DEFINITIONS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND GOVERNMENT

Public Administration is the action part of government, the means by which the purposes and
goals of government are realized.

Government refers to a group of people who assume the powers of state to administer the
affairs of state generally in the interest of a sovereign people.

OTHER DEFINITIONS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

In 1950, Simon and Smithburg defined Public Administration as an act of the executive branch
of a nation, state, local government or organizations. The definition specifically excluded the
legislature and judicial branches within government, as well as non-governmental
organizations.

The definition offered by D. White in 1955 in the Introduction to the Study of Public
Administration, states that Public Administration is the composite of all the laws, regulations,
practices, relationships, codes and customs that prevail at anytime in any jurisdiction for the
fulfilment or execution of Public Policy.

For F. Mornsterin Max writing in 1956 defined Public Administration thus “at its fullest range
Public Administration embraces every aspect of government policy including the legislature
and judiciary including the work of military agencies. It is the establishment of organized
personnel and practices for the function of the civilian branch of the executive.

In 1961, the central idea of the Public Administration emerged as it being rational action,
defined as action correctly calculated to realize given/desired goals.

In 1953, Corson and Harris defined Public Administration as “decision making, planning the
work to be done, formulating objectives and goals, working with legislature and action
organizations, directing and supervising employees, providing leadership, communicating and
receiving communication, determining work methods and procedures, appraising
performance, exercising controls and other functions performed by government executives and
supervisors. It is the action part of government, the means by which the purposes and goals of
government are realized”.
F. Negro in 1965, wrote, ‘Public Administration is defined as the cooperative group effort in
the public setting. It covers all three branches of government and includes their coordination.
It is more important then and significantly different from private administration”.

Subsequently, in 1967, P. Fittner and Presthus gave the definition of Public Administration as
“the accomplishment of political objectives. It is exploratory and innovative in its search for
what is needed for the group action”

In 1974, J.W. Davies also defined Public Administration as the “formulation (adoption),
implementation, evaluation and modification of Public Policy.

DEFINITION OF GOVERNMENT

From manifest experience, government can be defined as referring to the activities of a group
of people who assume the powers of state to administer the affairs of state, generally in the
interest of a sovereign people.

DEFINITION OF STATE

In attempting to define it by its characteristics, we can say that the properties essential to a state
are:

a) defined territory
b) defined population
c) A government possessing a monopoly of force for the preservation of peace and order and
having a plenitude of authority within the state, independent of external control
(sovereignty) except that of international law.
-The powers of the state (monopoly) referred to, is to be applied in pursuance of the common
good or general welfare (public interest). This last condition implies recognition of the
community of states.

CHARACTERISTICS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Developing countries have one or some of the following characteristics in common:

 1. They are countries with low reservoir of natural resources or they are unable to tap their
natural resources
2. The economy is backward, often agrarian economy, which many a times suffers
unpredictable natural climatic condition
3. Low level of industrialisation
4. Low level of employment
5. Plagued by un-employment, under employment and disguised unemployment
6. Low Forex Reserve (Foreign Currency reserve)
7. Adverse balance of trade and balance of payment situation
8. Heavy borrowing from other countries
9. Heavy debt burden or indebtedness
10. Highly dependent on foreign aids / importation of goods
11. Interference from other countries, or international organisations like World Bank, IMF
12. Existence of vicious circle of poverty
13. Socio- economic inequality
14. Inflation
15. Budget deficit
16. Unplanned economy
17. Poor infrastructure
18. Poor Standard of Living and Malnutrition
19. High rate of Population growth
20. Political Instability
Based on the conditions above, developing countries have to take systematic approach to move
ahead on the path to development depending on the root cause of underdevelopment. The approach
should be such that its benefits can be made available to larger section of the populace. Therefore,
in the developing countries quest for development, care has to be taken not to harm the under
privileged people of the society.

LECTURE 2

NATURE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTIRES

The nature of public administration is very broad and complex. It focuses attention on the concept
of public administration, the evolution of public administration, and the conditions that made it
imperative. It further concentrates on the futures, control and scope of public administration. The
nature of public administration will facilitate our understanding on the relevance of these issues in
improving effectiveness and efficiency in the public sector. There are many conditions that led to
the evolution of public administration. These are: (a) The existence of extensive empires (b) the
rise of absolute monarchy (c) the need for central management of scarce resources (d) the
introduction of money economy (e) Lack of adequate communication. (f) Increase in literacy rate
and (g) Introduction of codified laws. Many scholars have written and argued about these
conditions and how each has helped the origin of public administration and how these factors have
helped the emergence of public administration. The existence of empires whether old or new, has
invariably called for the evolution of administration. These empires called for the setting, structure
and formation of a formal organization which is necessary for the day to day running of the empire
e.g. the Roman, Ghana, Mali and Chinese Empires. Tout (1968), attributes the rise of Public
Administration to absolute monarchs and argues that earliest bureaucracy was identified in the
king’s household. He recaptured the experiences in France and Russia between 12 and 14 century
and argued that, the servants of the kings or absolute monarchs later became servants of the states
when capitalism came into control of the European economy and society. (Scott and Blau, 1963),
believes that public Administration arose in these empires due to the need for management of
scarce resources. He cited an example of the Chinese empire, where as a result of scarce resources;
a central management committee was constituted to manage

the distribution of resources. Mere existence of empires did not bring about public administration,
but the shortage of resources brought public administration because of the need to manage the
scarce resources. The rise of money economy made it possible for labour to be exchanged for
money. The emergence of money (because of the difficulty of trade by barter) as a medium of
exchange became an essential ingredient for the rise of public administration. Weber (1964), states
that, bureaucracy arose essentially because of the emergence of money economy, the armies and
the empires. The need for effective contact between and amongst people made the evolution of
public administration. It became absolute necessary to provide this communication.
Another factor that contributed to the rise of public administration is the introduction of codified
laws with specified functions. Brain (1966), believes that the influence of the Catholic Church
attributed to the rise of public administration. He is of the view that, in the early days, the Catholic
Church of the Roman was the largest employer of human resources. Others empires that
contributed to the rise of public administration are the monarchs in France, Prussia and Britain

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE GAMBIA

THE PRESIDENT

It should be noted that the Chief Public Administrator of the Gambia is the President of the
Republic. He is the head of state and government. He is also the Commander in Chief of the Armed
forces and Minister of Defense. The President has some Constitutional powers to appoint, redeploy
and dismiss Ministers, Ambassadors, Secretary General, Secretary to Cabinet, Inspector General
of Police and the Chief of Defense Staff among others.

