Nigeria Public Administration and Policy

Department of Political Science and Public Administration
Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko
PGDA 611 (NIGERIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY) Course Outline
Introduction
The overall aim of this course – Nigerian Public Administration is to expose you to the fundamentals of Public administration in Nigeria. It explores a historical approach by delving into the foundational issues of Public Administration before colonial contact. It further captures the essence of Public Administration practice and policy making since independence up until now.
Topics
1. Public Administration- Meaning, Structure and Roles
2. Public Administration versus Private Administration
3. Traditional Public Administration
4. Development of Modern Public Administration in Nigeria
5. Ecology of Public Administration in Nigeria
6. Public Policy
7. The Civil Service in Nigeria
8. Planning and Budgeting in Nigeria’s Public Administration
9. Local Government Administration
10. Revenue Allocation in Nigeria
11. Public Corporation and Privatisation in Nigeria
12. Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Nigeria
Reading Texts
Abdullahi, M.Y. (2005). Comparative Local Government. Abuja
Balogun, M.J. (1983). Public Administration in Nigeria–A Developmental Approach. London: Macmillan Press Ltd.
Basu, R. (1994). Public Administration- Concepts and Theories. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Limited.
Bhagwan, V. & Bhushan, V. (2006). Public Administration. New Delhi: S. Chand &Company Ltd.
Dimock, E. M. (1937). “The Study of Administration”. American Political Science Review.
Goel, S.L. (2008). Advanced Public Administration. New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications Pvt Ltd.
Wright, D.S. (1988). Understanding Intergovernmental Relations. California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
Pfiffner, J.M and R.V. Presthus (1960) Public Administration, New York, Ronald Press.
Stillman,   H.R.J.   (1980)  Public   Administration:   Concepts   and   Cases, London, Houghton Mifflin.
Waldo, Dwight (1955) The Study of Public Administration, New York, Random House
Feit, E. et at (1978) Government and Leaders:  An approach to Comparative Politics, Houghton, Mifflin Company
Brown, M. M. and J. L. Brudney, 1998. A “Smarter, Better, and Cheaper” Government: Contracting and Geographic Information Systems. Public Administration Review 58 (4): 335-345.
Caiden, G. E., 1994. “Globalizing the Theory and Practice of Public Administration.” In Jean-Claude Garcia-Zamor and Renu Khator, eds., Public Administration in the Global Village. Westport, Connecticut, London:
Praeger. Farazmand, A., 1999. “Globalization and Public Administration.” Public Administration Review 59 (6): 509-522.
Adebayo, A. (1997). Principles and Practice of Public Administration in Nigeria. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited.
Onuoha, B. (1999). Public Administration: Basic Principles, Techniques and Processes. in Anifowose, R. & Enemuo, F.C. (Ed.). Elements of Politics. Lagos: Malthouse Press Ltd. pp 263-280.



















NIGERIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY
MEANING OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
The society is made up of both public and private sectors.   The public   sector is the entire collectivity of any polity or society with the control   under the aegis of the government.  The private sector concerns the narrow interest of the individual or the few rather than the entire societal populace.
Public administration is a combination of ‘public’ and ‘administration’   which have individual interpretations.  Public administration as combined words can therefore be simply defined as the organization and management of public resources for the attainment of public goals.
Dwight Waldo (1955) sees public administration as a process of carrying into effect governmental law contained in various policies, which is an expression of government’s authoritative allocation of values and action.
In a similar way, Herald Gortner  (1977)  views  public administration as   involving co-ordination of all organized activities, having as its purpose the  implementation of public policy.  
From   these   descriptions,   public   administration   is   the   vehicle   for   implementing government programmes
Public   administration   is   the   action   part   of   government.     Actions   of   government and what it does are best perceived through what public officials are seen doing.
Administration is a universal process and must exist in any organisation set up for a defined purpose or objective. Whether we think of the church, the army, a university, an industrial or business concern or a purely social organisation, there has to be administration because each one consists of human beings brought together in a hierarchical set-up, making use of tools, equipment, human and material resources, all in the quest to attain the objective for which the organisation is established (Adebayo, 1981).
Thus administration is seen as a process of management which is practiced by all kinds of organisations from the household to the most complex system of government. This is the reason why administration is a generic term.
Let us consider some definitions of administration as conceived by some writers.
Public administration is the art and science of management as applied to the affairs of state (Waldo, 1955).
Woodrow Wilson defined public administration as “detailed systematic execution of public law, every particular application of general law is an act of administration. Public administration is the fulfillment or enforcement of public policy as declared by the competent authorities. It deals with the problem and powers, the organisation and techniques of management involved in carrying out the laws and policies formulated by the policy-making agencies of government.
Public administration is law in action. It is the executive side of government (Dimock, 1937). Public administration is that part of the science of administration which has to do with Government and thus concerns itself primarily with the executive branch where the work of the government is done (Gullick, 1937).
Administration is the organisation and direction of human and material resources to achieve desired ends – (Pfiffner, 1960).
Administration is the organisation and direction of persons in order to accomplish a specified end – (Adebayo, 1984).
Administration is determined action taken in pursuit of a conscious purpose. It is the systematic ordering of affairs and the calculated use of resources aimed at making those things happen which one wants to happen – (Marx, 1964).
Administration is the organisation and use of men and materials to accomplish a purpose – (Nigro, 1965).
The two features of administration are (a) cooperative efforts and (b) pursuit of common objectives. Administration is thus concerned with organisation of men and materials to achieve desired ends. Administration consists of ‘doing the work’ or ‘getting the work done by the others’. There are three commonalities for any comprehensive definition of administration; goals, limited resources, and people goals -they give purposiveness of an organisation.
Limited resources – economic resources are scarce, so administrators have to allocate resources for efficient utilisation to achieve stated goals. Administration involves cooperative efforts to achieve the objectives of the organisation.
The Structure and Organization of Public Administration
By the structure  of  public  administration,  we  mean the  institutional  framework or  administrative machinery within which the work of  government is carried out.  What  is  public administration?   Public administration is the management of  affairs  of  the  government   at   all   levels   –   national,   state   and   local.     The   structure   of   public  administration  in  the  modern  state  comprises  the  ministries  departments,  advisory  governmental   bodies,   administrative   tribunals,   quasi   –   ministerial   agencies,   and autonomous governmental agencies.  Usually, the machinery of public administration  at the centre is  the most visible, but there are important governmental activities that  are carried out within non-central administrative structures, such as the state and local  government.  It is very important to mention that  the administrative organization of  government   work   takes   place   not   only  at  the   headquarters,   but  also  outside   the  headquarters.  The latter is called field administration.
The   term   that   is   most   commonly   used   as   the   synonym   of   the   machinery   of  government is  the civil service.   In Britain and other commonwealth countries, the  term  civil   service  is  used   into   two  ways.     The   first   way  connotes   the   body  of  permanent officials, whose responsibility it is, to assist the political executive in the  formulation and implementation of public policies.  These officials are known as civil  servants.  Again, the term refers to the ministries and departments within which public  administration takes place, excluding the local government.
However, the term that is more encompassing than civil service is public service.  It is  used to refer to the totality of services that are organized under public authority.  The  public service comprises local government, the military and other  security forces, the  judiciary, the parastatals and other government or quasi-governmental agencies.  
Public   administration   performs   some   traditional   roles   which   are   best categorized   by   Luther   Gulick’s   famous   acronym   – POSDCORB.   The acronym   contains   the   first   initials   of   the   seven   most   obvious   tasks administrators perform.  The letters in the acronym respectively stand for –  Planning;   organizing;   staffing;   directing;   coordinating;   reporting;   and  budgeting.  Let us explain them in details.
Planning: Kunle   Ajayi   (2000:3)   describes   planning   as   a   process   of decision – making which involves developing a broad outline of activities to be carried out and the methods of  execution as to how to accomplish goal or   objectives of the establishment.
Planning has two broad categories   namely tactical planning and strategic planning.  Tactical Planning concerns short range, short duration programmes  ranging from one, to five years.  An example of this is government’s annual budgets.    Strategic planning covers a much longer   period, usually ranging from five to fifty years or more.   Strategic planning is more prevalent in developed countries of Canada, United States, France, Germany, and Britain, to mention  a few.   Some  developing countries  also have such  long-range  plans,  for   examples,  Nigeria  under  the  Abacha  regime instituted  VISION  2010, while South Korea has 2020 economic agenda.
In general, planning is concerned with “what” and how of organizations.  The  “what’   are   the   objectives/goals,   while   “how”   concerns   parameters   for   achieving the goals.
Organising.     This   deals   with   designing   the   structural   framework   of   an establishment.     It   provides   the   formal   structure,   flow   of   authority,   the hierarchy and flow of  communication.  The organizational chart depicts the structure of the establishment.  The efficiency of any organization, in part, is determined by its level of organization.
Staffing:  No organization can attain its goals without the human resources.  Staffing   borders   on   personnel   recruitment   and   employment   into   the establishment.     It also covers the whole  range   of  personnel  management  including industrial relations.
Directing;   Personnel act on instructions and directives in carrying out their   duties.  Directing therefore concerns giving specific and general directions on a continuous and regular basis by  supervisors to the subordinates. Directives, guidance and initiatives are provided by the leadership during policy-making   process   and   execution,     in   Nigeria,   the   Minister   or   Commissioner gives policy directives in his ministry.
Coordinating:     Organisations   are     structured   into   various   departments sections, divisions and units.  The activities of sub-units need be coordinated if organizational goals are to be realized.  At the federal level, the activities of   the   various   ministries   are   coordinated   by   the   Secretary   to   the   federal government.
Reporting:  This is a feedback system from subordinates to the superiors on the   achievement     of   the   set   goals   of   the   organization.     The   problems encountered in the process of attaining the goals are also forwarded upward to the management for the desired attention and rectification.  Reporting also provides a system of measuring the success or failures of the organization with a view to know if there is a need for improvement where necessary.
Budgeting:     Budgeting   concerns   the   financial   management   of   the organization.     No organization   can   effectively function without financial resources   either   internally   or   externally   sourced.     Therefore,  budgeting covers fiscal planning, accounting and control.
It also involves the need for accountability and plugging of financial leakages   and   corruption   in   the   public   set   up.    Budgeting   also   suggests   ways   of   generating financial resources which may include both internal and external avenues.
Auditing of the public resources is also part of budgeting.  This is necessary in order to instill financial discipline and prevent misappropriation, wastage and embezzlement of public resources.
Public administrators perform all these functions in.  In addition to these, they also perform some other functions.
1. They   maintain   the   continuity   of   government.     During     periods   of political instability when constituted governments are  either  sacked by  coup  de   tats  or   societal  revolt  resulting  in  the  removal  of   authorized  public administrators  civil  servants  usually hold force by continuing to  provide   the  necessary  social  services   until   a  government  can  emerge.  Public administrators in Nigeria have performed this role several times, especially during the coups of 1966 and 1983.
2. Public   administrators    maintain law and order.  They assist   in the maintenance   of   law   and   order.       They   assist   in   the   provision   of   administrative   legislation for   the   regulation   of   certain activities.    For instance, regulations guiding sales of patient medicine.
3. In   developing   countries   like   Nigeria, public   administrators   are responsible for the provision of some social amenities and services such as pipe-borne water, electricity and refuse disposal.
 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION VERSUS PRIVATE ADMINISTRATION
You  learned in  the   last  unit  that  public administrators  perform  various  functions including the traditional functions of  administrators  in general.  You will recall that   these traditional  functions  are planning, organizing,  staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting. Other  functions  of   public   administrators   are:     participating   in   decision-making   either  directly  or  in terms   of  merely providing the  necessary  information and  advice;   Implementation   of   government   policies   delegated   legislating;  administrative judicial functions; administrative and maintenance of social  services;  performing regulatory roles;  and government  during periods of   political instability and uncertainty.
Public administration is remarkably different from private administration otherwise called business administration.
We shall only highlight  the  basic distinctions  between  them  by merely  stating the characteristics of business administration only:
1 Business   administration   is   the   marshalling   of   resources   for   the attainment of private ends often referred to as profit.  Whereas, public administration mobilized governmental resources  for  the  realization  of  public goals embracing the people’s welfare and happiness. Thus, government business is not run for the purpose of financial profits.
2. Private   enterprise   are   financed   with   private   funds   often   sourced  through share-holding and raising of capital from financial institutions  and   the  stock  exchange  with  substantial   interests   paid.     Whereas, public enterprises are mostly financed through public funds.
3. Business Administrators are risk takers.   They can invest money in  any  type of  business  with only a  hope of  success  rather  than   any  assured certainty.   If the investment succeeds, the businessman reaps  its  profit, and if  it  fails,  he  records  losses.   Public  administrators  avoid risk taking, since it is public money that is involved, any misuse  or misappropriation of public money is often punished.  While public  corporations  may not be profit  oriented, at the same time, they are  not expected to run at a loss.
Despite  the differences  between public administration and business  administration,   they  share   a  common  feature   in  that   both  operate  within a formal bureaucratic, organizational set up.
TRADITIONAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Administration in Traditional Society
Public administration existed in traditional society in Nigeria although in a limited scope. Goals were identified, human and material resources were allocated, and policy objectives were pursued. The function of administration then were simple, e.g. the declaration of wars (especially inter-tribal wars); the taking and implementing of decisions on the migration and resettlement of tribesmen; the coordination of hunting and pastoral activities; the construction of shrines, palaces and communal wells; the exaction and collection of tributes; the construction of fortresses and embankments; the maintenance of public order; and the settlement of family and other disputes (Balogun, 1983).
According to Balogun (1983) except in societies wholly governed by Islamic religious and political doctrine, in no other society in Nigeria did emerge a coherent philosophy of government and public administration. There were forces that shape traditional public administration and give it a distinctive character of its own. Balogun identified at least five such forces. Let us examine them one after the other.
The Ritualistic Feature
Ritualistic feature may be found in a society where the rationalist or empiricist tradition in science governs behavior, decisions, even in a situation of uncertainty, will tend to be based on formal, deductive reasoning or on observed facts. Where religion and rituals colour a people’s view of the world, decisions are likely to be left in the hands of supernatural agents. This was the case in many traditional societies of Nigeria. Thus a decision concerning guilt or innocence, at a time when the facts are not clear, is left to an oracle, a powerful spirit. At another time, a decision may be left in abeyance in the hope that some ancestral or other spirits will exact the necessary retribution. The role of ceremonies and rituals in traditional systems of cooperative action is reflected in matters pertaining to the investiture and coronation of important traditional rulers. When a ruler departs to join his ancestors, this event is marked by sacrifices of various kinds and by incantations aimed at propitiating the departed soul and the ancestral spirits. The same process of offering sacrifices and reciting incantations is repeated when a new ruler is about to ascend the throne, the idea being to ensure a joyous and trouble free reign. If on assumption of office, a disaster looms on the horizon, the ruler and his subjects have an obligation to carry out necessary ceremonies and offer whatever sacrifices are prescribed by the priests. If, in spite of all these, a calamity actually befalls the society, the ritualistic process is either repeated or speeded up, or the ‘good fortune’ of the ruler is called into question. More often than not, what tend to come up for review in the event of a persistent wave of disaster are the adequacy of the offerings and/or the comprehensiveness of the ritual. The ritualistic orientation may not be appropriate to the needs and challenges of a technological age, but it certainly served the purposes of traditional societies. Thus by ‘canonising’ certain social customs, mores and beliefs, and by making these collective values part of the traditional man’s personality, the rituals sustained traditional authority and held together what would have been anarchic societies (Balogun, 1983:60).
The Existential-Terrestrial Pull
Existential-terrestrial pull traditional society is the one in which both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial forces collide. The point made above under the ritualistic feature that if sacrifices were offered to inanimate objects it is because they had material impact on the lives of the people concerned. This means that structures and institutions exist in traditional societies to perform particular functions and fulfill certain obligations. Such obligations and functions might be simple, and might not involve bringing about radical social change. All the same, the obligations had to be fulfilled and the functions performed, otherwise the legitimacy of traditional governmental institutions would be challenged.
The Moralistic Orientation
Moralistic orientation behavior in the traditional society is scarcely classified as ‘rational’ or ‘irrational’. These two terms are alien to the moralistic spirit of the traditional society. The guide to behavior in the society is frequently laid down by religious injunctions and superstitious beliefs. Any behavior that conforms to the socially accepted norms is ‘pious’ and ‘godly’ while deviant behavior is not simply heretical but ‘sinful’ in view of the fact that ‘sinful’ behavior makes the gods ‘angry’, society is not likely to compromise with the sinners, but is in fact prone to prescribe the stiffest punishment.
The Consanguinity Factor
Consanguinity factor in traditional society, kinship (or relationship based on descent, filiations and marriage) plays a vital role in structuring patterns of interpersonal behavior. It serves as an important agent of social control and provides a basis for leadership. Consequently, instead of secondary organisations based on the criteria of ‘achievement’ ‘universalism’ and ‘collectivity orientation’, the traditional society tackles the problems confronting it with the aid of primary organisations based on ‘astrictive’ particularistic’ and ‘sectional’ criteria. While there are few ‘craft associations’ which specialise in certain occupational areas (e.g. age-grades, secret societies, herbalist associations), the organisation of economic activities in the traditional society is most frequently based on the principle of division of labour according to sex, and according to kinship and blood ties.

