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Problem setting. The system of public administration is a complex set of related elements and entities that interact with each other, so the manifestation of negative corruption minimizes the possibility of achieving positive results in the process of these communications. Special attention should be paid to the functioning of the customs system, which is an important part of the national economy of Ukraine. In this area, corruption abuses are extremely pronounced, given the peculiarities of the customs industry. This problem is acute and urgent, as its existence causes the progression of those negative phenomena that are currently present in the customs system of Ukraine and reduce the effectiveness of public administration in general.Recent research and publications analysis. The issue of corruption in the context of public administration is the subject of research by many scientists: V. Averyanov, O. Antonova, V. Bashtannyk, Y. Bytyak, I. Borodin, A. Vasyliev, I. Golosnichenko, E. Dodin, L. Koval, V. Kolpakov, A. Komzyuk, N. Lypovska, V. Olefir, O. Ostapenko, I. Pakhomov, O. Petrenko, S. Seryogin, I. Khozhylo, V. Shamray, H. Yarmaki etc. Given the wide range of researchers who study the specifics of corruption in the context of public administration, it is worth noting the significant gaps in the assessment of this issue from a sectoral perspective. In particular, it should be noted the great need to study corruption in customs and find ways to minimize this shameful phenomenon in modern conditions.Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. The need to analyze corruption processes in the customs authorities and substantiate offers for anti-corruption actions in the field of public administration led to the choice of the topic of the article.Paper main body. Corruption in the general sense can be defined as the illegal activity of persons called to perform the functions of the state, in the form of misuse of their powers in order to obtain benefits by increasing their material wealth, obtaining illegal services or benefits.Global trends indicate the presence of corruption in all countries, so this issue is a priority in solving all spheres of life, both developed and developing countries. In particular, public administration of European countries in the political, informational, institutional and legal context is aimed at combating corruption. To this end, there are such institutions common to EU countries as Greco, the Venice Commission, Olaf, Eurojust, Europol and others. At the interstate level, they coordinate and provide information and analytical support for anti-corruption measures, develop common legal standards in the form of community regulations.In the field of public administration, there is a sufficient legal resource on the basis of which it is possible to ensure anti-corruption policy in the state and, in particular, in the customs sphere. However, the customs system is characterized by a wide range of unresolved issues related to corruption abuses. Accordingly, there is a need to develop offers for overcoming and preventing corruption: development and implementation in the practice of customs authorities of methodological recommendations relating to their employees and aimed at resolving conflicts related to corruption; observance by customs officers of relevant ethical norms, which must harmonize with anti-corruption activities; effective application of responsibility to those guilty of corruption and comprehensive implementation of measures aimed at combating corruption; clear identification of those responsible for corruption in areas where there is a high risk of such abuses; regulation of procedures aimed at preventing corruption of customs officers in the performance of their official duties.Anti-corruption in customs authorities in the context of ensuring the effectiveness of public administration should include the implementation of the following measures: development of conceptual foundations of anti-corruption policy in the customs sphere; adopt a Code of Ethics for Customs Officers in accordance with the needs of anti-corruption policy; effective implementation of the principle of equality before the law in the context of reducing corruption; ensuring equal responsibility for corrupt actions not only for individuals but also for legal entities; ensure the absence of immunity from corrupt practices for officials, including senior executives; delimit the powers of bodies engaged in anti-corruption activities; to intensify the public to combat corruption; wide informing of the public about cases of corruption in customs bodies.Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. The problem of corruption in public authorities is a long-standing and painful issue in Ukraine. This problem is especially acute in the activities of customs authorities, as their activities are directly related to foreign economic activity, significant flows of goods and flows of financial resources across the customs border of the state. In turn, this is a direct threat to the country’s national security. Given the fact that Ukraine ranks relatively low in global rankings on the existence of corruption abuses, it is necessary to take decisive measures to reduce the manifestations of this phenomenon, in particular, in the customs authorities.