THE MINISTERS

All Ministers are Public Administrators. They are appointed by the President of the Republic to
oversee the effective and efficient administration and management of their various Ministries. All
Ministers represent their Ministries at the Cabinet meeting. The Cabinet meeting is headed by the
President and in his absence, the Vice President Chair the meeting. The Cabinet discuss issues
relating to the development of the country and issues affecting the progress of the country.

PERMANENT SECRETARIES

They are the administrative and technical head of ministries. The permanent briefs the Minister on
the activities of the Ministry. He prepares speeches for the Minister and advice him on technical
and administrative issues of the Ministry. He is the administrative head of Projects and
Programmes in the Ministry. All letters sent to the Ministries are addressed to the Permanent
Secretary and all the letters going out of the Ministries are signed by the Permanent Secretary or
on his or her behalf.

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (PSC)

Public Service Commission (PSC) is the Government department responsible for recruitment,
promotion, and disciple of Civil Servants. It creates a set of standard requirements for entrants to
the Civil Service, on the job training and promotions. The aim of the Commission is among others
to ‘‘ maintain an effective and efficient Civil Service by ensuring that persons who meet the criteria
for jobs are recruited, trained, and disciplined in an open, fair and impartial manner. The
Commission provides efficient and cost-effective service for all Civil Servants and other
stakeholders throughout The Gambia by the formulation, management and the supervision of the
management and implementation of Government policies which pertain to recruitment,
development and discipline of Civil Servants." It is the government department responsible for
announcing vacancies within the Civil Service. The Commission ‘‘assess and evaluates Public
Service Regulations, General Orders and makes appropriate suggestions to the Government ’’.
Although the Commission is responsible for the general effectiveness of the Civil Service, its
mandate does not include ambassadors / high commissioners, employment at local government
level and local chiefs. Each year the commission prepares and presents its annual report to the
parliament (National Assembly) of The Gambia.

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT OFFICE (PMO)

The Personnel Management Office is under the Office of the President is responsible for; ‘‘the
administration of the General Orders, the recruitment of volunteers and technical assistance
personnel, public service training and staff development policies and implementation, staff
inspections and organization, formulation and review of the schemes of service, policy for and
administration of pensions and gratuities, personnel statistics, and manpower budgeting and
control. We are committed to being open and accountable to you and we actively pursue ways to
keep you informed about our activities. Our website is one of the ways to do this’’.

THE STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE GAMBIA

Generally, Public Administration is organized in two ways: laterally and vertically. Laterally, the
government creates ministries or governmental departments on the basis of different areas of
interests of its activities. Usually, such ministries as those of Defence, Foreign Affairs, and Finance
and Economic Affairs, Trade Industry and Employment, Youth and Sports, Basic and Secondary
Education, Higher Education Research Science and Technology, Tourism and Culture, Energy,
Petroleum etc. are part of this structure. The Ministries are technically and administratively headed
by Permanent Secretaries while Politically they are headed by Ministers. Others may be split up
into smaller units or combined into larger units as the government sees fit on the basis of its view
of how best to carry out its programmes and the available funds for this purpose. For Example the
Ministry of Agriculture have different departments such as the Department of Soil and Water
Management, Department of Livestock Services, Depart of Horticulture, Department of Veterinary
Services, Department of Planning etc. the Directors head those departments listed above, It is all
these Ministries and Departments that collectively form the civil service or public administration.

This ministerial organization is based on a lateral division of labour in the performance of

governmental activities. Thus, for example, the ministry of information takes responsibility for the
dissemination of news about government; the finance ministry coordinates all the financial
transactions of the government, the ministry of defence uses the armed forces to protect the society
from external attack and the ruling class from external and internal attack and displacement; the
foreign affairs ministry conducts the nation’s foreign policy; and the ministry of the interior looks
after internal security through such institutions as the police, prisons, fire and rescue service, and
immigrations. At the top of hierarchy of the Ministries are: Minister – then Permanent Secretary –
then Deputy Permanent Secretary, followed by Principal Assistant Secretary, then Senior Assistant
Secretary followed by Assistant Secretary and at the bottom are the Records Officers, Drivers,
Cleaners, Messengers etc.

In addition to the ministries, the public administration includes some parastatals which perform
special or specific services to the people. It may include providing water and electricity,
communication services, transportation of people and goods, providing housing and social
security, etc. Some of the Parastatals and their functions are:

1. Assets Management and Recovery Corporation (AMRC) it deals in Gambian land sale
tenders for re-possessed plots, houses, commercial buildings and other assets on behalf of the
Government.

2. Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBOS) Advice government on statistics

Collects, stores, measures, analyzes and publishes statistical data, social, demographic, and
economic statistics pertaining to the to the populace. Carry out sample surveys and census in The
Gambia, Organise coordinated scheme of socio-economic statistics relating to The Gambia

Publish socio–economic data on The Gambia permitted.

3. The Gambia Telecommunications Company Limited (Gamtel) provides

telecommunication services to the people.

4. National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) provides water and electricity services
to the People.

5. The Gambia Agency for Management of Public Works (Gamworks) it is a public works
construction institution, dedicated to providing vital public infrastructure and services, creating
employment and building local capacity through public sector infrastructural improvements and
private sector development.