The Autocratic Tendencies
An autocratic tendency is the definition of areas of authority and responsibility impose checks and balances within organisations, and therefore helps in structuring the behavior of members. Where the sphere of influence is not clearly defined, only the position-holder’s good sense and the occasional challenge to his authority will prevent him from taking autocratic and arbitrary decisions (Balogun, 1983). Balogun concludes that, the authoritarian tendencies in traditional public administration have a direct bearing on the organisation and functioning of the public service in Nigeria today.
Development of Modern Nigerian Public Administration
The Nigerian civil service has its remote origin in the amalgamation of the colony and protectorate of northern and southern Nigeria to form the colony and protectorate of Nigeria in 1914. But before the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 1914 some of administration existed. According to Maduabum (2006), the roots of the early Nigerian civil service could be traced to 1847 when J. Beecroft was appointed Consul for the Bight of Bonny and Biafra with headquarters in Fernando Po. The responsibilities of the Consul then were essentially to prosecute legitimate commercial activities and observing commercial treaties. However, by 1863, the consular jurisdiction of Beecroft and Campbell was exercised over the British subjects through the use of protection of the crown.
Below are the highlights of the evolution of administrative machinery of the Nigerian civil service: • From 1866 to 1874, the central administration for Lagos, Gold Coast, the Gambia and Sierra Leone was transferred to Freetown, Sierra Leone.
• From 1874 to 1886, Lagos and colony was administered from Gold Coast.
• In 1886, Moloney was appointed Governor of Lagos.
• In 1889, the Niger Coast Protectorate was merged with the territories of the Royal Niger Company.
• On January 1, 1900, the protectorate of southern and northern Nigeria was created.
• In 1906, Lagos Colony was merged with southern Nigeria.
• In 1914, Lagos colony and the southern protectorate were merged with the northern protectorate to form an amalgamated territory called Nigeria. A Governor-General, Sir Frederick Lugard, was thereafter appointed for the amalgamated territory. He was to be assisted by all European Executive Council that had been in existence since 1862 (Maduabum, 2008: 151-152). • A single civil service was not immediately established for the entire country, rather, the northern and southern segments for the new state continued to be administered separately as before. The administration of northern and southern Nigeria were still placed under two Lieutenant-Governors, each with a secretariat and departmental organisation of its own. The only unifying force was that all the officers were colonial civil servants. It was not until the 1920s that a Nigerian civil service emerged.
• Before 1954, there was only a single civil service in Nigeria as the country was operating a unitary system of government at that time. However, with the introduction of federal constitution in 1954, greater autonomy was conferred on the regions. On the 1st of October, 1954, three regional civil services for the northern, eastern and western regions were created in addition to the federal civil service. When the mid-western region was carved out of the western region on the 9th of August, 1963, a new civil service was also established for the newly created region (Ayeni, 2007:32).
• The creation of twelve states in May, 1967 by the Gowon administration led to the emergence of thirteen civil services in Nigeria.
• In 1976, more states were created by the Murtala/Obasanjo government bringing the states to nineteen states and consequently twenty civil services.
• Twenty-one states and thirty states were created respectively in 1987 and 1991 by Babangida regime and thus leading to the emergence of twenty-two and thirty-one civil services respectively.
• In 1996, the Abacha regime further divided the states into thirty-six and consequently thirty-seven civil services emerged. This has lasted till date.
Ecology of Nigerian Public Administration
The first influence on Nigerian public administration arose from British colonialism. The British colonised Nigeria and established British public service structure and procedures in the administration of the colonial territory. This however, influenced the growth and development of public administration in Nigeria. The colonial public administration managed the colonial territory (Nigeria) from about 1861 to 1954 when regional governments were created, and made the territory to operate federal structure. Thus, the public services of the then regional governments from 1954 to 1960, and up to 1966, were direct offshoots of the early British colonial public service administrative structure in terms of ethics or values, culture and tradition, training, procedures and spirit de corps associated with the public service (Onuoha, 1999).
Nigeria’s socio cultural conditions or the social setting made up of very many ethnic and cultural groups. And numerous languages also were influences on the growth and development of public administration in Nigeria. Another influence on the public administration is Nigeria’s federal structure adopted in the 1954 Lyttleton Constitution. The constitution was largely responsible for the regionally oriented development of the public service administrative structure. The federal structure enabled the creation of federal and regional services. The civil war of 1967 to 1970 was another significant influence on public administration in Nigeria. At the end of the war the military apparently had such power and authority in the federation which could not be easily challenged by any of the constitution of the federation. That enabled the military to establish what was called a result-oriented and unified grade structure public service for the entire country through the recommendations of the 1974 Public Service Review Commission (Udoji Commission). That public service reform has continued influence on the structure and procedures of public administration in Nigeria till date (Onuoha, 1999).
PUBLIC POLICY
Government exists to provide for the welfare and happiness of the citizens.  Crucial to the effective performance of this function by government is the satisfaction of  the basic needs of  the people which include food, shelter,  clothing   and   physical   security.     Government   must   also   shoulder   the responsibility   of   providing   basic   ingredients   for   economic   and   social  development by making available the essential social infrastructure, such as  good   roads,   treated   water,   electricity,   telecommunication   and   other   amenities. These government programmes and activities are duly referred to as public  policy.
Public policy can therefore be technically defined as government decisions  or actions on how to resolve the various societal problems or  issues that are  perceived as requiring collective rather than individual actions.  It can also  be seen as “policy developed by a governmental body and officials for the  benefit of  a society” (Kunle Ajayi, 1998:450-452).  Public policy aims  at  promoting public  good and public interests rather  than a  narrow  private  interest.
Deductions from the definition of Public Policy
We  can  draw  certain deductions,  from the above descriptions  of  public  policy.  These deductions, in the analysis  of Ajayi are:
1 Public Policy is a predetermined action with a goal or  purpose.  This   means, public policy is  not a random action or chance behaviour of   government but an action or  decision purposely carried out by public  officials
2 Public Policy is a decision of governmental officials and not a private  or personal decision of an individual outside government.
3 Public  policy,  for  its  public  orientation in terms  of  its  source  and  target of action, is backed up by modalities for its implementation and  enforcement.   For  instance, the  universal  Basic Education   Poverty  Reduction   and   Anti-Corruption   Policies   of   the   Obasanjo   regime.  These   policies   are   backed   by   Acts   of   Parliament   for   their  implementation   and   where   necessary,   spell   out   penalties   where  necessary.
4 Public  policy is  what has  been actually decided and carried out by  government and not just what government is planning or intend to do.  It is therefore what is  actually done in concrete terms  and not mere  policy pronouncements.
5 Public Policy is regarded as positive when its effects are specifically  directed   at   a   particular   problem.     For   instance,   the   Babangida  regime’s   Anti-smoking   Policy   was   directed   at   reducing   cigarette  smoking induced ailment and death. Also, Buhari’s anti-corruption stance is directed at fighting corruption to a standstill.
6 Public Policy is authoritative and   legitimate as  it is based on law  .  Public   policy   is   made   by   constitutionally   powered   governmental  officials in the various arms  of  government. It is on this  basis   that  public laws and policies are seen as binding on all.

TYPES OF PUBLIC POLICY
Public  policy can be  classified  into three major  categories  based  on its  intention and purpose.
These categories are:
(a) Distributive Public Policy: These are policies which concern large- scale service delivery or benefits to specific sections of the population  or   groups.     Examples   of   these   policies   include   the   National  Directorate of  Employment, the peoples  Bank, Better  Life for  Rural  Women,  Poverty  Reduction    and  Familu  Support  programmes  by  successive  regimes   in   Nigeria.     These  programmes   have   specific  objectives.    for  instance,  the  Poverty Reduction Programme of   the Obasanjo regime is to provide atleast 10,000 job opportunities in each  state   of   the   federation.     Likewise,   the   regime’s   Universal   Basic Education Policy, is to reduce the level of illiteracy in the country.
(b) Regulatory Public Policies: These   are   policies   to   regulate   the  activities and behaviour  of  individuals  in certain aspects  and fields.  Significant   among   these   policies   are   those   regulating   business  activities such as  those dealing with food and drinks consumption.
Pharmacy department of the Ministry of Health regulates the issuance  of  patient   medicine   licensed  for   the  sale  of  drugs.    The  National  Agency for Food and Drugs Control  and Administration (NAFDAC)   regulates the preparation of food items and drugs including the sale of  “pure   water”  in Nigeria,  poor   quality  foods, drugs   and  drinks   are  usually impounded by the Agency.  
The Anti-corruption Act and the Code of  Conduct Bureau in Nigeria  are meant to check political and administrative corruption by public  officials.
(c) Redistributive Policies
These   are   policies   that   government   deliberately   want   to   employ  measure to correct social injustice or provide some level of equality in  the  population.   For  instance, the  free  education and free medical  treatment for the underprivileged people such as the under  –age and  the aged by some state governments.  The Land Redistribution Policy  by the  Mugabe  government in Zimbabwe aims  to redress  the gross  inequality   in   land   ownership   between   blacks   and   whites   in   the country.     Progressive   Taxation   System   also   aims   to   re-distribute  wealth in a country where such is adopted.

