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Review of Public Administration and Management

Vol.3 No. 5 ISSN 2315-7844 July. 2014

A bi-annual Journal of the Department of Public Administration Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria

Website: http://journalofpubadmin.blogspot.com http://reviewofpublicadministration.wordpress.com

www.arabianJBMR.com E-mail: journal4publicadmin@gmail.com

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Review of Public Administration and Management

© Department of Public Administration Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria

Published July, 2014 by Department of Public Administration,

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or

any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission of the publishers.

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Editorial Board Chief Editor: Prof. M.C. Muo, Ph.D, Nnamdi Azikiwe

University, Awka Executive Managing Editor: Assoc. Prof. Emma E.O. Chukwuemeka, Ph.D,

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Secretary Ngozi C. Ewuim, PhD Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka Circulating Editor Purity Ndubuisi-Okolo, M.Sc Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka Members Prof. Steve Ibenta, PhD ` Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Prof. J.C. Okoye, Ph.D Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Prof. Ezimma Nnabuife, Ph.D Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Prof. Chikelue Ofuebe, Ph.D University of Nigeria Nsukka Okey Francis Chikeleze, Ph.D Enugu State University of Science and

Technology, Enugu Ehsan Azhar, M.Sc Sohar University, Sohar Sultanate of Oman,

Saudi Arabia Florence Agbodike, PhD Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Consulting Editors

Prof. Kunle Awotokun, Ph.D Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife Prof. Emma Ezeani, Ph.D University of Nigeria, Nsukka Prof. Ike Ndolo, Ph.D Enugu State University of Science and Tech, Enugu Prof. Charles Okigbo, Ph.D North Dakota State University, United States of

America Prof. B.C. Nwankwo, Ph.D Kogi State University, Ayingba Chukwumerije Okereke, Ph.D University of Reading, United Kingdom D. Stamatakis, Ph.D Athens National and Kapodistrian University I.M. Ambe, Ph.D University of South Africa S. Jabulani University of Swaziland

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Editorial Policy

he Review of Public Administration and Management is a referred Journal that is published by The Department of Public Administration, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka – Nigeria bi-annually (July and

November). The Journal endeavors to provide a forum for researchers, practitioners, students, resource persons and other people in the academia who are interested in the discussion of current and future issues and challenges impacting on the field of Public Administration, Management Sciences, Humanities, Education, Arts and Social Sciences. We adopt double blind peer review policy in which both authors and reviewers are kept anonymous so as to maintain the high technical and quality standards as required by the researchers. The Journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Papers submitted will be published approximately two months after acceptance. Interested contributors should type their scientific papers on A4 size with wide margins and double line spacing in 12 fonts. It should not exceed 15 pages including the abstract of not more than 250 words. Not more than five keywords should be provided immediately after abstract. The paper should be empirical or theoretical, well researched, and persuasive. Short communications, original research articles, reviews, commentaries and methods could also be considered. Contributors should include: brief profile of the author including institutional affiliation and status, title of paper, abstract, introduction, statement of problem, review of related literature, method of investigation, discussion of findings and recommendations. Authors should include their phone numbers including addresses and e-mail.

Manuscripts must be in conformity with the American Psychological Association (APA) documentation style 6th edition. Journal titles should be abbreviated for multiple citations in the same year, a,b,c, should be used immediately following the year of publication. Manuscripts should be submitted in hard copy and soft copy in CD with password clearly indicated. Correspondence should be addressed to the Executive Managing Editor, Review of Public Administration and Management Department of Public Administration, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria, P.M.B. 5025, Awka, Anambra State. Tel: 08060967169, 08033249488, 08033577153 e-mail: journal4publicadmin@gmail.com or ee.chukwuemeka@unizik.edu.ng The views expressed in the articles do not reflect that of the Editorial Board but of the author(s) concerned

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In this Issue page *Gender Balance, empowerment and national development: from the liberation to empowerment – Kalu Peters, Nwakwaribe Adindu 1 *Roles of entrepreneurship in small and medium enterprises development in Nigeria – Dr. Stella Duruwoju 10 *Millenniums development goals, mangrove resource utilization and Costal Delta Women economic livelihood – Ibeme Nwamaka 20 *Micro credit alternatives for sustainable national development: A focus on Nigeria’s political economy – Okeke Remi Chukwudi 29 *Human capital accounting: The dichotomy of value representation – Dr. Kehinde James Sunday 43 *Approaches, skills and styles of leadership in organizations – Assoc. Prof. Stanley Aibieyi 51 *Poverty development Nexus: The Nigerian paradox – Samson Obamwonyi, Assoc. Prof. Stanley Aibieyi 57 *Nigeria and the ECOWAS trade libralisation scheme: The Journey so far –Chibuike Oguanobi, Anthony Akamobi, Chibueze Aniebo, Emilia Mgbemena 68 *The Possible impact of Tourism industry on Nigeria economy- Dr. Ndajiya Abdularahman, Shehu Muhammad, Dr. Yunusa Hashim Muhammad 74 *Business Process re-engineering and customer responses in selected food and Beverages companies in Lagos State – Waidi Akingbade 83 *The role of top management in business organizations – Dr, Okafor Obiefuna 99 *Social studies as an instrument for global peace: Analytical and prescriptive Perspectives – Odia A.A. 112 *Imperatives of development centres for rural development in Ebonyi State – Tiben Benz Nwali, Nwoba Martin, Elom Ikechukwu U. 123

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*The imperatives of an accounting bridge on the impact of law, equity and class struggle in Nigeria – Dr. Ezeagba Charles 133 *Effects of monetary policy on the commercial banks lending in Nigeria –Dr. Jegede Charles A. 139 *Government expenditure and the development of the education sector in Nigeria: An evaluation – Dr. D.E. Oriakhi, Dr. Grace Ameh 150 *Motivation: Panacea for increased employees’ performance in organizations-Dr. Ovaga Okey 162 *An overview of democratic rule and democratization process in Nigeria 1999 – 2013 – Mukhtar Abdullahi 176 *Implementation of millennium development goals to universal basic education Programme in Nigeria public schools : Issues and challenges – Omeje Ngozi, Ogbu Mark 187 *An examination of information and communication technology adoption barriers by small and medium enterprises in Nigeria – Dr. James Abiola, Dr. Sikiru Ashamu, Dr, Kemi Yekini 197 *Understanding and overcoming the challenges of youth empowerment in Nigeria – Haruna Ruth, Attah Yusuf, Purity Ndubuisi-Okolo 205 *An exploratory study of relational capabilities and balanced score card in the Nigeria manufacturing firms – Lasisi Jubril O, Olajide Alade Raji, Hasan Banjo, Shodiya Olayinka 213

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The Contributors Dr. Kemi C. Yekini – Dept. of Accounting and Finance De Montfort University, Leicester United Kingdom Kalu Peters, Nwakwuribe Adindu J – Dept of Public Administration, Abia State Polytechnic Aba Dr. Stella Durowoju – Dept of Business Administration and Technology, Lagos State University Ojo Ibeme Nwamaka – National Open University of Nigeria, Lagos Okeke Remi Chukwudi – Dept of Public Administration and Local Govt. University of Nigeria Nsukka Dr. Kehinde James Sunday, Dept of Accounting and Finance, Lagos State University, Ojo Assoc. Prof, Aibieyi, Stanley – Institute of Public Administration and Extension, University of Benin, Benin City. Samson Obamwonyi – Faculty of Law, University of Benin Chibuike Oguanobi, Anthony Akamobi – Anambra State University, Igbariam Chibueze Aniebo, Emilia Mgbemena – Madonna University, Okija Dr. Ndajiya Abdularahman – Dept of Political Science, University of Abuja Shehu Muhammad – Dept. of Economics, University of Abuja Dr. Yunusa Hashim Muhammad, Dept. of Political Science, IBB University, Laipai, Niger State Waidi Adeniyi Akingbade – Dept. of Business Administration and Mgt Tech. Lagos State University, Ojo Dr. Okafor Obiefuna – Dept. of Hospitality and Tourism, Federal Polytechnic Oko Odia, A.A. – Dept. of Education Psychology and Curriculum Studies, University of Benin Tiben Benz Nwali, Nwoba Martin – Dept. of Public Administration, Ebonyi State University Abakaliki

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Elom Ikechukwu Ubochi – Public Relations Unit, Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo Ebonyi State Dr. Ezeagba Charles – Dept. of Accountancy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Dr. Jegede Charles Ayodele – Dept. of Banking and Finance, Lagos State University Ojo Dr. D.E. Oriakhi, Grace Ameh – Dept. of Economics and Statistics, University of Benin Dr. Ovaga Okey Hilary – Dept. of Public Administration and Local Government, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Mukhtar Abdullahi – General Studies Directorate, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi Omeja Ngozi Priscilla, Ogbu Mark O – Dept. of Public Administration, Ebonyi State University Abakaliki Dr. James Abiola, Dr. Sikiru Ashamu – Dept. of Accounting and Finance Lagos State University Ojo Haruna Ruth, Attah Yusuf Emmanuel – Kogi State Polytechnic Lokoja Purity Ndubisi-Okolo – Dept. of Business Administration, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Lasisi Jubril O, Olajide Alade Raji, Shodiya Olayinka – Dept. of Business and Finance, Crescent University Abeokuta Hasan Banjo – Dept. of Business Administration Olabisi Onabanjo University Ogun State

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Gender Balance, Empowerment and National Development:

From Liberation to Empowerment

By

1Kalu, Peters

&

2Nwakwuribe, Adindu J. Abstract

This paper which is exploratory in nature examines the role women can play and the limitations facing them in being part of development, it admitted that women have great potentials to be harnessed for development and its neglect will obviously be antithetical to real economic, social and political development. If the goals of development which include improved standard of living, removal or reduction of poverty, access to dignified employment and reduction in social inequality, then women who do not only have the crucial role of ensuring the perpetuation of the human race but also constitute the majority of the poor, the underemployed, economically and socially disadvantaged in many societies, must be consulted and actively involved in the development process both at the stage of planning, execution and/or implementation. The work relied basically on content analysis in which existing body of literature from books and journals were used. Useful recommendations ranging from elimination of gender prejudices and its attendant discriminatory practices which were identified as being predicated on injustice were made. The study concluded that it is necessary to eliminate gender inequalities in primary and secondary education and ensuring free and equal rights for women to own and inherit property. This also means doing everything in our power to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violation against women and girls so that social justice and development is entrenched in Nigeria. Introduction

Issues in gender have generated so much interest generally in the recent past in Africa and Nigeria in particular. Attempts have also been made by different peoples, governments, agencies, including world organizations on the issues of gender especially as it affects women notable among them is the United Nations (UN) decades for women 1975-1985 and 1985-1995. This UN initiative gave raise to such fora on Women In Development as the one in Mexico City (1975), Copenhagen (1980) Nairobi (1985) and Beijing (1995). Therefore, his work therefore is essentially an attempt to evaluate the phenomenon of not only women’s studies but also the impact of same on their emancipation for national development. Contextual and Conceptual Discuss-The Struggle In Retrospect According to Okeke in Anugwom et al (2000:62) ‘the first decade succeeded in raising the consciousness of people, especially Africans to the plight of women, the discriminatory and/or unequal practices against them in social, economic and political sphere.’ Department of Public Administration, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba email-iokalupeters@yahoo.com Tel. +234-80-3-7008618

Department of Public Administration, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba email-adilife75@yahoo.com Tel. +234-80-3-705562

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In retrospect however, women's movement campaigned to obtain political, social, and economic equality for women. Among the equal rights campaigned for are control of personal property, equality of opportunity in education and employment, equal suffrage in other words, the right to vote, and equality of sexual freedom. In the words of Hannam (2005:5) ‘the women's rights movement, also known as feminism and women's liberation, first discernibly arose in Europe in the late 18th century. Although by 1970 most women throughout the world had gained many rights according to law, (but) in fact complete political, economic and social equality with men remains to be achieved.’

Similarly, Gloria Steinem-(who campaigned in the 1960s), a writer, founder of MS Magazine and who helped to found the American Women’s Political Caucus and Women’s Action Alliance- who had championed feminism and women liberation insists that the cause her colleagues and herself pursue was not only that in women but that in humanism. In fact, she posited in her famous ‘Address to the Women of America’ that

This is no simple reform, it is really a revolution. Sex and race because they are easy visible differences have been a primary way of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups and into the cheap labour on which the system still depends. We are talking about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned. We are really talking about humanism.

What this course of action has achieved for the womenfolk is rather enormous, indeed, the Women's Movement by about 1960, had achieved some social and economic conditions which helped to shape and expand the role of women out of the home to the factory and office. This, along with other social changes, convinced women to demand equality with men. Including the right to vote which was won through the effort of Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1919. According to Hannam (2005:6) ‘Elizabeth persuaded Senator Aaron A. Sargent of California to sponsor a woman suffrage amendment to the US Constitution in 1878. The amendment was reintroduced every year until Congress finally approved it in 1919, meaning that American women had finally won the right to vote.’

With the re-emergence of Western feminism in the 1960s, the emphasis of the movement was very much on the fact of the personal being political, that is, that women's individual experiences of subordination were not isolated incidents rooted in particular personality differences, but were each an expression of a common political oppression. There was also, early on, a concern for the importance of sisterhood, but this notion has been accused of lacking coherence and integrity in the event of persistent racial and class prejudice within the movement. In fact, the differences between women, as well as their areas of common ground, have themselves become topics in women studies and for feminist academic research in recent years. Howbeit, what is important is that this period provided ample opportunity for the liberty of women or better still, women liberation which manifested especially on such issues as suffrage won some time in 1919. Women Emancipation In Nigeria In any case, it was in the second decade (1985-1995) according to Okeke in Anugwom et al (2000:62) ‘that African countries became really concerned to some extent, with the phenomenon of women’s studies’. In other words, a significant number of African women developed an interest in women’s studies only in the 1980s.

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It is important to mention here that feminism as a concept though may be defined in various ways is seen as an awareness by women of their exploitation and oppression within the family, at work and in the society including conscious action by the women to change the situation. According to Okeke citing Charlotte Bunch (1979) in Anugwom et al (2000:63) feminism is seen as

a perspective or world view with two long goals-the achievement of women’s equality, dignity and freedom of choice through women’s power to control their own lives and bodies within and outside the home; (power here refers not to a hope of domination over others, but (seen) as a source of internal strength, the right to determine one’s choices and ability to influence social processes and the direction of social change); it is the removal of all forms of inequality and oppression through the creation of a more just social economic (system).

In relation to the study of women are issues in development, which in this context will be considered as national development. The role of women in national development cannot therefore, be over emphasized. Indeed, the growth and development (mental/physical) of any child is usually attributed to its mother. This means that the child which represent the future of any society owes his upbringing to the woman, in other words, for the future of any society to be guaranteed and secured, the woman cannot be taken for granted. It is in a bid to guarantee the future that it becomes imperative not to ignore the women in national development. We shall for the purpose of this study consider national development to mean sustainable development.

What is sustainable development one may want to ask? Development that is sustainable according to Onah (1995:29) is ‘development that does not endanger the natural systems that support life on earth.’ Onah further added that the Nigerian Environmental Study Team (NEST, 1991) summarizes sustainable development as that which is a motion, a movement and an approach, which has developed, into a global wave of concerns, study, political mobilization and organization around the twin issues of environmental protection and economic development.

In supporting the above assertion on sustainable development, Dalal-Clayton (2005) cited in Kalu (2007:6) posits that an almost universally quoted definition of sustainable development was produced by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) otherwise known as the Brundtland Commission (named after the Prime Minister of Norway). It defined sustainable development as ‘economic and social development that meets the needs of the current generation without undermining the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

It can therefore be said that it is also ‘a dynamic approach which according to the Brundtland Commission is a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investment, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations’. Against the foregoing, issues in human development are those which Gloria Steinem the famous women libration protagonist had in the second half of the last century referred to as issues not in feminism but in humanism. Indeed, meeting human needs is nothing but a commitment to meeting the needs of present and future generations and meeting these needs has various implications such as satisfying socio-cultural and health needs-including a shelter which is healthy, safe, affordable and secure, within a neighbourhood

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with provision for piped water, drainage, transport, health care, education, child development and protection from environmental hazards. Services according to Kalu (2009:12) ‘must meet the specific needs of children and of adults responsible for children MOSTLY WOMEN’ (emphasis mine). Achieving this implies a more equitable distribution of income between nations and in most cases within nations especially between and among the genders.

In like manner, political needs-including freedom to participate in national and local politics and in decisions regarding the management and development of one’s home and neighbourhood, within a broader framework that ensures respect for civil and political rights and the implementation of environmental legislation. It should be noted that no meaningful development can occur when the development of the home, local and national politics are in fetters. When and where freedom and liberty to participate in the democratic process is seriously hindered and hampered by the gender divide. Consequently, we should join hands in liberating the womenfolk. Africa in the words of Nwachukwu-Agbada (2008:36) cannot be free until her women are free. He went on to add that

‘… in a polity like ours in which honesty and commitment have become rare virtue, we should hand over to the women lest we harbor the solution to the poverty of ideas currently pervading the social and political climate of the nation without knowing it…this is because women seem to understand more intimately what it is to be free and unfettered…and it is only as a liberated people, physically and cerebrally, that we can enjoy real development.’

Development will continue to elude any nation whose population especially the women population is economically backward, suffer unemployment and have problems relating to health care including maternal and childcare. It is only when these issues are adequately addressed that the quest from women libration to equality and then to empowerment will become more relevant and more useful.

