Constitutional,legal and political problems of local government in Nigeria

The new Nigerian local government system was clearly intended by its creators to be a representative and democractic system of devolution. The speed with which elected councils have been dissolved and replaced by caretaker committees and state appointees contrasts strangely with the constitutional provision that there should be a system of local government by democratically elected local councils. The constitutionality of dissolution has been confused with the constitutionality of further local government reform. Dissolution should be seen as an emergency measure to be used rarely in cases of proven maladministration by a local government. Further reform and reorganization of a state's system of local government should be regarded as a legitimate power of the state legislature. The role given by the Constitution to local government should not be interpreted as entrenching the system. Constitutional amendment is not required should further reform be necessary.     

Status of PPBS in local and state governments in the United States

There have been widespread attempts to implement PPBS or at least some of its major concepts, in local and state governments beginning in 1965. The majority of this effort has focused around the development of the structural aspects, including statements of general objectives, development of program structures, and preparation of program budgets. The use of multi-year projections and improved output measurement has begun to gain interest. Recent progress, particularly in the latter, has been encouraging. However, progress in the undertaking of the type of program and policy analysis called for by PPBS has been slow with few exceptions. The lack of quality analytical staffs inside state and local governments has been perhaps the major obstacle.This paper is a revision of a paper prepared for the Department of Housing and Urban Development as a working paper for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of HUD, OECD, or The Urban Institute.     

农村基层党组织选举改革:进展与问题

以选举农村党支部的“两票”制和乡镇党委书记“两推一选”为主要形式的农村基层党组织选举改革日渐成为基层民主的新成就和党内民主的新亮点。农村基层党组织的选举改革带来了农村政治的新气象。但是,改革过程中也暴露出不少问题。要推动改革进一步深入和持续就必须正视这些问题。     

Management problems of the proliferation of local government in Nigeria

Local government throughout Nigeria was reconstituted on a uniform basis in 1976. The 1979 Constitution then empowered state governments to create new local governments. This article describes how the state governments have used their authority to proliferate the number of local governments; it explains the reasons for doing this both on the part of state governments and on that of local communities. The drive to create additional local governments has derived in part from a desire to promote local level development, yet enquiries into the managerial capacity of existing local governments suggest that this expectation will be frustrated.     

我国地方政府间合作研究:进展与问题

近年来,地方政府间合作成为我国府际关系研究的新热点.本文通过对该领域研究的透视,分析未来我国该领域研究需要重点加强的方向.指出深入展开地方政府间合作研究,探讨新时期有效的地方政府间合作模式与途径,为我国地方政府间新型合作关系的建立提出既具有理论深度,而又能指导实践的理论支持和政策建议,成为新世纪我国府际关系研究的重要课胚.     

Boom and Bust Budgeting: Repetitive Budgetary Processes in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana

One of the least studied topics in comparative budgeting is how governments budget during economic and boom and bust cycles. Theory and past evidence suggest that national budgets of poorer countries are made and remade continuously over these periods. Case material from Nigeria as well as supplemental information from Ghana and Kenya illustrate the principal features of the persistence, types, and sequence of such repetitive budgeting. The experience of the three countries in boom and bust budgeting has considerable implications both for a theory of comparative budgeting and for national budget management and policy in Subsaharan Africa specifically.     

Administrative reform in Haiti: Problems,progress and prospects

A growing awareness among officials in Haiti of the need for public service reforms has resulted in the reorganization and revitalization of the country's Administrative Reform Commission (Commission Administrative). At present there is no uniformity in organization, procedures, regulations or remuneration between the different government agencies. The bureaucrats have little security and the bureaucracy is completely dominated by the executive branch of government. Coupled with this, owing largely to the budgeting system, the public service has developed into virtually two separate services, one dealing with development and the other with recurrent tasks. The number of public servants has doubled in the past decade. The Administrative Reform Commission has identified its priorities including the creation of a unified career service system, a restructuring of the bureaucracy and decentralization. This article comments on the Commission's proposals and the problems of implementing them.     

