MR LENNY

The functionality of any government is a direct product of effective governance and efficient public administration. Nigeria, a country endowed with abundant human and natural resources, after 54 years of independence is burdened with a government seemingly characterised by ineptitude. This paper argues that the functionality of the Nigerian government is poor because of ineffective governance and inefficient public administration. On that note the paper concludes that for Nigeria to produce a functional government responsive to the needs of its citizens it must strive to attain good governance and reforms must be initiated in the Nigerian public service to promote efficiency in the public administration sector. In the evolution of political science, it has become an established fact that the state exists to secure man's life, his liberties and his estate. The state achieves this goal through the establishment and maintenance of public works and certain institutions all of which are committed to providing for man the best life possible. Thus, in measuring the functionality of a state and its government, the most important criteria will be how effectively it responds to the needs and by extension, the extent to which it has improved the lives of its citizens. This paper examines the intricate relationship which exists between the functionality of government, effective governance and efficient public administration within the Nigerian context. This is so because the Nigerian state, 54 years after attaining self-rule can only be described by corruption, poverty, unemployment, inflation, decay of infrastructure, insecurity, ethno-religious upheavals, injustice and inaccessibility of citizens to basic necessities of life. So much so that it has been described by some scholars as a " truculent African tragedy " (Ayittey, 2006) and that in the midst of abundant human, mineral and other natural resources the citizens are still unable to access basic social and civil facilities has compelled yet others to refer outright to Nigeria as a " failed state. " In view of the aforementioned it can be seen that the Nigerian government has not performed up to expectation. It is however true that the poor functionality of any government is in part due to poor governance and poor public administration. This paper therefore examines the

Federalism in Nigeria involves the division of authority and responsibility among different levels of government, including the Federal, the state and the Local governments. Public policy is the instrument through which government achieves its goals for the citizenry. Effective public policy is a product of a complex and dynamic process drawing efforts and contributions from different groups and agencies. This paper tries to examine the interactions between the federal environment and the making of public policies in Nigeria. It was discovered that the process of policy making in Nigeria is determined by the environment under which such policies are made. The paper found that Nigeria's problem in the area of policy formulation is the non-adherence to federal principles including the lack of due consultation with those affected by the policies as well as inaccurate and accurate implementation. The paper therefore recommends among other things that there should be co-operation among the three levels of government and the need to adhere to the full tenets of Federalism in making and implementing public policies.

Nigeria evidently has a history of national economic planning of policies and programmes which spans both the colonial and post-colonial periods as enunciated in this paper. There is however, no gain saying the fact that no country can attain any form of development without putting in place sound policies and programmes. It is on this premise that the paper established the nexus between government policies/programmes and national development. Thus, Nigeria must thrive to put in place sound policies and programmes if the country must attain the much needed national development towards becoming an economic giant by the year 2020. In the context of the foregoing, the paper recommends among others that; Policies and programmes must be a direct reflection of available human and material resources, cultural realities and political persuasions and also policies and programmes must be rooted in deep democratic norms of accountability, transparency and fiscal discipline because of the choking impact of corruption on policies and programmes in Nigeria over the years.

2019

This paper examines the nexus among the 'embattled trinity,' using a contextual analysis of the Nigerian experience under the fourth republic. It argues that whereas democracy, defined as the process by which exercise of political power is vested on the people through their elected representative(s), could be a harbinger of development, with good governance as the link in the chain, much of it would however depend on its time-frame, depth and the context within which it is pursued. It applies institutional analysis to explore the connections between democracy, good governance and development in Nigeria. Data was generated mainly through secondary sources of publications and report. The study reveals that the present state of democracy, good governance and development in Nigeria gives cause for concern, as it tends towards the direction of disempowerment. Indeed, challenges were outlined and were critically examined, leading us to the basic question of whether if Nigeria is really making steps to democracy, good governance and development. While democracy, good governance and development have been on course, it has not taken a firm root, because it has so far been pursued and predicated on western institutions. Given this scenario, the paper recommends for an urgent need for a reversal of the trend, if democracy, good governance and development must be genuinely nurtured and sustained in Nigeria, in the circumstance, we consider social mobilization in all its ramifications as a highly useful and pivotal option.

The nature, stability and development of any government organized country is a phenomenon that is dependent on public policy. This in all ramifications proves the paramount relevance of public policy planning, making, implementation and analysis in efficiency and effectiveness of government. The existence of public policy practice however, is not devoid of challenges as it poses a fundamental question of how best to model public policy so as to create the most efficient and effective government. Numerous previous literatures had attempted to do justice to this question; nonetheless, little or no attention has been given to basic components of this question which are 'how to aggregate diverse public interest into a public policy, and how to tackle the on-paper-non-practice syndrome of established public policies'. This paper attempts to fill this gap in literature by examining these public policy questions and establishing a panacea for them. A retrospective study of the Nigerian public policy practice was undertaken.