The issue of women employment cannot be over exaggerated, this is because once women are employed or are engaged in gainful employment, they help to improve the economic base of their families, as they become income earners. That way, improvement and development begin to take effect. As a matter of fact, the International Conference on Population (1984) specifically addressed the situation of women regarding employment. It emphasized according to Onah (1995:31) ‘the need for an articulated policy on women employment with a view of accelerating it.’

However, acceleration of women employment seems to be anything but accelerating. Onah (1995:31) posits that ‘rapid population growth especially in the urban areas affects the supply of labour in the economy. The size of the population in Nigeria’s labour force defined, as 76 per cent (as of 1995) of the population aged 15-64 is about 37.5 million workers. Women constitute 48 per cent of this figure.’ This situation is anything but cheering as it does not suggest development in any way whatsoever.

In respect of maternal health and care, maternal mortality is not only a medical problem but also a social albeit, development problem. The fifth (5th) of the eight (8) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted in September 2000 by the United Nations (UN) focuses on reducing Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) by three-quarters

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(3/4) between 1990 and 2015. The millennium goals include poverty reduction, education, gender equality, reduction of maternal and child mortality. According to Ndikom (2007:17) ‘available data indicate that maternal mortality is still high about 1’000 per 10’000 live births in the late 1990s to 2001.’ Furthermore, Moss, Darmstadt, Marsh, Black, Santosham (2000) cited in Ndikom (2007:17) stated that

‘neonatal mortality now accounts for approximately two-thirds (2/3) of the 8 million deaths in children less than one (1) year of age, and nearly four-tenths (4/10) of all deaths in children less than 5 years of age. Worldwide, 98% of all neonatal deaths occur in developing countries, mostly at home and largely attributable to infections, birth asphyxia and injuries and consequences of prematurity, low birth weight and congenital anomalies.’

Indeed, the achievement of the forth (4) goal of the MDG which is to reduce child mortality can only be achieved if the mother is alive, healthy and knowledgeable. Similarly, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA, 2005) noted that ‘education, together with reproductive health, is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process.’

According to Ndikom (2007:17) ‘studies have shown that women with higher educational attainment are more likely to use formal pregnancy related care than less educated’. She went further to add ‘that the status of women in developing countries limit their access to economic resources and basic education and thus their ability to make decisions related to their health, nutrition and that of their children’. It therefore follows that educational empowerment is very important in order to ensure the women and their children remain alive as the foster of the future generation and leaders of tomorrow’s development respectively. This is in line with the United Nations Childrens’ Education Fund (UNICEF) 2001 report which states in part that ‘… services in health care facilities, age of sexual debut or age of marriage are all related to educational level and cultural values.’

Accordingly, there can be no gain saying the fact about the crucial role of women in not only nation building but also in national development. Indeed, this has gained so much currency that it has attracted world-wide attention, so much so that it has stimulated concern for the role of women in development as well as the appropriate way of repositioning them from the shackles and fetters of domination through liberation and ultimately to empowerment. For this repositioning effort will only be meaningful if and when they reach or arrive at the point of both socio-economic and political development. Amujiri (2007:15) had noted ‘that it has become an incontrovertible fact that women constitute more than half of the world population and plays important and strategic roles in societal development’. If this assertion is anything to go by, it is then worrisome that the ‘…low status of women, pathetic and deplorable

conditions of women especially in developing countries. Societal and traditionally rooted bias against women, discrimination and unjustified violence against them (are, as it were) the main factors that vitiate women’s role in development.’ (Amujiri, 2007)

As a matter of fact, the enormity and pervasive nature of these practices against women particularly in Nigeria have negatively affected the level of social, economic and political

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empowerment of women including what Amujiri (2007:16) had referred to as their ‘capacity utilization’ as well as their contributions to national development. Globally, these pathetic and deplorable conditions of the womenfolk have generated serious concern that literature on these challenges have proliferated such that great insight in this regard has yielded.

Against the foregoing, one such insight is the Nigerian situation where women according to the 1991 census figures constitute 49% of the nation’s population. Rural women, according to Caritas (2008:33) ‘play an essential role in crop and livestock production; they provide the food, water and fuel their family need. They are responsible for the reproduction of the labour force and for producing of 70% of the nation’s food supply.’ Despite the fact that women are predominantly the food producers of the nation, majority of them are still food insecure and being small holders whose farm size fall below the threshold level for adequate food production, it significantly fails and impedes for them access to financial, physical and social assets.

While reflecting on the Nigerian situation of women poverty and women empowerment, Caritas (2008:34) notes that

‘the majority of female sector workers are to be found in lower cadre occupations…due to power relationship in the family where men and their families frequently control household income, many women find themselves economically vulnerable even when they have secure employment. This is aggravated by social-cultural norms that diminish women’s status in the family. Different forms of violence including discrimination (seen as men’s property), denial of inheritance, harassment, battering and even rape and human trafficking can be the consequence.’

It should be noted that one basic reason for the vulnerability of women is limited capacity such as illiteracy or low educational attainment (as already pointed out). This singular barrier tends to lock about half or more of the population in the vicious circle of poverty and deprivation. As a consequence, women continue to be underrepresented at most levels of public office. An extra burden is added especially to women through the Human Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) crisis which affects women disproportionably.

In Nigeria, it is all too clear that women are disproportionately represented among poor households and that poverty is being increasingly feminized. In order to eradicate poverty according to Caritas (2008:35) ‘the gender dimension needs to be addressed in development planning.’ Caritas further observed that ‘interestingly, Nigeria has signed the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and also the Beijing Declaration. This is meant to remove all obstacles that retard the participation of women in nation development.’ Furthermore, Caritas (2008:36) noted that the UN Convention requires from all signatories to ‘take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations, and in particular to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women’.

The same rights have to be recognized for both spouses in respect of ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property. As a matter of fact, a study carried out by Mirrill Lynch Investment Managers cited in Kiyosaki (2006) and quoted in Meneke (2010:6), concludes that women know how to

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handle money. Kiyosaki went further to give reasons why women are better investors than men as follows-

a) They are willing to ask for help b) Women are great shoppers c) Women do their home work d) Women are risk bearers e) Women have much less ego f) Women are nurturers g) Women learn well from other women

Indeed, Kiyosaki (2006) in Meneke (2010) concluded by insisting that women are more humble and can stoop low to handle any genuine business in order to take care of their children and members of their family (including their husbands). Therefore, women has to prepared through the instrumentality of entrepreneurial education as one of those appropriates to eliminate discrimination. Infact, Heckler et al (2008) in Meneke (2010:7) explains that entrepreneurial education can offer the desired help for women to shift from traditional sectors to industrial sectors such as high-tech, construction, transportation, public utility, business consultancy services etc.

It must have been in this vein that His Holiness, the Supreme Pontiff, Benedict XVI in his first encyclical (2006) while speaking about charity as a responsibility of the Church posited that ‘there can never be room for a poverty that denies anyone what is needed for a dignified life.’ His Holiness is also of the view that there must exit such social and civil order upon which discrimination is eliminated. Benedict XVI therefore opines that

‘building a just social and civil order, wherein each person receives what is his or her due, is an essential task which every generation must take up anew…the church is duty bound to offer, through the purification of reason and through ethical formation, her own specific contribution towards understanding the requirements of justice and achieving them politically. The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible…yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sideline in the fight for justice.’

It is pertinent to observe that issues of gender prejudices and its attendant discriminatory practices are predicated on injustice at least as has been justified by the Church. As part of her social justice crusade, while addressing the African Union (AU) summit on gender equality, Mtengeti-Migiro (2007) in Kalu (2010:7) insisted that it is necessary

‘to ensure that our women take their rightful place in society…eliminating gender inequalities in primary and secondary education and ensuring free and equal rights for women to own and inherit property…and it means doing everything in our power to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violation against women and girls’.

In concluding this piece, we must sound a note of warning, that whereas, the womenfolk are being encouraged to get into the mainstream of economic and national life, the men folk must also effectively secure their place in both economic and national life. This is borne out of the fact that while the womenfolk are gradually but steadily being emancipated, the men folk on the hand are steadily yet gradually losing ground and hold of what and where hitherto were male domain. For instance, while women now achieve

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and gain admission to study such men dominated areas as aeronautics engineering, natural and physical sciences among many more disciplines as well as rise and increased girl-child school enrollment. It is open secret on the other hand that the boy-child school enrolment has considerably dropped.

In the light of the above, there is regrettably, a corresponding rise and increase in the number of primary and high school age male school dropouts who have become either ‘danfo-bus drivers and/or conductors’ or who are shop keeper in various auto-parts markets around Nigeria, incidentally, most of these young men are of South-East extraction. At the rate the womenfolk are being emancipated from liberation through equality to empowerment, chances are, that in the very near future, and in no distant time, too women would have taken over strategic aspects of human endeavour particularly from that part of Nigeria where the dropout rate is high. This trend will most likely result into a precarious situation which if not checked and urgently too, will become stories of men seeking libration, from whom, one may be tempted to ask? Your guess is definitely as good as mine. Recommendations On the strength of the foregoing discussion, the following recommendations have been put forward as follows-

i. The womenfolk should be given or granted the opportunity to participate in the public policy making. Apart from creating policy framework that can be brought to directly bear on issues that concern and affect them. When that is done, it will certainly offer them the privilege to participate and contribute in national development psychologically, financially, academically, materially, socially and politically.

ii. There should also be a deliberate attempt at creating awareness, enlightenment and advocacy concerning the place and importance of women in nation building.

iii. The idea of society that women are the weaker sex and should be treated specially is an issue in self pity, it should be completely discouraged particularly in the area of such jobs in politics and governance.

Conclusion Howbeit, it must be admitted that women have great potentials to be harnessed for development and its neglect will obviously be antithetical to real economic, social and political development. If the goals of development which include improved standard of living, removal of poverty, access to dignified employment and reduction in social inequality, then women who do not only have the crucial role of ensuring the perpetuation of the human race but also constitute the majority of the poor, the underemployed, economically and socially disadvantaged in many societies, must be consulted and actively involved in the development process both at the stage of planning, execution or implementation.

Reference Amujiri, B.A. (2007) ‘Repositioning Women for Socio-Economic and Political Progress in Nigeria’ Nigerian Journal of Public Administration and Local Government. Vol. XIII. #1. Nsukka: University of Nigeria.

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Benedict XVI (2006) ‘Deus Caritas Est’ Encyclical Letter of the Supreme Pontiff. Vatican

City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana Caritas Nigeria (2008) Signs of Hope-Poverty Reduction for a Better Nigeria. Lagos: Catholic

Secretariat of Nigeria Hannam, June (2009) ‘Women’s Movement’ Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia.

Washington: Microsoft Corporation KALU, Peters (2010) ‘Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Through

Women Empowerment in Nigeria’. Paper at the International Conference on Achieving the MDGs through Gender Equity and Good Governance at the Imo State University, Owerri.

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ROLES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

By

Stella Toyosi Durowoju (Ph.D) Abstract The paper sees entrepreneurship as the process of creating something new with value by devoting the necessary time and effort, with the accompanying financial and social risks, and receiving in return monetary rewards and personal satisfaction and independence. Using secondary data, the paper seeks to explore the issues involved in entrepreneurship and economic development in Nigeria, the problems of entrepreneurship and how these have threatened the sustenance of small business enterprises in Nigeria. The paper concludes that entrepreneurship is essential for rapid and sustained economic growth but there is urgent need to change the mindset of the average Nigerian especially the youths towards embracing self employment and de-emphasize the search for white collar jobs that are non – existent. Introduction

In today’s world where technological change, liberalization, outsourcing, and restructuring rule the business enterprises, the subject of entrepreneurship has gained greater interest. This is because entrepreneurship is seen as a method for bridging the gap between science and the marketplace, creating new enterprises, and bringing new products and services to the market. Entrepreneurial activities impact on both the overall economy by building economic base and providing jobs. The role of entrepreneurship in economic development is wide as it involves initiating and constituting change in the structure of business and society. This change is accompanied by growth and increased output, which allows more wealth to be divided by the various participants, Hisrich and Peters (2002). Entrepreneurs are driven by the desire to be their own bosses, do what they want to do, and turn passions into profit-making businesses. An Entrepreneur is one who initiates a new business in the face of risks and uncertainty for the purpose of satisfying human needs and making a profit. An Entrepreneur carves out a niche for himself by scanning the environment, identifying opportunities and threats and combining and utilising the necessary resources to capitalize on opportunities identified.

There are so many factors as reasons why people go into business for themselves. Pride, Hughes and Kapoor (2000) said one that is often cited is the “entrepreneurial spirit”, the desire to create a new business. Other factors may include independence, the desire to determine one’s own destiny, and the willingness to find and accept a challenge that, certainly play a part even though family background may also exert an influence as well. However, there must be some motivation to start a business such as leaving a paid employment where opportunities were not available to think and earn your own living, lost of jobs, having an idea for a new product or a new way to sell an existing product or the opportunity to invest into business may arise suddenly. In some people, the motivation to start a business whether small or medium develops slowly as they gain the knowledge and ability required for success as a business owner. Small businesses traditionally lead to increase of new jobs in Nigeria economy Department of Business Administration and Management Technology Faculty of Management Sciences, Lagos State University, Ojo Lagos-Nigeria, E-mail: stellaolugbon@yahoo.com , 08038414213

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By hiring a larger proportion of employees who are younger workers, older workers, women or workers who prefer to work part-time thereby contributing to solving unemployment problems. Small firms also provide a variety of goods and services to each other and much larger firms. Large firms generally buy raw materials from small businesses because it is less expensive, this eventually reflected in the price that consumers pay for their products. Nigeria is naturally endowed with entrepreneurship opportunities; however the realization of the full potential of these opportunities has been dampened by the adoption of inappropriate industrialization policies at different times (Ebiringa, 2012). Review of Literature Entrepreneurship involves taking chances, but new businesses do not emerge by accident (Egelhoff, 2005). They are usually founded as a result of motivated entrepreneur gaining access to resources and finding niches in opportunity structures. Hence, entrepreneurship could be seen as the process of identifying and exploiting unique business opportunities that stretch the creative capacities of both private and public organizations. Sue and Dan (2000) argue that entrepreneurship is influenced by genetic power, family background and economic environment. Since economic environment could support or suppress entrepreneurship, governments world over undertake to develop macroeconomic policies that focus mainly on providing access to resources and support services to individuals and organizations that display flair for expanding their business horizons.

Entrepreneurship consists of routine management tasks, relationships with venture capitalists and other sources of external finance, product development, marketing, and so on. Garba (2010) asserted that the term entrepreneurship means different things to different people and with varying conceptual perspectives. He stated that in spite of these differences, there are some common aspects such as risk taking, creativity, independence and rewards. However, Ogundele (2007), viewed entrepreneurship as a multidimensional phenomenon. It was found that processes of emergence, behavior and performance of indigenous entrepreneurs were separately and in combinations affected not by a single but multiple factors, in ranging degrees such as socio-cultural, ecological, managerial, educational developmental, experiential, technological, structural, ethical and innovative issues. It was observed that any policy designed to change entrepreneurship scenario in Nigeria will require multiple and simultaneous approaches in the development of necessary changes in the behavior of indigenous entrepreneurs.

To Shane (2010), entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finances and displays business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods.” This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response to a perceived opportunity. The Influence of Entrepreneurship on Economic Development The concept of economic growth is relevant at the levels of firms, regions, industries, and nations. Hence, linking entrepreneurship to economic growth implies linkage between the individual level and the aggregate level. The relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth is an important one. Entrepreneurial activities have been found to be capable of making positive impacts on the economy of a nation and the quality of life of the people. Studies have established its positive relationship with stimulation of economic growth; employment generation; and empowerment of the disadvantaged segment of the

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population, which include women and the poor (Thomas and Mueller, 2000; Reynolds, 1987; Shapero, 1981).

A sizeable body of literature analyzing the impact of entrepreneurship on economic performance at the level of the firm (or establishment) emerged. These studies typically measure economic performance in terms of firm growth and survival (Audretsch, 1995; Caves, 1998; Davidson et al., 2006). The compelling stylized fact emerging from this literature is that entrepreneurial activity, measured in terms of firm size and age, is positively related to growth. New and (very) small firms grow, on average, systematically larger than large and established incumbents. These findings hold across Western economies and across time periods. The link between entrepreneurship and performance is also extended beyond the firm as unit of observation to focus on geographic regions (Acs & Armington, 2004; Audretsch & Fritsch, 2002).

Entrepreneurship is “at the heart of national advantage” (Porter, 1990). Concerning the role of entrepreneurship in stimulating economic growth, many links have been discussed. It is of the utmost importance in carrying out innovations and enhancing rivalry. Entrepreneurship is the basic key for business growth, most business today grew out of the effort of one man with passion, the effort of one man who wants to make profit and who wants to innovate or create a new product. According to Schumpeter, capital and output growth in an economy depends significantly on the entrepreneur. The quality of performance of the entrepreneur determines whether capital would grow rapidly or slowly and whether the growth involves innovation where new products and production techniques are developed. The difference in economic growth rates of countries of the world is largely due to the quality of entrepreneurs in those countries. Production factors of land, labour and capital are said to be dormant or indolent without the entrepreneur who organizes them for productive ventures (Ebiringa, 2012).

