos on October 29th, 1983 and lamented that he was dismayed to understand that corruption, fraud, smuggling are not only being institutionalized but are in fact becoming a business pursuit in the country. The account of corruption in the public would file the archives if recorded. Corruption was evidence in the payment of large mobilization fees before any work began. As a result of these, many projects were abandoned half way. The federal capital authority and the disappearance of naira worth building materials from Nigeria National supply company. More so, there was a sudden outbreak that gutted the ministry of affairs, the 37 story building at Lagos, headquarters of Nigeria external telecommunication and federal capital development authority in Abuja, when the establishment were under investigation of corruption and fraud. It seems the fire was deliberately set in other to cover up corruption and fraud. (Tariola, 2001:157). Corruption existed during the colonial era, the military regime and even the other civilian regimes in Nigeria but none of such regimes has witness the level of economic down town that is prevalence in this regime, maybe because the level of corruption in this period where not to the existence in these regime, there by leading to the current economic recession.

REASONS WHY PEOPLE ENGAGE IN CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA There exists a myriad of linkages to corruption in Nigeria. A phenomena or social disorder does not just come to being from thin-air, as there exist some catalyst that triggered its existence. Such is that corruption in Nigeria that came to be being through a social disorder. It is disheartening to know that 25% of the federal spending is on the National Assembly. It is estimated that a senator gives about 4million per day. This to some extent can lead to some corruption. Also in Nigeria public office is usually seen as the easiest means of accumulating private wealth by public office holders for this mere fact, people contest elections so that they can get to power and accumulate the wealth that was meant for everybody. In a society where a political power is used a means for economic and financial enrichment, class antagonism becomes the other of the day. The government inability to enforce the developmental policies also leads to corruption. Policies formulated in Nigeria are always seen to be weak and the government in some instance do not have the impetus to accomplish and see to the execution of these policies. Consequently, poverty is another great catalyst of corruption. The quest for development has been one of the contending issues in the Nigerian polity. Majority of the population of Nigerian are in deep poverty and these to a great extent endanger corruption. The oil booms that the country experienced in the 1970’s did not change the economic capabilities of the people. The economic problem was heightened with the level of unemployment, leading to the increase crime corruption. THE REASON FOR ECONOMIC RECESSION IN NIGERIA Corruption has been wheel on recession. Hence, it is general seen as a major cause of recession. The economy of Nigeria has been pushed to the drains and this; to a large extent affect socio-economic and political lives of the people. Poor economic planning is often seen to be associated to Nigeria’s recession. The government has been to determine and plan it economy to the extent that the proper economic life of the people will be sustained. Such is a case where the plans of the government are not executed and implemented the way it was supposed to be. When corrupt leaders divert from the normal way things supposed to be done to do things the way it will satisfy their selfish ends, economic backwardness is always the case. Any government who fails to plan is inevitably planning to fail. Like Nigeria, the current recession could be traced to a budget delayed and to the exchange rate policy. Every government always have life-change projects but when such projects are poorly planned for, its attainment becomes impossible. Similarly, when there is existence antagonistic policies that are conflicting to each other, recession is in evitable. Where these exist, there is bound to be recession. This is because of high interest rate, high tax rate are tied to the monetary policy measures. But the government instead, informs the public it is adopted and expansionary budget deficit. Another major cause of recession in Nigeria is the inflation rate. When the government bans the importations of certain essential agricultural product like rice, without considering gestation periods or a replacement, recession becomes inevitable. There is untold hardship as rice which was a major food in the country is hard to come by and the little available becomes costly and unaffordable. All these issues and many more culminate to bring about the current economic hardship and backwardness in Nigeria. HOW CORRUPTION BRINGS ABOUT ECONOMIC RECESSION IN NIGERIA As was complained by the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu on this issue, he said that the current economic recession in Nigeria is occasioned by the corrupt leadership of the country. Corruption has come to be a part of the Nigerian polity as it has sunk deep into the people. It is an aberration, yet it being upheld by the people as a tradition as generations upon generations have inherited it as a part of their culture. No wonder even the least persons in the country exhibits the heinous act without any fear. The level of corruption in the country affects the social, political and economic life of the country, mostly the economic aspect where it has a direct repercussion on the current economic recession. The menace of corruption has, in various ways, stifled the realization of policy objectives, thereby paralyzing and jeopardizing the good intentions of policy makers and the progress of the country, Nigeria. The problem of growthlessness in Nigeria has, among other things, stemmed from greed, lack of essentials of living and unguaranteed future. Nigeria, as a developing economy, is seriously lacking in capital requirement for development. Many cannot afford two square meals daily due to improper and insufficient allocation of resources. The few available resources which are supposed to be well allocated in the 774 local government areas are frequently being diverted to personal use, thereby denying the people of better living standard that is expected. Hence, majority of Nigerians are living in abject poverty while few Nigerians are very wealthy to the international standard. Ogbulie (2013) points out that because government has failed in making available those needs that will reposition people to live a better life, it is difficult to terminate corruption. So, in an attempt to tackle those needs by self, people resort to strategizing on how to fraudulently secure present and future needs and as such, it is only when the basic needs of people are guaranteed by the public managers of resources that many Nigerians can opt for a decent life devoid of corruption. Corruption in Nigeria has stifled industrialization and infrastructural provision. No meaningful development can be achieved without short, medium and long-term industrialization strategies. The problem of allocated resources not fully employed in certain establishments or targets as budgeted, due to corruption, retards productivity and resources utilization, thereby tying Nigerians in the vicious circle of poverty. Obayelu (2007) notes that the importance of infrastructure for economic growth and development cannot be over emphasized. The poor state of electricity, transport and communications is a major handicap for doing business in Nigeria. This situation is reflected in deficiency of sufficient power supply, good road net-work, poor school environment, lack of learning facilities, improperly equipped health centres, among others. Most Nigerians have willingly or unwillingly left the country owing to dissatisfied with the situation of things in the country. Nigerian professionals are scattered in European and Asian countries. The inability of the government to make the country conducive for people to put in their best has compelled a good number of Nigerians to travel abroad and they are not willing to come back. This was so rampant during the military regime. The Presidential Committee on Brain Drain, which was set up in 1988 by the Babangida administration between 1986 and 1990, estimated that Nigeria lost over 10,000 academics from tertiary institutions alone. Total estimates, including those who left public, industrial and private organizations, are over 30,000. 64% of Nigerians in the United States, aged 25 and older, have, at least, a bachelor’s degree. The 1993 UNDP Human Development Report indicated that more than 21,000 Nigerian doctors were practicing in the United States alone while Nigeria continuous to suffer from shortage of doctors. All these people l eft the country because the government failed to take care of the people and was busy pursuing selfish interest. Eboh and Uma (2009) point out that the adverse effect of brain drain is enormous given that quality manpower has the potency to eradicate or drastically reduce poverty. Income of a household is a function of members’ skill and ability to function. Aggregate per capita income depends on individual’s per capita income. Professionals usually go with their skills; entrepreneurial ability and capital creating disequilibrium that in multiples affect economic development.