These agencies vary from country to country. In some countries but not in others some of them
may attain the status of a ministry. Among them are the bureau of statistics such as the Gambia
Bureau of Statistics whose function is data gathering and analysis on all aspects of a nation’s life.
For purposes of coordination of their activities with those of the other departments of the
administration they are looked after by certain “parent” ministries. Thus for e.g. the public service
commission of The Gambia is under the Office of The President. The GAMTEL, GAMCEL and
GRTS are under the Ministry of Information and Communication.

This lateral organization of governmental institutions makes the coordination of the activities of
these various ministries and agencies as important aspect of public administration. Such
coordination is often evident at the time of budgeting and when preparing national development
plans. Therefore budgeting and development planning are mechanisms for inter-ministerial
coordination. Their goal is to ensure that all the lateral units of the government are working
harmoniously in the pursuit of their various programmes. However on a more regular basis
coordination is achieved by the activities and decisions of the cabinet. Here most of the heads of
the ministries are represented and discuss the implementation of government programmes under
the chairmanship of the chief executive of the state. Since the ministers are the official political
heads of the ministries their presence at the cabinet ensures that the views and interests of the
ministries are represented. However, in some countries, not all ministers are of cabinet rank and
so not all of them attend cabinet meetings all the time. But when matters directly affecting a
ministry are concerned its minister will attend even though he /she is not of cabinet rank.
Otherwise, its interests are looked after in the cabinet by another minister of cabinet rank.

Thus the cabinet through its periodic review of the activities of the various ministries is able to
coordinate them. On a day-to-day basis coordination of the activities of the various lateral sections
of the civil service is done by a section of the public administration known as the Cabinet Office.
In The Gambia, the executive office of the president under the headship of The Secretary General
and Head of Civil Service performs this function. On a lesser scale it is also performed by the
Office of the Head of the Public Service Commission which deals with more technical questions
of the efficiency and smooth working of the bureaucratic machinery of government. Needless to
say, effective coordination of the various arms of the public administration is the wheel around
which its efficiency and effectiveness revolve.

In addition to the lateral organization of the public administration into ministries, there is also a
vertical organization of each ministry as a hierarchy of authority roles in which command flows
downwards and obedience flows upwards. Thus, public administration is a command structure
with those at the higher level commanding and those at the lower level obeying. The higher the
level of authority the greater the degree of responsibility of the role occupant within the system.
At the top of this hierarchy is the minister who is the political head of the ministry. He/She takes
responsibility for the performance of his/her ministry, taking the credit for success and the blame
for failure. A serious failure by his/her ministry may cost him his job as minister and may even
send him/her into political disgrace. Therefore, the minister must maintain a tight control over the
other members of his ministry in the performance of their duties. In this task he/she has the aid of
a tightly knit set of rules, regulations, norms and procedures to which the civil servants must
conform strictly. However, apart from the function of laying down the broad policy outlines for
his ministry, the job of the minister is essentially one of supervision of the activities of his/her
subordinates.

The technical or professional head of the ministry is the permanent secretary. He comes
immediately after the minister in importance, and he is responsible for directing the day-to-day
affairs of the ministry. While the minister is answerable to the cabinet and ultimately to the head
of government, the permanent secretary is answerable to the minister. Unlike the minister, he is a
career civil servant and cannot be removed from office easily and without following a long and
difficult process. He is, therefore, quite secure in his job. He may be transferred to less important
jobs as a punishment for inefficiency and inability to perform. But he cannot be sacked for these
inadequacies. He supervises a chain of command which extends from him at the top to the
messengers and cleaners at the very bottom of the command structure. The links in this chain are
very important as they are close to the office of the permanent secretary. This structure enables the
permanent Secretary to coordinate the various activities going on in his ministry. It indicates where
responsibility lies and therefore who is to take credit or blame for any action. It is held together by
a system of promotions and disciplinary actions which serve to motivate civil servants to perform
well.

Within the ministry itself there is a spatial division of labour around which substructures are built
up. These substructures enable the ministry to perform efficiently. They are usually organized
around the following functions: data gathering of relevance to the activities of the ministry;
planning, finance (including auditing and accounting), personnel management, and the
coordination of all these activities. In addition, some ministries have extension units which enable
them to make contact directly with the population. For example, the ministry of agriculture
maintains an extension services unit through which it informs and instructs farmers in the latest
developments in farming and animal husbandry; the internal revenue division of the ministry of
finance employs tax collectors who go even to the remotest villages to collect taxes; the
immigration department of the ministry of interior employs immigration officers who sometimes
make house-to-house checks for illegal immigrants, and customs and police posts for tracking of
custom offenders and criminals are maintained by the customs and police departments
respectively; The Gambia Bureau of Statistics employs field officers who collect statistical
information both from government departments and the public alike; and the ministry of
information maintains field agents who collect news directly from its source and disseminates it
to the public.

LECTURE 3
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA

Nigeria was one of the British colonies in West Africa. It gained independence from Britain on the
1st October 1960. Nigeria is ruled by a president who is assisted by a Vice President. The President
is the Head of Government and also Chairs the Federal Executive Council (known as Cabinet).
The Country is divided into 36 federal states each have their own government headed by a
Governor and a state parliament. Nigeria just like The Gambia also has three arms of government:
Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary.
The Executive powers of the Federation are vested in the President, who is the Head of State, the
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation. The President is elected for a term
of four years and must not receive less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the Federal Capital
Territory. The President nominates a candidate as his associate from the same party to occupy the
Office of the Vice-President. The President subject to confirmation by the Senate nominates the
Ministers of Government of the Federation.