A crisis of trust: history,politics, religion and the polio controversy in Northern Nigeria

ABSTRACT

In the middle of 2003, disagreement over the safety of the oral polio vaccine pitted ordinary citizens and community leaders in the predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria against the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and Nigeria's federal authorities. During the crisis that ensued, five northern states (Niger, Bauchi, Kano, Zamfara and Kaduna) banned the use of the controversial vaccine on children in their respective domains. Underpinning Obadare's paper is the assumption that the immunization crisis is best understood after considering developments in the broader politico-religious contexts, both local and global. Thus, he locates the controversy as a whole against the background of the deepening interface between health and politics. He suggests that the crisis is best seen as emanating from a dearth of trust in social intercourse between ordinary citizens and the Nigerian state on the one hand, and between the same citizens and international health agencies and pharmaceutical companies on the other. The analysis of trust is historically embedded in order to illuminate the dynamics of relations among the identified actors.     

State and Democratization in Nigeria

The articles interrogates the relationship between democratization and people power in Nigeria. It argues that the broadening of the Nigerian public sphere has not led to reciprocal development of democratic principles and practice. As civilian rule reigns and economic growth is reported, Nigeria’s democratization is fraught with many challenges. Democratization remains questionable in Nigeria; it is rudimentary and distorted by irregularities. These have had implications for national development and human securities as the poverty level worsens and acclaimed economic growth and “democratic dividends” fail to enhance Nigerians’ quality of life. The trivialization of democratization raises critical questions about its state and relevance to Nigerians and the Nigerian state. Is Nigeria democratizing or de-democratizing? How does the democratization process bring the Nigerian people closer to state (power)? How has it helped their developmental quests? The article contends that Nigeria’s democratization process is indeed on trial. As Ake argues, Nigerian state democratization does not only trivialize the essence of democracy—it also continues to reverse the democratization process. Against this background, the article concludes that the democratization process in Nigeria requires elite political will and people’s consciousness to advance to the next stage for better democratic consolidated and economic development relevant to Nigerians.     

Policy on innovation in Australia: Divergence in definitions,problems, and solutions

Innovation has joined the mainstream in many nations as governments search for new ways to tackle challenging societal and economic problems. But Australia is seen to be lagging on innovation policy. Is this related to how governments define innovation? What do they regard as the problem they are addressing? What proposed solutions follow from this? This paper examines how Australian governments have defined innovation over four decades, signalling their policy intentions about how to make the nation more innovative. Definitions of innovation are analysed using 79 Australian (national level) policy documents published from 1976 to 2019. Close reading of these documents suggests two main definitions: innovation as technology, and innovation as culture. Topic modelling uncovers more differentiated themes, shows how definitions change over time, and demonstrates an association between definitions and political parties in government. The divergent approaches suggest a lack of coherence and continuity to policy on innovation in Australia.

Points for practitioners

• Innovation has expanded and broadened in its definition and governments and policymakers have paid increasing attention to it.
• In Australia, there are two main definitions of innovation used in policy—one related to technology and one related to culture.
• The technology view of innovation can be further divided into a focus on businesses or a focus on research and development (R&D).
• Different innovation definitions, problems, and solutions dominate at different times, with Coalition governments tending to favour business and technology over culture, and Labor governments doing the opposite.
• There are divergent approaches to policy on innovation in Australia which suggest a lack of coherence and consistency in policy over the long term.

     

Electricity consumption,urbanization, and economic growth in Nigeria: New insights from combined cointegration amidst structural breaks

The study explores the link between electricity consumption, urbanization, and economic growth in Nigeria from 1971 to 2014. The bounds test and the Bayer and Hanck (Journal of Time Series Analysis, 2013, 34(1), 83–95) cointegration tests affirm cointegrating relationship. Electricity consumption increases economic growth in both time periods, while the impact of urbanization appears to inhibit growth. The fully modified OLS, dynamic OLS, and the canonical cointegrating regression confirm the robustness of the findings. The vector error correction model Granger causality test supports the neutrality hypothesis in the short run and the feedback hypothesis among the variables in the long run. Therefore, policies to ensure efficient electricity supply, curb rapid urbanization, and promote sustainable economic growth were suggested.     

Shakespeare,procreation, and progress

His books include The Economics of Population Growth; The Ultimate Resource; Theory of Population and Economic Growth: Effort, Opportunity and Wealth; The Economic Consequences of Immigration;and most recently Population Matters: People, Resources, Environment and Immigration,published by Transaction.     

Public health financing,environmental quality,and the quality of life in Nigeria

This study explores the relationship between health financing, environmental quality, and the quality of life in Nigeria. The Bayer and Hanck cointegration test affirms cointegration. Findings further reveal that CO₂ emissions have no meaningful impact on life expectancy in the short run. In the long run, urbanization significantly deteriorates the quality of life. Also, public health expenditure has not contributed meaningfully to the quality of life. The study discovers no evidence of a feedback causality, but a one‐way causality flowing from urbanization to CO₂ emissions. Policies that can enhance a sustainable environment and improve the quality of life are discussed.     