The Civil Service
Like every other term in public administration, the concept of  civil service has many  definition.  The civil service can be defined as a body of  permanent, full time public  officials in a professional,  non-political  and who are not  members of  either  of  the  judiciary or the armed forces.
The civil service remains a vital instrument for rapid socio-economic development of  any nation.   This is more so in developing countries such as Nigeria where, over the  years,  the government  occupies  a significant  position as  a dominant  instrument of  change.   For  instance, government  has   over   the  years,  assumed  responsibility for  funding   education,   establishing   industries,   provision   of   social   infrastructure,  providing employment, among others.  It is very difficult, if  not impossible, for  any  government to perform these enormous tasks without the assistance and cooperation  of the civil service.
An efficient civil  service,  trained  in  the  specialist  task of  carrying  out  the  broad  decision of the government is a necessity, if  the government is.. to fulfill the functions the public expects from it, and that no modern state is able to exist without a highly  complex   and   professional   civil   service   organization.     The  civil   service  structure  consists  of   ministries, departments, and extra  – ministerial departments  headed by  Ministers (federal) and commissioners (state).  
The Origin and Growth of  the Nigerian Civil Service.
The  origin  of  the Nigerian civil  service  can be  traced to  the colonial civil service  established by the British  to govern Nigeria as a colonial territory.
Between 1946 and 1951, that is, during the period when Richard’s constitution was in  operation,   Nigeria   was   served   by   one   civil   service.     With   the   introduction   of  McPherson   constitution   of   1955,   Nigeria   became   a   federation,   with   a     federal  government  at the centre, and regional governments  for  each of  the three regions.  This led to the creation of federal civil service for the centre, regional civil service for  each   of   the   three   regions,   and   corresponding   establishment   of   public   service  commission for each tier of government.  The federal public service commission was  granted full powers to appoint, promote, dismiss, and discipline junior civil servants.  At Independence on October 1, 1960, the powers of the renamed federal civil service  commission were extended to cover all civil service grades.
From   1954, when the federal constitution was  inaugurated, to 1966, when the old  federal   system  was  destroyed  by   the  emergence   of   the   military  in  the   Nigerian  political   process,   the   federal   and   regional   state   civil   services   exhibited   certain  common features.   Firstly, there was  a  commitment  to devolution of  administrative  power   from   the   expatriate   to   indigenous   personnel   (a   process   referred   to   as  Nigerianization).
Secondly, all civil services had comparable  pay and salary structure.   This  was  the  outcome of the report of the commission on public services of the government of the  federal republic of Nigeria 1954 – 55 (popularly known as the Gorsuch Report).  The  policy lasted up to 1997 when it was abandoned by the federal government, and each  state was required to establish   its own salary structure on the basis of its ability to  pay.
Finally,   following   the   British   tradition,   all   the   civil   services     continued   to   be  characterized more  or  less, by permanence, anonymity,  impartiality and neutrality.  However, adherence to these attributes  among civil servants  varied according to the  regime in power.   For example, whereas these  attribute were maintained in all  the  civil  services  (both  federal  and state)  during  the  first civilian  rule  (1960 –  1966)  because the civil services operated under the protective shield of the politicians; they  were greatly eroded during the first military regime of  General Gowon (1967-1975),  when the higher civil servants dominated the policy process.  However, between 1975  – 79, the attributes of political neutrality, anonymity and impartiality were observed to  a reasonable extent.
It is important to mention that the creation of states in Nigeria which started in 1967,  led to increase in civil services, from  4 in 1954 to 13 in 1967, and now  36.    This  contributed to significant increase in the number  of  civil  servants.  In addition, the  increase in oil revenue coupled with the drive towards  increased representativeness  also contributed to the phenomenal growth of the civil service.
Functions of the Nigerian Civil Service
The Nigerian civil service performs the following functions: -
1. Policy Formulation /Advice:  The federal and state civil servants play  important  role in policy formulation and policy advice.   They play a  major  role in the initiation of major economic, social and educational  objectives   of   both   the   federal   and   state   governments.     The   civil  servants provide the machinery and data needed for the formulation of  the various national development plans in Nigeria.
2. Information:    The  civil  service  performs  information function.    The  civil servants gather or collect statistical information for  the activities  of the government.  Senior civil servants also have to inform the public  about   the   achievements,   activities,   and   problems   facing   the  government.
3.  Policy Implementation:  The primary responsibility of the civil service is policy implementation.  Both the federal and state civil servants help in the execution of national development plans.  They help to close the  gap   between   statement   of   intention   as   represented   by   national  development plans, and their actual accomplishment.
4. Investigation and Regulator y Functions:  The civil servants engage in  investigation and regulatory functions.   For instance members of  the  internal   revenue   board  investigate  cases  to  tax  evasion,  and  assess  members  of the public for  purposes of  taxation.  Building inspectors  inspect   new   houses   to   ensure   that   they   are     built   according   to  government specification. 5. Education/Continuity   Function:     The   civil   service   is   a   store   of  knowledge   of   past  government  decisions  and  procedures.     Thus,  it  plays an educative role by assisting professional,  military and political  executives, especially the new ones, to adapt themselves to the realities  of their offices.

Characteristics of the Civil Service
The main characteristics of the concept of career civil service are:
a) Permanence of tenure and stability of service,
b) Equal opportunity of competing for government service,
c) Merit to be the sole criteria of recruitment and due recognition to ability and personal efficiency in a sound promotion system
d) The extent of territorial jurisdiction of public employees is fairly large. This not only enlarges their scope of activity but also improves their avenues of promotion; and
e) Adequate steps are taken to provide in-service training to the civil servants to keep them in touch with the latest trends and developments in administrative theory and practice (Basu, 1994).

The Problems of the Nigerian Civil Service
The problems of the Nigerian Civil service include the following: -
1. Ethnicity and Indiscipline:-   This set of twin problems is very rampant  in the Nigerian civil service.  Patron – client relationship exists in the  Nigerian   civil   service.     It   leads   to   recruitment   of   mediocre   and  incompetent   people.     Promotion,   training,  recruitment   in   the   civil  service now is  based on who you know   and not what you know or  merit.    If  this  persists,  the  civil  service  will   gradually  cease   to  be  innovative,   goal   setting   and   problem   solving.     Indiscipline   in   the Nigerian civil service caused partly by patron – client relationship as  practiced in the lower  cadre of the service.  An awareness on the part  of  subordinates that have “godfathers”   who will protect them at all  times,   leads   to   a   disturbing   growth   of   insubordination   and  disobedience   in   carrying   out   lawful   instructions   or   directive   of  supervisors  who are not well placed in the hierarchy or    ministry of  department, etc.
2. The Nature of Political Competition in the Nigerian Environment:  The  Nigerian civil service has been transformed into the theater for sharing  the  national cake  among  the  major  ethnic  and sub-ethnic  groups, a  factor   responsible   for   the   unending   demand   for   fragmentation   of  government structure despite the obvious difficulties in sustaining the  existing ones.
3. Poor Remuneration of  civil servants:   The Nigerian civil servants are  poorly remunerated  when  compared with some  of  their  counterparts  working in certain private organizations.  Wages and salaries in private  manufacturing are, for example, much higher  than those in the public  sector.
4. Politicization of  the Civil Service:-     The  1985 civil service reforms  formally recognized the politicization of the upper echelon of the civil  service.   A  scholar  rightly points out  “politicization  of  the top civil  service in an environment of high political instability and high turnover  of officials has not only been wasteful of personnel, it has also led to a  weakened role for the civil service in the development process.
5. Corruption:-    This  problem militates  against  the  ability  of   the  civil  service   to   perform   its   role   as   an   instrument   of   change.     Senior  administrator, in particular, have always  colluded with politicians  to  loot the national treasury.
6. The Issue of Representativeness:  The 1979 constitution of Nigeria and other subsequent ones  have made provisions for fair  representation of  all states and ethnic groups in the federal civil service.  It is referred to  as   the  “federal  character”  principle.    The application of the federal  character principle undermines  meritocracy and excellence in the civil  service.
7. The Conflictual Relationship between Politicians and Administrators:-  The     administrators  tend  to  assume   an  air   of   superiority  and  self- importance and often look down on politicians  many of  whom  they  perceive as uneducated and ignorant of public service procedures.  The  politicians   on  the   other   hand,  have   always   felt  threatened   by   the amount   of   influence   and   power   wielded   by   administrators   in  government.
8. Acrimony between Generalist Administrators and Professionals:-  This  problem dates back to colonial era, when professionals occupied top  management   positions   in   the   departments   and   the   change   to   the parliamentary  system   in  1948, when  these  positions   were  taken by  generalists as in Britain.  Instead of the relationship of these officers to  be   characterized   by   cooperative   national   action,   it   is   marked   by distrust.   And the strained relationship between them leads to delay,  concentration of authority, and reluctance to delegate responsibility.
9. Lack of  Flexibility among Bureaucrats:   The Nigerian bureaucracy is  characterized by inflexibility.  Inflexibility here, means the tendency of  the   bureaucrats   to   cling   tenaciously   to   routine,   well   established  procedures   for  doing   things   or  what   some   people  refer   to   as   red- Tapism. Inflexibility not only stifles  innovation, but leads to waste of  time   or   delay   in   implementation   of   public   policies.     Innovative  behaviour  requires  a certain amount of  flexibility and willingness  to  bend formal procedures to meet the task at hand.
10. Social   distance   existing  between   the   senior   civil   servants   and   the  masses:  In most cases the most senior civil servants have little or  no  contact   with   the   masses   and   therefore,   do   not   experience   their  problems.     Consequently,   they   fail   to   take   into   consideration   the interest   of   the   masses   whenever   they   advise   the   government   on development policy choices
Suggestions for Improving the Civil Service.
The suggestions listed here under will help improve the Nigerian civil service: -
i. The need to define objectives:  Departments and agencies of  government need  to  give conscious  attention  to aims, goals  and  targets.   One  of  the modern  management techniques, Management  By Objective (MBO), should become  the aim of policy in all government departments.
ii. Use of delegation:  Some factors producing inefficiency in the public service  can  be  traced  to  the  lack  of   delegation of  duties   on the  part  of  heads  of  departments   and  divisional   heads  or   sectional  heads.    There  is  too  much  dependence on hierarchy, and some hierarchies are too long to make for quick  decision – making and efficiency in management .
iii. Constant review of programmes:  For efficiency to be ensured and maintained,  it is necessary that departmental programmes, procedure and processes should  be  regularly  reviewed.     The  procedures  and  processes  should  similarly  be  reviewed.    Some  processes  and  procedure   may  be   outdated  or  indeed  no  longer necessary. iv. Optimum use of talent and ability: An individual should be fixed or  given the  tasks for which they are most suited by training, experience and temperament  etc.
Civil Service Reforms in Nigeria
You should recall what you learnt in the last unit on problems of the Nigerian  civil service. You learned in the unit that service is suffering the following:
a. Inefficiency and ineffectiveness b.  Corruption and bribery c. Ethnicity and favouritism
These problems need to be resolved and remedied, or else, the service will  not be able to perform the expected roles in the socio-economic development  of  the nation. Successive leaders have tried one way or the other  to provide  remedial measure by coming with some reforms.
Let us ask a question; what is meant by reform? Reform is about changing from bad to good. Improving the quality of a thing,  practice or structure. Reform is an acknowledgment of a problem, a problem  that need to be resolved. Reform is  about creating a new life for  something.  Adding new  energy to be able to perform better. Overall, reform is about  creating improved opportunities for better  performance, improved efficiency  for  enhanced productivity. Reform is an all life exercise and not just a one- time surgical operation. This  is  so because  no condition is  permanent. No  engine can permanently work efficiently  unless  it is  also being constantly  serviced and repaired. So also are  administrative institutions  like the civil  service. They need to  be oiled regularly by way of  reforms in order to make  them constantly  be in good shape and in good working condition.
REFORMS BETWEEN 1948 AND 1973
Between 1934 and 1948, we had the
1. 1934 Hunt Commission
2. 1942 Bridges Committee
3. 1945 Tudor-Davies Commission
4. 1946 Harragin Commission
5. 1946 Smaller Commission

