The Reward System and Corruption Dimensions in the Nigerian Public Sector

Abstract

This study examine the possibility of establishing relationship between poor reward system in the Nigerian civil and public services (i.e. the civil and public servants) and the upsurge on the corruption level in the country. This is because the statutory minimum wage of thirty thousand naira (N30, 000) for the three tiers of government could hardly keep body and soul together, neither could this take home monthly salary actually takes anyone home. In addition the value of naira erodes with both inflation and depreciation (which I referred to as twin-arrow) which made an average Nigerian to be more vulnerable and socially insecure. Furthermore, the minimum wage could not last an average individual a fortnight for feeding and upkeep if one has to live slightly above the two dollar per day poverty line. Base on this argument this paper presents an empirical investigation to the aforementioned through a parametric research outlook, that is, an ex-ante research design that elucidates the behavioral disposition of target audience on the subject matter, which was thereafter analyzed with both descriptive and analytical tools of Chi-square to test the single hypothesis that Public reward system has nothing to do with the corruption level in Nigeria (.The ( was rejected at 0.05 level of statistical significance, and accept the alternative hypothesis. The rejection of the null hypothesis indicates that to a large extent poor reward system in Nigerian civil and public services contribute to sharp practices or corrupt practices, it equally confirms existence of both greed, and need based corruption. Therefore, the reward system should be improved upon through systematic and strategic pay roll system that incorporate all essential macroeconomic indices, such as inflation, depreciation and general price level, that will automatically adjust itself (payment of wages and salaries) to the current yearnings of the economy. This to a large extent will not only leads to effective and efficient service delivery but will also minimizes or eradicates the level of corruption in Nigeria.