The Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Epe Branch, Dr. S. O. Jimoh, has said Nigeria’s crisis goes beyond corruption, arguing that indiscipline is the root cause of the country’s challenges.
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In a statement released recently, the legal practitioner described corruption as merely a symptom of a deeper national failure, stressing that without discipline, meaningful progress would remain elusive.
According to Jimoh, Nigerians are often labelled ungovernable, but their behaviour abroad tells a different story.
He pointed out that at least four to five flights leave Nigeria for the United Kingdom daily, each carrying between 300 and 500 passengers, most of them Nigerians. “On Nigerian soil, many of these passengers are loud and unruly,” he said.
“But once they land at Heathrow or Gatwick, you suddenly see calm, orderly and disciplined Nigerians.”
The Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law at Crescent University explained that the difference lies in enforcement. In the UK, he noted, discipline is non-negotiable and minimum behavioural standards are strictly upheld, unlike in Nigeria, where he said anything often goes.
“When leadership lacks discipline, the citizens will reflect it,” Jimoh stated. “When the home is undisciplined, the children will be the same. And when schools lack discipline, the outcome is predictable.”
Recalling the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) introduced during the Babangida–Idiagbon era, Jimoh said Nigerians once queued at bus stops and avoided littering, not because they had changed overnight, but because standards were enforced.
He argued that a government unable to manage basic systems such as waste disposal would struggle to manage a complex society, adding that Nigeria urgently needs a nationwide minimum standard of discipline.
Jimoh also praised former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, for what he described as significant improvements in orderliness and civic discipline during his tenure.
On corruption, the NBA chairman insisted that it can never truly end unless indiscipline is tackled first.
“Corruption is a fruit, not the seed,” he said. “Indiscipline is the tree. Fighting corruption alone is like cutting leaves while leaving the roots intact.”
He further clarified that corruption itself is not a specific criminal offence under Nigerian law.
“There is no crime called corruption,” Jimoh explained. “It is a collective name for different acts of indiscipline that have been criminalised.”
He added that many practices, such as favouritism, nepotism and lobbying, remain legal in Nigeria despite being forms of corruption in practical terms.
“These behaviours thrive because they have not been criminalised,” he said. “Until discipline becomes a national culture, corruption will simply keep reinventing itself.”
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