Introduction   of   reforms   to   the   Nigerian   civil   service   is   to   direct  acknowledgement of  the problems  of  the service at some particular  times,  and   therefore,   a   way   of   correcting   the   perceived   inadequacies   by   the  authorities The colonial authorities  which heralded the British patterned administrative  model to the country itself  flagged off reforms in the system. The reforms were initiated by way of commissions. The first of these commissions to be so recognized was the 1948 Foot Commission. It came about as a result of   meeting nationalist demands.
The major pre-occupation of the Foot Commission was the Nigerianization of the civil service. Hitherto, the middle and top levels of the service were occupied by colonial administrators, while educated Nigerians and nationalists were not recruited to the service. Prolonged agitations by the nationalists brought  about   the   recommendations   of   the   commission   for   the   recruitment   of  educated Nigerians  to  the  service and the  training of  Nigeria  and  higher   institutions in Nigeria and abroad to replace the expatriates.
The   1954   Phillipson   commission   followed   the   foot   commission.   The  commission’s recommendations heralded the abandonment of the united civil  service, leading to the decentralization of the service on regional basis. The central and regional governments had a separate public service commission each. Nigerian officials were given the options to join either the federal or   regional service.
At independence in 1960, and up till 1966 when  the first coup took place, the  Nigerianization process continued at all levels but at different speed. Almost immediately after independence, the Western region announced the complete  Nigerianization of its top civil service cadres.
The   military took over in 1966 and ruled till 1979.  The   Gowon regime instituted the 1972/73 Udoji commission to recommend among other things, how to boost efficiency and productivity in the service. The commission recommended drastic improvement in the salary   structure of civil servants and granting car credit loans to all senior civil servants in order to boost their   morale.   The   Gowon   regime   was   toppled   by  the   Murtala   regime   which  perceived the civil service as very corrupt and inefficient and  therefore, there  was  the   need  to  sanitize  the  institution  by getting rid  of   bad  eggs.  The regime, within weeks of assumption of office, retrenched more than 10,000 civil servants of all cadres. Not much was done by succeeding regimes in terms of restoring the confidence and permanence of tenure in the service until 1988.
THE 1988 REFORMS
The 1988 civil service Reforms could be regarded as the most fundamental in the annals of administrative re- organization. The reform was instituted by the Babangida administration based on the recommendations of the Dotun Phillips committee on the civil service.
The reforms brought about the following:
i. The  minister/commissioner   as   chief   executive   and   the   accounting  office of the political head of the ministry became the executive head  rather  than  the  permanent  secretary  under  the  earlier   arrangement.  Before this new arrangement, the permanent secretary had effective control over all human and non-human resources of the ministry. The minister/commissioner was more or less a mere figure head whose leadership   often   caused   squabbles   between   him   and   permanent secretary. The reforms corrected this situation.
ii. The official nomenclature of permanent secretary changed to director- general.   The   appointment   became   political   as   one   could   be appointed by government to occupy the position and his  tenure  ends with that of regime that appointed it.
iii. Professionalization   of   the   civil   service.   The   service   became  professionalized as the departments and sections are re-arranged lased  on professional lines and personnel in each department and its other   sub-units are to have professional qualifications that accord with their   duties   in   the   department.   Moreso,   transfer   of   servants   across  ministries and departments becomes a thing of the past.
iv. New   promotion criteria   were set  up  for  advancement  of  officials.  Merit system and other criteria such as promotional examination and  additional qualification replaced the old system of length of  service  for promotion.
v. Accountability   control.   The   Audit   Alarm   was   set   up   to   expose  misappropriation of funds and corrupt.
3.1.3. POST 1988 REFORMS
The   Babangida   regime   was   succeeded   by   the   Shonekan-led   interim  government  in  1993  but  was  shortly  toppled  by the  Abacha  regime.  The  Abacha regime had its greatest impact on the civil service by its  reversal of   the  nomenclature  of   the  director-general  back to permanent  secretary and  thereby depoliticizing the office and making it  once again permanent. The  Abubarkar  regime that succeeded the Abacha regime in 1998, the office of  secretary to government and head of service hitherto combined by one person  was  separated into two by the regime as  one secretary to government  and  two, head of  service. The two offices  are occupied by two different people.
The   secretary   to   government   is   political,   while   the   head   of   service   is   appointed from among the most senior civil servants.
In May 1999, Abubakar   regime handed  over   to  a  democratically  elected  regime headed by Olusegun Obsanjo. The regimes most impact on the civil service in the areas of enhanced remunerations and purging of the service of   “ghost” workers. The regime increased the salary package of civil servants by 45%, a development that has enhanced the economic power of many civil servants. At inception also, various seminars and conferences, particularly on corruption and accountability were organized for senior civil servants.

Since the Return to Democracy in 1999,  Civil Service Reforms: Highlights of Federal Government Reform Programmes

One major preoccupation of the present administration has been Policy Reforms aimed at improving the machinery of government and service delivery generally.
 A compelling reason for the reforms was the parlous state of the economy of the nation, and the erosion of public confidence in government
and its institutions to deliver the much expected dividends of democracy. Beside the internal pressures, there were external factors as well, especially those of NEPAD and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and the urgency of attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Reform agenda focused on:
-    Public Sector Reforms;
-    Privatization/Liberalization:
-    Governance, Transparency and Anti-Corruption;
-    Service Delivery.
The main goals are:
-    Wealth Creation;
-    Employment Generation;
-    Poverty Reduction; and
-    Value Re-orientation.
Salient features of the reforms include economic development strategies, public service reforms, pensions overhaul, national Health Insurance Scheme, Bank recapitalization, service delivery (servicom) and anti-corruption campaigns.
The underlying philosophy of the Reform is change. Indeed, change for the better for too long, has been evasive in Nigeria. Our living condition is characterized with poverty, poor service delivery, corruption, environmental degradation, etc, amidst increased oil revenue.
This paper is therefore timely as the reform measures aim to address a host of national malaise.
Listed below, are a summary of the reform measures being undertaken by the Federal Government. They have implications for both States and Local Governments. The challenges to readers include acceptance, adaptability and the resolve to turn things around for the good of all.
SUMMARY OF GOVERNMENT REFORMS
 Implementation of the Monetization Policy
The Monetization of fringe benefits of public servants and political office holders was launched by the President in June 2003, to take effect on 1st July, 2004. It was justified by the uncontrolled proliferation of perquisites of office in government over the years, costing the public treasury huge and growing sums of money. The most notable of such fringe benefits in the past were: -
Provision and maintenance of furnished residential housing (over 30,000 units in Abuja alone);
- Maintenance of fleets of motor cars for entitled officers;
- A retinue of domestic servants for certain senior officials;
- Limitless free medical services, including overseas check-ups for senior officials.
The aims of the exercise was to free government from the administrative burden and financial cost of these services and financially empower officers to provide themselves these facilities from their enhanced financial remuneration. This was to bring the system in line with the practice in other parts of the world. The Monetization Policy was given effect through the passage of an Act: the Certain Political, Public and Judicial office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc) Act 2003, by the National Assembly. Drawing from the Act, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission issued a Circular spelling out the provisions, as they affect federal Civil Servants, with effect from 1st October, 2003. Under the Policy, services now monetized include residential accommodation, furniture allowance, leave grant, meal subsidy, duty tour allowance, motor vehicle loan, fueling/maintenance of official vehicles and transport allowance. Arising from the Monetization of Fringe Benefits, a total of 7,487 Government official vehicles are being disposed of through outright sale to civil servants.
The implementation of the policy has led to:
i. more frugal use of government utilities;
ii. Curbing of the excesses of public officers in the use of government amenities;
iii. Equity in the receipt of government welfare benefits by civil servants;
iv. Elimination of all hidden costs of running the system;
iv. enhancement of the remunerations of civil servants and political office holders to enable them provide themselves the perquisites now monetized;
v. vi. Improved culture of prudence in managing resources; and vii. Opportunity for Civil Servants to own their homes.
The policy has been implemented in almost all Government Ministries, Parastatals and Agencies. In this regard, a total of 20,452 government vehicles had been disposed of across the 444 Parastatals / Agencies. Outright Purchase of Government Quarters by Sitting Tenants: One major aspect of Monetisation Policy which has excited Civil Servants is the opportunity it has provided for them to buy off from government, the houses they currently occupy. This is being done using rates that take account of only the replacement value of the housing units, discounting the cost to Civil servants, land and infrastructural facilities. Political Office Holders on the other hand are being made to bid for their own houses in the open competitive market taking into account the cost of land and infrastructural facilities. Civil Servants desirous of purchasing their houses are being assisted to approach mortgage institutions by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria which has issued to every Civil Servant a contributor’s passbook under the National Housing Fund based on their contributions over the years. Government intends to keep the Programme going through the Owner-Occupier Scheme which is currently being implemented as an incentive to retain the loyalty and commitment of serving Civil servants who may not have benefited from the current sale of government quarters and to provide a secured future for new entrants into the Service.
Implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme: The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was launched on Monday, June 6, 2005 by President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, signaling the commencement of the scheme in both the public and organized private sectors. The primary objective of the Scheme is to ensure that all Nigerians have access to good health care services through putting in place a health care system which reduces dependence on government for funding a healthcare delivery, and of provision of health facilities. The scheme also seeks to integrate private health facilities and expertise into the nation’s healthcare system. In line with the Monetisation Policy of the Current Administration, Civil Servants are to pay 5% of their basic salaries as their contributions to the scheme which guarantees them and their dependants’ quality healthcare in their preferred primary healthcare outlets. They are at liberty to choose from a comprehensive list of available providers participating in the Scheme. To ensure effective take-off of the scheme for public servants, government provided the sum of N2.6 billion and deductions from Public Servants did not begin until January, 2007. Universal coverage of the Scheme is expected to be achieved by 2015 in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals target of 2015. Source: Journal of Professional Administration; vol8, No.1. April 2007 (pages:14-23)
Sustained Crusade against Corruption: The crusade against corruption which is personally being led by the President has yielded good dividends. Civil Servants are now more than ever before required to be more accountable and transparent in conducting government business. So far, no public officer, however highly placed, who ran foul of the law across all cadres had been spared; and this is sending the right signals not just to the Service but to the entire nation regarding the seriousness of the government in waging a relentless war against corruption and all its associated vices. Anti-corruption units have been set up in all Government Ministries with direct links to the key Anti-Corruption Agencies, namely the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Since we are also tackling corruption as a management problem which needs to be effectively managed, Permanent Secretaries and others at the top echelon of the Service are increasingly being tasked on the need to institute management systems to combat the malaise.
Overhaul of the Procurement System: Through collaboration with the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (BMPIU) in the Presidency, the procurement system has been realigned to be more transparent with emphasis on quality management and value for money in all government transactions. Recently, in order to internalize in the Civil Service the gains recorded under the programme, a separate cadre of procurement officers was created within the Civil Service, comprising officers with the appropriate qualifications and dispositions.
Restructuring of Government Ministries, Agencies and Department (MDAs) The restructuring exercise of MDAs which commenced with the pilot Ministries has been extended service-wide. Leading the way is the Federal Ministry of Finance which has conducted its restructuring exercise, and has received approval of the Head of Service to put in place its new organizational structure. The restructuring exercise in other pilot Ministries is in progress and both the Management Services Office and the Bureau of Public Service Reforms continue to guide the efforts of other MDAs in their restructuring exercises.
Parastatals Reform: The organization of parastatals numbering 444, in terms of re-aligning their functions vis-à-vis their supervising Ministries, merging some and scrapping others, has already started. For example, investment/entrepreneurship finance organizations were merged to form the Bank of Industry and unnecessary institutions such as the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) and the Education Bank were scrapped. Recently also, six parastatals under the National Planning Commission were merged into three bodies. At the same time, the privatization of commercial- oriented parastatals, such as the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), the Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Steel Plants and other industrial projects, is proceeding according to plan. Government is aware that parastatals are the primary centres of mismanagement and waste in the public services system hence the need to reform them in a profound manner.
Capacity Building: Following the orientation workshops organized for the Directorate Cadre from 1999 through 2001 which were extended to the middle level Officers from 2002 onwards government has improved on service-wide training and capacity development through the organization of series of programmes targeted at officers across all levels and cadres. The capacity of the Service was further enhanced through additional knowledge and experiences gained from Study Tours to Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, etc, by delegations led by and comprising mainly Permanent Secretaries, the DirectorGeneral, Bureau of Public Service Reforms and other Heads of Agencies key to reform. This is in order to remodel our Service through guidance by global best practices in Public Administration obtained from interactions provided by such tours. Government is also focusing on Executive Leadership Training and Development which will be further enhanced with the take-off of the Civil Service College Abuja very soon. The Administrative Staff college of Nigeria (ASCON) and other training institutions have now been rehabilitated through improved funding to be able to deliver training programmes more competently. The Bureau of Public Service Reforms is also developing a Virtual Library through the Support of the Education Trust Fund (ETF) to serve as an intellectual storehouse for the reform programme.
ICT Development: The provision of an ICT enabled work environment in the delivery of improved services is a key issue in the reform agenda. Accordingly, work processes are increasingly being computerized through provision of computer systems to officers for their daily operations and for the enhancement of data storage and analysis, easy retrieval as well as dissemination of information. This had led to the generation of accurate and reliable information for decision making on policy issues as well as improvement of record management system. There are sustained efforts in the provision of internet and intranet linkages to harness knowledge form all sources in all Ministries and Agencies. The frame work for the realization of eGovernment is getting increased attention through the guidance of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) under the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.
Review of the Public Service Rules, Regulations and Procedures: A review of the Civil Service Rules, and Financial Regulations was undertaken in 2000 to make them applicable to the entire Public Service. A more comprehensive review is currently being carried out by the Presidential Committee on the Review and Revision of Public Service Rules, Regulations and Procedures (PC-RPSRT) which was inaugurated by the President in February, 2005. The committee which is chaired by the Principal Secretary to the President and Permanent Secretary, State House, has as members two Ministers, one retired and six serving Permanent Secretaries, Auditor-General for the Federation, Accountant General of the Federation, Director-General, Administrative Staff college of Nigeria (ASCON) and the Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR). The Committee submitted an Interim Report in April 2005 in which it proposed Transitional Arrangements for fast tracking the Implementation of the Reform Programme, which has similarly been approved by the President. Rightsizing the Civil Service: Government is currently rightsizing the Civil Service in line with the approved criteria developed by both the PC-RPSRP and PSRIC and approved by the President. Among these criteria are the following; (a) Appointment without authorization; (b) Attainment of 60 years of age and 35 years in service; (c) Disciplinary cases involving gross misconduct; (d) Entry into cadres without mandatory skills to progress on the career ladder; (e) Failure to acquire mandatory skill to progress on the career ladder; (f) Monetized jobs or jobs contracted out e.g. about 5,500 Drivers have already been disengaged and paid off at a cost of N2.5 billion. (g) Redundancies arising from scrapping of organizations; and (h) Exceptionally bad officers adjudged unfit for continued service.
Pension Reforms: The Pensions Act of 2004 instituted a new pension scheme which is a departure from the “Pay As You Go” system to a contributory scheme. However, there is a transitional arrangement where the old pay-as-you-go system will run concurrently with the new one for 3 years. Pursuant to the Act, the National Pensions Commission was established as the Administrative Machinery for managing the process. The key feature of the Scheme is that Civil Servants contribute 7½ of their salary deducted from source while Government matches it with the same rate of 7½ counterpart contribution. The new Pension Scheme: i. provides the private sector a reliable institutional framework for staff pension or terminal benefits; ii. offers the economy a harmonized pension system, which will expand the country’s social security and allow easy mobility of labour among sectors and employers; and iii. provides the economy a veritable source of saving and capital formation.
Service Delivery The Service Delivery Programme is aimed at achieving excellence in the delivery of services to the public (citizenry) and other customers by government agencies. It is being run as a British Government Technical Assistance Programme under its Department for International Development (DFID) to the Federal Government. Its modus operandi is to reach out to MDAs to enlighten them on service delivery concepts and encourage them to undertake management innovations aimed at enhancing quality service to the public, which is backed up by obligations to be imposed by a “service charter” with the public. Some achievements have been recorded so far by way of sensitization of MDAs on the new concept and making them to develop vision and mission statements and articulated outline of objectives and functions. The appreciable effect on real service delivery to the public is expected to manifest rather gradually. Increased Collaboration with International Development Partners: In spite of government commitment to own the reform, it has not lost appreciation of the need to gain the support of International Development Partners. Consequently, government is collaborating with the World Bank and the Department for International Development (DFID) in the implementation of the World Bank assisted Economic Reform and Governance Project (ERGP). The project component includes: (a) Public Resource Management and Targeted Anti-Corruption Initiative; (b) Civil Service Administrative Reforms; (c) Strengthening Pension Management and Accountability; (d) Strengthening of Statistics and Statistical Capacity; and (e) Project management: Under the Civil Service Administrative Reform component of the ERGP, government will be seeking to achieve the following: - strengthening the Bureau of Public Service Reforms to lead and co-ordinate the system-wide reform; - designing and implementing an integrated personnel and payroll system to improve the management of human resources and reduce fraud; - consolidating the restructuring of MDAs; Source: Journal of Professional Administration; vol8, No.1. April 2007 (pages:14-23) - Carrying out diagnostic studies and dialogues on key service –wide reforms to build broader support for the process; - designing and implementing a Performance Improvement Facility to support innovative capacity building. Government is also engaging the Commonwealth Secretariat in other capacity building initiatives mainly targeted at the Directorate Cadre, and middle level officers who have the potential of emerging as future leaders in the Service.
Critical Success Factors: The experience in managing the on-going Public Service Reform programme in Nigeria indicates that the following are critical to its success:
i. Support of the political leadership, as exemplified in President Olusegun Obasanjo’s uncommon leadership in driving the process during his tenure;
ii. Robust leadership by the Head of the Civil Service whose commitment to reform must never be in doubt, as he sets the tone;
iii. Clear goals and strategy which are mutually shared by all relevant stakeholders;
iv. Institutionalization of reform through the establishment of an agency for coordination and implementation, as exemplified in the creation of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms in Nigeria;
iv. Active involvement of MDAs in the reform process, especially on issues that particularly relate to them in order to take cognizance of individual peculiarities and avoid the generation of uniform solutions to diverse problems.
v. Timely and effective communication;
vi. Openness to admit wrongs and take corrective steps;
vii. An effective monitoring and evaluation process;
ix. Sustained partnership with all relevant stakeholders;
x. Commitment and greater commitment on the part of all stakeholders to make it work notwithstanding obvious difficulties; and
xi. Adequate funding of the process. Source: Journal of Professional Administration; vol8, No.1. April 2007 (pages:14-23)
CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS OR ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS IS AN EFFORT TO IMPROVE THE ADMINISTRATIVE ORGNISATION AND PRACTICES OR TO INCULCATE A DIFFERENT BEHAVIOUR IN ORDER TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OR GOVERNMENT MACHINERY.
REASONS FOR LIMITED SUCCESS OF REFORM
1. LACK OF SENSE OF OWNERSHIP BY PUBLIC SERVICES
2. AD-HOC APPROACH TO REFORM EFFORTS
3. POLITICAL COMMITMENT
4. LEADERSHIP OF THE REFORMS
5. LACK OF A PERMANENT AGENCY/FOCAL POINT FOR MANAGEMENT OF THE REFORMS
6. ABSENCE OF WINDE CONSULTATIONS WITH OTHER STAKEHOLDERS
7. LACK OF INSTITUTIONSL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REFORMS AGENCY AND PUBLIC SECTOR TRAINING INSTITUTIONS
8. POLITICAL INSTABILITY
CHARACTERISTICS OF CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS
1. IT IS A DELIBERATE AND CONSCIOUS EFFORT.
2. MAJOR REFORMS ARE POLITICAL IN NATURE AND USUALLY SUFFER INTERNAL RESISTANCE.
3. IT CHANGES BEHAVIOUR OF ADMINISTRATORS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WHOLE CITIZENRY.
4. IT USUALLY NEEDS TIME TO YIELD RESULTS.

