Introduction
Nigeria is the most populous and one of the most politically significant states in Africa. This former British colony is an oil rich nation, but with the collapse of world petroleum prices in the early 1980s. Nigeria faced severe austerity measures, reduction of its public expenditures, unemployment, reduced reports, and political instability. As part of their recovery measures the government introduced the New Public Management.
New Public Management is the topic of discussion, competition between public and private service providers, decentralization and delivering of government bureaus; more choices for citizens, bench making and output measurements; performance contracts and other financial incentives for public servants; creation of internal markets; and assimilation; within the public sector, of private sector management techniques including better risk management.
Several scholars have concluded that New Public Management embodies “radically different, indeed conflicting goals” (Kettl 1995, 14) or that it displays a “disparate and at times contradictory, set of traits, Indeed, sometimes the new public management seems like an empty canvas you can paint it what ever u like. New Public Management seems prey to a lack of clarity at a more theoretical level.
According to Henry Mintzberg, a leading critic that New Public Management is able to declare that “business can learn from government no less than government can learn from business” and that while privatization is to same extent “probably useful” a “good deal of it is also just plain
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Silly” (Mintzburg 1996). They believed that business does some things better than government, but government does some things better than business.
This essay will discuss the following topics in terms of:
· Public Administration and reforms in Nigeria since 1980s
· Types of reforms in Nigeria in the New Public Management
· The impact of this reforms in this country
· The reforms that affect the characteristics features of New Public Management in Nigeria
Public Administration and Reforms in Nigeria since 1980s
Civil society has been a central force in political and economic reforms. In Nigeria, civil society was in the vanguard of the democratic struggle, but recent events are pointing to the negative roles played by some civil groups in the construction of platforms for ethnic militancy and violent confrontation with other groups and the state.
In the year 1980s Public Administration did a lot to shake – up sleepy and self serving public organizations, often by using ideas from the private sector. It provides many options for trying to achieve cost effective delivery of goods, corruption control, and to uplift economic crises to organize separate organizations for policy and implementation, performance contracts, internal markets, sub contracting, and much more but it did not prosper, the country suffered a lot from poverty due to the shortfalls of oil prices, and mismanage of wealth and corruption.
Types of Reforms in Nigeria in the New Public Management
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One of the major challenges that have faced the Nigerian over the years is the issue of corruption and its debilitating ancillaries like: bribery, graft, fraud and nepotism. Nigeria is among the five most corrupt nations in the world, an inglorious record that has stunted growth in all areas of
Endeavor in the country. One thorny area that needed immediate attention was the long- standing problem of financial crimes and economic financial crimes.
Due to the destructive affects of corruption in Nigeria, the administration of President Olesegun Obasanjo vowed to confront this problem decisively the government campaign against corruption manifests in the setting up of Due process office. To restore Nigeria to the enviable standard of respectability and dignity within the comity of nations, the government organized commission to combat financial and economic crimes.
The commission is empowered to prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalize economic and financial crimes and is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of other laws and regulations relating to economic and financial crimes. Some of the reforms are:
· To prohibit and prescribe punishment for corrupt practices and other related offences.
· To investigate reports of the conspiracy to commit, attempt to commit or actual commission offences.
· To enforce the correction-prone systems and procedures of public bodies, and to eliminate or minimize corruption in the public.
· To support and help the needs of the farmer in their farming industry.
· To minimize the production of the fake drugs in their territory that can harm the health of the people in the country.
· To sustain the health conditions of the people in the country though educating them.
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· To educate and enlightened the public on and against corruption and related offences with a view to enlisting and fostering public support for the fight against corruption.
· To reinvigorate the economy, and return it to the path of sustainable growth, development and poverty reduction.
· To invite business sectors to put up business for the reductions of unemployment problems
· To provide quality educations for all the people living in Nigeria.
· To leverage the Nigerian economy and improve the condition of the people living.
The Impact of these Reforms in this country
When the government in Nigeria strictly imposed the reforms established for the improvement of the people living, the corruption practices were lessened and control. The economy seems to uplift a little chance of improving. And investors were coming to invest business in this country. Business begins to grow that helps adds income to the government through their taxes.
The National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) helps in poverty eradication the banking sector, thus making it possible for the bank to support industrial growth and stem the rate of bank failure in the country. The achievement of this reforms help much in the lives of the people living in Nigeria and helps this country aims a better country to live in.
The reforms that affect the characteristics features of New Public Management in Nigeria
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When the government in Nigeria redefining their core responsibilities in managing the people and strictly imposed the reforms for a good government the corruption, graft, and bribery decline Investors was coming in to invest business in the country, unemployment seems to be lift up and economic struggle partially lessened. Fighting Financial crimes and economic crimes reforms affect the characteristics features of New Management in Nigeria because some of the authorities in the government are involved in the crime.
Conclusion
Therefore I conclude that, Nigeria is a country of rich oil producing country but due to mismanagement of the wealth and resources of the country it suffers severe austerity. The place is known to the most corrupt country worldwide and the most economic crisis country. One of the major challenges that Nigerian nations over the years are the issue of corruption. It has become so deep – seated in the country that it had stunted growth in all sectors and has been the primary reason behind the country’s difficulties in the development.
In response to the cries of the people of Nigeria, the present government established reforms or laws to strictly impose it to help minimize the problems that the country is suffering. The immediate goals of these reforms are to redefine the role of the government in the economy. Some of these reforms focus on the people with emphasis on job creation and employment generation of the youth in the future. In the New Public Management it is the duty of the administration to safeguard the rights of the people and to see to it that the leaders lead the people with equality and justice.
The New Public Management Reforms help the government established good plans for the improvement of the living conditions of all the people in Nigeria.
References
Diamond, L.J (1993) Nigeria in Search of Democracy Retrieved November 7, 2006 form Compton’s Encyclopedia Volume 16 pages 310 – 311
Farazmand, A., (2002) Privatization and Globalization; A critical Analysis with Implications for Public Management Education and Training, International Review of Administration Sciences, Volume 67, No.3, pp.355-372
Hood, C., (1991)” A Public Management for all Seasons”, Public Administration; Volume 69, No.1, pp, 3-19
Onuaguluchi, Gilbert (1990) The Giant in Turbulent Storms Retrieved November 7, 2006 from Compton’s Encyclopedia Volume 16, pages 312 – 313
Introduction New Public Management, Nigeria Development, Volume XXVII, Nos, 3 & 4, 2002, pp. 1-6