Introduction. The problem of corruption has acquired a particular importance in light of ubiquitous corruption scandals, entangling both developing and developed countries. Currently, a number of often contradicting hypotheses has been posed on the ways corrupt practices impact protest potential of a society and stability of a political system, as well as on the role of anti-corruption policy in the alleviation of such impact. This article aims to survey and compare different researches analyzing the impact of corruption and anti-corruption policies on different aspects of modern Russian society; in particular, their impact on protest potential and political stability. The author’s hypothesis lies within the assumption that The System anti-corruption policy, which is a prioritized instrument for political and administrative activities of state and municipal authorities in the prevention of corrupt practices, significantly reduces the extent of protest potential and facilitates political stability in a society.Methodology and sources. Methodological basis of this article is a multiparadigm approach to studying the phenomenon of corruption. As part of this research, a raft of empirical research conducted by domestic and foreign authors has been analyzed (E. M. Uslaner, P. Heywood, J. Rose et al.). Authors also use the results of an internet survey conducted with 580 participants (predominantly students of Russian universities) in 2020. The respondents were self-selected, convenience sampling. Manifold research and sociological surveys demonstrate the difficulty of generalizing the results.Results and discussion. Substantial amount of empirical data reflects an adverse effect of corrupt practices on the livelihood of a modern society. These practices entail the decrease in GDP growth rates, avert domestic and foreign investments, amplify social and economic inequality, decrease tax revenue and lead to social welfare underfunding. It ultimately results in the lack of public trust towards state institutions as well as the decrease of generalized trust. Even though there is a positive correlation between endemic corruption and political volatility, the results of other research cast doubt on the extent to which corruption may influence economic development and political stability.Conclusion. In general, the conducted research has allowed for the inference that the prevalence of corrupt practices may either amplify social instability and increase the protest potential or it may have no influence at all on political activity of a society and stability of political regime. At the same time, the implementation of anti-corruption policies by the authorities significantly reduces the level of protest potential and fosters political stability.

Commercial organisations practise corporate hospitality to develop loyalty and trust, keep in touch with clients, and weather business. A challenge exists where corporate hospitality may camouflage corruption. One of the pertinent issues is addressing the obscuring boundaries of corporate hospitality to ensure commercial organisations in Malaysia are not trapped in the labyrinth of corruption affecting business sustainability. This research employs a doctrinal study and content analysis approach that utilises library-based research to procure primary and secondary sources. The research outcome may assist the government, policymaker, and commercial organisations' stakeholders in combating corrupt practices within their organisations. Keywords: commercial organisations; corporate corruption; corporate hospitality; guidelines eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v6iSI6.3051

Based on expert estimates, 17% of corrupt practices are committed in this area, and the authors identify the leading causes of corruption in the educational sphere. The objective is the non-recognition of teachers and lecturers as subjects of criminal corruption offenses, low level of the labor expense, inventory, and logistics management discrepancy in educational institutions of different groups with modern educational methods. Subjective reasons include the mutual “benefit” of corrupt practices to all participants in the educational process; disenchantment with the profession due to burnout; certain aspects of mentality; the sense of impunity for blackmailing offenses and receiving gifts. Regarding scientific research methods, their branched complex and multilevel structure are proposed: philosophical, empirical research, methods of theoretical cognition: general logical methods, specific scientific methods. The principal means to combat corruption in the educational sphere is preventive increasing the level of labor expense in the academic sphere; improving the inventory and logistics management of the educational institutions at all levels and regions; avoiding the mutual “benefit” to all participants in the educational process and anti-corruption means (criminalization for all teaching and research-pedagogical staff for the commission of the criminal offense).