Planning and Budgeting in Nigeria Public Administration
Planning and Budgeting – Meaning and Definitions
What is Planning? Planning is simply deciding in advance what is to be done. It comprises the selection of objectives, policies, procedures and programmes from among alternatives. Planning is a conscious effort on the part of the government to mobilise and direct the utilisation of the resources in the economy for the production of goods and services in a prescribed form, purposely in accordance with set priorities (Ayeni, 2007).
Budgeting
A budget is a financial plan summarising the financial experience of the past stating a current plan and projecting it over a specified period of time in future – Dimock (1937). Budgeting which is a financial plan is also a conscious and deliberate effort aimed at packaging a “budget” which is a financial plan embodying an estimate of proposed expenditures for a given period and the proposed means of financing them. According to Dimock (1937), the important budget principles are: publicity, clarity, comprehensiveness, unity, periodicity, accuracy, and integrity. The following are the elements of budget:
• It is a statement of expected revenue and proposed expenditure;
• It requires some authority to sanction it;
• It is for a limited period, generally it is annual;
• It also sets forth the procedure and manner in which the collection of revenue and the administration of expenditures is to be executed (Bhagwan and Bhushan, 2006).
Steps in Systematic Planning
1. A careful definition and limitation of the problem as far as possible;
2. The exploration of all available information pertaining to the problems;
3. The posing of possible alternative solutions or methods of solving the problems;
4. The experimenting of one or more tentative solutions through actual operations;
5. The evaluations of results in the light of new developments, research and experience; and
6. Reconsideration of the problems and the results, and re-decision, if justified.

General Purpose of Planning and Budgeting
The general purpose of planning and budgeting are described as follows:
i. Planning and budgeting as s short-term calculation;
ii. Political, economic and social document couched in figures;
iii. Management tool used for control, monitoring and coordination;
iv. Agent that enables government to anticipate change and adapt to it accordingly;
v. Device for ensuring a continuous monitoring procedure, and reviewing and evaluating performance with a reference to previously established standards.
vi. Overall method for improving operations.

Fundamental Principles Governing the Operations of a Government Planning and Budget
This is done through the Ministry of Finance, Economics, Planning and Central Bank of Nigeria. It includes the following:
Public revenue levied is based on financial act, and no monies can be spent without authority of the national assembly or the legislature;
Expenditure on government activities are always made only for the purposes authorised by the national assembly, and as provided for in the constitution;
There is consolidated fund into which all revenues of the government collected under the authority of the national assembly are paid and from which all funds for expenditure purposes are usually paid as provided for in the constitution and in other relevant audit act and financial statues of the government;
All monies spent out of the consolidated fund of the government are usually accounted for, audited by the auditor-general, whose report must be presented to the national assembly quarterly, annually or periodically (Ayeni, 2007:148-149).
Planning and Budgeting in the Nigerian Civil Service
The process of planning and budgeting in the Nigerian civil service involves certain actors, and this includes the executive arm of government as the head of government, ministers, advisers, permanent secretaries etc. in the civil service. These people work together through the instrumentality of the civil service to ensure effective and efficient planning and budgeting considered critical to the success of economic and socio-political objectives of the government. The execution of government’s plan and budget is carried out within an established legal framework for the management of public finances as enshrined in the  constitution and further elaborated in other statutes. The legislative framework contained in the statues is usually put in place in order to ensure that the government has access at all times to financial resources to defray approved public expenditures. The legislative framework also ensures that the government’s access to financial resources other than tax revenues is not utilised beyond certain set limits which, if exceeded would compromise the government’s ability to finance its operation in the years ahead and could cause inflation, thereby causing fiscal imbalances and dislocation in the economy. The statute usually vests in the Honorable Minister of Finance and his officials the power of control and supervision of the finances of the government in order to ensure that full account is made to the National assembly. According to the statute, every person responsible for the collection, receipt, custody, issue or payment of public monies shall obey all such instructions that may from time to time be issued by the Ministry in respect of custody, handling and accounting for such public monies (Ayeni, 2007:144).