Entrepreneurial activities have been found to be capable of making positive impacts on the economy of a nation and the quality of life of the people (Adejumo, 2000). Ogbonifoh et al (1999) explains that entrepreneurship is an essential variable in any nation’s economic growth and development. It is therefore true that the growth of a nation (country) depends on whether it has entrepreneurs and encourage entrepreneur and entrepreneurship successes depends largely on whether the human capital is being deliberately harnessed and nurtured to become entrepreneurially successful because entrepreneurs are born as well as made. Economic growth is determined by two elements, (a) by the available quantities of goods that can be used in the productive process and (b) by the adroitness with which these available factors of production are combined.

Entrepreneurship is a key driver of any economy; wealth and a high majority of jobs are created by small businesses started by entrepreneurially minded individuals, many of whom go on to create big businesses. There is more creative freedom for people who are exposed to entrepreneurship. There is higher self-esteem, and an overall greater sense of control over the people’s own lives. It is the believe of many experience business people, political leaders, economists and educators that fostering a robust entrepreneurial culture will maximize individual and collective economic and social success on a local, national, and global scale. The importance of entrepreneurship to any economy is like that of entrepreneurship in any community: entrepreneurship activity and the resultant financial gain are always of benefit to a country. If you have entrepreneurial skills then you will recognize a genuine opportunity when you come across one. Small firms tend to employ more labour per unit of capital and require less per capital unit of output than do large one (Kuratko and Hodgetts, 1998).

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Entrepreneurial activity and new firm formation are unquestionably considered engines of economic growth and innovation. As such, they are among the ultimate determinants of the large regional differences in economic performance (Baumol, 1990). The factor of production that will make this possible is the entrepreneur who is regarded by the economist as a factor of production responsible for the creation of the enterprise that run the risky business for the purpose of profit making while labour receive wages, land receive rent and capital attract rent as the return for their usage however, the entrepreneur receive profit as their return, this the economist view of who an entrepreneur is. Economic growth rates are often attributed to the role of the duo of government and entrepreneurs which is complementary and not mutually exclusive. In Nigeria, like some other economies, the government helps to encourage entrepreneurship development (Ebiringa, 2012). The entrepreneur is therefore an important agent of innovation growth and technical progress. The development and utilization of their technical and commercial skills create growth potential in micro, small and medium business enterprises. The present day global economy is knowledge-driven operating on the pragmatic and innovative thoughts of the entrepreneur. Business set ups have become informal and oriented towards survival and self employment.

The role of entrepreneurship in economic development involves more than just increasing per capital output and income; it involves initiating and constituting change in the structure of business and society. This change is accompanied by growth and increased output, which allows more wealth to be divided by the various participants. One theory of economic growth depicts innovation as the key, not only in developing new products or service for the market but also in stimulating investment interest in the new ventures being created (Duru, 2011).

Entrepreneurship has been recognized as an important aspect and functioning of organization and economies (Dickson et al, 2008). It contributes in an immeasurable ways toward creating new job, wealth creation, poverty reduction, and income generating for both government and individuals. Schumpeter in 1934 argued that entrepreneurship is very significant to the growth and development of economies (Garba, 2010). Hamilton and Harper (1994) examine the economist view about the entrepreneur as the act of profit making and the sole motivating factor for entrepreneur, while the sociologist and psychologist view of culture and trait are flatly ignored by the economist, thus Hamilton and Harper (1994) sum up that while the economist views are necessary but not sufficient, the sociologist and psychologist view should also be corporate in the axiom of entrepreneurship. Small and Medium Enterprises Development The majority of business enterprises in Nigeria like most other countries consist of small and medium businesses. Small business constitutes a vital element in the business life of any country such as Nigeria. Nigeria small business enterprises are still predominantly in the traditional state with only a few in the better-organised stage. National Council on Industry (2001) see ‘Owa Afolabi, F.I (2008) brought out four broad definitions of Small and Medium Enterprises; (a) Micro/Cottage Enterprises, (b) Small Scale Industry/Enterprises and (c) Medium Scale Industry/Enterprises and (d) Large Scale /Companies. The first term refers to an industry/enterprise with a labour size of not more than 10 workers or total cost of not more than N1.5 million, including Working Capital but excluding the cost of land. Second, this is an industry or enterprise with workers’ strength of between 11 and 100 or a total cost of not more than N50 million, including the cost of land. Third, a Medium Scale Industry refers to an industry with a labour size of between 101-300 workers or a total cost of over N50 million, but not more than N200

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millioin including working capital, but excluding the cost of land. The forth term refers to an industry or enterprise with a labour size of over 300 workers or a total cost of over N200 million.

The Development of any enterprise whether (micro, small, medium or large) is a necessity that calls for concern by any entrepreneur. It involves the size of the business which consists of many factors such as market and technology, Tambunan (2009). If the market is small, only small or micro economic activities will be viable. This is because the market size itself is also determined by the level of real income per capital and the size of population, which together determine the actual number of buyers. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) involved in manufacturing industry produce a variety of goods that can be grouped into two categories viz consumer and industrial goods. Their consumer goods can be sold in the market. Despite the strong competition by the large enterprises, SMEs are able to survive because their products are differentiated by nature or acquirement thereby creating niche for themselves e.g handicrafts which are outside the competitive area of items that are similar but more sophisticated and produced by large enterprises with machines. As a result SMEs have a better chance to survive and hence to grow and develop, whereas they would be out priced in the market if they tried to compete with large enterprises by making exactly the same products when the economic scale of output prescribes large enterprises accessing modern technologies.

However, concerning the manufacturing of industrial goods, SMEs manufacture products for other manufacturers, this makes them often regarded as ancilliaries to large enterprises. Large Enterprises (LEs) in order to remain competitive always focus on core competence and buy in other products and services. Through such production linkages mainly in the form of subcontracting, SMEs are often exposed to muscle power of the LEs, leading to problems for SMEs e.g inability to meet tight schedules and product specifications for LEs that is caused mainly by a technical, management and organization nature. Also, in addition, SMEs face difficulties delivering products “just-in-time” and with high standards of quality required by LEs.

Technological factor is another problem which is the pressure to respond to growing rivalry, forces managers to attend more carefully to their companies’ ability to innovate, Cohen (2002). Constant technological break-through compels companies to become more entrepreneurial in identifying and exploring new ideas. If the economic size dictated by the technology is large, SMEs will be outcompeted in the market because they cannot produce efficiently due to a lack of economies of scale e.g. electronics industry, the state-of-the-art technology may indicate a large size, so LEs are viable. But neither the market nor the technology is fixed for all time, they constantly change. Entrepreneurship and Economic Development in Nigeria A nation economic development depends on the successful entrepreneurship combined with the forces of established corporation. Martin Career (2002) wrote that “In the theory of Economic Development”, Schumpeter stated the responsibility of the entrepreneurs as prime cause of economic development. He explained how large firms outstands the smaller firm in innovation and appropriation process through strong feedback loop from innovation to increased research and development activities.

Entrepreneurs are significant because they have important effect on world economy, Wickham (2004). An entrepreneur is an innovator, someone who transforms innovations and ideas into economically viable entities; independent of whether in the process she creates or operates a firm (Baumol, 1993). However, when the firm has been created, sometime they do not meet a practicable sustainability; they are often times faced with problems and when the problems happen, the entrepreneurship is logically affected

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not only economically but also mentally and emotionally. Entrepreneurship occupies an important place in the process of economic development as a result it has become a key concept in social and human development discourse; it is considered to be a factor of economic and human development (Abubakar, 2010).

There is probably no regime in Nigeria which at one time or another has not emphasized the development of small business enterprises. For example, the need for encouraging increased productivity and self-employment has been recognized since 1970s with formulation of the Small Scale Enterprises Promotion Policy. Until now, government pronouncements on promoting small business enterprises are not always translated into serious policy statements backed by effective implementation mechanisms. In fact, most of the programmes introduced to assist small business enterprises only reached a small portion of the total of small business population. In actual sense, policy makers were more concerned with the establishment of few large enterprises than developing small ones. This was what partly informed the Import Substitution Industry (ISI) Strategy of the late 1970s where huge sum of money was spent on unsustainable mammoth companies (Sagagi, 2005).

In Nigeria, according to Odeyemi (2003), there was an estimate of more than seventy percent of the entrepreneurship and small scale industries´ employments in the country and more than fifty percent gross domestic product created by entrepreneurship and small business enterprises. Entrepreneurship businesses easily have the tendency to either “failure” or “success”. An amount of entrepreneurs also have the tendency to survive the cause when it results to failure. These causes or factors such as economic recession, lack of access to credit facilities especially from financial institutions, lack of infrastructure, corruption and lack of support from government, and more, results to failure. In as much as there are many factors which challenge the survival and growth of entrepreneurship business both in developing and developed countries, fund has always been known as one of the most important factor among the problems of entrepreneurs. Ekpeyong (2002) wrote that the Nigerian government tried to support the entrepreneurship and small business enterprise by creating the public sector; a part of the social and economic of the society.

Entrepreneurship in Nigeria really needs attention from different sectors to help in every angle of its operation as it is one of the contributors of economic and social development in most developing and developed countries. The entrepreneurship business contributes to the economic and social development, bringing about employment opportunities. Challenges of Entrepreneurship Development in Nigeria Having known the significant prospective of Entrepreneurship in fetching economic and social development which is supposed to be the concern of the government of various countries globally. Nigeria popularly known as the “Giant of Africa” is a country that has the highest population in the continent of Africa, accounting for fifteen percent of Africans population, also contributing about eleven percent of Africa`s total output and sixteen percent of its foreign reserves. Nigeria is still far away in achieving the economic progress needed to influence or better the well being of an average Nigerian citizen where more than half of the populations still live on a dollar daily, and they are among the top three countries in the world with largest number of poor people.

There are wide range business opportunities that are not given much attention by both the government and the entrepreneurs. Such businesses include organized trans-Sahara trade; solid minerals, solar energy, waste disposal and recycling; tourism; garment exports, medium tech equipment, mechanized agriculture, food/materials processing,

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industrial chemicals and supplies among others. Most of these activities tap directly into agriculture, local knowledge/skills and trade which are the main activities for an average Nigerian (Sagagi, 2005).

There are a number of problems limiting the growth of small and medium size businesses in Nigeria, ranging from limited financing and support; inadequate infrastructure, insecurity and lack of training/vocational facilities are believed to be responsible for slow business creation and growth in the country. Lack of basic infrastructure and security crippled small businesses in Nigeria. Thus, poor road networks, irregular electricity and water supply continued to make the cost of doing businesses extremely high in Nigeria. Insecurity of lives and property also take its toll on businesses. In particular, business owners in the southern part of the country attribute low business growth to the high incidences of robbery and theft in their communities.

In managing the Nigerian economy, successive governments have attempted a re-engineering of key sectors of the economy – particularly the banking, insurance and oil sectors. A change in the capitalization requirements could result in mergers [a forced succession] which jeopardize the sustainability of the enterprise. In Nigeria, experience abound where different governments use state power to foreclose renowned entrepreneur’s businesses or craft policies targeted at ruining his business. Therefore, in order to address critical issues surrounding the development of entrepreneurship in Nigeria many observers argue that the Asian model for economic growth should be explored. This is in view of the success recorded by many Asian countries that formulated and implemented policies aimed at promoting small and medium enterprises at the grassroots level. Conclusion and Policy Implications Entrepreneurship is essential for rapid and sustained economic growth and development. There are a number of entrepreneurship development programmes in Nigeria many of which are expected to offer direct support to small and medium size enterprises. However, the absence of a harmonized and well focused national entrepreneurship development agenda render most of the initiatives ineffective. Also, entrepreneurs should recognize that new ventures require strategy. They have to see their competitive environment with particular clarity and endeavour to create unique position that is worth defending. The practice where businesses imitate one another is at variance with creativity and innovation necessary for great success. Businesses could strategize by becoming customer driven, obsessed with improvements, responsive to new challenges, networked through business alliances and adopting long range thinking.

For the entrepreneurs to be effective in creating wealth and employment opportunities, the government needs to create an investor-friendly environment encompassing stable macro-economic policies. Government need to address urgently the dilapidated infrastructural facilities in the country, starting with the power sector, roads and railways, provide adequate security and give every citizen the sense of belonging. The inputs into an entrepreneurial process; capital, management, technology, buildings, communications and transportation infrastructure, distribution channels and skilled labor, tend to be easier to find in urban areas. Professional advice is also hard to come by. Consequently, entrepreneurial behavior, which is essentially the ability to spot unconventional market opportunities, is most lacking in those rural areas where it is most needed i.e., where the scarcity of 'these other inputs' is the highest. Bradford (2003) maintains that a shift towards integration with the rest of the world and a shift in promoting entrepreneurship attitude underscore the India’s economic growth. This he comments could be a good lesson for countries that could not live up to Asian miracle.

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Asian success model could not be replicated wholesale in Nigeria due to certain peculiarities, but vital lessons could be drawn from innovation, technology, and best practices.

The vast population of the country is made up of small scale farmers and petty traders. Over time, the performance of the industrial sector which is expected to create substantial job opportunities and serves as a link to the primary sector has not been impressive. Due to low domestic productive capacity, living conditions deteriorate (Sagagi, 2005). However, the improvement of infrastructure and transport facilities in rural areas may also create new markets (in urban areas), and hence a new growth impulse, for rural industries. Such improvement makes it easier for rural producers to sell their products, either with the help of traders or by themselves in nearby urban areas. The improvement encourages rural small and medium producers to expand their business or to change their market location. Enterprises in villages near to urban centres will produce more goods for urban markets to have larger markets than their counterparts in more isolated villages. This implies that rural-urban economic integration does not always mean that all rural industries are outcompeted or die. It depends especially on how rural industries can adjust quickly, for example, by changing or diversifying their products lines, increasing their products’ quality and shifting their marketing strategy, in response to a changing situation (i.e newly appearing market opportunities). This ability to adjust does not depend only on the abilities of the owners/producers; the more objective and general characteristics of the establishment themselves also play a role.

Every rational entrepreneur agree that at a particular period in business cycle, business could be very profitable and at the other dull. When good business lasts for a fairly long time, the period is regarded as a boom or prosperity. However, where poor business is experienced for long duration in business cycle, such situation is recognized as economic recession. These two periods (boom and recession) have been witnessed in Nigeria business environment by entrepreneurs as recorded between 1970 – 2005 by Akinfolarin, (2007) that gives an insight into booms and recessions to demonstrate how enterprises have been exposed to cyclical business fluctuations in the recent times in Nigeria. This boom and recession period could have negative or positive roles on SMEs development. BOOMS AND RECESSIONS PERIODS IN NIGERIA (1970 TO 2005) Period Boom or Recession Causes 1970 – 1976 High Boom Post-war period, high earnings from crude oil. Spring up of

many investments. 1977 – 1979 Low Boom Drop in crude oil earnings; Austerity measures by the

Government. 1980 – 1983 High Boom High oil earnings, Government engaged in expansionary

economy through unsustainable trade debt build-up. 1984 – 1987 Recession Low crude oil earnings, Government engaged in economic

restructuring. 1987 – 1993 Low Boom Deregulation of the economy, and Government expansionary

policy. 1994 – 1999 Recession Internal and political crisis; international isolation, low oil

earnings. 2000 – 2005 Low Boom/Recession Fairly steady policy of Government, tight fiscal management

despite high oil earnings.

Source: Akinfolarin, Bioye (2007). Comprehensive Enterprise Management for Assured Business Success. Lagos. Bamacs Associates Limited. Pg.446.

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In order to address critical issues surrounding the development of entrepreneurship in Nigeria many observers argue that the Asian model for economic growth should be explored. This is in view of the success recorded by many Asian countries that formulated and implemented policies aimed at promoting small and medium enterprises at the grassroots level. There is the need to ensure that those with innovative ideas are provided with the financial support to translate such ideas into reality and a strong commitment to entrepreneurial education at both the secondary and tertiary levels is necessary for SMEs development in Nigeria.

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Millennium Development Goals, Mangrove Resource

Utilization and Coastal Niger Delta Women Economic Livelihood

By

Ibeme, Nwamaka P. Abstract

This paper is a sociological assessment of mangrove resource utilization and the impact on women livelihood in the coastal communities of the Niger Delta based in the context of the Millennium Development Goals that makes the case for women empowerment through gainful livelihood activity. The analysis reveals a growing incidence of rural coastal women indiscriminate exploitation of mangrove resources in an unsustainable manner. The paper argues that this indiscriminate exploitation and depletion of mangrove resources are potential catalysts for food insecurity and mass poverty among the women of the area since the mangrove provides the basis for occupation and thus the major sources of livelihood for them. Based on the foregoing the paper makes broad proposals for the sustainable use of mangrove resources in order to avoid further decline or depletion in their stock which could greatly worsen the already compromised living conditions of these rural women. In the circumstance, we recommend that more conversation efforts should be adopted to preserve the mangrove resources that are most significant to rural coastal women’s earnings and economic livelihood. Introduction The eight millennium development goals (MDGs), were agreed to at the United Nations millennium summit in September 2000. The broad goals are to:

- Eradicate poverty and hunger - Achieve universal primary education - Reduce child mortality - Improve material health - Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases - Ensure environmental sustainability - Develop global partnership for development

The MDGs represent a global partnership that is aimed at promoting poverty reduction, availability of universal primary education, material health, gender equality, combating child mortality, AIDS and other diseases. Set for the year 2015, the MDGs are an agreed set of goals that can be achieved if all actors work together and do their part. Based on these, developing countries like Nigeria have pledged to govern better, and invest in their people through health care and education. On the other hand, rich countries have pledged to support them, through aid, debt relief, and fairer trade. Although the millennium development goals are eight but implicit in them are 21 targets. The targets are the need to:

- Halve between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day.

- Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people.

- Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. -

School of Management Sciences, National Open University of Nigeria, 14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way, Victorial Island, Lagos. E-mail: makspal@yahoo.com

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- Ensure that by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

- Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.

- Reduce by two – thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under five mortality rate. - Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio. - Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health. - Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS. - Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who

need it. - Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other

major diseases. - Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and

programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources. - Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate

of loss. - Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe

drinking water and basic sanitation (for more information see the entry on water supply).

- By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum –dwellers.

- Develop further an open trading and financial system that is rule based, predictable and non discriminatory. Includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction nationally and internationally.

- Address the special needs of the least developed countries. This includes tariff and quota free access for their exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries; and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction.

- Address the special needs of landlocked and small island developing states. - Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through

national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term.

- In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.

- In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications.

Our interests in this paper are the first, third and seventh goals and the specific targets that are contained therein. While the first Goal targets the eradication of poverty, the third encourages the need for the empowerment of women and the seventh makes proposals on the need for the empowermental resources in sustainable manner. With these at the background, coupled with the environmental interface to the Niger Delta crisis in Nigeria, this chapter examines women’s mangrove economic livelihood activities in the Niger Delta particularly in terms of its impact on the mangrove economic livelihood activities in the Niger Delta particularly in terms of its impact on the mangrove resources.

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The Mangrove in the Niger Delta Political Economy The growing literature on the importance of natural resources has been shown through their socio –economic benefits to the rural population in the rainforest zone, both in aggregate and regional terms (FAO, 1978; FAO, 1987; and Rodda, 1991 in Bisong and Ajake, 2001). Many of these studies conclude that there are differential benefits that are derived from these forest resources. These benefits include energy requirement for domestic and industrial activities; food consumption; income earnings; medicinal value; and employment opportunities. For instance, the FAO (1978) reveals that the income of rural people in the Philippines and India is dependent on the gathering of forest products. Studies by UNESCAP (1985), Francisco and Israel (1991), on women’s roles in coastal communities in the Philippines also show that although economic diversification is increasing their employment options, women still depend mostly on natural resources to meet their economic and household needs. In coastal communities in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, the mangrove and its marine products such as fish and shellfish are the basis for subsistence and a significant portion of each income. The mangrove is thus exceptionally important in the Niger Delta political economy. In most fishing communities, women engage in a number of other part time seasonal income earning activities (often in the informal sector), many of which are also resource dependent. Among the more important subsistence and income generating activities, which involve women, are fish and shellfish processing and marketing. The success of both activities depends on the availability and quality of marine mangrove resources. In their studies, Ejituwu and Gabriel (2003), and Oshin (1972), observed that the economic value of mangroves to women of coastal communities in the Eastern Niger Delta can better be appreciated from the harvestable products which households consumed and the surplus that are sold in far away places like Onitsha, Aba, Owerri, Nsukka and Kano. Enemugwen (2001) in his study corroborated this position where he recorded that in Andoni ( a coastal community) fish and shellfish were sold as far as Tripoli in North Africa. In this instance too, women are more involved in the fish trade. Thus, coastal communities women play an important role in Niger Delta economy, particularly in the area of trade on mangroves and their products, both internally and across long distances. There is however current concern about the integrity, particularly in terms of yield of the Niger Delta mangrove ecology. This has been largely blamed on the lack of conservation consideration of these resources, through indiscriminate use, thus leading to severe economic crisis and poverty in the region. Generally, the issue of indiscriminate exploitation and depletion of the mangrove resources as potential catalyst for the current mass poverty among women in the coastal communities of the Niger Delta enclave requires examination. Looking at households’ activities of the coastal communities and how these relate to the mangrove ecosystem it shows that women make primary contacts with those products of the mangroves that are fundamental to family life. Their domestic roles coupled with the exploitation of mangrove products for food and income, bring them into daily contact with the natural mangrove forest ecosystem. Women are thus the first to feel the impact of large scale mangrove forest degradation of mangrove products or resources for improved economic activities in the coastal communities of the Niger Delta. The paucity of data about the coastal women’s earnings from the mangrove forest as well as the systematic decline in the resources may undermine efforts at improving the socio –economic conditions of the rural women. This also translates into faulty mangrove forest economic conditions of the rural women. This also translates into faulty mangrove

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forest economic development policies, which could negatively affect the livelihood of the women in particular, and the coastal population in general. No doubt, this is leading to the urgent need for the culture of seafood like oysters, periwinkles, cockles, etc. in coastal communities of the Niger Delta region. In one breath, the political economic crisis in the region occasioned by environmental degradation, poverty and long neglect by government over the decades suggests this. In another perspective, the fact is also that these communities over the years have either abandoned the indigenous (traditional) methods of cultivating these seafoods or are massively and indiscriminately over exploiting them without the indigenous practice of conserving these mangrove resources. The coastal communities in the region have always been major sources and suppliers of seafood, but present realities reveal a drastic dwindling and abandonment of the indigenous sources of livelihood which women are more engaged in. yet the seafood is what the local people depend on for their livelihood and protein, iodine and calcium supply. In the same vein, the current mass poverty amongst the local population, especially women which has compelled them to paddle long distances with canoes in search of these sea foods has equally heightened the fear of famine, thus necessitating the imperativeness in embarking on the return to the traditional or extensive cultivation of these fisheries. The culture of fishery can effectively be managed sustainably by the local populace (Irikana, 2006). The absence of improved methods of cultivating sea foods, mass poverty, indiscriminate exploitation of available ones and the eventual scarcity of sea foods within the neighborhood now demand journeying long distances on the river via paddling locally made canoes in search of the sea foods and other mangrove products or resources. Recognizing the mass involvement of women in the livelihood activities from which they are able to sustain and complement efforts of their husbands and families, and train their children in schools from the sale of both fresh and dried sea foods; and who today can no longer fulfill their role as women, this study attempts to highlight the importance of culture and cultivation of sea foods to resuscitate these once vibrant sources of subsistence. The need for this can therefore be realized through extensive culture and cultivation of oysters, cockles, periwinkles, crabs, shrimps, etc (Wilcox and Powell, 1985; Irikana, 2006) that will be strategically located in the mangrove swamps of the coastal communities.

Furthermore, addressing the scarcity of sea foods in the area would, to a large extent, meet the required food nutrient of the local population, especially women and children. It would also revamp the livelihood opportunities opened to women to sustain food production as well as bring about development of the sea food fishing, sector that is gradually becoming extinct. Coastal Women Utilization of Mangrove in the Niger Delta Mangroves are one of the coastal resource ecosystems (e.g sea grass and coral reefs) found at the crossroads between the land and the sea. As in the case of Niger Delta region, the tidal flat constitutes its theoretical boundary, which sometimes extends to the shallow waters in the coastal areas. They are found throughout the Niger Delta coastline. According to Scott (1966) in Irikana (2006), the mangrove swamp in the Niger Delta covers 5,048km2. Mangroves are an irreplaceable and unique ecosystem, hosting incredible biodiversity. They are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. They house a wide variety of life migratory birds, marine creatures and associated species of flora. A wide variety of representatives of the plant kingdom live on them. The aerial roots of the

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aquatic plants form a web, hosting a multitude of animal species such as fin –fish, mollusks (oysters, cockles, periwinkles, etc) and crustaceans (shrimps, crabs). They operate as zones for mating refuge and nursery areas for a large number of species; many of them of importance as human food which has made it possible for populations to settle around them, having their subsistence in resources generated by this ecosystem (Moses 1985; Baandaranayake 2001). Indeed, mangroves are of immense utility to the people of coastal communities of the Niger Delta region. The environment or socio –physical conditions of the area affect and / or determine the condition and behavior of the people. The occupational choice of communities in the ecosystem is, to a large degree, made within the confines set by the environment. What this implies is that the socio –economic activities of the people are environment –specific or environment –bound. The mangrove ecosystem of the coastal communities thus influences the socio – economic activities of the local population with women being, more involved in the utilization of the resources and the socio political fallouts from that seemingly economic activity,

Consequently, with a local economy that depends mainly on mangroves for food, shelter, income, and employment, people of coastal communities are found in indiscriminate exploitation and utilization of the unique and valuable range of resources and services provided by the ecosystem. Apart from the harvesting of fish, oysters and other sea foods by the local people, they also utilize the mangroves as timbers and fronds in a wide variety of ways, including firewood charcoal, scaffolding, etc. however, beneath these seemingly indiscriminate activities is a highly sophisticated organizational structure and system. This structure ensures stability and sustainability. Changes brought about by oil and gas exploration and exploitation in addition to nypa palm invasion as well as poverty have given rise to the continuous depletion of the mangrove with potentially dangerous consequences for the people’s struggle for existence as it threatens related marine species dependent on the ecosystem. This portends great danger to the users and consumers of mangrove products (Irikana, 2006).

It has to be added and emphasized too that this fundamental error that brings about mangrove resources depletion and a legacy of environmental degradation in the region is traceable to the people’s lack of knowledge in relating with their environment. In utilizing the resources available in the mangrove ecosystem, the people have failed to connect human development to the natural environment – the basis of all life. As Ashion Jones et al (1998) contend and we agree with them, ecological problems such as these arise when an ecosystem is seen in ignorance by the people while carrying out their activities as something out there, which have no connection to humankind., What is therefore needed to avert this problem and to maintain biological diversity – the variety of life on earth, and subsequent assurance of food security in the coastal communities is the integration of both the environment and human production activities for sustainable development. This means a long term culture process of maintaining a balance between population and natural resources within a given environment.

Mangroves, which are found throughout the extensive coastline of the Niger Delta, represent a rich and valuable ecosystem. More importantly, both marine and mangrove fishing in the coastal communities depend on them. However, the widespread use and over exploitation of the mangroves by the local people have contributed directly to their depletion. Most of what is remaining today is secondary growth of mangrove forest especially in the eastern part of the region. The fundamental change in the mangrove forest, according to Irikana (2006) is inversely related to changes in number, occurrence, and size of various resources within the environments.

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The consequence of the foregoing on the people and environment is a progressive decline of marine and mangrove resources. In most coastal communities, there is a steady reduction in the quantities of perinwinkles, oysters, cockles, cramps, chrimps, and fin –fishes collected and caught. For example, in his study, Irikana (2006) observed that between 1973 and 2004, there were dramatic reductions in the number of baskets of the resources collected per week. Specifically, between 1973 and 1983, perinwinkles yielded estimated five baskets per week but declined to three and a half baskets per week between 1984 and 1994; and between 1995 and 2004, this same resource has dropped in quantity to only two baskets per week. This study supports Ashton – Jones et al (1998) findings in the whole of coastal communities of Niger Delta. They stated that between 1980 and 1986, annual recorded catches of fin –fish ranged between three hundred and seventy thousand and one hundred and thirty seven thousand tones on a declining plain, and that fisher men complained that their catches were going down day by day.

Indeed, the disappearance of the mangroves translates into economic loss. No doubt, the various indiscriminate and unsustainable utilization of the mangroves forest and other human activities have impacted negatively on the forests leading to poor harvest of mangrove resources, loss of biodiversity, poor quality of life and food insecurity. In addition, the economic hardship is translated into lack of funds that has led to poor shelter, feeding, clothing, education, marriage breakdowns and crises, and prevalence of diseases. Similarly, fish and shellfish, which constitute the major source of diet, are now scarce. This has brought about low protein and iodine intake whose deficiency leads to the prevalence of diseases like beriberi, goiter and kwashiorkor among children (Ukoima, 2002).

In earlier times, women were seen complementing the efforts of their husbands in providing funds for their children’s education. Today they can no longer render such assistance to their husbands and this has affected the training of their children in schools. Marriage, which has been a respected institution before this time, is today debased. Cases of divorce arising from economic hardship are a common phenomenon. Women have taken to prostitution as a vocation thereby debasing womanhood and the sanctity of marriage and the institution of family.

Furthermore, since the local people depend on mangrove trees for cooking and ironing of their clothes, the scarcity of these trees has forced them to depend on unavailable kerosene for most domestic activities. This has aggravated the already existing economic hardship among the people, particularly women with the unpredictable daily increases in the prices of petroleum products including kerosene. Trapped under the present circumstance, the young fishermen and fisherwomen have been compelled to migrate to the urban centres for better opportunities that never existed anyway. Some of the demeaning situations in which women are found in the cities today are consequences of the compelling rural urban migration. Beyond the rural urban migration, the economic problem in the enclave has raised a fundamental political question; and as the political issue has not been sufficiently addressed, social issues have emerged, and these issue has not been sufficiently addressed, social issues have emerged, and these impart are youth restiveness, street gangs or cultism, hostage taking, kidnapping and other forms of anti –social behaviours that have today bedeviled the region. Summary and Conclusion This paper has examined the impact of the unsustainable utilization of mangrove resources on coastal women livelihood against the stated objectives of Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). The paper noted instances of indiscriminate exploitation of these resources by coastal women that depend on them as major source of economic

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livelihood. It shows that the mass poverty among the women in the region is occasioned by the depletion of mangrove resources. Thus, the indiscriminate exploitation and the consequent depletion of mangrove resources are therefore adjudged to be part of the critical catalysts for the worsening living conditions especially among women in the coastal communities of the region.

The implications of the foregoing are that: the local people need to tend the mangrove forest in order to maintain its naturalness and productivity for future use. To that extent, what seems necessary to be done is a change in attitude towards the environment. The need to adopt a more environment friendly approach to the exploitation and utilization of the mangrove forest resources based on traditional practices becomes apparent and urgent. It also calls for a new and sustainable strategy of economic empowerment of the coastal women.

It may well be stated that the understanding of the household activities of coastal women and the mangrove resources they collect for income would enhance the formulation of rural economic policies designed to improve sustainable mangrove forest management in the coastal communities of Niger Delta.

In order to realize the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of enhancing sustainable development and guaranteeing economic access for women generally and in the Niger Delta in particular, there is need to continue to realize the highest possible rate of economic return from the mangrove forest. Based on the foregoing, the following recommendations are made:

- It would be necessary to make an inventory of the mangrove species and the resources in them so as to be able to sustainably harvest them. Local legislation could be put in place and enforced as to the kind of species, minimum size, and maximum number that could be extracted or exploited per year. This would go a long way in conserving the natural environment.

- A deliberate effort at regenerating mangrove tree species and their resources could be embarked upon. This could be started by focusing on the seedlings/nurseries of desirable species of sea foods /fin fishes.

- Communities should be made to enact local legislation in controlling the rate of exploitation of these resources, and enforce their implementation.

- Local communities can set up environment committees to monitor activities that impose threat to their existence and future.

- The multi national oil companies and the government should be made to adopt environment friendly practices according to international standards in their seismic and oil exploration/exploitation activities.

- Specific sustainable poverty reduction projects based on the environmental communities. These women would be organized in co-operatives.

- Effective public enlightenment in the conservation of mangrove resources should be put in place and carried out.

- Manpower training and research for conservation should be more purposefully focused and substantially funded than what is obtained presently.

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References

Ashton – Jones, N et al (1998). The Human Ecosystems of the Niger Delta: An ERA handbook. Benin City: Environmental Rights Action.

Bandaranayake, W. (2001). Mangroves and their products. Queensland, Australia:

Australian Institute of Marine Science. Bisong E.E. and Ajake, A.O. (2001). An Economic Analysis of Women’s Dependence on

Forest Resources in the Rainforest Communities of South Eastern Nigeria. Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences. vol. 7 No. 2

Ejiluwu, N.C. and Gabriel, A.O.O., (eds). (2003). Women in Nigerian History: The

River and Bayelsa States Experience. Choba: Oyoma Research Publications. Enemugwem, J.H. (2001). The Significance of the Niger Delta In the Political and

Economic Development of Nigeria. Unpublished Ph.d Dissertation, Department of History, University of Port-Harcourt.

FAO (1978). Forestry for local community development. FAO Forestry paper, Rome,

SIDA. FAO (1987). Restoring The Balance: Women And Forest Resources. Rome: SIDA. Francisco, J.S and Lorna Israel. (1991). A draft report on Gender needs assessments with

fishermen. Quezon City, Philippines: (Miriam College), Women’s Resources Centre.

Illo, J.F.I and Polo, J.B (1990). Fishers, Traders, Farmers, Wives: The life story of

ten women in a fishing village. Atanco de manila University, Manila: Institute of Philippine Culture.

Irikana, G.J. (2006). Mangrove Utilization and Poverty Alleviation in the NigerDelta: A

case study of Andoni Women. An unpublished Ph.D Dissertation, Department of Sociology, University of Port Harcourt.

Mehra, R. et al (1993). Womens Participation in the Cogtong Bay Mangrove

Management Project: A Case Study. A collaborative research report on Gender, Community Development and Conservation of Biological Resources, Washington DC: International Centre for Research on Women and World Wildlife Fund.

Moses, B.S (1985). Mangrove Swamp As Potential Food Source. in Wilcox, B.H.R and

Powell C.B, eds. The mangrove Ecosystem of the Niger Delta: Proceedings of a workshop, university of Port Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt publications committee.

Oshin, O. (1972). Population Movement Integration: The historical role of Railways in

the USA and Nigeria. Nigeria Journal of American studies.

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Pomery, R.S. (1985). The Role of Women and Children in Small Scale Fishing Household: A Case Study In Matalom, Leyte, Philipines. Philipine Quarterly of Culture and Society 15.

Ukoima, N.H. (2002). Nypa Palm/Youths In Politics: Issues Affecting The Obollo

People. Ujama Magazine Vol. 7. No 1. The Annual Publication of National Union of Andor Students, December.