Judiciary: it is the duty of the Judiciary to adjudicate in disputes between government, individuals
and corporate entities in their inter-relationship, in accordance with the Law. The Supreme Court
Judges are appointed by the President while Federal Court of Appeal judges are appointed by the
federal government on the advice of the Advisory Judicial Committee. The Supreme Court is the
highest court in the country. It is the last stop on all appeal matters, with an exclusive jurisdiction
to hear and determine appeals from Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Courts. The Supreme
Court is made up of Chief Justice and 15 other Judges.
The Court of Appeal has exclusive Jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from the federal
high court, State High Courts, Sharia Court of Appeal, Customary Court of Appeal, National
Industrial Court, and Court Marshall etc.
The Constitutional Court has Jurisdiction over matters relating to the interpretation or enforcement
of the Constitution among other duties. The Federal High Court has exclusive Jurisdiction of in
civil and matters relating to revenue of the Federal Government such as Taxation, Customs and
Excise Duties, Banking, Copyrights, Admiralty, Citizenship etc.
Legislation is enacted by a bicameral National Assembly composed of the Senate and the House
of Representatives.
The Bicameral National Assembly consists of Senate (109 seats, three from each of state and one
from the Federal Capital Territory, members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and
House of Representatives (360 seats, members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms).
A joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives is called the National Assembly. The
Nigerian Senate is headed by a Senate President who is assisted by a Deputy. The Senate President
is the third hierarchy after the President and the Vice President.
The National Assembly of Nigeria makes laws for the federation. It is vested with the powers to
amend the constitution of the Federal Republic. The process of making a law begins with
presentation of a bill, most of the time at the House of Representative. The bill could be sponsored
by the executive, the legislative, or the general populace or private organisations.
In Nigeria, there are three levels of public administration, which are:
i. Federal Government Administration
ii. State government Administration
iii. Local Government Administration (774 local governments)

EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA

It has been posited that the present-day public administration has its origin in the amalgamation of
the colony and protectorates of the northern and southern Nigeria to form the colony and
protectorate of Nigeria in 1914. He equally informed that the Nigeria’s colonial experience also
laid the foundation for economic and political underdevelopment of the country, (Maduabum,
2008).

Before then, the natives formed clusters which were administered on the basis of village or
nomadic communities. Gladden (1972) wrote that some form of administration had existed ever
since there had been government. In such communities, people of the same or mixed kindred found
themselves living within common or defined geographical boundaries and interact as individuals
or groups for their collective wellbeing. They had rule and regulations guiding them and
established control measures with the arm of authority vested on their traditional rulers. This was
collaborated by Muwanga (1978) who traced the evolution of administration back to pre-
government period. According to him, ‘since man began to live in groups, even as a hunter, he had
to subject himself to some form of administration or another’. Such were the system of
administration and social control in many parts of Nigeria until the advent of the British who
colonized them.

The emergence of the colonial masters brought a different dimension to the native administration.
The British rule was fashioned to suit the colonial masters at the expense of the native dwellers.
Okigbo (1986) as quoted in Maduabum (ibid) rightly observed that the colonial public service was
created and fashioned to suit the peculiar circumstances of ruling the people who were held in
contempt by the ruling power, and considered valuable only for what they have to contribute to
the metropolitan country. To ensure a smooth administration of the natives, the colonial masters
created two forces: a military force to intimidate their subjects and hold them in perpetual fear;
and a small cadre of dedicated loyal servants to maintain law and order and instil that fear in the
people. The whites dominated the upper and middle positions in the administration, leaving the
menial jobs in the lowest reaches for the natives irrespective of their educational qualifications and
skills. According to Maduabum (2006) the people were rendered completely passive and highly
de-motivated. This informs the non-challant and indifferent attitude to work by the Nigerian public
servants as they regard the job as that of the ‘white man’ who took all the benefits that accrued
from the collective efforts of both of them. However, the public service had undergone series of
changes and reforms, but it is yet to divorce itself of the class structure and the colonial mentality
which it inherited from the colonial masters. This mentality has continued to be the bane of the
public service in Nigeria. In the words of Maduabum (ibid), ‘the structural deformities and
contradictions inherited in 1960 have continued to militate directly or indirectly against
possibilities for growth, stability and development. Political initiatives and regime initiatives have
had to contend with structurally determined and conditioned crises and contradictions while
making it possible for new problems to emerge and fetter.’

In effect, the post-colonial alignment and realignment of class forces in Nigeria have operated
within the overall deformities and distortions introduced and nurtured by the colonial state and the
colonial elite.

Factors That Influence Public Administration In Nigeria

As we mentioned earlier, Public Administration is influenced by the factors that operate within the
environment. Some of the factors that affect Public Administration in Nigeria includes
Colonialism, political, socio-cultural, economic, legal etc.