LOCAL GOVERNMENT  ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA.
The Concept of Local Government
Local   government   is   government   at   the   grassroots   level   set   up   by   the   central  government   and  charged   with   the   responsibilities   of   dealing   with   governmental  matters   at   the   local   level.     Local   government   in   Nigeria   is   the   third-tier   of  government.   The creation of  local government  is  based on the awareness that no  central government can satisfactorily conduct administration wholly from the capital  through the civil servants based at the headquarters.
The 1976 local government reforms in Nigeria attempted to solve the problem of size  by specifying population limits for  an area of local government.  In order  to achieve  sufficiently large  scale  of  operations  to be  able  to perform  all  types   of  functions  reasonably   economically,   while   remaining   sufficiently   local,   local   government  should, as  far  as possible, serve local population of  between 150,000 and 800,000  provided   that   these   limits   may   not   be   varied   in   exceptional   geographical  circumstances  and provided further  that thee should be no upper limit to the size of  local government covering major  towns so as to ensure  that such town is  within a  single unit.
Theories of Local Government
The theories of local government are as follows:-
1. Democratic –  Participatory Theory:-    The proponents  of  this  theory  contend that local government functions to bring about democracy and  to afford opportunities  for  political participation to the citizen as well  as   to   educate   and  socialize   on  politically.     They  argue  that   local government is superior  to other  levels of government since it is at the  level of the municipality the city state – that the individual can really  participate in his or her  own government, and so government  is truly  democratic.    That  local  government  creates  opportunity for  political  education,   providing   training   for   democracy   and   by   acting   as   an  essential  element  for   establishing  a  stable  and  harmonious  national  state. 2. The  
Efficiency  –  Services   School:    The  proponents  of  this   school  justified the existence of  local government on the ground that it is an  efficient agent for providing services that are local in  character.  This  school argues that because of its closeness to an area, local government  can   provide   certain   services   for   more   efficiently   than   the   central  government.  This  school believes  that local government is a veritable  instrument for efficient services delivery at the grassroots.
3. The Development School: One of the major interests of the developing  nation is  how to achieve a reasonable level of economic development  and political integration in societies that are culturally plural, and in  many cases, culturally diffused.  The proponents of this school contend  that far more than in developed western countries, local government in  developing  nations  can  and  should have  the  function  of  helping  to  reduce the congestion at the centre.  This it can do at the local level by  being   involved   in   implementing   socio-economic   programmes   that  attempt to reconstruct the infrastructure necessary for an improved way  of life.
4. The Public Choice Theory:  The main proposition of the public choice  theorists  is  that  the  market is  the  optimal  mechanism for  allocating  goods and making decisions.  The public choice theory contends that  the   existing   democratic   arrangements   are   very   poor   predictors   of citizens   preferences   and   demands.     The   failure   of   representative  democracy and public bureaucracies create inbuilt tendencies for  local  government to be wasteful, inefficient and to overspend
5. State and Marxist Theory:  The Marxist theory views local government  as  predominantly an instrument of  the state and, as  such, is  either  a  direct  means  of  securing  legitimacy  for  the  ruling  class  or   securing  proletarian compliance through repression.
Structure of  Local Government
The structure of local government means the institutional framework within which the  local government exists.  It may also encompass the following the unit or tier  system,  the  organizational  component,  population and  geographical  size.   The  structure of  local   government   could   be   all   purpose,   single   –   tier   system   does   not   share
responsibilities.   It   takes  care   of   all   the   functions  and  powers   assigned  to   local  government alone.  On the other hand, the multi- tier  structural framework is arranged  in layers or strata called tiers.  Each stratum or layer is assigned specific powers and  functions.
Reasons for Creating Local government
The reasons for creating local government are as follows:
i. To bring the government nearer  to the people at the grassroots level because  the   country’s   too     large   for   only   one   level   of   government   to   operate  effectively.
ii. To   provide   opportunities   for   local   participation   in   politics   by   the   rural  dwellers.
iv. To mobilize the people and thus create opportunities  for even development of  all parts of the country
v. To train the local people in the art of governance and leadership
vi. Establishing   link   between   the   people   at   the   local,   state   and   the   central government levels.
vii. Providing employment at the local level for the people
viii. Providing   opportunity   for   local   participation   in   community   development  projects.
ix. Seeing to the preservation of local customs, history and traditions of people.
x. Giving the  people at  the local level a very real degree of  control over  their  local affairs.
xi. Stimulating   economic   growth   and   development   by   attracting   business  concerns to their areas of jurisdiction.
xii. Complementing   the   efforts   of   the   state   and   central   government   in   the  provision of essential amenities to the local people.
xiii. Acting as an agent of  the central government  implementation of government  policies e.g. maintenance of law and order at the local level.
Functions of Local Government
The functions of local government are as follows:-
i. Establishment and maintenance of: cemeteries and homes for the destitute.
ii. Collection of rates, radio and television licenses
iii. Licensing of bicycles, trucks, canoes, wheel barrows and carts.
iv. Establishment and maintenance  and regulation of  markets, motor  parks  and  public conveniences.
v. Construction   and   maintenance   of   roads,   streets,   drains   and   other   public  highways  parks, open spaces  or  such public facilities  as  may be  prescribed  from   time to time by the House of Assembly of a state.
vi. Registration –  local  governments   are  involved  in  the  registration  of  births,  deaths and marriages in their areas of authority.
vii. Assessment   of  privately  owned  houses  –  or   tenements  for  the  purpose  of  levying such rates.
viii. Control and regulation of: a. out – door advertising and hoardings. b. Movement and keeping of pets of all description c. Shops and kiosks d. Restaurants and other places for sale of food to the public   e. laundries
ix. Also to participate in: a. the provision and maintenance of primary education b. development of agriculture and natural resources c. the provision and maintenance of health services
x. Naming   of   streets:    They are  involved in  naming of  streets, roads  and to  number houses.
Local Government Revenue
There is no institution that can perform effectively without the financial ability.  In the  same way, for  the local governments to perform their  functions effectively, there is  the need for  adequate financing.  To this extent, finance in local government are got  from:
i. The   National   Assembly:     The   National   Assembly   makes   provisions   for  statutory allocation of public revenue to local government councils.
ii.   House  of  Assembly of a  State:   House  of  Assembly makes  provisions  for  statutory allocation of public revenue to local government councils
iii. Grants:  Another source of finance is the special grants they receive from both  the central and state governments.   However, in most cases, these grants are  for specific projects.
 iv. Collection of  rates:  Revenue is  equally generated through collection of rates  on radio and television licenses, market shops and stalls, etc.
v. Commercial   Ventures:     In   recent   times,   some   local   governments   were  involved in commercial ventures like, transportation, etc.
vi. Payment of Fines:  Fines are paid by those that have disobeyed the rules  and  regulations, and it form part of the local government revenue.
Problems of Local Government
The problems of local government include: -
i. Shortage  of  trained personnel:-    Acute shortage of  trained  and experienced  personnel affect the efficiency of local governments.
ii. Acute shortage of  fund:-  Most local governments   do not have enough funds  to operate.
iii. Political Interference:-   Political  leaders have at different times  interfered in  the activities of local governments iv. Bribery and Corruption:  Some officials  demand and even take  bribe before  performing their normal functions.
v. Diversion  of   public  fund:-    Some  officials   involved  in  revenue  collection,  embezzle part of the fund for their own selfish ends.
vi. Granting of undue favour:  Some local government officials use their positions  to give undue favour to their friends, e.g. in the award of contracts.
vii. Tribalism, nepotism and favouritism.  These are mainly observed in the areas  of appointment, transfer, discipline and promotion of staff.


How to Enhance Local Government Revenue Base
The local government, being the government nearest to the rural populace, has much  need for money to discharge   services to the people.  The statutory  allocation from  the   federation  account   is   grossly  inadequate  and  something  needs  to  be   done  to  enhance  revenue  generation.   The following are  some measures  for  enhancing the  revenue profile of local government.
i. Grants from the federal and state governments should be increased.
ii. The officials of local governments should be more efficient and honest in the  collection local government tolls and levies i.e. all money collected on behalf  of  the  local government should be  properly paid into the local  government  treasury.
iii. Local  governments  should engage in  more profitable economic  ventures  to  boost their economic base.
iv. Regular  auditing of  local governments accounts should be done to check and  detect   early   fraud   and   embezzlement   of   funds   belonging   to   the   local government by the officials.
v. Efforts must  be made  to improve the  relationship of  the local governments  with the communities so as to always receive full moral and financial support  from them.
vi. Public enlightenment must be mounted to educate the citizens on the need to  fulfill   their   civic   obligations   to   the   local   government   e.g.   payment   of  development rates and levies is and when due.
vii. Decisive actions  should be taken  against  any  local  government  staff  found  guilty  of  mismanaging  or  embezzling  local  governments   funds  to  forestall  such actions by others.
viii. More  efforts   should be  put  in by  the  local  government  staff  in charge  of  revenue collection to collect all revenue accruable to the local government e.g.  property, education, development rates and levies.
The above analyses show  that local government is very vital in managing the affairs  of the grassroots.  This is so because local government is government at the grassroots  level set up by the central government and charged with the responsibilities of dealing  with   government  matters   at   the  local   levels.     In   our   discussion,   we   saw   local  government  as  the grassroots  government  nearest to the people  and also provides  services needed to such people.
The theories of local government, structure of local government, reasons for creating  local government, functions  of  local government, how to enhance local government  revenue base  among  others, all these, be  improved to  better  the  lives  of  the  rural  people.  