Международный научно-исследовательский журнал, Выпуск 10 (124) 2022

В данной статье дается краткая характеристика понятия «коррупция» и «коррупционные действия». Рассматриваются особенности проектирования программ по борьбе с коррупцией в коммерческих организациях. Приводятся ключевые положения антикоррупционной программы по отношению к сотрудникам, третьим лицам и иным участвующим субъектам.Коррупция может принимать самые разные формы. Это сложная и актуальная проблема, затрагивающая отдельных людей, сообщества и предприятия по всему миру. Именно поэтому советы директоров, действующие индивидуально или в составе корпоративного управления, играют важную роль в продвижении добросовестности, надлежащего управления и равных условий на местных, национальных и международных рынках. Для того чтобы играть эту роль корпоративное управление должно взять на себя обязательство по разработке и внедрению эффективных программ для предотвращения коррупции внутри организаций., This article gives a brief description of the concept of "corruption" and "corrupt practices. The specifics of developing anti-corruption programs in commercial organizations are considered. The key provisions of an anti-corruption program in relation to employees, third parties and other actors involved are given.Corruption can take many forms. It is a complex and relevant issue that affects individuals, communities and enterprises around the world. That is why boards of directors, acting individually or as part of corporate management, play an important role in promoting integrity, good governance and a level playing field in local, national and international markets. In order to play this role, corporate management must commit to developing and implementing effective programs to prevent corruption within organizations., Международный научно-исследовательский журнал, Выпуск 10 (124) 2022

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically discuss the participation of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes. Sovereign wealth funds in emerging economies are often involved in corporate social responsibility. However, the 1 Malaysian Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal illustrates the possible use of SWF as a vehicle for corruption and abuse.Design/methodology/approachThe primary objective is to develop good governance practices of CSR by SWFs that could limit corrupt practices. A case study approach is adopted to investigate the CSR involvement of two SWFs – Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) and Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD).FindingsThe finding shows that SWFs should not be directly involved in CSR. It is proposed that independent Non-government Organisations (NGOs), through a competitive funding model, could serve the CSR purpose of SWFs more effectively and bring socio-economic changes in emerging economies.Originality/valueThe funding model identifies the expected outcomes, priorities and uses of the funds. The funding committee should also be independent of the Board and transparent in its allocations.

It has been commonly observed that tropical countries tend to suffer from intense corruption and underdevelopment. This study provides an explanation for this long-standing disparity across the world based on variation in the intensity of ultraviolet radiation (UV-R). The central hypothesis is that UV-R is positively associated with the (historical) prevalence of eye diseases, which significantly shortens work-life expectancy as a skilled worker. This helps shape the worldwide distribution of corruption by affecting the incumbents’ window of opportunity. Using data for up to 139 countries, I consistently find empirical support for the positive relationship between UV-R and corruption. The main findings withstand accounting for numerous alternative explanations for international differences in corruption levels. Employing individual-level data from the World Values Survey, I document suggestive evidence that exposure to UV-R is linked to surveyed respondents’ tolerance towards corrupt activities. Furthermore, a subnational analysis for China lends credence to the cross-country evidence.

The term corruption is known in modern society and was not found in the early days and development of Islam. In Indonesia, many corrupt practices were found around 1950. Furthermore, in relation to its legal arguments, al-Qur’an does not directly mention laws and sanctions for corruptors. Therefore there are many differences of opinion in determining the sentence. This research will discuss and explore the laws and sanctions for corruptors from the four verses of the Qur'an, namely QS. Āli ‘Imrān [3]: 161, QS. Al-Nisā '[4]: 29, QS. Al-Baqarah [2]: 188, and QS. Al-Māidah [5]: 38 using the khāfī alfāz interpretation approach. By using thematic methods and liberative hermeneutics, this study finds a conclusion that the law of corruption is the same as al-sāriq and the legal consequences are the same as thieves, namely punishment (cutting off hands) or imprisonment

