WAEC 1994 ENGLISH THEORY QUESTION
3. You are the main speaker in a school debate the topic of which is “Bribery and corruption are worse enemies of our country.”

Sample Answer

The Moderator, Panel of Judges, Time-keeper, Co-debaters and the audience. I stand before you to speak against the above – named topic. Foremost, what is bribery and what is corruption? Both words are in most cases used side by side. They connote literally an attempt to give favour to someone, in place of an anticipated favour from the receiver. However, it is an offence in every enlightened society.

Armed robbery on the other hand, is another crime in every society. It is simply stealing while armed with any weapon that can kill or maim. In Nigeria, both bribery and corruption, and armed robbery are serious crimes. Both are enemies to our society, but I am of the view that armed robbery is worse enemy to our country than bribery and corruption. My reasons are as follows:

Nigeria has lost so many of her citizens through robbery. This is because out of every five robbery incidents, one must involve the loss of lives. The country loses her human resources as well as material resources through armed robbery. Even the government recognises the fact that armed robbery is more of an enemy to us than bribery and corruption, hence the death penalty on the former, and a term of imprisonment for the latter.

The society looks at an armed robber with disdain. His friends keep away from him because of the stigma armed robbery carries with it. This is not so with bribery and corruption. Even the Holy Bible condemns armed robbery. The book of Exodus Chapter 20 teaches us not to “kill” or “steal” both of which are attributes of armed robbery. Armed robbery has helped to weaken the economy of Nigeria. The country is notorious before the international community because of armed robbery. Foreign investors are all running away from the country so that their properties or their companies will not be vandalized by robbers. They see it as a waste of resources investing in the Nigerian economy for fear of insecurity.

Armed robbers have made life very uncomfortable for Nigerians, who now live in our own land. It is undisputable that the greatest fear is fear of the unknown. One living in fear is as good as dead.

The amount of loss the government has suffered as a result of armed robbery is unquantifiable. It is difficult to put into statistics the frequency of bank robberies in Nigeria. Indeed, armed robbery is a worse drain pipe, into the nation’s purse, than bribery and corruption. Monetarily and otherwise, armed robbery is a worse enemy. Nigeria has lost so much human resources through death via armed robbery. If these human resources were available and changed into production, the manpower is enough to revive the economy which is already in the woods.

This is not to say that bribery and corruption are not enemies of our country, indeed they are thorns in our flesh and clogs in the wheel of social and economic progress of our country. But it is difficult to determine who is not corrupt since corruption is relative and open to numerous interpretations.

Armed robbery on the other hand, carries a terrible stigma. No one wants to be identified with a robber. Apart from the killing that accompanies armed robbery, it puts a check on freedom of movement as people can no longer go about their businesses, say in the night for fear of being waylaid.

The activities of robbers have even forced some state government to curtail the movement of people by imposing curfews, all in an effort to curtail armed robbery which has claimed lives of so many security men.

The government loses so much revenue through the money it votes towards the eradication of armed robbery. Such money could have been channelled into other ventures.

With the above points, I still maintain that armed robbery is worse enemy to our country than bribery and corruption.

Thank you.