CORRUPT PRACTICES AMONG ACADEMICS: A CASE STUDY OF
UNIVERSITIES IN THE SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA
Oliver r. Ngwoke (Ph.D)
Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Ugwu, Ndubuisi Friday (M.Ed)
Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Chukwurah, Linda Nkem (Ph.D)
Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
And
Olorundare, Adekunle Solomon
(Professor of Science Education)
Dean, Faculty of Education,Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the academic corrupt practices among lecturers in the South Eastern Nigeria Universities as perceived by the students. The study adopted descriptive research design. The population for the study consisted of all the students of the universities in the South Eastern Nigeria. Purposive sampling was used to select 500 respondents who willingly to participated. The Academic Corruption Questionnaire (ACQ) developed from the review of literature was the instrument used for data collection. The face validity of the instrument was done by three experts. The reliability index of 0.78 was obtained. The data generated were analyzed using frequencies and percentages. The findings revealed that lecturers engaged in academic corrupt practices including: demanding sex from the students to perform their duties; giving students’ friend(s) or classmates’ marks-for-sex; and directly or indirectly demanding money from students to perform their duties. Others include: lecturers forcing the students to buy handouts, books or other materials; and giving their friend(s) or classmate(s) marks because they paid some money. The major causes of academic corruption as identified in the study were recruitment of people of questionable character in the academic, lack of professionalism and ethical standards, Poor remuneration and compensation for staff and Laxity in punishing “culprit” lecturers amongst others. The study also revealed that more male lecturers engaged in academic corrupt practices compared to their female counterparts. Based on these findings, it was recommended among others that conferences and trainings should be organized to empower the students on how to stand on their rights, resist academic corruption of any form and report to appropriate authority.
Key words: Academic corruption, Lecturers, Gender, University, South Eastern Nigeria