The concept of “good governance” has emerged as vital driving force in the past few decades to positively shape economic growth and sustainable socio-economic development across the globe in general and developing countries in particular. However, Pakistan’s turbulent political landscape and deeply entrenched systemic corruption in the recent decades have utterly harmed the good governance at large, resulting in socio-economic developmental woes and increased sufferings of the people. This paper focuses on analysing the influences of good governance on the socio-economic development in Pakistan in the light of World Bank good governance indicator and also probe the impact of prevalent perceived corruption in the country in accordance with observation taken by Transparency International, UNDP, and other renowned State Institutions. The paper has emphasized on the last two decades to ascertain the contributory factors by using the appropriate qualitative / quantitative and statistical techniques that debilitated good governance in Pakistan and caused continual political instability, pessimism, and recurring political crises and undermined socio-economic development in the country. Based on the ascertained findings, the paper has identified impediments to existing governance situation and prevalence of corrupt practices and has proposed workable suggestions/ recommendations to assist policy makers, development planners, intellectuals, politicians, and succeeding governments in Pakistan to take corresponding structural or policy reforms to address the said hurdles.

El artículo presenta un análisis comparativo (comparativo) de modelos sociales de anticorrupción y prácticas corruptas en las dimensiones global y europea. Se identifican y analizan los modelos básicos de anticorrupción: el primer modelo, vertical, donde el impacto en la propagación de la corrupción y prácticas corruptas se lleva a cabo de manera vertical, el cual se basa principalmente en mecanismos represivos (acoso, responsabilidad penal), estricta legalidad. sanciones y control social; el segundo modelo es horizontal (modelo de eliminación sistémica de factores de corrupción), que prevé el uso de métodos represivos, control social y mecanismos preventivos relacionados con la participación pública, formación de imperativos “anticorrupción” en la sociedad, alto nivel de cultura jurídica y responsabilidad social basada en la estructura de principios democráticos de la vida social.

Numerical measures indicate that corruption is generally higher in the developing countries with energy assets (oil, gas and coal) as opposed to non-energy asset developing nations. The presence of energy asset means that governments can effectively gauge their nations reserves to production ratio which can strengthen their negotiating powers with industries in the extractive sector to earn more future income, creating a fertile ground for corruption to emerge. Hence, whether or not the presence of energy assets fuels more corruption is an area of research that is overlooked that deserves further investigation. This paper investigates the effect of energy assets on corruption in developing economies. The studies empirical methodology involves the estimation of a reduced form equation utilising wealth accounts data on energy assets (oil, natural gas and coal) in order to investigate its effect on corruption while simultaneously controlling for nations economic, social and institutional structure. Based on the heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix regression methodology, the findings of this study revealed a statistically significant and negative correlation of oil on corruption for the years 2005, 2010 and 2014. The results also showed a statistically significant and negative correlation of coal and natural gas on corruption for 2005. The findings also revealed that economic development, education and the rule of law are fundamentally essential variables in controlling corruption. This study's main policy implication is the need for governments to institute credible anti-corruption measures in the energy-related resource industries. In particular, the strengthening of the legal frameworks, including legislations of strong anti-corruption laws where individuals and firms engaged in corrupt practices are held accountable. The seizure of incomes and assets acquired through corrupt means, imposing severe financial penalties, monitoring and accountability of origin of offshore payments by international firms and banks and closure of firms engaged in corruption are some of the practical measures forward that can lead to the long-term sustainability of sub-soil energy assets.

The Article Entitled "Strengthening Public Participation in the Prevention of Corruption through the Regulation of Integrative Participative Institutions" is a normative study that wants to analyze the importance of the role of public participation in controlling the policies of prisons in Indonesia in order to minimize corrupt practices in prisons. The results of the authors' study found that there are obstacles in optimizing the role of public participation in efforts to prevent corruption in prisons, that correctional regulations do not strictly and in detail about community participation. Therefore, the solution offered in this paper is that the government or legislators immediately create regulations that accommodate public participation in controlling correctional policies in Indonesia through participatory correctional regulations. So that this can become a legal basis that provides legal certainty for the public to participate in preventing corruption in prisons