? RECOMMENDATIONS Corruption is one the dare devils that stares humanity in the face. It is also a global problem with certain destructive tendencies in third world countries like Nigeria. Therefore, the following recommendations will help to eradicate corruption in our nation. 1. To curb corruption in Nigeria, the government should provide independent judiciary which will be responsible for penalizing the offenders. Even those who thought themselves “Above the law” having realized that they will be penalized by the system, they will not misbehave. 2. The mass media should not left out of the campaign. Ordinarily, the mass media are regarded as the watchdog of the government. The co-operation of the journalist, the press, radio and television operators, should be enlisted and particular roles be design foe them especially in propagating the content of the law and the ideas of the campaign 3. The political zeal to fight corruption has to be practically demonstrated beyond mere lip service. First, political leaders have to make themselves models of transparency, honest and accountability in government. It is when political elites screw political corruption that they can have the audacity to check bureaucratic (public service), as the two go to hand. The second leg is the genuine determination to implement the provision of the law. 4. Sycophants and praise singers in the Nigeria should be made to face the anti-corruption laws. 5. All allegations of corruption practices of the past should be duly convert gated and affected public officers must be made to face the warrant of the law, else the average Nigerian will just think the on-going crusade against corruption is a continuation of the rhetoric and sloganeering of the past. 6. In Nigeria, we rarely follow scandals to the end. People that perpetuate corruption always go free due to their position in the sorely as we witnessed in cases involving key officials of the national assembly. Appropriate punitive measures should be melted to corrupt officials. 7. The system that allows money to be siphoned out of the country at will, and for withdrawals to be made from the nations external reserves at caprices of an individual should be properly looked into in other to prevent further occurrence of such ills. 8. Religious leaders should Endeavour to lead exemplary life and speak out the truth at all time without fear or favour. However, the researcher believes that the above recommendations if followed, will eradicate hydra-headed corruption monster in Nigeria, thereby eradicating the current plight of corruption in the country.

