New Public Management and Effective Services Delivery in Nasarawa State, 2008-2018
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the relationship between new public management and effective service delivery in Nasarawa state
- To look at the evolution and the concept of new public management in Nasarawa state
- To examine the suitability and operational characteristics of the concept in the Nigeria’s public sector organization
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The Concept of New Public Management
The inadequacies of the traditional or old paradigm of public administration gave it up for numerous assaults and intellectual discourse, especially against the backdrop of rising expectations of the citizenry from national and sub-national governments. This thinking produced a reform initiative titled the New Public Management (NPM) which is expected to guarantee not only efficiency and effectiveness in Public Service delivery, but dispersed or decentralized decision-making among others. Rhodes in Ezeani (2006:10) posits thus: The new public management has the following central doctrines: a focus on management, not policy, and on performance appraisal and efficiency; the disaggregation of Public bureaucracies into agencies which deal with each other on a user-pay basis, the use of quasi-markets and contracting out to foster competition; cost-cutting, and a style of management which emphasizes, amongst other things, output targets, limited-term contracts, monetary incentives and freedom to manage. Implied in the above exposition are the central tenets of NPM, namely: management orientation, efficiency and performance enhancing measures based on objective and timely appraisal, leaner public bureaucracies assuming the form of agencies that are driven by market principles such as contracting out (out-sourcing), competition, cost-reduction measures, setting benchmarks and targets, short-term contracts, financial inducement and guaranteeing wider latitudes of discretion for Managers. It is therefore not surprising that Ezeani (2006) building on the works of several scholars documented the synonyms of NPM as follows: Managerialism, marketbased public administration; the post-bureaucratic paradigm, entrepreneurial government. He submitted conclusively that the model seeks to implement economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the public sector. Obi and Nwanegbo (2006:253) opine as follows: NPM is a label used to describe a management culture that emphasizes the centrality of the citizen or customers, as well as accountability for result. It captures most of the structural, organization and management changes taking place in the public services of most OECD countries and a bundle of management approaches and techniques borrowed from the private- for-profit sectors. The desirability of a reform initiative such as NPM in a country like Nigeria where the quality of public service delivery is perceived as abysmally low cannot be overemphasized. Its introduction would offer a recipe for treating citizens as “Kings” in the delivery of public or social goods/services. Additionally, the enthronement and enforcement of Public accountability will in no small measure provide remedy to the cancerous phenomenon of corruption in the Nigerian public affairs.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to New public management and effective services delivery in Nasarawa state, 2008-2018
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
Primary source and Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain New public management and effective services delivery in Nasarawa state, 2008-2018
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of New public management and effective services delivery in Nasarawa state
Summary
This study was on New public management and effective services delivery in Nasarawa state, 2008-2018. Three objectives were raised which included; To ascertain the relationship between new public management and effective service delivery in Nasarawa state, to look at the evolution and the concept of new public management in Nasarawa state, to examine the suitability and operational characteristics of the concept in the Nigeria’s public sector organization, In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of Nasarawa state secretariat. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made directors, administrative staff, senior staff and junior staff was used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The role of public service in nation building and governance cannot be overemphasized, especially in policy formulation and implementation. A reformed and well-focused public service offers a ready tool for effective service delivery. Through an exposition on the Nigerian public bureaucracy (civil and public services) and highlight on some reform initiatives, the paper observed that there is a continuous need for coordinated efforts and sustained drive to improve the effectiveness of public service in Nigeria, through the application of the various elements and tenets of the New Public Management (NPM) as a reform model
Recommendation
Renewed productivity paradigm which attempts to overhaul public sector institutions in Nigeria. This would create an atmosphere of constant improvement in the Public Service.
– The structural barriers to public service effectiveness and other encumbrances to public sector reforms via bureaucratic traditions and attitudinal dysfunctions of public service personnel should be redressed on a sustainable basis through a framework that keeps public service reform recommendations in perpetual focus backed by a durable plan for human capital/capacity development.
– The conception-reality gap that seeks to clog attempts at implementing or operationalizing public service reforms recommendations can be tackled by being more practical, sensitizing public servants in an adequate/timely manner, and taking into cognizance the environmental realities of the Nigerian public service.
– Deliberate attempts should be made to cultivate a culture of Research and Development in the Nigerian public service and Public affairs through a purposeful research to policy linkage that taps into feeding policy process from research output in the nations tertiary education sector and research institutes.
REFERENCES
- Adamolekun, L. (2002) “ Governance Context and Reorientation of Government,” in Adamolekun L. (ed) Public Administration in Africa: Main Issues and Selected Country Studies. Ibadan: Sepctrum Books Limited. 3-16.
- Adejumobi, S. (2010) “An Institutional Blueprint”. ThisDay (June 6) 87
- Asogwa, M.N.O. and Edeh, H.C (2011) “The Nigerian Public Service: Current Problems and Future Prospects”, in Journal of Good Governance in Africa, UNN.2(1) (June ) 276-293.
- BGL Research (2011) “Financing Nigeria’s Infrastructure Gap: Can Public Private Partnerships (PPP) work?” ThisDay (September 4) 32 – 33
- BGL Research (2013) “Financing Nigeria’s Infrastructure Bonds and the Public Investment Deficit in Nigeria” ThisDay (May 5) 29 – 30
- Chandler, J. (1994) “Public Choice and Local Government Reform: Contrasts between Britain and the United States”, in Dunleavy, P. and Stanyer, I. (eds.) Contemporary Political Studies. London: Political
- Das, S.K. (1998) Civil Service Reform and Structural Adjustment. Calcutta:Oxford University Press.
- Duncleavy, P. (1991) Democracy, Bureaucracy and Public Choice. London: Prentice-Hall. Economic Commission for Africa (2003) Public Sector Management Reforms in Africa. Ethiopia:
- ECA Ekong, E.E. (1980) Efficiency or Effectiveness: The Dilemma of Emphasis in the Public Service Of the Developing Economies, in Balogun, M.J. (ed) Managerial Efficiency in the Public Sector. Ile-Ife: UNIFE Press Ltd.18 – 29