The study concludes that the current interest in corruption is due to the gradual increase in the scale of this negative phenomenon, its impact on business conditions, distortion of market mechanisms and increase the costs of corruption. Discretionary political decisions create the illusion of being able to influence them, in some cases through bribery, and in others simply by using close personal relationships with civil servants. The probability of making a “favorable” decision for the persons concerned increases inversely proportional to the level of salaries of civil servants and the severity of punishment for abuse of power. Sometimes, due to limited supply, rationing or significant time, there is an excessive demand for certain services, which leads to the problem of distribution of limited supply and decision-making by civil servants. Such situations are also a source of corruption, which is confirmed by registered cases of corruption in all the above areas. Among the potential sources of corruption (in fact, political corruption) it is also necessary to mention the use of state-owned enterprises to finance the activities of political parties and provide jobs to clients of certain political groups. In all these areas, lack of transparency and effective institutional control are the main factors leading to corruption. The lack of politically motivated hiring, patronage and nepotism, as well as clear career rules, all contribute to the quality of the bureaucracy. A transparent system of incentives and established traditions largely explain why some bureaucracies are much less corrupt than others. It has been established that the fight against corruption, which is carried out solely on the basis of wage increases, requires significant budget expenditures, while it can only be partially successful. In addition, as noted above, even with high wages, some individuals may continue to engage in corrupt practices. Theoretically, other things being equal, corruption can be reduced by increasing punishment. That is, higher penalties, at least in theory, can reduce corruption, but can also increase bribes.

Ever since the spectacular boom and bust cycle of the Spanish real estate industry, endemic corruption at the local level has become a widely recognized problem in the national public discourse. In an effort to expose an under-explored political determinant, this paper investigates the effect of local and regional alignment in fomenting corruption at the Spanish municipal level. To do so, we construct an ample panel dataset on the prevalence of corrupt practices by local politicians, which is employed to test the possible impact of partisan alignment in three consecutive joint municipal and regional elections. Findings show aligned municipalities to be more corrupt than non-aligned ones, an effect that is further associated with absolute majorities at both levels of government and higher capital transfers. By contrast, we also show that “throwing the rascals out” could be an effective strategy for curbing the corrupt practices of aligned municipalities. This indicates that the democratic political process may be effective in corruption control if agreements can be reached to remove corrupt politicians or parties from power.

Purpose Academic corruption and fraudulent practices have become problematic in recent years. Governments around the world have introduced dedicated higher education commissions to regulate higher education providers. The purpose of this paper is to design a system for the detection and prevention framework of fraudulent behaviour in higher education. Design/methodology/approach This paper performs a survey on academic misconduct practices and expands the survey by analysing the accreditation process. This study further identifies common corrupt practices in the accreditation process with reference to particular accreditation standards or laws. If the accreditation process is as thorough as, this paper is led to believe, a higher institute may stop being compliant immediately after the accreditation process. playing a catch-me-if-you-can at the next accreditation cycle. The survey of the accreditation process and identification of corrupt practices lead to an identification of preventative and detective measures. Findings The review of accreditation procedures and conditions identifies that fraudulent practices can occur at every part of any policy and procedure. The framework prevents repudiation and allows for spontaneous investigations internally and externally. The blockchain prevented changes to the system and allow for auditing of changes. A system such as this could suppress accreditation fraud and minimise its corrupt impact. Not to mention identify with relative ease the severity and life of corrupt practice. Originality/value Contributions are made in the framework for detecting and preventing corrupt practices in Higher Education using blockchain immutable transactions. This enables real-time accreditation compliance checks and monitoring of conditions. External complaints or reviews can be conducted with minimum interactions from higher education providers.

The study examined the effects of farmer-herder conflicts on rural households’ food security in Gombe State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaire and focus group discussion among 118 farmers and 112 herders. Percentage, tobit and logit regression models were used in analysing the data. The result showed that, household size and education, farm size and cattle route encroachment were the major causes of the conflict. In addition, killing of stray cattle, population growth, rape and sexual harassment were all responsible to farmer-herder conflict with different marginal effects. The study revealed 59.3% of the farmers and 31.3% of the herders, had food insecure with moderate hunger, while 43.7% of the farmers and 66.1% of the herders had food insecurity with severe hunger. Selling of grazing areas, corrupt practices by traditional rulers are some of the constraints that affectsconflict management. There is need to create a platform that will bring all stakeholders together on a quarterly basis in order to have an interaction and to employ extension agents to serve as an intermediary between farmers and herders. There is need for the law makers to revisit the existing 1964 grazing reserves act and 1978 land tenure act so as to give room to accommodate land ownership, usage and control for the competing parties. This may help in reducing the intensity of the conflict. Finally, there is need for the adoption of some mitigating strategies such as alternative dispute resolutions, arrest and prosecution of offenders to manage the reoccurrences of conflicts. Keywords: Farmer-herder conflicts, rural households, food security status.