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Proceedings of a Workshop University of Port Harcourt, University of Port Harcourt Publications Committee.

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Microcredit Alternatives for Sustainable National Development: a Focus on Nigeria’s Political Economy

Okeke, Remi Chukwudi

Abstract

Sometimes in developing countries there arises the tendency for the true fundamentals of credit provision to be overlooked, in pursuit of the orthodoxy. In this regard, a functional conceptualization of microcredit is considered crucial. Hence in this study, microcredit concept is considered critical to the understanding of the importance of credit delivery in the formulation and implementation of strategies for accelerating the pace of economic growth and sustainable national development. Invariably, the general objective of the study was to examine the microcredit alternatives for sustainable national development, with a focus on the political economy of Nigeria. Thus, the specific objectives were to (i) highlight the prevailing concept of microcredit in the political economy of Nigeria (ii) examine the contribution of prevailing microcredit practice in Nigeria, to sustainable national development and (iii) recommend how microcredit administration can be utilized in accelerating the pace of development in Nigeria. The study adopted as methodology, the critical mode of research and utilized as theoretical framework, the political economy approach. Findings of the study indicate that the prevailing concept of microcredit in the political economy of Nigeria, centers on poverty alleviation. However, the prevailing microcredit practice has not produced evidence of overt poverty reduction. An alternative form of microcredit recommended by the study is the type that its packaging guarantees full credit recovery. The second alternative conceptualization in the study is that microcredit is principally for the generation of multiplier effects in the economy, not singly for the fighting of poverty. In conclusion the study posits that the current fixation with microcredit as the supreme poverty alleviation methodology in Nigeria requires urgent rejection. KEYWORDS: Microcredit, Sustainable National Development, Political Economy Introduction The formulation and implementation of strategies for accelerating the pace of growth and sustained economic development has continued to occupy the political and reforms agenda of developing countries such as Nigeria. An essential component of this endeavour is the need to properly identify development priorities, the financing gaps and measures to address them (Alegieuno, 2010:1). Sometimes, development priorities, financing gaps and measures to address them translate to a single important matter, which is provision of credit. Hence, in an era of financialization (Foster, 2008), there may arise in some developing countries, the tendency for the true fundamentals of credit provision to be overlooked, in pursuit of the orthodoxy. In other words, there is the tendency that some developing economies may ill-define their credit deliver needs. According to Palley (2007:2) financialization is a process whereby financial markets, financial institutions, and financial elites gain greater influence over economic policy and economic outcomes. Financialization transforms the functioning of economic systems at both the macro and micro levels. Its principal impacts are to (1) elevate the significance of the financial sector relative to the real sector, (2) transfer income from the real sector to the financial sector, and (3) increase income inequality and contribute to wage

Department of Public Administration and Local Government, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Email: remiokeke@gmail.com, Phone: 2348035523818

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Stagnation. Additionally, there are reasons to believe that financialization may put the economy at risk of debt deflation and prolonged recession. Financialization operates through three different conduits: changes in the structure and operation of financial markets, changes in the behavior of nonfinancial corporations, and changes in economic policy (Palley, 2007:2). Financialization reformulates the financial foundations of national economies and invariably the international financial architecture and in the process can divert the attention of national political economists from the fundamentals of effective credit delivery.

It is not within the scope of the paper to consider if financialization is receding or not. Financialization is only mentioned in the study, in the context of how a sound credit culture may enhance the chances of cyclical shocks being effectively absorbed by a national economy (Soludo, 2008). In this regard, the availability of microcredit is considered crucial. In this study therefore, microcredit concept is considered critical to the understanding of the importance of credit in the formulation and implementation of strategies for accelerating the pace of growth and sustained economic development. In other words, what is the prevailing conceptualization of microcredit in the political economy of Nigeria? What has the prevailing microcredit practice contributed to sustainable national development in Nigeria? How can microcredit administration be utilized in accelerating the pace of development in Nigeria? Invariably, the general objective of the study is to examine the microcredit alternatives for sustainable national development, with a focus on the political economy of Nigeria. Thus, the specific objectives are to (i) highlight the prevailing concept of microcredit in the political economy of Nigeria (ii) examine the contribution of prevailing microcredit practice in Nigeria, to sustainable national development and (iii) recommend how microcredit administration can be utilized in accelerating the pace of development in Nigeria. The study adopts as methodology, the critical mode of research. The theoretical framework is the political economy framework The Concept of Micro Credit and the Practice of Micro Finance The definition of microcredit (in Nigeria) has continued to be characterized by multifarious tendencies. According to Idumanje (2001:255), microcredit refers to credit facilities given to small scale business proprietors, to enable them engage in productive economic activities, capable of generating income (Idumanje, 2001:255). This definition incidentally suggests that only small-scale business proprietors may approach the lender for microcredit negotiation. But Idumanje (2001:255) continues: small-scale businessmen and the rural and urban poor have low propensity to save, hence they need credit intervention. Parenthetically, Idumanje (2001:255) hereby acknowledges that the rural and urban poor, not necessarily small scale business proprietors can benefit from microcredit. In other words, a beneficiary of microcredit can purely spend it for instance, on consumer goods and can also spend it on income-yielding ventures. Reminiscent of the diverse tendencies, reflected in the definition of microcredit by Idumanje (2001:255), Ugwu (2008:91), citing Okali and Otiti (1992), argues: microcredit has to do with soft loans usually given to small and medium scale entrepreneurs, farmers and artisans /craftsmen, etc, to enable them procure, produce or improve their productivity as well as increase their general welfare. Microcredit could lead to the establishment of cottage industries, livestock farming, fish ponds and piggery farming. It could lead to real successful farming, to the extent of export promotion of agricultural products such as palm produce, cashew, coconut and allied products. Microcredit could be facilitated by

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organized groups such as cooperative societies, clubs, town unions, age grades, etc and /or individuals (Ugwu, 2008:91).

Ugwu (2011:51) further asserts that “micro credit is not profit oriented venture”. This assertion indeed raises the issue of whether the funds involved are rather grants-in-aid. It however, truly begins to appear as if the bottom-line is that microcredit in its broadest conceptualization, places emphases on low interest rates, as different from its non-interest element consideration. Sometimes also, the impression is created that microcredit can only be talked about, in the context of community and rural banks (See Uche, 2007:19). Furthermore, in a somewhat dreary explication of availability of microcredit, Ezeudo (2010:40) has also contended that availability of microcredit can also be described as the existence of microcredit, as provided by micro finance institutions, conventional financial institutions or government agencies (Ezeudo, 2010:40). The tedious nature of this contention aside, it exemplifies the confusion surrounding the definition and consequently, the effective utilization of microcredit, in the political economy of the Nigerian state, for sustainable national development. Fundamentally, microcredit in the opinion of this paper is squarely a credit product. Hence, once the possibilities of non-interest and non-performance are permitted to be embedded in the packaging of the product, it begins to lose the features of credit and begins to appear more like grants-in-aid.

Let it be duly noted at this juncture that the institutionalization of the microcredit concept in its modern popular conceptualization is attributable to the intervention of Mohammad Yunus. According to The Encyclopedia Britannica (2010) microcredit, also called micro banking or microfinance, refers to a means of extending credit, usually in the form of small loans with no collateral, to nontraditional borrowers such as the poor in rural or undeveloped areas. This approach was institutionalized in 1976 by Muhammad Yunus, an American-educated Bangladeshi economist, who had observed that a significant percentage of the world’s population has been barred from acquiring the capital, necessary to migrate out of poverty. Yunus set out to solve this problem through the creation of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. The Grameen approach is unique because the small loans are guaranteed by members of the borrower’s community; pressure within the group encourages borrowers to pay back the loans in a timely manner. Grameen’s clients are among the poorest of the poor, many of whom had never possessed any money and relied on a barter economy to meet their daily needs. Using microloans, borrowers are able to purchase livestock or start their own businesses. By 1996, Grameen had extended credit to more than three million borrowers and was the largest bank in Bangladesh, with more than 1,000 branches. The success of microloans in Bangladesh led to similar programs in other less-developed nations, including Bolivia and Indonesia. Some are sponsored by foundations, religious organizations, or nongovernmental organizations, such as Opportunity International and the Foundation for International Community Assistance (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010). In 2008, the Mexican bank, Compartamos, was criticized for parlaying its micro lending program into a profit-making operation, charging high interest rates, widely regarded as usurious (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010). Developments such as the foregoing tend to give credence to the assumption that microcredit must be devoid of the profit element. But microcredit is characterized by manifold conceptualizations.

Yunus (2006) provides the following elaborate exposition: The word “microcredit” did not exist before the seventies. Now it has become a buzz-word among the development practitioners. In the process, the word has been imputed to mean everything to everybody. No one now gets shocked if somebody uses the term “microcredit” to mean agricultural credit, or rural credit, or cooperative credit, or

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consumer credit, credit from the savings and loan associations, or from credit unions, or from money lenders. Thus, when someone claims microcredit has a thousand year history, or a hundred year history, nobody finds it as an exciting piece of historical information (Yunus, 2006:1). According to Yunus (2006:1) this is creating a lot of misunderstanding and confusion in the discussion about microcredit and in so doing; we really don’t know who is talking about what and he proposes that we put labels to various types of microcredit, so that we can clarify at the beginning of our discussion which microcredit we are talking about. To him, this is very important for arriving at clear conclusions, formulating right policies, designing appropriate institutions and methodologies. Hence, instead of just saying “microcredit” we should specify which category of microcredit. He went ahead to suggest a broad classification of microcredit as follows: (1) Traditional (informal) microcredit (such as, moneylender’s credit, pawn shops, loans from friends and relatives, consumer credit in informal market, etc.) (2) Microcredit based on traditional informal groups (such as, tontin, Susu, ROSCA, etc.) (3) Activity-based microcredit through conventional or specialized banks (such as, agricultural credit, livestock credit, fisheries credit, handloom credit, etc.) (4) Rural credit through specialized banks (5) Cooperative microcredit (cooperative credit, credit union, savings and loan associations, savings banks) (6) Consumer microcredit (7) Bank-NGO partnership based microcredit (8) Grameen-type microcredit or Grameencredit (9) Other types of NGO microcredit and (10) Other types of non-NGO non-collateralized microcredit.

Yunus (2006:2) further asserts: the point is that every time we use the word “microcredit” we should make it clear which type (or cluster of types) of microcredit we are talking about. Otherwise we’ll continue to create endless confusion in our discussion (Yunus, 2006:2). Grameen-type microcredit or Grameencredit has understandably become a re-occurring version of the microcredit system and in the process too, its peculiar features have also become the source of the manifold mixtures in the microcredit literature and ostensible microcredit practice. In this regard, Yunus (2006:2-4) has tabled a comprehensive list of the distinguishing features of Grameencredit, on the basis of which the Grameen replication programmes or Grameen type programmes are known. These general features of Grameencredit are: (1) It promotes credit as a human right (2) Its mission is to help the poor families to help themselves to overcome poverty. It is targeted to the poor, particularly poor women (3) Most distinctive feature of Grameencredit is that it is not based on any collateral or legally enforceable contracts. It is based on “trust”, not on legal procedures and system (4) It is offered for creating self-employment for income-generating activities and housing for the poor, as opposed to consumption (5) It was initiated as a challenge to the conventional banking which rejected the poor by classifying them to be “not creditworthy”. As a result it rejected the basic methodology of the conventional banking and created its own methodology (6) It provides service at the doorstep of the poor based on the principle that the people should not go to the bank, bank should go to the people (7) In order to obtain loans a borrower must join a group of borrowers (8) Loans can be received in a continuous sequence. New loan becomes available to a borrower if her previous loan is repaid (9) All loans are to be paid back in installments (weekly, or bi-weekly) (10) Simultaneously more than one loan can be received by a borrower (11) It comes with both obligatory and voluntary savings programmes for the borrower (12) Generally, these loans are given through non-profit organizations or through institutions owned primarily by the borrowers. If it is done through for-profit institutions not owned by the borrowers, efforts are made to keep the interest rate at a level, which is close to a level commensurate with sustainability of the programme rather than bringing attractive return for the investors. Grameen credit’s

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thumb-rule is to keep the interest rate as close to the market rate, prevailing in the commercial banking sector, as possible, without sacrificing sustain-ability. In fixing the interest rate, market interest rate is taken as the reference rate, rather than the moneylenders’ rate. Reaching the poor is its nonnegotiable mission. Reaching sustainability is a directional goal. It must reach sustainability as soon as possible, so that it can expand its outreach without fund constraints (13) Grameencredit gives high priority on building social capital. It is promoted through formation of groups and centers, developing leadership quality through annual election of group and centre leaders, electing board members when the institution is owned by the borrowers (Yunus, 2006).

To develop a social agenda owned by the borrowers it undertakes a process of intensive discussion among the borrowers, and encourages them to take these decisions seriously and implement them. It gives special emphasis on the formation of human capital and concern for protecting environment. It monitors children’s education, provides scholarships and student loans for higher education. For formation of human capital, it makes efforts to bring technology, like mobile phones, solar power, and promote mechanical power to replace manual power. Grameencredit is based on the premise that the poor have skills which remain unutilized or under-utilized. It is definitely not the lack of skills which make poor people poor. Grameen believes that poverty is not created by the poor; it is created by the institutions and policies which surround them. In order to eliminate poverty all that is needed to be done is to make appropriate changes in the institutions and policies, and/or create new ones. Grameen believes that charity is not an answer to poverty. It only helps poverty to continue. It creates dependency and takes away individual’s initiative to break through the wall of poverty. Unleashing of energy and creativity in each human being is the answer to poverty. Grameen brought credit to the poor, women, the illiterate, and the people who pleaded that they did not know how to invest money and earn an income. Grameen created a methodology and an institution around the financial needs of the poor, and created access to credit on reasonable terms, enabling the poor to build on their existing skill, to earn a better income in each cycle of loans (Yunus, 2006).

Accordingly, Yunus (2010:1) contends: I want to see a world free from poverty. Poverty does not belong in a civilized human society. Its proper place is in a museum. The Grameen Bank and affiliated institutions are dedicated to providing opportunities that can help improve the socioeconomic condition of people who live in abject poverty. I believe that microcredit has a key role to play in reducing poverty (Yunus, 2010:1). Hence, it is this poverty alleviation philosophical foundation of the founder of the Grameencredit - the most popular of modern microcredits that has given rise to the impression that all microcredits are devoid of profit-making considerations and that all microcredits are indeed, for the wretched of the earth.

Micro finance on the other hand, has been described as the provision of credit, savings and financial services to very poor people in order to create opportunities for them to create, own and accumulate assets and to facilitate consumption (Focus, 1998; cited in Owualah, 1999:66). This immediately explains that microcredit is an aspect of micro finance. However, the emphasis on “the very poor” in this definition also throws up the issue of whether micro finance is truly meant for only the wretched of the earth. Microcredit it seems is an integral part of micro finance and in practical terms, their nuances are interwoven. Owualah (1999:66) thus contends that micro finance therefore, refers to the provision of credits to the poor (the poor again), at subsidized interest rates, with little or no recovery rates at public sponsored financial institutions (Owualah, 1999:66). We see again that it is this element of subsidized interest rates, offered by public sponsored financial institutions which tolerate little or no recovery that creates the

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impression that all microcredits are devoid of profit motives. In the process, conventional banks, particularly in the Nigerian context, shun microcredit instruments. As already pointed out above, it is erroneously held by some scholars that microcredits are only talked about, in the context of community and rural banks but not within the orbit of conventional banks (Uche, 2007:19).

However, it has been posited by Focus (1998), cited in Owualah (1999:66) that the apparent lack of interest in micro finance operations by conventional financial institutions can be traced to the following reasons: (1) High transaction cost of micro lending which are usually higher than in conventional bank lending (2) The more labour intensive nature of micro finance services and the special challenges in the recruitment, training and motivation of staff engaged in micro finance operations (3) The opportunity costs of using bank deposits for micro lending compared with returns from alternative uses (4) High reserve requirements, which usually leaves little deposit base for micro lending in the face of competing demands (Owualah, 1999:66). The issue of the position of the commercial/conventional banks on microcredit/micro finance has been summarized by Owualah (1999:67) as follows: despite these constraints, conventional commercial banks have both organizational and structural characteristics that make them amenable to successful micro finance operations. These include their extensive branch network and physical infrastructure to cater for a large number of micro finance customers and their well established internal controls, administrative and accounting systems, to keep track of large number of transactions. Others are their access to deposit and equity funds instead of depending on budgetary allocations and volatile donor resources; ability to offer loans, deposit and a wide range of other financial services and the pursuit of goals which foster prudent management, cost effectiveness, profitability and sustainability of banking operations…It is against the foregoing background that commercial banks in developing countries have begun to perceive micro finance not only as a profitable venture but a veritable public relations tool; although there exists a wide gap between their present level of accomplishments and what they are capable of doing (Owualah, 1999:67). In other words, it is not really the banks that hoisted on the political economy, the notion that microcredits are principally, poverty alleviation designs. Therefore, in re-contextualizing and repositioning microcredit, for economic development in Nigeria, the banks are likely to be willing partners. Furthermore, microcredit in the context of this paper, is specifically speaking, a product of many variants. Micro finance on the other hand, refers to the collectivities of methodologies for delivering microcredit. The Political Economy Of Nigeria in the Cntext of the Developmental Challenges According to Majekodunmi and Adejuwon (2012:193), who cited Sumner (2008), political economy is a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework that is based in Marxist social theory. It involves not only the interrelationship between economics and politics but also the interconnections between the various levels of social interaction, from the local through the national to the global. The primary goal of political economy is to know how societies are, and can be transformed. A political economy approach helps us to develop a critical attitude toward organized power and understand the challenges and opportunities we face in building dynamic and democratic alternatives (Majekodunmi and Adejuwon, 2012:193). Furthermore, according to Youngman (2000:3), also cited in Majekodunmi and Adejuwon (2012:193), the political economy approach deliberately moves the focus of analysis from individual choice and behavior to a consideration of the historical and structural context within which individual action takes place. This approach entails a number of basic concepts. First, social phenomena

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exist within a historical and structural context shaped by the mode of production and its class relations. Second, the manner and extent of the influence of the economic foundation on particular aspects of society is a matter for specific investigation in each case. Third, the dominance of the capitalist mode of production at the world level means that country-level studies must situate their analysis within the context of the global political economy. Fourth, the different classes pursue their own interests, and these interests are conflictual. Fifth, although class relations are the main determinant of social phenomena, they are not the sole determinant - other inequalities such as gender, ethnicity, and race have significant effects. Sixth, the conflicts in society are reflected in the state, which institutionally serves the interests of capitalist accumulation and reproduction. Seventh, intellectual and cultural lives are shaped by the capitalist mode of production and by the contestation between different classes and groups in society. And eighth, opposition to the existing capitalist socioeconomic order is expressed not only by political parties but also by social movements and other organizations in civil society that articulate alternative conceptions of society and how it should develop (Youngman, 2000:29-30, cited in Majekodunmi and Adejuwon, 2012:193).