LOCAL GOVERNMENT  REFORMS IN NIGERIA
The 1976 Local Government Reforms
The  structure  of the 1976 reforms  of  local     changed the  multiple system  of  local  government councils  the third – tier of government to a single – tier all purpose local  government.  All the local governments after the central  were and state governments.
The  1976 reforms of local government was done as a result of the different problems  faced   by  local   governments   and   it   was   carried   out   under   the   Murtala/Obasanjo  regime.
The reforms established the local governments in the country a multipurpose single –  tier institution.  Hence giving the local government a third tier position in the Nigerian  federal  structure,  in this respect, they were autonomous  bodies.   The reforms  also  require  a   local  government   to  serve   a  local   population  of   between  150,000  and  800,000, moreso, that the local governments  were  given statutory powers and were  recognized by law.  Prior to this  time, local governments were seen merely as native  authorities.
Also, the 1976 local government reforms made the political office holders of the local  government   council   to   be   predominantly   elected   from   local   communities   under  regulations made by the state government.  The tenure of the chairman was 3 years  and 25 percent of each council membership to be nominated by the state government.  The reforms also established two union committees namely the Finance and General  Purpose Committee (F & GPC) and the Education Committee (EC).
The  Local  Government Service Board was  to set up a combined local government  service  for  the   more  highly  trained  cadres.    All   posts  in  local   government   were  graded.  The   Local   Government   Service   responsible   to   all   employment,   posting,  discipline, etc of all members of the local governments and the local government staff  was transferred and seconded to local government service.
The 1976  of  local government reforms established the ministry of local government  in  each state  to  monitor  how  provision was  made for  statutory allocation to local  government by the reforms, it also allows for property  rating.
There was also the creation of a police committee in each local government in order  to enforce law.  It gave the local government secondary and primary functions.
The major  aspects of the 1976 reforms of  local government were written in the 1979  constitution.
Main Features of  1976 Local Governm ent Reforms in Nigeria.
i. Uniform   system   of   local   government:     There   was   the   introduction   of   a  uniform system of local government through out the country
ii. Federal government involvement:    The federal  government became  directly  involved in local government administration.
iii. Service board/commission: There was  the  introduction of  local  government  service board/commission in all the states.
iv. Statutory  functions:    The   local  governments  were  given  specific  statutory  functions to perform.
v. Single tier:  All the local governments were made all – purpose single – tier  local government. vi. Appointment:     There   was   the   appointment   of   full   –  time   chairmen   and  supervisory councilors.
vii. Condition of service:  The condition of service of  local government staff was  unified with that of their counter – parts in state and federal civil service.
viii. Grants:    Federal  and  state  governments  were  made  to give  grants  to local  government. ix. Key committees:  Each council was mandated to have certain key committees  like the finance and general purpose committee and any other two committees.
x. Term  of  office:    The  majority  of  local  government  councilors  were  to  be  elected on a three year basis.
xi. Exclusion  of  traditional  rulers:   The  traditional  rulers  were  excluded  from  local government councils.
xii. Traditional/Emirate  Council:     The  reforms   brought  in  the  establishment  of  traditional/emirate councils.
      The 1984/85 Reforms
However, in spite of  the changes, the 1976 reforms of  local government did not last  due to political instability in the country.
In order  to solve the varying problems of the local government, the Buhari/Idiagbon  regime set up a 20 – man committee led by Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki to review the local  government administration.  Also, 10 percent of  state internality generated revenues  (IGR)  are to be  shared  among  local  governments  in each  state.    It also set  up  a  management   audit   committee   to   guide   against   embezzlement.     There   was   the  provision of a local government staff pension scheme and pension fund.  The reforms  also made provision for a local government staff regulation.
The 1984/85 reforms or the Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki committee attempted to improve  the situation of local government in the country but could not because it was not able  to  tackle   all the  problems of  the local governments.   Hence the  need for  another  reforms with the aim of improving the local government system in Nigeria.
The 1988 Local Government Reforms
In order to improve the well being of  the rural populace.  General Ibrahim Badamosi  Babangida carried out reforms of  local government in 1988.   The 1988 reforms  of  local  government  made  provision  for  the establishment  of  two  main departments:  personnel   department   and   finance,   supplies,   planning   research   and   statistics  department.
The reforms made provision also for the appointment of  Director of local government  Audit and the local government chairman became the accounting officer  and chief  executive officer.  The reforms also made provision for the establishment of a junior  staff  management committee which was  responsible for  the appointment  of  officers  within grade level 01 – 06 and the reforms also provided for a local government audit  alarm  committee.    The  1988  reforms  of   local  government  could not  solve all  the  problems   of  local   government  and  thee   was   yet   another   demand  for  a   different  reforms.
The 1991 Local Government Reforms
The   Ibrahim   Badamosi   Babangida regime,  in   trying   to   make   life   better   for   the   local  government  populace, carried out  another  reforms  of  local  government in 1991 to  improve local government councils in Nigeria.
Decree No.23 of  1991 introduced the presidential system to local governments  and  were given full administrative autonomy.  By introducing the presidential system of  government   in   the   country,   the   executive   was   headed   by   the   local   government  chairman while the legislative arm is under the leaders.  The council chairman was  to  appoint local government secretary and three to five supervisory councilors and as  councilor  appointed a supervisor is to vacate his or  her  seat and a bye – election will  be conducted for such vacant seat.
The  local  government was  also responsible for  the payment  of  salaries, allowances  and   pensions   of   teaching  and  non-teaching  staff   of   primary  schools.     The  1991  reforms   of   local   government   really   improved   on   the   quality   of   services   local  government provides for  the people.  This was because local governments were given political,  financial  and  administrative  autonomy.  However,  despite  these  reforms,  local governments in Nigeria still face a lot of problems.
Our analyses in this unit show that since man is dynamic, the environment he lives in  is  also dynamic.  The various  changing phases of  local government administration in  Nigeria have pointed to affect that local government is dynamic.  This is so, because  the person who handles the affairs of the local government is dynamic too.
However, we could see  that despite  the different reforms, the local  governments in  Nigeria are still underdeveloped.  Since man is not static the society he lives in is not  static too.  The truth of  the matter is  that the flaw in any reform policy may not be  noticed   until   when   it   is   put   into   operation.     Therefore,   local   governments  administration in Nigeria will still be subjected to further reforms.
REVENUE ALLOCATION IN NIGERIA.
Revenue Allocation Principles
Nigeria has used about  eight revenue allocation formula at one point in time or the  other.  These formula are:
i. Population
ii. Even development
iii. Continuity of services
iv. Maintenance of minimum responsibilities
v. Equality
vi. Land mass and terrain
vii. Internal revenue efforts, and
viii. Derivation.
i. Population:-    Population is  one of   the  principles  that  was  in use since the  colonial  time.   This  principle presupposes  that the  population strength of  a  particular  state is taken into consideration when allocating financial resources  to such state.
ii. Even  Development:-     In  a  federal  state  like  Nigeria,  one  of  the   goals  of  government is  to ensure that  no state or part of the country develops at  the  expense of  others, at least via the fiscal allocation.  In keeping with the ideals  of  federalism therefore, the revenue allocation principle of even development  has been consistently applied in Nigeria.
iii. Continuity   of   Services:     Continuity   of   services   means   that   in   allocating  resources, the projects of government at all levels are considered so as not to  impair  the execution of those projects.
iv. Maintenance  of   Minimum  Responsibility:     Responsibilities  of   each  tier  of  government is juxtaposed with the revenue accruing to it so as to ensure that  the   government  performs  effectively.     Activities  in  a   number  of  states   in Nigeria  has  come  to  a   halt  due   to  the   wage  bills   of  the  states   and  local  governments.     In   this  case,   emphasis   should  be   laid   on  the  principle  of  maintenance of minimum responsibilities  as  it should be used in determining  the revenue accruing to the other tiers of government.
v. Equality:     Equality  as   a  principle  of  revenue   allocation  is   used  with  the  understanding that no state is greater than the other in sharing the wealth of the  country.  So, this allows a sense of belonging even by the poorest states in the  country.
vi. Land Mass and Terrain:  Land mass and terrain principle allows for  a special  percentage calculated according to the land mass and terrain  of  states.  Some  states have difficult terrain and vast Landmass that may massive resources to  transform them.
i. Internal Revenue Efforts:  The strive of states to internally generated revenue  are also often rewarded by reflecting it in federal revenue allocation formula.
ii. Derivation:  Derivation principle is applied based on the fact that relatively a  substantial amount of money out of  the material resources  from a particular  area are recycled in form of revenue to aid development and reduce the effect  of environmental and other forms of degradation in the area.
Revenue Allocation Commission
Nigeria have had  a number  of   revenue  allocation commissions  and committees  in  order  to resolve the problem of revenue sharing in Nigeria.  These commissions and  committees are as follows.
Philipson Commission of  1946
Richard’s constitution of 1946 created the need to formulate proposals to enable the  newly created regions i.e. East, North and West to perform their new responsibilities.  The Philipson commission was to formulate financial and administrative procedures  to  be  adopted under  the  new  constitution.   This  commission divided  the  regional  revenue   into   two   categories   and   named   them   as   “declared   and   non-declared  revenues”.
The declared revenue include those locally collected by the regional authorities, such  as direct taxes (personal income tax) licenses fees, income from property, rent etc.
The non-declared revenue include those revenue collected by the central government.  Here, the central  government is  to determine what portion of  the revenue is to be  shared among the other regions.  Philipson considered, derivation, even progress and  population principles in sharing out of the non-declared revenue among the regions.
Hicks – Philipson Commission of 1951
McPherson engaged in some changes  in his  constitution of  1951,  so,  the changes  envisaged by the McPherson constitution and the dissatisfaction with the scheme used  by Philipson in the revenue sharing, led to the appointment of Prof. John Hicks and  Sir  Sidney Philipson to develop  a new  scheme that will achieve  a more  equitable  sharing of  revenue.   The Hicks – Philipson commission proposed that the revenue  should be shared on the principle of derivation; need and national interest.
Chicks Commission of 1953
The London Constitutional Conference of 1953 gave the opportunity for the review of  the previous allocation scheme.  Sir Louis Chick was appointed to ensure that the total  revenue available was  allocated in such a way that the principle of  derivation  was  used to the fullest and compatible with the needs of the central and that of the regional  governments.
Chicks expanded the allocation scheme to include the import and excise duties, export  duties, mining, rent and royalties and personal income taxes.
Raisman Commission of 1958
The Raisman commission was appointed to review the tax jurisdiction as well as the  allocation of revenue from these taxes such that the regions would have the maximum  possible proportion of the revenue within their exclusive competence.
In  order   to  facilitate  the  sharing   of   some  of  the  federally  collected  revenue   the  commission created a Distributable Pool Account.   The principles of derivation and  need were followed in the sharing  of the total revenue to the regions.
Binns Commission of 1964
The Binns commission was set up under  section 164 of the Republican Constitution  of  1963.  The terms of reference given to the commission were to review and make  recommendations with respect to the allocation of mining,  rent and royalties and the distribution  of   funds  in  the  distributable  pool  account  among the  regions.   Binns  applied  the  principle  of  financial  comparability  in  sharing  out  the  revenue  to the  affected regions which some what of a hybrid between the principles of need and even  development.
Military Rule from 1967 to 1975
The period between 1967 to 1975 was characterized by series of decrees.  During this  period, decrees  were  used in solving the problem of  revenue  allocation to regions.  Decree  No.15  of  1967 resolved the  problem  of  revenue  sharing by  allocating  the  percentage that belonged to the Northern region among the six newly created states of  that  region,  and  that  of  the  East  and West  was  shared  based  on the  principle  of  population.
Dina Interim Revenue Allocation Review Committee of 1968
This committee was appointed in 1968 to look into and suggest ways or any change in  the  existing  system  of  revenue  allocation  as  a  whole.    And  also,  to suggest  new  sources  of   revenue   both  for  the  federal   and  state  governments.     The   committee  renamed  the “distribution Pool Account”  into “State  Joint Account”, established a  special   grants   accounts   and   recommended   a   permanent   planning   and   fiscal  commission to administer  the special grants account and to undertake a continuous  study and review of revenue allocation s and schemes.
The report by this  committee was rejected by the federal militar y government.  The  federal military government used Decree  No.13, of  1970 and adopted a two factor  formula,  population  and  equality  of  state  while  Decree  No.  99  of  1971  gave  the  Federal Militar y Government  absolute power and right to revenue from off  – shore  rent and royalties.  Decree No.6, of 1975 emphasized that all revenues to be shared by  the states had to pass through to distribution post account except 20%  of the on-shore  mining rents and royalties due to the states of origin on the principle of derivation.
Aboyade Technical Committee of 1977
This  committee  was  appointed  in 1977  to review   the  existing  revenue  allocation  scheme.   The committee recommended that  all federally collected revenue without  distinction   should  be  paid  into the  federal  account  and  that  the  proceeds   of  the  account be shared among federal, state and local governments as follows:
i. Federal Government   60% ii. State Government  30% iii. Local Government   10%
A special grants account (3% from the federal government share)  was set aside by the  committee   to  be  administered  by  the  federal  military  government  to  care  for  the  mineral producing states, rehabilitation of other areas, emergencies and disasters.  The  sharing principles  among the states  were built on five factor  formula which include  equality   of   access   to   development   opportunities,   national   minimum   standards,  absorptive capacity, independent revenue and tax effort, and fiscal efficiency.
Okigbo Commission of  1979
This commission was  given the terms  of  reference to device  a scheme of  revenue  allocation that would be understood and widely accepted as equitable.  The committee  deliberated on the issue and concluded that receipts from payments of loans, sale of  government  capital  assets   and  reimbursement  cannot   be  regarded as  revenue  and  therefore should not  form part  of  the federation account or  the total  revenue of  the  federal government.
The Federal Capital Territory came into force on 1st October, 1979 and was regarded  as a state and was also entitled to participate in the sharing from the federation.
Section 149 of  the 1979 constitution provided that all revenue collected by the federal  government should be paid into the federation account except from the proceeds  of  personal income tax of the personnel of the Armed Forces, the Nigerian Police Force,  the Ministry of External Affairs and the residents of the Federal capital Territory.
The commission recommended that the proceeds of the federation account be shared  among federal, state and local government as follows:-
i. Federal Government 53% ii. State Government 30% iii. Local Government 10% iv. Special Fund 7%
They  also   recommended   that   the   7%  of   the  special   funds   should  be   applied  as  follows:-
i. Initial development of the Federal Capital Territory 2.5% ii. Special problems of Mineral producing states or areas 2.0% iii. Ecological and similar problems e.g flood, erosion etc 1.0% iv. Revenue equalization fund 1.5%
The  commission  further   recommended the  use  of  four  factor   formula  for  revenue  allocation among the state government with the following weights:-
i. Minimum responsibility of government 40% ii. Political 40% iii. Social development factor:  direct primary school enrollment 11.25%.  inverse  primary school enrollment 3.75% iv. Internal revenue effort 5%
Prior  to General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida regime and mid-way into the regime  proceeds of the federation account were shared among the three tiers  of  government  as follows:- i. Federal Government 55% ii. State Government 35% iii. Local Government 10%
The  25%   accruing to the  state  which is  paid  into  “State Joint  Local  Government  Account” is in-turn shared as listed here under:
i. Direct to state 30.5% ii. Mineral producing area on derivation basis 2.0% iii. Amelioration of ecological problems 1.0% iv. Development of oil producing areas 1.5%
The  respective share  of  the  various  governments  accounts   is  known as  “statutory  allocation”.    Babangida  in  his   speech  on  the   event   of   his   fourth  year   in  office,  announced a new revenue allocation formula approved by the Armed Forces Ruling  Council (AFR C) as listed here under:
i. Federal Government 50% ii. State Government 30% iii. Local Government 15% iv. Special Funds 5%
The Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) decided that any surplus arising from the  sale of gas and petroleum should be separately accounted for, and for the purpose of  payment into the federation account.
National Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission of 1989
This commission was  headed by Lt. General  T.Y. Danjuma (rtd).  The commission  was established in 1989 as a permanent revenue allocation body in the country.  It was  also charged with the responsibility of regular  review  of revenue allocation formula.  The commission came out with the following:-
i. Federal Government 48.5% ii. State Government 24.0% iii. Local Government 20.0% iv. Special Funds 7.5%
The 7.5% of the special fund is shared as follows:-
i. Ecological problems 2.0% vi. Emergency problems 2.5% vii. Mineral producing areas 3.0%
In the present formula, about 52.68 per cent is allocated to the federal government from the Federation Account, 26.70 per cent to the 36 states and 20.60 per cent to the 776 local government areas.
The formula, being used by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC), was first enacted in 1982 before it was brought into operation at the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999, with amendment.
However, there is no law in Nigeria that backs the current revenue formula, which, in any case, should have been reviewed by RMFAC as provided by the constitution.
Public Corporations and Privatisation in Nigeria
Public corporations are owned by government, owned and managed by the state to run certain public enterprises of a specialised nature requiring business-like administration. Public Corporations are established by acts of parliament which define their powers, functions, structure and relationship with other government institutions. They have legal personality, can sue and can be sued and can enter into negotiations, sign contracts and acquire property on their own or on behalf of government (Eneanya, 2009).
Reasons for Establishing Public Corporations
There are reasons for establishing public corporations. Let us consider some of them.
Flexibility and Operational Autonomy: Public corporations are established to enable them adopt business-like approach to decision making.
Foreign Competition: To check foreign businesses and encourage indigenous talents, government decides to establish corporations which have the skilled manpower, finance and management, to compete effectively with the giant foreign monopolies (companies).
Heavy Capital Requirement: The provision of certain essential services like water, electricity, telecommunications facilities, housing, ports and harbours, railways, etc., require heavy initial capital investment, so that both local and foreign investors are discouraged from providing them.
Public Interest: Public corporations may be set up for reasons of public interests, especially for welfare services, e.g. water, electricity, radio, television, etc.
National Security: Services concerned with national security and economic survival e.g., coal, iron and steel, central bank etc., are best provided through public ownership. National security may be in jeopardy and a nation may be blackmailed if such strategic services are left to private initiative.
Stabilisation of Producers’ Incomes and Development: Marketing boards were established in West Africa during the colonial era for the purpose of stabilising the supply and prices of agricultural products. Such stabilisation policy helps to remove price fluctuations and ensure a steady income for farmers. It is generally believed that the more direct control government has on the economy, the easier it is to influence socio-economic development (Eneanya, 2009:112-113).
Important Characteristics of Public Corporations
• It is a separate legal entity and is distinct from the government, which created it. It has a corporate character or franchise, which confers powers upon it. It can do only what the charter authorities.
• It is a corporation in the sense that it has the flexibility and initiative of a private enterprise, has freedom of administration and finance, of accounting and purchasing and has power to recruit its own personnel and to sue and be sued in its corporate name.
• It is a legal person entering into contracts, acquiring and owning property in its own name.
• It is incorporated under a special statute of the parliament which lays down the public purpose, its power, and duties and immunities.
• Though the primary objective of corporations is not profit but public service, it is run on business lines and not in accordance with bureaucratic procedures and practices.
• It holds funds in its own name which is approved by the parliament periodically and which accrues to it through its own earnings. It enjoys complete autonomy in the management of the funds.
• It has to operate within the broad outline of government policy. The day-to-day administration is the exclusive responsibility of the managing directors of the corporation.
• The personnel of public corporations are recruited independently in the pattern of business executives under terms and conditions determined by the corporation itself (Basu, 1994:246).
Privatisation and Commercialisation
The term ‘Privatisation’ is the process of changing the ownership of government companies (or public enterprises) to private ownership through the sale of the shares of such companies to individuals who will manage the companies efficiently and profitably. It means the transfer of government-owned shareholding in designated enterprises to private shareholders, comprising individuals and corporate bodies.
Commercialisation, on the other hand, is to change the way government companies operate to ensure that they are run under the principles of trade and commerce, make them market-oriented, and with a view to maximising profit (Maduabum, 2008). The effect of successful privatisation is that the public sector will be effectively restructured.
Privatisation is based on four core beliefs:
1. Government is into more things than it should be. It is intruding into private enterprise and lives;
2. Government is unable to provide services effectively or efficiently;
3. Public officials and public agencies are not adequately responsive to the public;
4. Government consumes too many resources and thereby threatens economic growth (Adeyemo and Salami, 2008).
Main Objectives of Privatisation and Commercialisation in Nigeria
The privatisation and commercialisation programmes in Nigeria were aimed at achieving the following objectives:
• To restructure and rationalise the public sector in order to lessen the dominance of unproductive investments in that sector;
• To re-orientated the enterprise for privatisation and commercialisation towards a new horizon of performance improvement, viability and overall efficiency;
• To ensure positive returns in public sector investment in commercial enterprises;
• To check the present absolute reliance of commercially oriented parastatals on the treasury for funding and to encourage their approach to the Nigerian capital market;
• To initiate the process of gradual transfer to the private sector of such public enterprises those by the nature of their operations and other social economic factors are best performed by the private sector;
• Creating a favorable investment climate for both local and foreign investors;
• Reduce the level of internal and external debts; and
• To provide institutional arrangements and operational guidelines that would ensure that the gains of privatisation and commercialisation are sustained in the future Decree No. 25 of 1988) (Adeyemo and Salami, 2008).