Глобальная инициатива КНР «Один пояс и один путь», далее – «Пояс и путь» рассматривается не только как совокупность инфраструктурных проектов в сферах социально-экономического развития и безопасности, но и как концепция, фактически обновившая содержание государственной идеологии. Она дополняет национальную доктрину социализма и активно используется для оказания влияния на состояние человеческого капитала стран-участниц. Этому способствуют китайские образовательные и культурные проекты, цифровизация «Пояса и пути», информирование мировой общественности о достигнутых результатах и международная издательская деятельность. Согласно мнению политического руководства США, китайская инициатива реализуется с использованием недобросовестных методов, что, в ряде случаев, сопровождается деятельностью, нарушающей нормы международного права и национальное законодательство стран. Это выражается в условиях труда работников, задействованных в проектах, дезинформации общественности, склонении национальных властей стран-участниц к коррупционным проявлениям и к заключению с китайскими партнёрами «хищнических» (обусловленных) контрактов. В контексте противодействия инициативе «Пояс и путь» осуществляемая Соединёнными Штатами деятельность носит декларативный и, отчасти, запоздалый характер, на сегодняшний момент практически не подкрепляется конкретными действиями и сводится к дискредитации китайских проектов. Реализация же инициативы «Пояс и путь», предложенной Китаем в 2013 г., основана на системе межгосударственного стратегического планирования, осуществляемого через сопряжение национальных стратегий развития и государственных программ.

Corruption has become a pandemic and a moral burden that bedeviled the world. Corruption is a practice that permeates all societal segments, sectors, activities and it takes various shapes, forms, dimensions, classifications and manifestations. Nearly all countries of the world are affected by the endemic of corruption albeit, in different magnitude with some having lower incidence while others a high rate of occurrence. Corruption has constituted itself as a political and socioeconomic problem worldwide because it leads to misgovernance, deprivation, inequality and squander of scarce public resources which have the concomitant repercussions of poverty, insecurity, joblessness, hunger and malnutrition, poor healthcare services delivery and low quality education. The problem of corruption took a new dimension when it continuously defies various strategies and alternatives proffered by nation-states, international organisations and agencies. One of the outstanding measures that permanently proves workable is the Islamic model which forbids the practice of corruption and ties it with moral burden and spiritual integrity. Hence, this study presented an alternative model with reference to Nigeria as the area of study. The study utilised a conceptual descriptive approach where documented sources were consulted and analysed. The study discovered that despite the existence of various anti-graft agencies, corruption continues in Nigeria unabated which portrays the need for adopting a different approach and that has been provided as the Islamic perspective. The study recommends among several others that the Islamic ethics and morals of detesting corrupt practices and the accompanied sanctions should be integrated in the crusade against corruption.

Las exigencias de la sociedad sobre la administración pública pasan por profundizar en el comportamiento y en la dedicación profesional, sobre todo, de los administradores y gestores públicos. Todo ello no es más que trasunto del principio de buena administración que, como ya he destacado, es hoy un derecho de los ciudadanos, que reclama mayor objetividad en la toma de decisiones, mayor intensidad en la defensa de los derechos de los ciudadanos, más transparencia, más control y, sobre todo una más proactiva rendición de cuentas. Se trata, en definitiva, de imbuir a los gestores públicos y a los ciudadanos que más frecuente y estrechamente se relacionan con ellos, de sentimientos de ética, de rectitud y de honestidad capaces de impedir prácticas corruptas. Recibido: 29.09.2020Aceptado: 21.12.2020