1. Influence of Colonialism
Prior to the advent of the British rule, there was in existence some form of fragmented
administration in the colonies before the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates
of the country in 1914. The salient features of the evolution of the Nigeria Public Administration
as listed by Maduabum (2006:14) are enumerated below:
a. From 1866 to 1874 the central administration for Lagos, Gold Coast, Gambia and Sierra Leone
was transferred to Freetown, Sierra Leone.
b. From 1874 to 1886, Lagos and Colony was administered from gold Coast.
c. In 1886 Moloney was appointed Governor of Lagos.
d. In 1889, the Niger Coast Protectorate was merged with the territories of the Royal Niger
Company.
e. On 1st January 1990, the protectorate of Southern Nigeria was created along with that of
Northern Nigeria.
f. In 1906, Lagos Colony was merged with Southern Nigeria.
g. In 1914, Lagos Colony plus Southern Protectorate were merged with Northern Protectorate to
form an amalgamated territory called Nigeria. Thereafter, a Governor General named Sir Fredrick
Lugard was appointed for the amalgamated colony. He was assisted by exclusively appointed all
European Executive Council members.
Nigeria inherited a rigid centralized administrative structure that was designed to serve the interest
of the colonial masters. It was tailored to guarantee law and order, and to collect taxes and fines.
Theirs was mainly materialistic acquisition and not development administration or assimilation as
was done by their francophone counterparts. Adamolekun (2000:33) rightly puts it thus, ‘British
colonial rule was an administocracy, a dictatorship, and an authoritarian system of government’.
In the area of personnel, the upper and middle levels were pre-dominantly occupied by the ‘whites’
while the natives were confines to the menial jobs irrespective of their educational background or
skills. The people were highly demoralized and this made many of them to leave the public service.
Those that remained were very passive and alienated with their jobs which they see as ‘the white
man’s job’. This is partly attributed to the fact that the whites took all the benefits that accrued
from the job even when they did not work for it, leaving the natives who are the rightful owners
as servants and onlookers. This trend continued even after independence. More so that even today,
many Nigerians still regard the Public Service as ‘white man’s job’. This is a significant legacy
left for Nigerians by their colonial masters. The foregoing has a lot of implications on the
development of Public Administration in Nigeria, some of which are as follows;
a. Native administration system contrasted sharply with the imposed indirect rule system and
complex structure of governance.
b. The creation of a weak, repressive, and non-hegemonic state were strategy by the colonial rulers
to further defraud the natives.
c. The Public sector was imposed on the people for the maintenance of law and order. Rules and
regulations were to be observed. This was quite novel to the people who were used to their local
ways and cultural values. The Public Administration in Nigeria became obsessed with these rules
and ensured its compliance but failed to take into consideration the fact that the rules were only to
be used as guide to an end.
d. The development of indigenous elites and their marginalization in the internal production and
exchange system had a negative impact on the psyche of the indigenous elites and the society in
general.
e. The hierarchical organization of offices in terms of control and supervision contrasts with the
predominantly form of traditional authority and its power structure.
f. The looting of the resources of Nigeria, discouragement of relevant and comprehensive
education, the failure to create useful and democratic institutions, and the failure to build
infrastructure that would facilitate mobility and contract amongst people were a huge set back to
the development of Nigeria.
g. In area of personnel, the ‘whites’ were the sole occupants of the upper and the middle echelon
of the public administration, leaving the menial and lower cadre for the natives irrespective of their
academic qualifications and skills. This had a negative influence on the psyche of the natives who
felt marginalized and highly demotivated. As a result, majority of the people regard the Public
Service as a ‘white man’s job’.
 2. Influence of the ‘Nigerianization’ Policy
Before the First World War, the colonialists avoided appointing Nigerians to positions of authority
based on racial discrimination but by the end of the First World War, the structure of administration
had been sufficiently established. The Second World War gave a great boost to the
‘Nigerianization’ of the public service. During this period, Nigerians agitated for more
appointments in the senior cadres which were hitherto denied them. As a way of compensating
Nigerians for supporting Britain in their war campaign, the Foot Commission of Inquiry was
established in 1948, to ascertain the possibility of indigenizing or ‘Nigrianizing’ the civil service.
The report of this commission paved way for the ‘indigenization’ or rather ‘Nigerianization’ of the
public service. This policy later spread to the Eastern and Western regions of the country. The
Northern regions were later to tow the same part. The later introduced nepotism and ethnicity into
their administrative system. Nigeria gained her independence in 1960 and by 1961, the Public
service of Nigeria had been fully Nigerianize.

3. The Political Influence

The political environment consists of the attitudes and actions of political and government leaders
and legislators, which affect all kinds of organizations and individuals. The policies the political
class made affect virtually every aspect of life so do the implementation of such policies by the
Public Administrators. Nigeria gained independence from British colonial rule in First October
1960 and since then she had experienced both democratic and military administrations. Twenty-
two years out of the Fifty years of independence have been under democratic government, while
the rest had been under the military administration. Nigeria operates a federal system of
government with three tiers system of governance: federal government, the State and the Local
governments. The Act of governance is as stipulated in the Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria.

4. Economic Influence
Public Administration of a country is influenced by the Economic policies of the government in
power for instance the privatization and commercialization policy of the Federal government
which has influenced the prices of goods and weakened the purchasing power of the currency.
Nigeria operates a mixed economy whereby government invests in certain enterprises owned by
the state such as Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Defence etc. These are known as Statutory
Corporations or Parastatals. The workers who work in these corporations are known as public
servants. The corporations are managed like private organizations except that the management and
board members are appointed by the government.

5. Socio-Cultural Influence
The socio-cultural environment also influences the practice of Public Administration in Nigeria.
By socio-cultural environment we mean the desires, expectations, attitudes, degrees of intelligence
and education, beliefs and customs of the people in each group or society.

References

1. UN, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DEAS), Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Public Administration, Country Profile, May 2014
2. Babatunde. O.J., Introduction to Public Administration, PAD 202, National Open
University of Nigeria, School of Management Sciences

The Environmental Factors that have influence on Public Administration in Nigeria

These factors are not peculiar to the third world states which include Nigeria environment alone
as there are also found in other developing countries. Some of these are discussed below:

1. Social Factor

In this situation, the loyalty to family, friends, local, state, and ethnic groups take precedence over
loyalty to the nation. This makes supervision and control difficult to implement. It breeds
corruption and mediocrity as merit is not the yardstick for appointment to public office or the
award of contracts.
The Public Service is also viewed as a faceless entity or as national cake’ which should be sliced
and eaten by those who are fortunate to get close to it. The bigger your slice, the smarter you are
viewed by the society. The same society regards those who have been to the corridors of power
but have nothing to show for it as very foolish. They are scorned and despised even by their own
families. The result is looting of the public treasury by public officers, politicians, the military
etcetera. This have impoverished the country and made the Transparency International to rate
Nigeria as one of the most corrupt nations in the world despite the acclaimed fight against
corruption in Nigeria.

2. Human Factor
The superiors in most cases are very reluctant to delegate responsibilities and authority to their
subordinates. The subordinates, on the other hand, are often reluctant to accept responsibilities
from their superiors. The decision making is usually concentrated at the topmost levels with the
resultant inefficient use of the talents of both the superiors and the subordinates.

3. Language Factor
There is no indigenous acceptable lingua franca for the nation with the result that most people are
conducting their business in different languages. This has adverse effect on productivity as well as
on government business because, in most cases, it is hard to communicate or execute instruction
effectively.

4. Educational Factor

It was not really meant to educate the indigenes rather to serve the purpose of interpreting their
language to the natives, hence the emphasis on reading and writing as against science and
technology. This state of affairs also was responsible for the emphasis on paper qualifications
rather than acquisition of skills.

5. Time Factor
Our government is very good in shunning out good policies or projects but find it difficult to define
how or when these projects will be completed. They are always not serious in tagging time to each
project and follow it up with strict compliance.

