Unethical Trade Practices Underdeveloping Nigeria

The objective of the paper is to examine how unethical trade practices at the country-level underdeveloped Nigeria, using secondary source of data collection and businographic (i.e. narrative analysis interspersed with episodes or anecdotes Clifford et al 1997) analysis as the method of study. The modified exchange theory is the theoretical framework of this study. Findings from the anecdotal studies includes; Illicit Financial Flow (IFF) from Nigeria consisting inflated credit lines offered by both the government and financial institutions in the developed nations; defects in the Nigerian criminal law system and penal legislation giving rise to itching palm judges who accept bribe in return for ready-made judgment; profligacy of lawmakers in their salaries and allowances; government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) waste, duplications, over-invoicing, round tripping, importation and payment for commodities not supplied leading to the depletion of available resources for capital expenditure on developmental projects; plagiarism, violation of intellectual property rights and copyright law in jeopardy of quality control mechanisms in tertiary institutions; cross border fraud among financial institutions especially in interbank settlement system. The recommendations are: Nigeria s backing of US-based Global Financial Integrity (GFI) transparency campaign for the institution of transparent global financial system to stem the illegal financial transfer from Nigeria, constitutional amendment for the re-composition of the National Judicial Commission (NJC) to live up to its responsibility; prune down the existing government MDAs together with domiciling the efficiency unit (E-unit) in all ministries of finance in the federation to vet the expenditures of government MDAs to cut down cost of administration; the legislative business of the bicameral national assembly should be part time activity to reduce salaries and perk of offices and free resources for capital expenditure by government; prosecution of persons suspected or accused of plagiarism; passing the Examination Malpractice Bill currently before the National Assembly into law and formulation of national ideology for zero-tolerance of unethical trade practice for the overall development of Nigeria.