Federalism and National Leadership in Nigeria

National leaders in Nigeria, most of whom have come from themilitary, have exhibited various leadership styles. These stylesboth affect and are affected by Nigeria's federal system ofgovernment. Successful leaders appear to exercise a reconciliationstyle coupled with a mobilizational capacity to institute change.Efforts to impose a unitary system on Nigeria have failed, butseveral leaders have strengthened the power of the federal government,in part through the seemingly paradoxical strategy of creatingmore states. The return to civilian government, however, willrequire a new basis of legitimacy for national leadership rootedin constitutionalism and a democratic party system.     

Terror,territoriality and the struggle for indigeneity and citizenship in northern Nigeria

The struggle of the minority ethnic groups against the majority Hausa-Fulani ethnic-amalgam in the north of Nigeria has persisted. As a result of the twentieth-century jihad and politico-cultural and economic factors, Fulani (Muslims) are found in many parts of the minority areas of the geographical north. Many of the minority ethnic groups often claim to be ‘indigenous’ to the areas and regard the Fulani – and Hausa – as ‘settlers’. The struggle for political, economic and social values and rights in these communities often produce violent clashes between these indigenous groups and the settler Hausa-Fulani. This paper uses the territorial claims and counter-claims over indigeneity in the Yelwa area between the Tarok/other ethnic (Christian) groups and the Fulani/other ethnic (Muslim) groups which degenerated into serial blood-letting in 2004 to interrogate the citizen-deficit in Nigeria, and the contradictions of reconciling indigenous rights with citizenship rights in a typical multi-ethnic postcolonial state.     

Limits of the Game of Masks: Class,Ethno-religious Identities,and the Rise of Salafi-Jihadism in Northern Nigeria

Epigram

The intermediary bourgeois (our ruling elite) cannot claim political leadership openly on the grounds that he is, or wants to be, an exporter, shareholder, rentier or rich bureaucrat. He has to take over as a Muslim or Christian. He has to take over as an Ibo, Hausa, Idoma or Efik.… The manipulation of religion in Nigeria today is essentially a means of creating the context for this fancy dress ball, for this charade of disguises. This game of masks. (Yusuf Bala Usman 1979 Usman, Y.B. 1979, For the Liberation of Nigeria, New Beacon Books Ltd, London. [Google Scholar]: 88–89)     

Corruption: Governance challenge towards reducing unemployment in Nigeria

The study examines the possibility of having a very low rate of unemployment in Nigeria, if there is a reduced rate of corruption in the long-term. While using cointegration regressions and Vector Error Correction Mechanism (VECM) over the period 1996–2020, it is affirmed that corruption could increase unemployment rate in the long run. The two corruption indicators employed (control of corruption and corruption index) are found to have a substantial effect on unemployment rate. Further evidence confirms that corruption and unemployment are cyclically interdependent. Findings indeed stress that a high level of corruption is harmful to employment growth. On the other hand, in the absence of sufficient job opportunities, rent-seeking government officials would be more interested in collecting bribes from job seekers, which results in sustained unlawful practices among the public officials. Thus, adopting effective corruption-control measures is critical. It is therefore suggested that to effectively tackle corruption incidents, there should be incentives for citizens or public officials to report bribery and the process of reporting corruption incidents should be further simplified. Strengthening anti-corruption agencies and developing a sound legal framework that promotes a culture of lawfulness and impeccable practices in the public sector are central.     

Dimensions of community development projects in Bendel State,Nigeria

Several communities in the Bendel State of Nigeria have distinguished themselves in their enthusiasm for community development through self-help efforts. In addition to their contributions in labour and money these communities also make demands on the government for various forms of aid. Because of the uncoordinated nature of the projects and the demands, the government is precipitated into responses without a thorough examination of the development impact and the priority needs of the projects. An analysis of the characteristics of the completed and on-going community development projects in Bendel State between 1970 and 1982 shows that the prime interest of communities is in the provision of social infrastructure rather than in improved production which will create wealth and employment. Similar mistakes are made by the government in its total funding and in providing matching grants for projects which have doubtful rationales. The paper suggests that planning for community development projects should involve the co-operation of the government and the people. The enthusiasm for development should be encouraged but not at the expense of co-ordinated effort which could bring about the much-desired even development by sorting out priorities and conserving resources.