Conclusion
Public Administrators operate in a complex environment. They affect, and to some extent,
influence the environment in which they operate. In playing advisory roles to the political class
and also in policy implementation they must consider the internal and external environment. Many
governments are making serious efforts to establish an environment that is beneficial to the society.
Nigerian government is towing similar line.

SUMMARY
From the discussion on the ecology of public administration we have seen the influence of
environmental factors as it impacts on the practice of public administration in Nigeria. Ecology in
Public Administration context is concerned with the differences in social, cultural and
environmental factors and how environmental factors and historical experiences affect the way in
which administration is conducted. It also deals with how administrative actions affect the Society
in which it plays a part. We also observed that development strategies and approaches must take
into cognizance the very nature of the society involved, drawing at the same time from its human
and material resources to achieve social change in the Society.

DIFFERENCES AND SIMILIARITIES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN DEVELOED

AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Public Administration in developed and developing countries could be viewed from different
angles. Although there are differences in the way the public is administered in developed and
developing countries, there are some similarities too.

Some of the differences of public administration in developed and developing countries.

1. Office of the President/ Prime Minister: The president/Prime Minister in most if not all
countries are elected by people. In some countries Presidents/Prime Ministers are elected
 by people through voting. There are term limits to Presidents/ Prime Minister in some
developed countries while there is no term limit for them in most developing countries.
Since the Presidents/Prime Ministers are the number one Public Administrators in most
countries, there needs to be limit in their ruling. This will enable them not to have
complete absolute power.
2. Most countries and constitutions have Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. In most
countries, there is separation of power of the three arms of government. This contributes
to the effective and efficient public administration. In developed countries the Executive,
Legislative and Judiciary are not only separate but there are checks in the work each arm
of government. That is the Executive checks on the powers of the Legislative, and
Judiciary, while the Legislative also checks on the powers of Executive and Judiciary.
The checks and balance limits the absolute power of one arm over the others. In the
developed countries, the three arms work effectively in checking the powers of the others
while in the developing countries, it is not practiced as expected. This has made some
public administrators more powerful and untouchable.
3. Resource Based Management: It refers to the effective and efficient use of the scarce
resources for the benefit of the people. All countries either developed or developing have
resources. The public administrators are entrusted with the efficient and effective use of
the resources for the benefit of the people. In most developed countries, the public
administrators use the natural and manmade resources judiciously. This has led to repid
development in that part of the world. Unlike the public administrators in the developed
countries, the public administrators in most developing countries misuse the resources
especially state resources. Most of them abuse the resources and by putting the benefits
derived in the resources into their own personal use instead of the people.
4. The bureaucrats in the developed countries are highly professional, well trained,
motivated and are ready to deliver the expected good. On the other hand, some
bureaucrats in the developing countries are not well trained, do not do their work as
expected, are not specialist in the place that they work and are involved in corruption and
mismanagement of public funds.
5. Public Administrators in developed countries rely heavily on information technology and
effective communication in administering the people and resources. While in some
 developing countries some public administrators still depend on the traditional mode of
communication, such as lot of paper work, ineffective and unreliable information
technology.

Other differences of public administration between developed and developing

▪ The government organizations are significantly differentiated and functionally specific.

The bureaucracies are large and perform a myriad of specialized functions
▪ There is a lot of internal specialization within the roles and the selection of people is based
on merit
▪ The decision- and law-making process is largely rational
▪ The government institutions are present in all spheres of the life of the citizens
▪ Since there is popular interest in public affairs, there is a direct relationship between
political power and legitimacy

Now, the problems that the public administration of developed countries faces are also complex.
The first problem which is kind of basic is the lack of coherence between numerous service
providing agencies and regulatory bodies. The problem especially surfaces at the local levels
where the authorities design their own programs and also run the programs funded by the national
authorities. The other example can be dominance of politicians in the matters of specialized
domains of bureaucracy.

Most of the developed states, especially of Europe are called Administrative States and their
bureaucracies perform certain specific functions. According to Rumki Basu in her book Public
Administration, public administration in these countries performs regulatory functions while
ensuring the enforcement of law and order, collection of revenues and the national defense against
aggression.

The public administration provides a range of services like education, health, cultural, insurance,
housing, unemployment benefits and communication and transport. They also play an important
role in bringing about the economic growth of the country by operating industries, giving loans
etc.
The present-day challenges in the developed countries are primarily economic. The economic
depression has put immense pressures on the services provided by the government. A lot of reforms
have been proposed in which the state resources are being closely administered. The withdrawal
of certain benefits has left the public administration of the countries exposed to a lot of criticism
and flag from the common people. The regulatory role of public bodies has also come under
scrutiny for their failure to prevent major upheavals from taking place. As things improve, the role
and challenges of public administration shall change once again.

The developing countries of the world are concentrated in the regions of Asia, Africa and
Latin America. The developing nations are characterized by an economy which is transitioning
from agrarian to industrial. You may recall Fred Riggs and his famous Prismatic Model from the
earlier article, according to Riggs, the developing nations are the prismatic societies. There are a
few characteristic features of these developing economies:

▪ They have all been an Imperial nation’s colony at some point in their history
▪ The subsequent exploitation by these colonial masters has driven their economies into a
state of deep national debts
▪ The national income as well as the per capita income is very low
▪ The social development in these countries are in early stages
▪ The main problems are poverty, population explosion, illiteracy, poor sanitation,
insufficient infrastructure and in a rapidly developing economy like India, the problem of
inequitable distribution of this economic prosperity between rural Bharat and urban India

▪ The conflicting interests and diversities based on caste, creed, language, regions etc
▪ There are constant conflicts between the traditional and the modern
▪ The public administration plays a crucial role in achieving inclusive developmental goals

Now, having understood the general scenario prevalent in these developing countries, we can take
a step forward and try to understand the nature of public administration in these economies.