CONCLUSION In Nigeria, since independence, series of reforms have been carried out in the public service so as to make the public bureaucracy more efficient and result oriented. However, the anticipated gains of such reforms have not been visible due to series of factors which include that of corruption. Whichever way one views corruption, particularly bureaucratic corruption, it involves a violation of public duty or deviation from high moral standards in exchange for personal pecuniary going. It is concerned with moral and dishonest acts. Accurately, it can be asserted that it is the duty and responsibility of evry good government to create their environment and set the tone for good and effective policies, including conducive business environment, protection of persons and properties in any society. The Nigeria government has been blamed properly. So, for not setting a conducive environment, economic and social development over the years, particularly at this time, when public security and safety has steadily become a major issue for citizens and corporate investors alike. Corruption additionally, has become a hot topic among citizens and investors both apparently risen, due in part, to a battered and depressed economy, and since, the discussion regarding corruption, has tended to be focussed or centred around the government or public sector component of the hydra-head corruption monster. Government has brought ways of combating corruption through some crude in Nigeria. The provisions are laid down in the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria. These include the criminal code, probe panels and commissions, the anti-corruption tribunal, the anti-corruption acts and war against indiscipline and corruption conduct of bureau, independent corrupt practices and other related offence commission etc. It could be observed that the several crusade made by the government in order to curb corruption in the country has not been effective. More so, the EFCC and ICPC are not independent, they are being controlled by the executive and these have a major hindrance in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. Making corruption history is the surest way of making all the problems of Nigeria a history, especially the current economic recession.

REFERENCES Acemoglu, D. & Verdier, T. (1998). ‘Property Rights, Corruption and the Allocation of Talent: A General Equilibrium Approach.’ Econ. Journal 108(450). Agbu, O. (2003). ‘Corruption and Human Trafficking: the Nigerian case’. West Africa

   Review.

Aidt, T. S. (2009). Corruption, Institution, And Economic Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ajie, H. A. & Wokekoro, O. E.(2012). ‘The Impact of Corruption on Sustainable Economic Growth and Development in Nigeria,’ International Journal of Economic Development Research and Investment, Vol. 3, No 1. Aluko, M. E. (2005). ‘10 Top Corruption Cases – and A “Cutlass” to Cut the Snake’s Head,’ Retrieved on May 13, 2013 from http://www.nigerianmuse.com/#ART17 Bardhan, P. (1997). ‘Corruption and Development: A Review of Issues.’ Journal of Economic Literature 35. Eboh, F. E. & Uma, K. E. (2009).‘The Need for Quality Manpower and Nigeria Economic Development,’ in Abia Journal of Population Studies, 1. EFCC reports (2005). Effect of Corruption on Nigeria’s Economy. Nigeria EFCC Information Communication Technology Department. Abuja. Olu-olu, O. (2008), “corruption by example; legalising the illegal as a means of survival in modern Nigeria”. Bangladesh e-journal. Tariola, O. (2001), Obasanjo administration and issues in Nigeria government Ibadan: into publishing company.

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Saturday, January 15, 2005

Jeff Tweiten, a 27-year-old graphic artist, is encamped in front of the Cinerama Theatre, on a blue sofa, in the northwest city of Seattle, Washington. Tweiten plans to wait 139 days for the premiere of “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” which opens May 19, 2005.

He has received help from a community of friends and local business people who have supplied changes of clothes, coffee, food, and a nearby restroom.

City authorities have chosen not to enforce vagrancy laws that would force Tweiten to move between the hours of 7AM and 9PM local time.

Tweiten also camped out for the previous two episodes of the Star Wars movies, “Episode I” and “Episode II”.

Sunday, December 5, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO – Shawn Fanning, the creator of Napster and a founder of Snocap, Inc., on Friday revealed his plans for a legal peer-to-peer file-sharing platform. Snocap has signed an agreement with Universal Music Group to make the company’s entire catalogue available through the new service. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

According to Snocap’s press release, the platform will include a copyright management interface, which will allow content owners to control the distribution of their intellectual property among users. The service’s main competitor would be Apple‘s iTunes Music Store, which is currently the most widely used legal source of downloadable music.