Venezuela was once a thriving economy but it experienced one of the worst political crisis and economic catastrophe in modern times. The failure of leadership and erroneous policy measures were instrumental in this disaster. After Hugo Chavez, his successor Nicolás Maduro from socialist PSUV party took over in 2013. His extension through the general election in May 2018 remained shrouded under controversy. There was massive corruption, social repression, deceleration of productivity, economic indecision, higher dependence on oil, rampant human rights violation, and shutdown of businesses noticed during his regime. Venezuela is an oil rich country with the leading verified oil reserves in the world. Its economy is highly dependent on oil exports but oil production has plummeted tremendously. The nation failed to diversify in other lines of production even as oil prices started to fall since 2014 and the economy suffered beyond measure. As per IMF estimate, Venezuela's economy has shrunk by more than one-third between 2013 and 2017 approximately. Its currency value reduced to rubble, inflation skyrocketed, GDP growth rate went into tailspin and debt defaulted. There is unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Venezuela in recent times. Rise in violence and crime, hunger, malnutrition and poverty led millions of people to flee the country. As per the United Nations’ record, about 4.8 million Venezuelans left the nation since the crisis erupted in 2014. US imposed sanction on Venezuela in 2015 which further got intensified in 2017. There is now international pressure on Nicolás Maduro to step down and to allow his opponent Juan Guaidó to run the country. In the times of the Corona virus outbreak, this crisis has aggravated for the economically impaired nation.

Corruption in Nigeria since 1960 has cost the country hundreds of billions of pounds. The immediate impacts of this are economic pains and infrastructural decay, but long-term effects include crawling pace of national development and loss of integrity in the global system. So, how does corruption affect politics and governance in Nigeria? This chapter examines the relationship between them and where it has positioned the country in terms of development and progress. Anchored on the argument that corrupt and other related acts would inevitably discount the gains of democratic governance, pollute the political space, create a spatial economy, and lead to a “massification” of the poor, this chapter posits that corruption has thrown spanners in the wheels of national development. The chapter also argues that the politics and government of Nigeria have suffered for too long in the hands of habitual and unrepentant treasury looters, political jobbers and beneficiaries of interminable orchestrations of scandals and frauds. It recommends that anti-corruption agencies should be answerable only to the judiciary, made up of persons with records of integrity, and led by a judge with a record of accomplishment, forthrightness and fearlessness.

Important advantages of the potential use of blockchain in the scientific and educational field are security, immutability, transparency. By providing a framework for decentralized forms of government and smart contracts, while significantly reducing the potential for fraudulent and corrupt practices, this technology can help safeguard public interests and state sovereignty. Today, attempts are being made to develop various technological solutions based on blockchain for various areas of social interaction. One example is the drafting of smart contracts aimed at solving a number of tasks in scientific and educational activities. The article discusses the possibilities and prospects of using blockchain technology and smart contracts in science and education. The topic causes controversy among specialists: some are convinced of the effectiveness of the proposed solutions, while others point to the negative consequences and obstacles to the introduction of new technology. The authors analyzed possible ways of introducing blockchain technology and smart contracts in the field of education and science, as well as the possible risks associated with their use.

This paper examines the different dimensions and continuous corrupt practices in the federal government of Nigeria amidst President Buhari administration’s anti-corruption songs and war (2015 – date). It is observed that the menaces of infrastructural deficits are persistent and unabated due to billions of dollars that are carted away by both political and public office holders on a seasonal basis, and misfit appointment of public officials popularly referred to as ‘favoritism’ and the ‘lopsidedness.’ The study which is qualitative with data gathered from secondary sources. The paper found the fact that political and public office holders across administrations in Nigeria perceived corruption as a worthwhile venture despite the campaign against corruption. It is also noticed that the EFCC created to lead the anti-corruption war only barks without biting. The study advocated, among others, that the National Assembly should immediately reevaluate and review the Nigerian administration of the criminal justice system.