▪ The public administration system of these nations are often than not an imitation of that of
their colonial masters
 ▪ The imitative system seems divorced and distant from the people and their problems
▪ There is an acute shortage of skilled manpower with technical and managerial
competencies
▪ Also, there is a kind of monopoly of bureaucracies in these nations because of which they
enjoy vast amount of autonomy however the goals intended to achieve by them often gets
lost amidst all this
▪ An interesting phenomenon coined by Riggs called Formalism is commonplace in these
economies. According to it, the bureaucratic officers and public servants insist on
following law, rules etc. and tenaciously hold on to them while providing services to the
people however their own professional behavior is far removed from the laid down laws,
rules and regulations

The problems plaguing the bureaucracies of these countries are that they are ill equipped to carry
out developmental goals. Since, they came into existence to serve the goals and objectives of their
colonial masters; they seem to be in disharmony with the changing needs and aspirations of the
natives. For e.g. the Indian Police still follows the 1865 Police Commission guidelines which was
laid out to address the law-and-order situation in the era of British Raj. In the Gambia, the General
Order, Financial Instruction and the scheme of service of the public officials still follow the British
system.

In developing countries, the major challenge is development and modernization. The public
institutions have the enormous developmental tasks in their hands; combined with rapid economic
development due to the growth in the private sector and the economically wealthy young
population, the demand for delivery of services is increasing. Finally, the rural areas have not kept
up with the rapidly growing urban areas, whether in Brazil or in India, they look upon Government,
public administration and public servants as their only hope.

SIMILIARITIES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN DEVELOED AND DEVELOPING

COUNTRIES

The following are some of the similarities of Public Administration in developed and developing
countries.
 1. Public Administration is an instrument for executing laws, policies, and programmes of the
state. Both developed and developing countries have bureaucrats who implement
government policies, programmes, strategic plans,
2. . The public administrators in both developed and developing countries manage people,
budgets, natural and other resources.
3. Public Administration is regarded as an instrument of change and is expected to accelerate
the process of development
4. Public Administration is a stabilising force in the society as it provides continuity. Public
Administration is carried on by the civil servants who are the permanent executives.
Employees come and go but the institution stays.

LECTURE 4

Public Policy Process in Developing Countries

Definitions and Understanding of Public Policy.

Public policy is “whatever governments choose to do or not to do”. It also comprises

domain of human activity which is regarded as requiring governmental interventions or
common action. Furthermore, Public policy could be understood as a purposive course of
action taken or adopted by those in power in pursuit of certain goals objectives. It could as
well consist of consist of political decisions for implementing programs to achieve societal
goals. Public policy could also mean a sum of government activities, whether acting
directly or through agents, as it has an influence on the life of citizens

Public Policy generally exists to solve problems affecting people in society. In public
policy making process, the Public Administrators decides what is a problem and what is
not. The Public Administrators also choose which problems should be solved thereby
 deciding on solutions. In the process, problems are conceptualized and defined differently
by variously interested actors and groups. Solutions are achieved through mutual
adjustment and adaptation and agreements of interests. Decisions often demands
compromise and reflects institutional constraints. The government generally takes decision
upon consultation with the stakeholders regarding which policy or policies to implement
or not.

There are different types of Public Policies such as:

I. Education Policy
II. Health Policy
III. Energy Policy
IV. Population Policy
V. Science & Technology Policy
VI. Urban Policy
VII. Housing Policy
VIII. Water Policy
IX. Environmental Policy
X. Youth and Sports Policy etc.

The types of Policies mentioned above could be sub grouped as:

• Economic policy (includes)

– Monetary Policy
– Fiscal Policy
– Growth policy or supply side policies
• Social welfare and Domestic policy (including)
– Health care
– Education
– Income Tax
• Foreign policy and Military policy
 Policy making institutions are the branches of government charged with taking action on
political issues. These branches are:

1. Legislature (parliament)
2. Executive (President)
3. Judiciary (Courts)
4. Bureaucracies (State technocrats

One can ask a question on what impacts the policies have such as:

A. Does it solve the problem?

B. Does it create more problems?

Depending on the answer, policy impacts carry the political system back to its point of
origin: that is solving the concerns and needs of people.

THE PUBLIC POLICY PROCESS IS A MULTI-STAGE CYCLE.

These six stages overlap each other, with additional mini-stages, in a process that never really
ends.
1. Problem Identification / Issue Identification

Either public opinion or elite opinion expresses dissatisfaction with a status quo policy. The
problem is defined and articulated by individuals and institutions such as mass media, interest
groups, and parties. The problems can be identified by the communities and inform their National
Assembly member who can take up the matter to the National Assembly to inform other members.
If the problem is a concern to members of the National Assembly, they can call for a policy to be
made around those problems.

2. Agenda Setting

The definition of alternatives is crucial to the policy process and outcomes. Before a policy can be
formulated and adopted, the issue must compete for space on the agenda (list of items being
actively considered). An idea must make it through several levels, including the broad political
system agenda, the congressional and presidential agendas, and the bureaucratic agenda. Key
actors in agenda setting include think tanks, interest groups, media, and government officials.

3. Policy Making

From the problems that have been identified and have made it onto the various agendas, policies
must be formulated to address the problems. Those policy formulations then must be adopted
(authorized) through the National Assembly and refined through the bureaucratic process. Of
course, a non-decision (inaction, or defeating a proposal) is, itself, policy making.

4. Budgeting

Each year, the National Assembly must decide through the appropriations process how much
money to spend on each policy. Generally, a policy must first be authorized (adopted) before
money can be appropriated for it in the annual budget.

5. Implementation
Executive agencies (the bureaucracy) carry out, or implement, policy. Implementation could
include adopting rules and regulations, providing services and products, public education
campaigns, adjudication of disputes, etc.

6. Evaluation

Numerous actors evaluate the impact of policies, to see if they are solving the problems identified
and accomplishing their goals. Evaluation looks at costs and benefits of policies as well as their
indirect and unintended effects. Congress uses its oversight function and the General Accounting
Office for evaluation, agencies evaluate their own performance, and outside evaluators include
interest groups, think tanks, academia, and media. Evaluation frequently triggers identification of
problems and a new round of agenda setting and policy making

Examples of Public Policy making process.