Journal of International Studies, UUM, 2021

This article provides an overview of Nigerian federalism in relation to the imperatives and impediments of its practice, which it has been grappling with since the constitutional enactment of the system in October, 1954. This study utilized qualitative research method by way of analyzing historical archives and documents, including secondary data sources. Historical documentation method was used as the principal analysis tool in this study. The study found that federalism remains the most viable system for Nigeria based on the past and present experiences amongst the former Nigerian military regimes, politicians, British colonialists, nationalists and founding fathers of the Nigerian state. However, there has yet to be a nationally accepted arrangement to be used in operating the country's federal system. This is based on the heterogeneous nature and character of the Nigerian state. There are, however numerous impediments to the effective and efficient practice of federalism, including prolonged military rule, manipulation of religious differences and regional diversity, revenue and resource allocation politics and conflict, including poor intergovernmental relations. Thus, the search for a viable federal arrangement and its advancement continues to be explored.

African Journal of Business Management, 2011

Nigeria is confronted today with the challenges of political and constitutional crises in a manner as never before. After 50 years of independence, the country still faces frequent sectarian turmoil that raises some very fundamental questions about the nature of Nigerian identity and its implications for integrity. A cursory look at the events that have occurred in the polity since 1960, one finds out that ethnic irredentism of groups attempting to overcome existing divisions had caused internal conflicts and created friction and occasional intra and inter-group crises. Despite the remedial policies meant to assuage tensions, ethnic and religious conflicts still persist. One of the problems is that these policies were applied in negative ways. Indeed, some basic policies embedded in the political restructuring by the successive governments were not directed to the root causes of the crises. Put differently, the politicization of government policies have led to ethnic, regional and religious tensions that featured frequently in the minds of the people. Undoubtedly, this has affected the growth of a national identity in spite of the ideology of nationalism. In the context of nation building therefore, a state-nation rather than a nation-state emerged. The question is, why is this so and can this process be stopped under the entity called Nigeria? The thrust of this paper is the recognition of the reality that Nigeria exhibits diverse identities difficult to co-exist. The paper therefore concludes that the unity of Nigerian nationhood depends on dynamic and powerful institutions capable of democratizing the relationship between the distinct nationalities and the nation-state.

Journal of Politics and Law, 2015

The fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy, contained in Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, are guidelines to the federal and state governments of Nigeria to promote social order. As framed, the objectives appear to encompass social inclusiveness with a view to reducing socioeconomic and political inequality in status and opportunities among individuals and corporate entities. Grosso modo, the directives should ordinarily be kept in mind while framing laws and public policies in nigeria. Among others, the Chapter provides for political, economic, social, educational, foreign policy and environmental objectives of state policy, which roughly correlate with the third generation rights now recognized by the United Nations Organisation's 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Potentially, the provisions could also appropriate the key attributes to good governance as recognised by the United Nations and the World Bank Governance Indicators, if properly administered. However, despite the principles laid down therein considered fundamental in the governance of the country and which could have induced a duty from the state to apply these principles in making laws and policies for just and equitable administration of the country, these provisions are not enforceable by any court in Nigeria vide a counter-provision in section 6, subsection (6), paragraph (c) of the 1999 Constitution, which makes the objectives non-justiceable. This paper thus analysed the logical repercussions of the non-justiciability of this important chapter vis-à-vis the Nigerian pervasive atmosphere of public policy failure. The paper utilised sequential logic of social narratives to interrogate the legal imports of this aspects of the Constitution, most especially for the attainment of the objectives contained Chapter II against the backdrop of Section 6(6)(c). The paper concluded, among others, that there is urgent need to subject the objectives to binding governmental obligations to avoid the general lackluster attitude towards public policies in Nigeria.

The thrust of this paper is to examine the nexus between national purpose, objectives and values of the Nigerian people and see how these virtues can drive the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Nation states the world over have moved from a more or less disadvantaged socioeconomic dispositions to an extremely advanced and developed system. For example the USA,Britain,France,Germany as well as many Asian Tigers have since broken the records of underdevelopment, and hence, transited to a buoyant economic cadre through the instrumentality of Information and Communications Technology(ICT) and other forms of industrialization. The great leap experienced by these global giants, nodoubt, finds expression in the way and manner their home governments have initiated and developed in terms of resolve, skills and the determination to build and enduring socio-political edifice. The problem with this investigation, however, is that, in spite of the many strategies put in place by successive governments to kickstart the economy, not much has been achieved to be able to move the Nigerian economy forward. This paper is a theoretical exploration of works of experts geared towards ascertaining what has gone wrong with either being a Nigerian; or that it is either the priorities for national values on the part of the leadership that has obviously gonemissing. The paper sums up with recommendations, the purpose of which is to reposition the nation on the right path towards fourth industrial revolution in line with best international global practices.