Problems of Privatisation and Commercialisation
Maduabum (2008) examines some major problems that have bedeviled the privatisation and commercialisation programmes operation in the country. The problems are discussed below:
Political will and Degree of Commitment: The initial problem which confronted the programme of privatisation and commercialisation was weak political will on the part of government to see the exercise through. As a result of this, its level of commitment to its implementation was low. This was the reason why fewer public enterprises were privatised or commercialised between 1988 and 1992.
Inadequate Planning: The pace of the exercise of this programme has been affected by unforeseen problems which adequate planning ought to have envisaged. This has necessitated changing the law governing the policy and the modus operandi of the exercise again and again.
Burdens on Public Enterprises: As a result of mismanagement, some parastatals were carrying heavy debt burdens of unpaid salaries, disappearing pensions, and suppliers etc. A lot of difficulties arose in a bid to privatise such enterprises as investors had not shown much interest in them. At the same time, government had been reluctant in assuming the debt burdens of these organisations. This has resulted in stalemate.
Opposition to the Policy: Certain persons who benefitted immensely from the inefficient management of some public enterprises have expressed their opposition to privatisation and commercialisation in Nigeria. Their arguments against the policy has been that it would lead to loss of jobs, loss of control, increase in prices, private monopoly, foreign domination of our economy, etc. such opposition has caused the implementation of the policy to slacken as it erodes the necessary political base.
Sales of Shares to the Rich Only: This problem has to do with the policy’s credibility in relation to fairness, equity, and justice. It has been alleged that the poor were left out in the exercise as they could not afford to subscribe to the shares without government empowering them. Some also argued that privatisation will only succeed in transferring the ownership of privatised enterprises from government to the very rich.
Inadequate Publicity: Privatisation and commercialisation are expected to be national and the effects felt in every nook and cranny of the country. However, publicity on the exercise has been limited to the cities. All these are some of the problems that have confronted the programme of privatisation and commercialisation since inception (Maduabum, 2008: 391-392). Some identified solutions to the problems of privatisation and commercialisation programme in Nigeria. It has been suggested that in order to ensure a successful and speedy completion of privatisation and commercialisation, it is necessary for government to adopt the following:
 • The programme has gone midstream and it will therefore be unwise to stop or slacken it. Government should display a high level of commitment in the implementation of privatisation and commercialisation.
• Government must also be prepared to buy off the debts of those enterprises burdened by heavy debts. As the debts were incurred by those employed by government, the government should regard itself vicariously liable for the debts.
• Poor Nigerians may be empowered, through financial institutions, to purchase shares in privatised enterprises. By providing soft loans to such people, more Nigerians will be assisted to taking part and benefiting from the exercise. Shares purchased may be held by the financial institutions as collateral. Adequate publicity also needs to be undertaken to make the average Nigerian understand the policy of privatisation and commercialisation (Maduabum, 2008:393).
Public-Private Partnership –
Meaning A public- private partnership is a legally-binding contract between government and business for the provision of assets and the delivery of services that allocates responsibilities and business risks among the various partners. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) combines the resources of government with those of private agents in order to deliver services to the citizens. Public-Private Partnership may take variety of forms, with varying degrees of public and private sector involvement – and varying levels of public and private sector risk. The main goal is to combine the best capabilities of the public and private sectors for mutual benefit.
Forms of Public-Private Partnership
There are various forms which PPP can take. Let us consider some of them.
Public Leverage
Public leverage occurs where governments use their legal and financial resources to create conditions that they believe will be conducive to economic activity and business growth.
Contracting-Out
Contracting-out involves separating the purchaser of a service from the provider. Government concentrates on the former, defining what services are to be available and to what standard, and then contracts out the provision to a business or not-for-profit organisation.
Franchising
Franchising involves government awarding a license to a business or not-for-profit to deliver a public service in which the provider’s income is in the form of user fees. The license may require the private agent to develop infrastructure, in which case it would normally transfer to public ownership at term.
Joint Ventures
Joint ventures occur where two or more parties wish to engage on a collaborative project in a way that retains their independence. Joint ventures enable the co-ordination of important decisions by independent actors in respect of a project that is close-ended in terms of its scope and the commitment of partners’ resources (Skelcher, 2005).
Advantages of Public-Private Partnership
Cost Savings
Cost savings materialise in several different forms but are mainly due to the private sector’s role as a mutual partner in the project. The private partner’s fundamental drive for economic gain yields it an incentive to continually improve its performance, thereby cutting overall project costs. Whole of Life-Cycle Public-private partnerships combine two or more of the project’s phases in a single bundle for the private consortium to deliver over the longterm. This creates economies of scale by motivating the private sector to organise its activities in a way that drives efficiencies and maximises returns on investments.
Output-Based Contracts
Public-private partnership projects typically adopt an output-focused contract which links payments to performance. This specifies project results in terms of the quality delivered, rather than how assets or services are provided. Emphasis on outputs also encourages innovation to take place by motivating the private partner to develop new methods and for project delivery that meets requirements at lower costs.
Risk Sharing
Public-private partnership is designed so that risk is transferred between the public and private sectors, allocating particular project risk to the partner best able to manage that risk cost-effectively. Public-Private Partnership Deliver On-Time with financing risk routinely transferred to the private consortium, any delays in meeting the agreed upon timelines can lead to additional costs for the private partner as it alone carries the debt for a longer period of time. Therefore, the private sector has a direct financial interest in ensuring that projects and services are delivered on-time, if not sooner.
Enhancing Public Management
By inviting the private partner in, the public authority can transfer risks and responsibilities over the day-to-day operations of two or more phases of the urban infrastructure project to the private consortium. This frees the public sector to focus on other important policy issues such as regulating, performance monitoring and urban service planning.
Improved Levels of Service
By bringing together the strengths from the public and private sectors, PPP has unique ability to share a diverse range of resources, technologies, ideas and skills in a cooperative manner that can work to improve how urban infrastructure assets and services are delivered to the people.
Increased Availability of Infrastructure Funds
Public-private partnership frees up funding for other urban infrastructure projects in two ways: first, through the potential cost savings inherent in the PPP approach, and second, through access to private financing which commits the government to spread payments for services rendered over a longer period of time. Seeing that it is the private partner who typically absorbs the financing risk, the public authority is not obliged to record the investment upfront as part of its bottom line surplus or deficit for that fiscal year. This allows the transaction to remain ‘off balance sheet’, meaning the government can borrow money for other important projects without affecting calculations of the measure of its indebtedness (UN Habitat, 2011).
Tan, Allen and Overy (2012) also enumerated some benefits of public private partnership.
These are listed below:
• Investment decisions under PPP contracts tend to be based on a long term view rather than short-term concerns.
• Risk and work are transferred to the party which is best able to manage it at the least cost, achieving best value.
• Projects go through a competitive pricing process, meaning that the cost of public services is benchmarked against market standards.
• The timings and costing tend to be more certain and therefore deliver better value for money. Where PPP is not completed to budget, the private sector usually bears the costs.
• The cross-transfer of public and private sector skills, knowledge and expertise can create innovation and efficiency.
• The private sector often brings with it greater construction capacity, labour capacity and resources than would be available to the public sector.
• Payments to the private sector in PPP projects are usually linked to how they perform, creating incentives and efficiency.
• PPP projects are not subject to political interference and deferred payments for the government.
Disadvantages of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
Public-Private Partnership has some disadvantages. Let us examine the major disadvantages of PPP.
Public-private partnerships represent good opportunities to lower overall project costs. However, when compared with traditional procurement, the complete PPP process invites additional costs that, if not managed properly, can erode some of the potential economic benefits of this model. One of these potential cost drivers is identified in the tender process - a competitive approach to choosing a project partner unique to the PPP procurement model. Parties bidding for a project expend considerable skills and resources in designing and evaluating the project prior to implementation. Depending on the number of project bidders, costs can add up as all participating bids tend to be factored into the overall cost of the project.
Secondly, the long-term and inclusive nature of a PPP contract requires that each partner spend considerable time and resources on outside experts to help anticipate and oversee all possible future contingencies. These can be very costly, particularly for a public agency inexperienced with the private sector and requiring additional help to protect the public interest. And finally, while the private financing element of the partnership is one of the most important incentive drivers for the private partner, the price of financing can result in higher capital costs ranging between 1 and 3 percent. Unless cost savings generated by the private consortium outweigh the added cost of private loan financing, a PPP project may not deliver cost savings. Reduced Control of Public Assets In view of the fact that the private sector absorbs a significant portion of the project risk, important decisions over outcomes are inadvertently shared with that partner. Accordingly, this can result in the loss of public control over important decisions concerning arrange of public issues, from how basic public goods such as housing and clean water should be delivered and priced, through to on-site labour issues around job pay and security.
Mitigating Risk
The more complex the urban project and the more people involved the higher and more varied the risk becomes. Although a carefully structured PPP manages risk through a well-defined contractual agreement, some risk is unforeseen and therefore difficult to mitigate. In the case of such unexpected risk (or project failure), oftentimes it is the public authority that is left to not only pay for the failure of the risk, but also the emerging costs.
Rigidities in Long-Term Contract A key concern with the long-term committal nature of PPP procurement is that it limits the public sector’s ability to make changes to the contract if unexpected economic or situational challenges arise. In the event that a change is required either to the use of an infrastructure asset, or to the type of urban service offered, PPP has proven to be inflexible - both in terms of the time and administrative burden associated with altering the contract (UN Habitat, 2011).