CORRUPTION AND ADMINISTRATIVE INCAPACITY IN AFRICA SINCE

INDEPENDENCE

CORRUPTION

Corruption is one of the main phenomenon that has affected and is affecting development in
developing countries. According to Assistant Professor Nadu, Generally, term corruption means
misuse of public authority or office for the benefit of personal gain. He states that in India, one
cannot go to any public organization or offices today and get the services which they are supposed
to get without either paying bribe or bringing influence by way of recommendations or references
from VIPs. Kautilya noted that “It was not easy to detect corruption, just as it was impossible to
know when a fish moving in water is drinking it or not so, it was not possible to find out when the
government servant in charge of public business misappropriates money or not. He therefore
prescribed very heavy penalty for corrupt officials, he did not recommend any punishment to the
bribe giver because he considered such person to be victim of the corruption .Corruption has
affected every aspect of the life of people in the developing countries. It has affected the political,
administration, economic, social legislation of the developing countries. In these countries people
pay bribes to get national identity cards, passports, driver’s license, birth certificates, building
permits, business certificate etc.

Some of the causes of corruption in developing countries are:

1. Social environment
2. Political causes
3. Administrative delays
4. Complicated and cumbersome administrative procedure.
5. Outdated, colonial model of bureaucracy.
6. Low salaries of public servants
7. Administrative culture
8. Un-controlled political parties
9. In adequate law to deal with corruption cases.
10. Lack of transparent laws
11. Excessive regulations in administration
12. Political patronage of public servants
13. Clumsy handling of corruption cases
14. In efficient constitutional, legal and institutional framework mechanism against corruption.
15. Absence of strong public opinion and civil society against corruption.
16. Lack of political commitment against corruption
17. Weak local government institutions
 SOME OF THE WAYS STOP OR REDUCE CORRUPTION ARE:

1. Administrative procedure should be simplified and delays eliminated in the operation of

government functions. To reduce and control corruption in administration it is necessary to
eliminate such type of procedures and delays. Office procedures should be simplified and level of
hierarchy reduced. New pattern of decision-making process ought to be evolved.
2. Declaration of Assets
Law should be passed to make it obligatory for all Presidents, Ministers, Permanent Secretaries,
National Assembly Member and other high ranking public servants to declare their assets owned
by them, their spouses and children every year. These should be made available to everyone and
anyone who gives false information should be punished.
3. Autonomy investigating agency
Governments in developing countries should set up an autonomous and effective agency to
investigate into corruption cases. In the Gambia there are institutions like Auditor Generals
Department who audits government accounts, National Assembly’s PAC/PEC, Public Service
Commission, The Gambia Police force etc
4. Separate Courts for Corruption Cases: To establish courts that will deal with corruption cases.
Others ways to reduce corruption are: Electoral reforms, Decentralisation of administration, strong
civil service, creation of strong public opinion against corruption

ADMINISTRATIVE INCAPACITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Administrative incapacity is one another major problem affecting development in developing

countries. Until recent, most developing countries did not give human development a priority. This
involves training people in their areas of specialisation in order to gain more knowledge and
experience in their specialised field. As a result some people were employed to key positions not
based on their qualification and experience but their political affiliation, relationship to the head
of the institutions. Example in the Gambia, before establishment of University of The Gambia,
few people were given scholarship to study abroad. All those unprivileged to get scholarship to
study abroad, studied at the Gambia College which was the highest institution of learning in the
country. Therefore, the knowledge gained at the College might not be compared to that of a
University graduate.

Employing unqualified people in the high positions as Administrators can lead to them making
bad policies, poor implementation of projects and programmes, ineffective administration, making
unrealistic budgets, poor judgement (in the case of judges) etc,

NEPOTISM

Nepotism according to dictionary definition is the “patronage bestowed or favouritism shown on

the basis of family relationship, as in business or politics”. Considering the above definition,
Nepotism is widely practised in developing countries and has contributed to slow development in
developing countries. Some Public Administrators employ people based on their family
relationship, political affiliation, religious affiliation, tribalism, ethnicity, ideology etc. Most of the
times those who are favoured and employed are do not have the required qualifications, skills and
experience for the job. They are employed based on the assumption that they will manage and
learn while working. Nepotism has affected the policies, programmes and projects in developing
countries as politicians advocate and take projects and programmes to the communities that
support them and deprive other communities that are oppositions. It has also deprived some
qualified and skilled people from being employed in the civil service because they opposed the
government or the incumbent.

Nepotism has also leads to sentimental sympathy and biased thinking faculty which denies an
equivocal decision making process. Examples are judges delivered their judgements in favour of
people in support of the government, rich people, people of the same tribe with them, people of
the same family with them etc.

Simon Ulrik Kragh states that ‘‘Nepotism also affects the distribution of “lucrative and influential
positions” which “are often given to members of one’s extended family”. The preferential
treatment of one’s own group, from nuclear family to tribe, influences all levels of public life.
Referring to Kenya, Kuada thus notes that whenever one of the large ethnic groups have reached
political power they have invariably sought to place members of the ethnic group in influential
positions in order to promote their interests’’.
REFERENCES
Karaikudi., Tamil Nadu. (Assistant Professor of Public Administration, Alagappa University),
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH 483 Volume: 2 | Issue: 11 |
November 2013

Kuada, J. E. (1994), Managerial Behaviour in Ghana and Kenya - A Cultural Perspective. Ålborg:
Ålborg University Press

Simon Ulrik Kragh, NEPOTISM: Organizational Behaviour in Modernizing Societies,

Copenhagen Business School

REFERENCES

Fanneh, M.M, (Dr.) Public Policy Concepts, Training On RBM, Policy Formulation, Strategic
Planning & Reporting for Civil Servants (23rd April, 2013)

Coplin, William D. and Michael K. O’Leary, 1998. Public Policy Skills, 3d ed. Washington DC:
Policy Studies Associates,