Essentially, this paper is not rooted in Marxism, even if as highlighted above, the political economy framework of analysis possesses immense Marxist antecedents. In this paper therefore, the political economy is the manifestation of the interplay of politics and economics in the nation-state. Hence, we talk about the political economy of Nigeria. Usually, the local political economy exists with linkages with the international political economy which invariably is a product of the interface of politics and economics. Against this background, we proceed to look at the political economy of Nigeria which essentially presents a picture of democratic capitalism. Streeck (2011:3) characterizes democratic capitalism as follows: a political economy ruled by two conflicting principles, or regimes, of resource allocation: one operating according to marginal productivity, or what is revealed as merit by a “free play of market forces,” and the other following social need, or entitlement, as certified by the collective choices of democratic politics. Governments under democratic capitalism are under pressure to honor both principles simultaneously, although substantively, the two almost never agree - or they can afford to neglect one in favor of the other only for a short time until they are punished by the consequences, political in the one case and economic in the other. Governments that fail to attend to democratic claims for protection and redistribution risk losing their majority while governments that disregard the claims for compensation from the owners of productive resources, as expressed in the language of marginal productivity, cause economic dysfunctions and distortions that will be increasingly unsustainable and will thereby also undermine political support (Streeck, 2011:3).

Hence, the orthodox Nigerian conceptualization of microcredit as the supreme poverty reduction methodology (see Ediomo-Ubong and Iboro, 2010; Appah, et al, 2012; Jegede, et al (2011) is interwoven with democratic capitalism. In this regard, the populist political elite embrace microcredit as poverty alleviation largesse. The motivation is the satisfaction of social need. The motivation is more about populism than economic determinism. Invariably, in the Nigerian experience, microcredit practices have not aided the course of economic progress and national development. Streeck (2011:3/40 further contends that economics as a “science” instructs citizens and politicians that markets are better for them than politics, and that real justice is market justice under which everybody is rewarded according to contribution rather than to needs redefined as rights. Incidentally, the political economy of Nigeria is ruled by market justice exponents. The highly influential World Bank bureaucrat and current Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy in Nigeria, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is both

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nationally and internationally, a leading market justice practitioner. Her influential contributions to policy directions in the political economy of Nigeria are obviously coloured by her World Bank background. However, Amaefule (2013:1) quotes the World Bank as announcing that over 100 million Nigerians live in destitution. The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly, said this at the bank’s Country Programme Portfolio Review in Enugu, Nigeria, on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. According to the World Bank boss, the number of Nigerians living in destitution makes up 8.33 per cent of the total number of people living in destitution all over the world (Amaefule, 2013:1). In this paper, the incidence of over 100million destitute Nigerians typifies the developmental challenges of the Nigerian state and in particular the contradictions of the political economy that is enveloped by democratic capitalism. By 1996 in Bangladesh, Grameen had extended credit to more than three million borrowers and was the largest bank in the country, with more than 1,000 branches. The success of microloans in Bangladesh led to similar programs in other less-developed nations, including Bolivia and Indonesia (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010). As at 2013, over 100 million Nigerians out of a total population of 174.5 million people (CIA, 2013) are destitute. In the political economy of Nigeria, a routine matter, such as the preparation, consideration and approval of the annual budget of the state, is usually exacerbated to the status of miniature warfare. Let us attempt some illustrations with the 2014 budget, already presented to Nigeria’s National Assembly, but debate is yet to commence on the budget proposal as the month of January 2014 comes to an end. In the first place, according to Effanga (2014), the budget proposal itself is scandalous. The first observation to make is that the budget proposal allocates 76.3% to recurrent expenditure and just 23.7% to capital expenditure. One interpretation of this is that the budget is meant to just keep the country and its institutions running with nothing spectacular to show for it. A budget focused on massive development of infrastructure would assign more to capital expenditure rather than to recurrent which covers personnel and overhead costs (Effanga, 2014). According to Alechenu, et al (2014), the All Progressives Congress (the main opposition group of politicians in the country) is set for a showdown with the Federal Government as it has directed its members in the National Assembly to block all legislative proposals, including the 2014 Appropriation Bill, until constitutionalism is restored in Rivers State, in particular and the nation in general. On the other hand, Ameh et al (2014) report as follows: Senators and House of Representatives members elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (the ruling party in Nigeria) have vowed to crush a plan by the opposition All Progressives Congress to block the passage of the 2014 budget. Indeed, if all of this display of arsenal of warfare is about passage of mere Appropriation Bill, the Nigerian state merits being known as a giant that can ruthlessly deal with its detractors, especially if they decide to come from across the Nigerian borders. Essentially, the orchestrated distractions such as the type in the foregoing prevent the political elite from concentrating on the development challenges in the political economy. Development in this context would be exemplified by reduction in the level of destitution in the land, as different from the construction of airports, hosting of international conferences and making of speeches of doubtful value, as indications of development consciousness. Hence, it is strongly opined in this paper that microcredit be retabled as a development-inducing credit instrument, as opposed to a poverty management instrumentation. The microcredit Alternatives for Sustainable National Development in Nigeria Sustainable national development in the context of this study is intrinsically related to sustainable economic development. It is also important at this juncture to highlight that

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economic development in this study also highly relates with economic security, which in the final analysis should be human-centered. It is quite distinct from economic development as represented by growth-figures from the officialdom. Hence, by the problem of economic development may be meant the problem of accounting for the observed pattern, across countries and across time, in levels and rates of growth of per capita income (Lucas, Jr, 1988:3). In this study, per capita income still means a measure of the amount of money that is being earned per person in a certain area (http://www.investopedia.com). However, the twin concepts of poverty and inequality, which in their extreme cases translate to destitution, are more in tune with our methodology (Okeke, 2014:8). However, to combat poverty and inequality requires job creation, employment generation, availability of food and provision of shelter that can come through credit provision that guarantees multiplier effects, not the extension of ostensible credit in the form of charity. In effect, in the political economy of Nigeria, where microcredit is perceived highly as poverty alleviation instrumentation, the politico-economic elite also engage in the massive looting of public treasury that leaves the very poor, perpetually in avoidable poverty (see Ojukwu and Shopeju, 2010).

In the history of Nigeria’s political economy, it was once doggedly contended that there were no alternatives to a certain economic prescription. We refer of course to the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Administration (1985-1993). Citing Nigeria’s Newswatch Magazine of July 24, 1989:14, Ofuebe (2001:224), quotes the then Nigeria’s Military President as follows: The Structural Adjustment Programme is the only alternative we have if we are to reduce Nigeria’s total dependence on oil as its foreign exchange earner. This administration is committed to the programme because there is no viable alternative (Ofuebe, 2001:224). Political economists on the other side of the then SAP debate of course reminded the SAP apologists that even in death, there is an alternative, which is death. But we must return to our microcredit mainstream. The SAP-aside was for the purpose of highlighting that economic concepts do have alternatives. Hence, we proceed to contend that microcredit, as a financial intermediation product, has very many conceptual alternatives. If we go by the orthodoxy, its interest element may be de-emphasized but what must be considered very strange is the notion that microcredit may be availed as a form of largesse that does not have to be recovered. In other words, we strongly contend that one of the alternative forms of microcredit is the type that its packaging guarantees full recovery. For instance, microcredit can be delivered against the emoluments of junior academics in a Nigerian University community, to facilitate research productivity. Indeed, the dearth of productivity linkages between academic research and the industries in Nigeria is among the critical problems of the Nigerian economy (Offiong and Chikwem, 2011: 20-21). In this regard, the earlier the research initiatives of the budding researchers are duly funded, the higher the possibilities of productivity linkages between their ultimate research output and the intended end-usages. We highlight that the governing elite in Nigeria are not enamored by such unattractive suggestions that border on research and development. Therefore, to wait for them to properly fund research and development, increasingly resembles waiting for Goddot!

Our second alternative conceptualization is that microcredit is principally for the generation of multiplier effects in the economy, not for the fighting of poverty as sole purpose. Indeed, microcredit is principally a credit instrument. It is not fundamentally a chance to dole out funds to the wretched of the earth. Hence, the defining feature of microcredit is in the comparatively minimal value of the credit. It is neither in the pricing nor in the credit’s non-performance. As a result of these misconceptions, microcredit in the developing economies such as that of Nigeria continues to face the issues classified as

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constraints. Thus, Aryeetey (2005) cited in Ediomo-Ubong and Iboro (2010:175) has noted that most microcredit programs in the developing world are hampered by constraints, including limited loan portfolio, administrative problems, lack of proper co-ordination of activities and problems associated with loans and interest repayment. Ediomo-Ubong and Iboro (2010:176), in respect of their study area continues: Although, the scheme has made a difference in the lives of benefiting rural households, it is also fraught with a number of setbacks. Among these constraints, problems with repayment of credit and interest are the most prominent. The rate of repayment has been very slow as to render the scheme inefficient. Key managers of the program, including program officers, monitoring and evaluation officers and credit recovering team members, pointed out that most of the beneficiaries pay their monthly loan funds several weeks or months after the date they are supposed to remit. They further observed that even the interest due to the organization, which goes into administrative cost and payment of lender's interest, are also tied down by the majority of beneficiaries. In some cases, resort has been made to litigation as a way of obtaining repayments. Such drastic measures, however, further compounds the problem. The problem of repayment of loan funds and interests arise from a number of factors, which together constitute clogs in the wheel of the scheme's progress. These factors include the perception that credits are rural people's share of government's revenue allocation. One of the program officers told us that: Since they see the loan we give them as their share of government revenue, some of the beneficiaries do not take the demand for repayment of loans seriously, much less interest repayment; they regard this as a way of ensuring that they use the funds properly and not squander it. Unfortunately, this deeply embedded cultural attitude towards credit program has been very impervious to change, despite effort to educate beneficiaries on the need to make remittance. Poor savings culture of beneficiaries poses another formidable constraint to microcredit schemes. Most beneficiaries find savings a very difficult practice to imbibe. They spend most of their income on household food, children's education and on the acquisition or redemption of leased lands. Furthermore, some beneficiaries consider their income too small to be saved. Thus, in the face of pressing economic challenges such as feeding, they consider spending the funds to address these needs a rational decision. The value that rural people bestow on feeding, children's well-being, and land makes saving a secondary consideration. As a result, they often lack the funds to make repayments for credit obtained (Ediomo-Ubong and Iboro, 2010:176) According to Akanji (2002:13), by the understanding of the level of poverty in Nigeria, Government attempted with several microcredit programs to alleviate poverty programs/projects such as Agricultural Development programs (ADPs), National Directorate of Employments (NDE), Better Life for Rural Dwellers (Later named Family Support Programs), the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) were pursued during 1986 to 1999. Other institutions that have also attempted purveying micro-credit were the rural banking scheme (1977-1990), People’s Bank (1987-1990); Community Bank (1990 to date) and in addition, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme, which came into existence since 1977. Although all the programs were directed at improving the productive base for sustainable growth, most of the efforts at purveying microcredit to alleviate poverty were largely irrelevant and urban structured from the standpoint of the realities of (who is the poor?) - understanding the poor. The programs in terms of resource endowment were dominated by government who gave paternalistic subventions in trickles. The way the programs had functioned over the years was such that the credit system was essentially directed at meeting the needs of elites whereas the program is largely for small peasant poor group. The semi-bank agencies in the system, some of which were created precisely to redress

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the weaknesses of the existing system were saddled with myriads of problems, especially inadequate funding as well as lack of appropriate skills to mobilize/identify the poor and cannot therefore provide the essential remedy in a sustainable way. The most serious problem in the agencies set to provide credit (NACB, etc) was the fact that they lacked adequate professional staff. CBN (1986) credit study shared that some 64% of personnel of NACB were administrative staff. Lending procedure were tortuous, with extremely demanding forms for completion by uniformed and illiterate farmers and the target group who are basically seeking relatively small loans (Akanji, 2002:13).

Indeed, the problem has to do with the prevailing viewpoint that microcredit can not be effectively delivered within the operational templates of the existing conventional banks. Paradoxically, there were delivery bottlenecks in the conventional banks and there have also been serious delivery bottlenecks in the new creations for microcredit service to the poor. The alternative is to use financial intermediation, to provide jobs, food and shelter for citizens. According to Owualah (1999:67), despite their constraints, conventional commercial banks have both organizational and structural characteristics that make them amenable to successful micro finance operations. These include their extensive branch network and physical infrastructure to cater for a large number of micro finance customers and their well established internal controls, administrative and accounting systems, to keep track of large number of transactions. Others are their access to deposit and equity funds instead of depending on budgetary allocations and volatile donor resources; ability to offer loans, deposit and a wide range of other financial services and the pursuit of goals which foster prudent management, cost effectiveness, profitability and sustainability of banking operations (Owualah, 1999:67). Essentially, microcredit that would generate further multipliers for sustainable national development in Nigeria has to be delivered within the larger operational template of the reformed conventional banks, as the current contrary designs amount to playing the ostrich. Conclusion Indeed, there are no universal decrees to the effect that microcredits should be availed, devoid of interest elements or with its credit performance imperatives overlooked. It is true that a seminal strategy of Muhammad Yunus, which emanated from Bangladesh, transformed microcredit into a universal weapon of the fight against poverty. However, microcredit remains fundamentally, an instrument of financial intermediation. In developing economies and indeed elsewhere, microcredit can also be given some seminal reconceptualization. Microcredit can for instance, be utilized in the bridging of the research gap between budding academics in the developing countries and their counterparts in the First World. In this regard, what is desired in the political economy of Nigeria is a new national microcredit template that can enhance the prospects of sustainable national development, by being devoid of designs to convert it to poverty amelioration largesse in the hands of market justice political economists. It should also not be a recipe for a harvest of failed banks. In conclusion therefore, we posit that the current fixation with microcredit as the supreme poverty alleviation methodology in Nigeria requires urgent rejection.

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Human Capital Accounting: The Dichotomy of Value Representation

By

Kehinde James Sunday Ph.D Abstract The study is an attempt to examine the weakness in the current method of reporting and treating the human capital value within the firm reporting system. A survey method was adopted using structured questionnaire the chi-square a non-parametric method of data analysis with used for the interpretation and data analysis. The study revealed that capitalizing the value of human capital using the discounted usage system means accepted as obviously better than the current realization method. It was recommended that productivity rather than only training and qualification should be used for promotion and value determination. Introduction Capital human remain the most valuation factor is the work organization, the process of securing, training and rewarding human capital however remain difficulty and cumbersome also being an asset of the organization means the value should be accounted for in the balance sheet of the firm, however, they are not machinery, property, land, buildings are all regarded as asset side of the balance sheet, in fact cash, debtor, etc are regarded as current asset of the firm and are accorded treated in the asset side of the balance sheet. However, the human capital value of a firm although are regarded as asset but are treated to the profit and loss account of the organization as an expenses. This pose a problem to the value accorded human capital as asset of the firm. Thus basic problem of human capital have made many organization today to invest less on human capital development other organization that doe invest on human capital do so is a selective manner. The other issue regarding human capital is the fluidity of human capital asset itself. It can die and go to extinction, or become obsolete, or leave the organization after huge investment on their development for other better opportunity this, thus limit the reliability of human capital unlike other asset of the organization. The asset difficulty regarding human capital have made their asset status in organization rather debatable not withstanding human capital remain the most value factor in the organization system for the obvious reason that human capital is the only factor that can effectively put all other factor to work. Thus, the problem arise of how to treat human capital value to the financial report of the organization should human capital value be treated as a pure asset of the firm or realized is the profit and cost account of the firm. The study therefore is an attempt to examine the current treatment is goal of estimating weather the current treatment is good enough or recommend other method for treating human capital value in the financial report of the firm therefore accorded better value in real term to human capital of the firm in boosting the market value of the firm.

Department of Accounting and Finance Lagos state university E-mail pastorkehindebox@yahoo.com

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Literature Review

Flamholz (1972) define human capital accounting as “The process of identifying, measuring and communicating information about human resources to decision makers Dess and Picken (1999) also define human capital accounting as “capabilities, knowledge, skills and experience of the company’s employees and managers as well as the capacity to add to this reservoir of knowledge, skills, and experience through individual learning.”

