Second Income Syndrome, Corruption and Value Orientation in Nigeria Public Service

Second income syndrome, in Nigeria, in form of corruption in the public service, undermines effective public administration, effective governance, endangers democracy, public service efficiency and effectiveness and erodes the social and moral fabrics of the country. The menace of corruption as second income which has become a syndrome has a negative effect on all aspects of our national life. Apart from greed, dishonesty, misrepresentation and immorality in public practices, it has created porosity for corrupt practices in the country. The main objective of this study is to investigate corruption as a second income in Nigeria and identify the modus of operandi, the rot and decay of the system. The study employs political economy of crime as the theoretical tool. The methodology employed in the study is based on both secondary and primary data, where journals, newspapers, magazines reports, textbooks, internet and questionnaire were distributed. One major discovery of this study is that, corruption as second income discourages honest effort and behaviour, and immorality has replaced morality. We therefore recommend value reorientation for all Nigerian citizens from primary to tertiary institutions to change value system through a re-socialisation process.