CEDEFOP (1998) define human resource accounting as the process of identifying, measuring and communicating information about human resources in order to facilitate effective management within an organization. It is an extension of the accounting principles of matching costs and revenues and of organizing data to communicate relevant information in financial terms.Human Resource Accounting is a technique of measuring the effectiveness of personnel management activities and the use of people in an organization. There are two approaches to human resource accounting, namely the cost approach, also called human resource cost accounting method or model and the value approach method, the cost approach include a) Acquisition cost model and b) replacement cost model. The value approach includes the present value of future earnings method, the discounted future wage model, and competitive bidding model, (Wikipedia). These definitions fails to recognize or give collective value to human capital, it also fails to account for the accounting estimation of the value of the human capital however, the definition is of import in capturing the need for determination of human capital value as an assets of the firm rather than treating it as an expenses. Human capital theories Economists estimate human capital on the basis of years of schooling or formal educational attainment levels regardless of actual productive capacity however, financial accounting and reporting leave human capital off the balance sheet for want of rules or conventions. Financial accountants and educators are developing methods for systematically evaluating and recording knowledge assets acquired through experience, education and training such that human capital accounting measurement become an issue in financial reporting ( ) Approaches to Human resource accounting was first developed 1691 the next stage was during 1691-1960 and third phase post-1960..(Wikipedia)

Determination of the value of a firm as been the bone of contention for financial managers, the "value" of an enterprise as measured within traditional balance sheets, include stating wasting assets such as buildings, production plant as fixed assets and others such as cash and stocks as current assets the two making the total value of the firm, while human capital value is regarded as expenses in measuring the enterprise's assets. However, with the growing emergence of the knowledge economy, this traditional valuation has been called into question due to the recognition that human capital is an increasingly important part of an enterprise's total value. This has led to two important questions: how to assess the value of human capital in addition to an enterprise's tangible assets and how to improve the development of human capital in enterprises. The emergence of methods for accounting for human resources aimed at measuring, developing and managing the human capital in an enterprise, can thus be said to reflect the need for improving value measurement and accounting for human capital value as well as ensuring effective human resource management. (CEDEFOP, 1998)

Flamholz (1973) was one of the earliest theorists to give serious thought to the problems of measuring the value of an individual. He argued that this should be based on three variables: productivity, transferability, and promotability (these could perhaps be

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seen as surrogate ways of measuring skills and knowledge). He also proposed, however, that the value of an individual will be linked to the likelihood that that individual will stay with the organisation (loyalty, perhaps measured by job satisfaction). The difficulty, of course, is measurement. It is possible to construct profiles of employees, assessed on key variables, such as loyalty, trust, motivation, effectiveness, experience, etc. Cataloguing these, individually, and in total, may give a useful insight into the development of the organisation. It could be, for example, that a short-term increase in profit has been brought about only at the expense of an overall decline in motivation Flamholmay tz and Pyle (1985) developed the acquisition cost model. This method measures the organization’s investment in employees using five parameters which includes recruiting, acquisition; formal training and familiarization; informal training, Informal familiarization; experience and development. This model suggest instead of charging the costs relating to human capital to profit and loss accounting it should be capitalized in the balance sheet. The process of giving a status of asset to the expenditure item is called capitalization; the capitalized value of human resource is thereafter amortized over a period of time. It is done by taking the age of the employee at the time of recruitment and at the time of retirement, out of these a few employees may leave the organization before attaining the superannuation; this value is aggregated and then amortized over the years. The limitation of this method includes false assumption that the currency value is stable. Secondly since the assets cannot be sold there is no independent check of valuation. Lastly, this method measures only the costs to the organization but ignores completely any measure of the value of the employee to the organization (Cascio, 1991).

Hekimian and Jones in Cascio (1991) proposed in relation to the value of human capital to the origination that where an organization had several divisions seeking the same employee, the employee should be allocated to the highest bidder and the bid price incorporated into that division’s investment base. For example a value of a professional athlete’s service is often determined by how much money a particular team, acting in an open competitive market is willing to pay him or her.

OECD (1996) in relating the concept of human capital accounting to “return-on-investment” (ROI) in education and training, and education/training reform, the OECD notes that it is common practice in most countries for industries and firms to make budgetary decisions on funding for compulsory schooling based on the assumption that the social and economic benefits outweigh the costs; however, in many areas, the requirements of the knowledge-based economy increase the pressure to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of human capital formulation. It is concluded that “a variety of problems are posed by the predominant methods for assessing human capital that are geared to the needs of an education system that extracts fees by controlling credentials as opposed to a system where the output potential of human capital is measured on the basis of competence to produce regardless of how much knowledge was acquired.” However, one of the obstacles to measuring the output potential of human capital is the segmented and oligopolistic character of educational and professional certificate which is based on the historical power of universities and professions to forbid the utilization of acquired competences without certificate which is a measure of how well individual have acquire professional and academic knowledge. The traditional state-sanctioned assertion of property rights over the knowledge acquired when people invest in human capital is one way of resolving the paradox of knowledge as a public good and as inalienable (OCED, 1996)

The accounting of human resources can be seen as just as much a question of philosophy as of technique. This is one of the reasons behind the variety of approaches

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and is further underlined by the broad range of purposes for which accounting human resources can be used, e.g. as an information tool for internal and/or external use (employees, customers, investors, etc.), and as a decision-making tool for human resource management (investments in human resources as well as personnel management in general). In determining the relationship between HCA and the Assessment of Acquired Learning The return on in investment in human capital become of more value Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) and the learning record, PLA offers to individuals reduced risk of investing in human capital. For firms, it makes HCA simpler and less expensive. For governments, there is the incentive of more efficient expenditure allocation during times of fiscal pressure. PLA “renders knowledge acquisition methods neutral,” giving all forms of learning equal chances at being validated the OECD averred, The PLA has the general impact of reducing the transaction costs both for individuals seeking to Invest in human capital or enter into a contract to rent their skills and for the firm’s internal and external labor market decision making. Using PLA to reduce the cost and duration of incremental human capital investments relative to an individual’s existing asset base is a contribution to efficient allocation of individual resources and investment incentive that reflects rates of return to recurrent education. the OECD asserts that to reap the benefits of PLA and human resources accounting practices, there should be means to strengthen market valuation of training and competences and developing a system for measuring competences designed to favour modular and continuing learning, and “reduce the lumpiness of investment imposed by the current certification system” thus the assertion is to reduce the overbearing on knowledge based training that emphasis certificate as the bedrock of competence and training more over for maximum gaining from human capital development firms must be encouraged to capitalize, collateralize and amortize knowledge; Work organization must also give clear title to well-defined competences through universal institutions for assessment and broadly recognized mechanisms for financial accounting; there should be transparency in labour contracting by revealing employee assets and employer benefits for maximum benefit firms must validate alternative learning acquisition. The work of Drucker and Reich ( ) on human capital accounting revealed that firms and governments are making choices and using resources to invest in the acquisition of human capital based on signals. CEDEFOP Report (1998) have identified three ways of solving the policy problems relating to measurement of human capital training value in the organization this include the voluntary market-based method (the ISO standard method), i.e. develop a consistent framework which can be operational across sectors and countries and promote this through a rewarding and image campaign. There is also the voluntary rewarding method (the Investing in People method in the United Kingdom), i.e. develop a consistent framework supported by rewarding mechanisms once it is introduced and approved at enterprise level (enterprises pay for their training evaluation whether they meet the standard or not). Third is the compulsory method (the Green accounting method in Denmark), i.e. identify disclosure on human resources as a societal concern and prepare (inter-)national regulations

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Human Capital and Performance Recognition of human capital value can be of import in relation to the organization performance, human capital being a strong assets of the firm should necessarily be of value to the performance of the firm however, most time the attempt to establish a causal relationship between various human resource management (HRM) practices and organization performance have proved to be problematical. It may be intuitive to suggest that “good” HRM practice will improve organizational performance, but this has been difficult to prove conclusively, given the many confounding variables. It is even possible to suspect a reverse causation that the profitable firms can afford to treat their employees well. Benefit of human capital accounting It is worth noting that measurement of human capital is likely to provide useful information both to management and other stakeholders of the firm. several benefit could be adduced to accrue form the recognition of the value of human capital in the estimation of the firms assets, some of these includes Measurement of business performance, based on all the assets employed, rather than just those that can be measured readily in money terms; another is the allocation of personnel on the basis of most valuable to most critical tasks; there is also the comparison of the use of labour as against the use of other resources, such as machinery. Estimation of the human capital value would be of benefit in the consideration of the effectiveness of training and development expenditure and of business valuation for take-over and merger purposes it will also benefit the firm in the provision of a basis for more appropriate calculation of wages and salaries and in the setting of human resources policies. Research problem The basic problem of human capital valuation is cardinal to human capital management , today most firm do not want to invest in human capital development due to quick waste nature of human capital, also the basis of human capital management is the valuation process of human capital and how to account for the value in their financial report. However the there is no acceptable way of evaluating human capital for financial record purpose, it is a wasting assets of a long term nature and at the same time it asset nature can not be adequately quantified in their financial terms except treated as an expense the problem therefore with human capital value is that while it is variously regarded as assets but it is treated as expenses in their financial treatment. Method of study The study made use of descriptive method of data collection. The survey method using standard questionnaire to gather necessary data was used, the questionnaire was designed to gather relevant data relating to human capital accounting.

The judgmental sampling technique was adopted since the opinion of expert and professionals were needed and the fact that the total population of the study cannot be determined. Lagos state was selected for the purpose of the study; Ikeja, Ojo and Lagos Island local government were selected for the study. Seventy questionnaires were distributed in all, of which sixty was retrieved of which only fifty-six were usable. The chi-square, a non-parametric method of data analysis was adopted using a 5points likert-scale technique starting with strongly agreed to strongly disagreed with scale of 5,4,3,2,and 1 respectively.

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Analyses and Interpretation of Study Meaning Ranking

Mean Standard deviation

1 Var 004 2.6077 0.49281

2 Var 001 3.3929 0.49281 3 Var 006 3.3929 0.75593 4 Var 003 3.3929 0.40089 5 Var 002 3.1964 0.74881 6 Var 009 3.1964 0.74881 7 Var 005 3.000 0.000 8 Var008 3.000 0.63246 9 Var007 2.6071 0.49281

The table 1 above is the table that shows the mean ranking of the variables, the determined at 3.17 -_ 3.2. thus all variables with mean above and while all variables with mean less than 3.2 are classed as less important to the research at hand thus, var004, var001, varoo6, varo03, var002, and var009 are of very important value, these variable, very important value, these variable, var004 remain most valuable while var001 was next in ranking followed by record and var002 and var009 in representative order of value. The earn value able of all the variable is var007. The table also show the standard deviation of the variables, var003 has the highest standard deviation, it has neither a rate is var009 with S.D. of 0.748. it means respondent are more divergent in their view on the variable the least standard deviation is var005 with a standard deviation of 0.000, while 89 suggest that respondent are least divergent on their opinion on the variable. Hypothesis Table

Variables X2 Significant level Var001 2.521 Var002 20.643 X Var003 4.750 Xx Var004 2.571 Var006 2.571 Var007 2.571 Var008 18.893 X Var009 4.750 Xx

Note: x (one asterisk) connote accept at 5%, Xx (asterisk) connote accept at 10% The variables tested were done at 5% and 10% significant level respectively. Var002 and var008 were accepted at significant level of 5% which is a strong acceptance of the variable these variables were the most valuable variable and other variables were tested at 95% confidence level. Var003 and var009 were all accept at 10% significant level that is at 90% confidence level. All other variables were rejected at both 5% and 10% significant level.

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Summary and Conclusion Summary The study estimates the relative importance of human capital value in relation to the value of the firm. The following are the findings from the study

1. Human capital value should be estimated by productivity rather than certificate and training. Many emphases should be placed on human capital productivity within the firm.

2. The study discovered that human capital value should be best accounted using discounting future wages method of evaluation.

3. The study also revealed that both qualification and training should not be the bases of accounting for the value of human capital.

4. It was accepted that human capital should be classified as long term assets of the firm and their value should be capitalized rather than expense in the profit and loss account of the firm

5. The human capital value should be accounted for in the financial report of the firm as depreciable assets over the years rather than expense in the profit and loss account.

Conclusion The study is an attempt to estimate the value of human capital and the treatment it should be accorded in the balance sheet and profit and loss account of the firm. This study concluded that human capital of the firm is the most value asset of the firm, it should not be therefore treated in value as expenses, rather as an asset, as asset of the firm it should be evaluated on the bases of discounted future wages method and should be capitalized in the balance sheet as depreciable asset of the firm, the value however should not be stated at replacement cost value. The value should also not be based on qualification and training but on productivity and value to the firm. This agreed with the principle of talent management of human capital (Kehinde, 2011). Conclusively human capital should be treated with value and esteem in the work of organization Recommendation

1. Work organization should decide strategic method of evaluating human capital in their firm based on productivity and should be compensated rewarded as such.

2. Talent management should be given utmost value in the firm and human capital should be regarded as talent of the firm and should given topmost priority.

3. Organization should begin the capital of the firm to improve on the market value of the firm. Since organization leadership as a basic fundamental of the firm in the capital market.

Reference Cascio, Wayne F. (1991) Costing Human Resources: The Financial Impact of Behavior

in Organizations, (Boston) PWS-Kent Pub. Co. CEDEFOP (1998) Human resource Accounting: interests and conflicts" CEDEFOP

panorama 5085 Cat. n°: HX-18-98-445-EN-C www.cedefop.gr, Dess, G and Picken, J (1999) Beyond Productivity: how leading companies achieve

superior performance by leveraging their human capital. New York: American Management Association

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Dess, G G and Picken, J C (2000) “Changing roles: Leadership in the 21st century”Organizational Dynamics, 29 pp18-34.

Drucker and Reich(1998) Measuring What People Know: Human Capital Accounting for

the Knowledge Economy OECD publishing. Flamholz, E (1972) “Toward a Theory of Human-Resource Value in Formal Flamholtz, Eric. (1985) Human resource accounting: [advances in concepts, methods, and

applications]. 2nd edition San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1985. OECD, (1996) HCA to Promote Return-on-Investment Organizations.” The Accounting

Review, October, pp666-78 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (1998). Human

Capital Investment: An International Comparison. Paris: OECD, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation.

Wikipedia (2011) Human resources accounting www.wikipedia Kehinde, J. S. (2011). Talent Management: Effect on Organization Performance. Journal

of Management Research, 4(2). 178-186

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Approaches, Skills And Styles Of Leadership In Organizations

By

Stanley Aibieyi, Ph.D Abstract

Leadership entails changing an organization and making active choices among plausible alternatives, and depends on development of others and mobilizing them to get the job done. A good leader is one who is capable of persuading others to move enthusiastically towards the achievement of group goals. What is normally expected from employees is that they work with total zeal and determination, but this is not always the case. Without a good leadership style, the performance level of staff will be poor. This, no doubt reduces credibility of the services rendered. The situation of the problem is poor delegation of duty, lack of dedication to work as a result of poor leadership style. The objectives of this study are to examine the various leadership styles, approaches to the study of leadership styles and the impact of leadership style in organization. In carrying out this research, the documentary analysis method of research was adopted and information and data were elicited from relevant literature for the study. The study reveals that a good leadership style, such as the democratic style could persuade workers towards a high level of performance and that acquisition of leadership skill is very important for a leader to lead well and so on. The paper recommends amongst others that leaders should encourage inter-personal relationship with their employees and that merit award should be established in every organization to spur workers to put in their best.

Key words: Leadership, Style, Impact, Autocratic, Democratic, Approaches, Organization. Introduction Leadership is an essential function in every organization. In fact, no organization can exist without a leader. The goal of any organization depends on the people that are employed to achieve the organizational objectives. Effective administration depends to a very great extent on sound leadership that can influence the workers in such a way that they all strive towards achieving the desired objective of the organization. Importantly, workers should be encouraged to work willingly with zeal and confidence. Since leadership is very important in organization, there is need to look at different views that have been given by some scholars about leadership and leaders. Leadership is about innovation and initiative. Leadership is creative, adaptive and agile. Leadership looks at the horizon, not just the bottom line (Aibieyi,2009). Leadership has to do with influencing workers behavior towards the attainment of organizational goals and objectives. Leadership exhibited by the quality of behavior of an individual in guiding people or their activities in organized effort. It is an essential indispensable social essence that common purpose. It also creates the incentive that makes other incentive effective, that infuse decision without which cooperation is impossible. Leadership is based on the personal qualities of the leader to influence workers to voluntarily comply with all working principles of the organization. Associate Professor, Inst. of Public Administration and Extension Services, University of Benin, P. M. B. 1154, Ekehuan Campus, Benin City,Edo State, Nigeria, West Africa. GSM: 08050283517, 07067409537 E-Mail: saibieyi@yahoo.com

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Leadership is the ability to inspire others to willingly perform their institutional duties. Leadership always shows where we want to go and the way forward. Leadership also means inspiring others to perform organized duties freely and willingly to achieve the objectives and the organizational goals. Literature Review The concept of leadership has been defined by different scholars in various ways. In fact, there are many definitions of leadership as there are writers. The literary meaning of leadership in universal dictionary and thesaurus says that it is the act of leading, the ability to be a leader, the leaders of an organization or movement collectively. However, the meaning of leadership was further explained by scholars since the dictionary meaning does not explain fully. Aibieyi (2009), defines the subject matter as the innovation and initiative, leadership is creative adaptive and agile. Herold Koontz (1988) defines Leadership as the art of influencing people so that they strive willingly and enthusiastically towards the accomplishment of group goals. Heresay and Blanchard (1977) view leadership as a process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group in efforts towards achievement in a given situation. Arubayi (1995) defines leadership in the secondary school context as a situation where the principal or administrator tries to influence the behaviour of teachers and students to achieve the goals and objectives of the school. Macfarland (1979) asserts that leadership is the quality of behaviour of an individual where by they guide people or their activities in organized effort. He further says that leadership is an essential indispensable social essence that gives common meaning to a common purpose. It also creates the incentive that makes other incentive effective, that infuse decision without which cooperation is impossible. Unugbro (1995) cited Terry G (1977) definition of leadership as the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for group objectives. Chester (1973) sees leadership as a social influence process in which the leaders seek the voluntary participation of his subordinates in an effort to meet organizational objectives. Katz and Khan (1979) view leadership as an influential increment over and above mechanical compliance with the routine directives of an organization. Finally, Etzoni (1964) was not left out, he defines leadership as the ability based on the personal qualities of the leaders to influence the followers voluntary with compliance in broad range of matter. From the above definitions, it shows that they all have a common word that is, the art of influence. Leadership involves other people, that is, subordinate or followers, group members help define leader’s status and make the leadership process possible. Without subordinate, all the leadership qualities of a leader will be irrelevant. The leader’s major duty as an influential person is to influence the behaviour of the followers. The way the followers are influenced makes him have the urge to work in an extra ordinary way than he is naturally willing to perform. This suggests that the essence is cooperative followership. Approaches To The Study Of Followership There are three major approaches or theories to the study of leadership. These are the traits or psychological approach, the situational or contingency approach and thirdly the behavioral approach. The traitist approach had the belief that leaders are born and not made and that there are certain qualities that are limited to only leaders which constitute the

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distinguishing factors between the leader and others. This approach according to Edem (1987) is that because an individual has certain behaivour partially which forms the product of his personality which makes it easier to distinguish him from others. These traits, the approach argued are knowledge, flexibility of mind, will-power, integrity and physical and emotion stamina. The approach conceives the fact that these leadership traits are present in all leaders and groups in which leadership exists. Moreover, trait theories failed to consider the influence of situational factors. It has been possible to identity universal, specific traits common to all leaders. Since leaders do not function in a vacuum, the social, cultural and physical environment plays complex role in the development and existence of a leader. According to Unugbro (1995), there are some weaknesses of trait theory, which include the following;

1. List of traits usually do not indicate which ones are most or lesser important. 2. Trait studies do not distinguish between trait that are needed for acquiring

leadership and those that are necessary for maintaining leadership position. 3. Trait theories are based on debatable assumptions regarding personality which

for example ignore the fact that personality is not the mere summation of a collection of traits but a function of the total organization of the individuals.

Situational Approach

The situational approach believes that leadership is a function of a social situation, in which there is interaction between the leader and the subordinate. Gibb (1984) argues that leadership is a concept applied to the interaction between two or more persons, any group is a system of interaction in which every member is assigned a role within the system. This role is any expression of his interactions with other members. Therefore, leadership is a combination of personality and social system in interaction.

Leadership cannot have impact if it is not in interaction with the environment. Thus Edem (1987) argued that leaders in different situations may exhibits dissimilar characteristics and that their success in one situation may not be observed in another. Behavioural Approach This approach sees the leader as one who is passive. This is because leadership is the possession or the interaction of personality and the social environment is propelled by the virtue of the status. It is important to point out that administrators are appointed based on the qualifications and length of service. It is important to not that on his appointment, he makes some relevant efforts to introduce measures and behaviour that promotes friendship report mutual trust, respect and warmth between himself and the staff. The major criticism by the proponents of the behavioural approach is that one does not need to be a leader by virtue of trace or being able to interact with the social system before becoming a leader, but upon becoming a leader, should be able to take initiatives that is, behaviour is contingent upon purpose. Leadership Skills Another way of analyzing leadership behaviour is in terms of the skills that the leader may exhibit. Included here are technical human and conceptual skills. Technical Skills: Technical skills are most important at lower managerial levels where the products or service of the organization are produced. Examples of these skills are the

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training and experience of engineers mechanists, computer operator, technicians and accountants. As a manager moves up the organization hierarchy, the importance of technical knowledge decreases and the job begins to require increased amount of other skills. Then the leader personally must rely more and more on the technical skills of the subordinate. Human Skill: The second kind of skill is the human skill. Human skills are important throughout all management levels. They are concerned with the interpersonal relationship between the manager and those with whom the manager comes in contact.

They are also concerned with applying external motivation to group member and obtaining cooperation from both peers and superiors. Conceptual Skill: The third skill is the conceptual skill which involve the ability to view the most important at the top levels of management where long planning and broad thinking are required. As leaders move to higher positions in the organizational hierarchy, they must develop and utilize the skill increasingly. Proportional Skill Requirement: The proportion of technical and concept are skills requirement which varies with managerial levels. The skills are necessary for dealing with people who remain important for all levels in the managerial hierarchy. Leadership Styles

Some considerable amount of work has been done on leader’s style, by several scholars. Rensis Likert (1967) developed universal theory or style ranging from autocratic to participative, that is system one to four theory; System One: Exploitative or Authoritative

Here managers make all decisions. They decide what is to be done, who will do it and how and when it is to be accomplished. Failure to complete work as assigned results in threats or punishment. According to Likert (1967) there is low level of trust and confidence between management and employees when system one is used. It is task – oriented. System Two: Benevolent – Autocratic

Manager still make the decisions, but employees have some degree of freedom and flexibility in performing their job so long as they conform to the specific procedures under this system, managers take a very paternalistic attitude. With system two, there is a fairly low level of trust between the management and the employees which causes employees to use caution when dealing with management. System Three: Consultative

Managers consult with employees prior to establishing the goals and making decision about the work. Employees have considerable degree of freedom in making their own decision as to how to accomplish the work. Management tends to rely on rewards as opposed to accomplishment to motivate employees. Also, the level of trust between the employees and management is fairly high creating a climate in which employees feel relatively free to openly discuss work-related matter with management. System Four: Participative Team

This is the most like recommended system or style of leadership. The emphasis of system four is on a group participative role with full involvement of the employees in

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the process of establishing goals and making jobs-related decisions. Employees feel free to discuss matters with their leaders who display supportive behavior. The leader provides a link between the organizations and the employees..

Decision making is widespread throughout the enterprise. However, this last style was deemed best in the long run for all situations because any leader who adopt this participative style will definitely have greater management effectiveness and efficiency. The Impact Of Leadership Style On The Organization The impact of leadership style on the organization cannot be over emphasized. For example, an effective subordinate could be rendered ineffective if the leadership style is in conflict with the task role of the subordinates. On the other hand, an ineffective subordinate could be made effective if the leadership style encourages such improvement and dedication. Specifically, the way in which a leader disciplines his staff, his human relations feelings, his consideration and inspiration to members of staff, his handling of staff welfare, his staff development and host of other attributes are likely to affect the impact of the staff. Thus, the more positive approach adopted by the leader in handling the above attributes, the more effective the staff will be, all things being equal. Conclusion Leadership is the art of influencing workers to work willingly and enthusiastically for group goal accomplishment. There are several alternatives available to every leader to make a choice in order to develop his employees and mobilize them to get the work done. Leaders influence subordinates to contribute effectively in the manner that all strive towards the achievement of desired goals. This study is basically a review of the leadership skills, leadership style and their approaches and impact on workers performance. The paper reveals that in order for any organization to succeed in actualizing its goals and objectives, there must be a good leader with the appropriate leadership style such as democratic and participative style of leadership which are capable of involving employees in decision making process as well as persuading them towards the attainment of organizational goals and objectives. The acquisition of leadership skills was also proved to be very important for a leader to lead well and with positive impact on the organization. Recommendations In view of the foregoing discussion, the following recommendations are made; 1. Efforts should be geared by the leaders to encourage the interpersonal relationship

with the staff of the organization. 2. Annual merit award should be established in every organization to enhance greater

performance and as a motivational compensation programme for the best behaved and highest performer of the year.

3. The democratic and participative leadership styles should be encouraged, so as to encourage workers to participate in decision making process. Every worker in an organization should be encouraged to work whenever he or she is given freedom to work and allow participating fully towards the realization of the organization goals and objectives.

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4. It is necessary for organization to always organize orientation programme for the leaders and subordinates to enable them know what it takes to lead and direct people. The leaders and their subordinates should work as a team; that is, all hands should be on deck to enhance the organization to sustain its standard in productivity and survival.

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John Wiley and Sons Inc. P, 34. Koontz H. (1988): Management, Mc Graw-Hill Book Company N.Y Ed. Linkert R. (1967): The Human Organization McGraw Hill Book Company N.Y. Webster’s Universal Dictionary and Thesauras (2007), Geddes and Grosset, David Dale

House, New Lanark, Scotland.

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Poverty-Development Nexus: The Nigerian Paradox

By 1Samson Obamwonyi

And 2Stanley Aibieyi, Ph.D.

Abstract For quite some time, the country, Nigeria, has been grappling with the issues of poverty and development. In spite of the efforts made so far to tackle poverty, it is still very visible among the people. This paper examines the relationship between poverty and development. It stresses that poverty in the country has impacted negatively on the development and economic growth of the country as the poor cannot have access to the basic necessities of life like food, shelter, and clothing. As a result, the poor cannot contribute meaningfully to the economic growth and development of the country. This has affected the country in meeting its peers in other parts of the world in all aspects of development – politically, economically and socially. Most of the policies and programmes of the various past governments, both military and civilian (democratic), put in place in the past to reduce poverty in the country are discussed and the reasons responsible for their failure are pointed out. The continued pauperization of the people would continue to under develop the country as they are denied the opportunity to contribute to the economic and overall development of the country. The poor should be given the enablement and necessary support, like opportunity to be heard, access to credit and as so forth to enable them contribute their quota to the growth and development of the country. Key words: Development, Economic Growth, Poverty Introduction Over the years, especially from the period of independence, the country has been grappling with development issues. However, Nigeria is not alone in this regard among the developing countries. Many policies and programmes have been put in place since 1960s, including development plans, to address development matters. Yet, the country is still making strenuous efforts to develop so as to meet and match its peers in other parts of the world.

Similarly, various efforts in terms of policies and programmes have been put in place at various times since independence to fight poverty in the country. Yet, it is still a persistence cankerworm that is hindering the growth and development of the country. Poverty has done a lot of devastating damage to the country in terms of development, politically and economically. Until the government at all levels make serious and bold steps to address it, poverty will continue to eclipse all efforts at addressing the development of the country.

One of the major issues in policy and development debate and literature is how to tackle poverty. Poverty reduction is one of the Millennium Development Goals which nations, especially less developed ones, must address. Consequently, majority of developing countries have put in place many poverty reduction strategies. The whole aim of poverty reduction.

1Faculty of Law, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. GSM: 08056734299; 08092835123. E-mail: samsonobamwonyi@uniben.edu

2Senior Lecturer, Institute of Public Administration and Extension Services, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. GSM: 08050283517; E-mail: saibieyi@yahoo.com

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Strategy is to ensure the wellbeing of the poor and low-income groups which is multidimensional in nature, comprising material and psychological needs. Wellbeing has been

described as peace of mind, good health, belonging to a community, safety, freedom of choice and action, steady source of income, food and dependable livelihood (Animalu, 2002). Concept of Poverty

Literature on development and economics is replete with several meanings and concepts of poverty. This is because some of the definitions of poverty are reflections of the environment of the authors defining the concept. Many scholars have said that poverty is multidimensional with different meanings; hence Gordon (2000) said that poverty can be considered to have a cluster of different overlapping meanings depending on what subject area or discourse is being examined.

Poverty has material dimension, physical dimension, and psychological dimension. The material dimension has to do with economic issues like income and asset. The physical dimension has to do with both physiological and social dimensions like hunger, poor health, and poor education. The psychological dimension relates to both sociological and political; this includes voice, freedom, and power (Lindah, 2005). The poor person views poverty as being unable to get enough to survive as a human being. This connotes a deprivation of survival needs (Lindah, 2005).

Poverty is also regarded as inability within ability to meet the basic necessities of life like food, shelter, and clothing. This is similar to the physiological needs dimension. People are considered poor when their measured standard of living in terms of consumption is below the poverty line, that is, the value of income or consumption necessary to attain the minimum standards of nutrition and other necessities of life (Ravilion and Bidani, 1994). The poor people themselves are of the view that violence and crime, discrimination, insecurity and political repression, biased or brutal policing, and victimization by rude, neglectful or corrupt public agencies are signs of their poverty (Nayarana, 1999). Tollens (2002) opined that poverty is not an intrinsic attribute of people, but a product of livelihood systems and the socio-political forces that shape them. The World Bank (2000) also noted that poverty is an outcome of more than economic process but also include social and political processes that interact with and reinforce each other. The Poor The poor are those who are unable to obtain an adequate income, find a stable job, own property, or maintain healthy living conditions. They also lack adequate level of education and cannot satisfy their basic health needs. Often, the poor are illiterate, in poor health, and have a short life span and lack basic necessities of life. Very often, the poor lack the capacity to escape from their situation by themselves. This characteristic is what causes the social conditions of extreme poverty to persist and to be transmitted from one generation to the next. In their view, Aluko (1975) and Edozien (1975) see the poor as

(a) Those whose ability to contribute to the productive process is insufficient. That is, those who are unable to contribute adequately to the productive process to warrant an income that would raise them above the poverty line.

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(b) Those for whom the economy has failed to provide jobs, that is, those who are willing and capable of earning an adequate income if only jobs were available.

(c) Those whose opportunities to participate in the productive process are restricted by discrimination of various kinds, like age, sex, race and so forth.

Among the groups most affected by extreme poverty throughout the world are those who are most vulnerable and lack resources, along with those who do not have the capacity to organize themselves nor to exercise the right to protest their situation (Sancho, 1996). Poverty indicators in Nigeria There are many indicators of poverty in Nigeria. In spite of attempts at reducing poverty in the country, these indicators, mostly social, have not abated. According to the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) (2004), the poverty rate in Nigeria increased from 27 per cent in 1980 to 66 per cent in 1996. By 1999 it was estimated that more than 70 per cent of Nigerians lived in poverty. Life expectancy in the country was a mere 54 years, while infant mortality was 77 per 1,000 and maternal mortality was 704 per 100,000 live births; this is among of the highest in the world. Other social indicators of poverty in Nigeria (particularly from 1999) are as follows: (i) Only about 10 per cent of the population had access to essential drugs. (ii) There were fewer than 30 physicians per 100,000 people. (iii) More than 5 million adults were estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS. (iv) Among children under five, almost 30 per cent were underweight. (v) Only 17 per cent of children were fully immunized – down from 30 per cent in

1990 – and almost 40 per cent had never been vaccinated. (vi) Only about half of the population had access to safe drinking water (40 per cent in

rural areas, 80 per cent in urban areas). (vii) Some 29 per cent of the total population lived at risk from annual floods. (viii) More than 90 per cent of the rural population depended on forests for livelihood

and domestic energy sources (ix) Rural households spent an average of 1.5 hours per day collecting water and fuel

wood, with household members walking an average of one kilometer per day to collect water and fuel wood.

Incidence of Poverty in Nigeria by Zones between 1980 and 2004

Zone 1980 1985 1992 1996 2004 National Total Poor 28.1 46.3 42.7 65.6 54.4 Core Poor 6.2 12.1 13.9 29.3 22.0 Urban Total poor 17.2 37.8 37.5 58.2 43.2 Core poor 3.0 7.5 10.7 25.2 15.7 South-South Total poor 13.2 45.7 40.8 58.2 35.1 Core poor 3.3 9.3 13.0 23.4 17.0 South East Total poor 12.9 30.4 41.0 53.5 26.7 Core poor 2.4 9.0 15.7 18.2 7.8 South West Total poor 13.4 38.6 43.1 60.9 43.0 Core poor 2.1 9.0 15.7 27.5 18.9 North Central Total poor 32.2 50.8 46.0 64.7 67.0 Core poor 5.7 16.4 14.8 28.0 29.8 North East Total poor 35.6 54.9 54.0 70.1 71.2 Core poor 11.8 16.4 18.5 34.4 27.9

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North West Total poor 37.7 52.1 36.5 77.2 71.2 Core poor 8.3 14.2 9.0 37.3 26.8 Population in poverty (million) 17.7 34.7 39.2 67.1 68.7

Source: National Bureau of Statistics, 2005, Poverty Profile for Nigeria, 1980-2004. Culled from UNDP Human Development Report, Nigeria 2008-2009.

Similarly, the National Bureau of Statistics (2010) reported in its 2010 report that over 100 million Nigerians still live on less than $1.00 per day. Based on 150 million population, the Bureau reported that 112.47 million Nigerians were reported to be living below the poverty line. The Bureau further reported the proportions of the poor in the country thus:

(a) Extremely poor - 38.7 per cent (b) Moderately poor - 30.3 per cent (c) Non-poor - 31 per cent

The report added that poverty was worse in the North West and North East zones of the country; while the least affected were South West and South East zones. The gap between the rich and poor is widening. This is in spite of the economic growth of the country with Gross Domestic Product of 7.75 per cent. Causes of Poverty in Nigeria The causes of poverty in Nigeria are evident everywhere among which are:

(i) Inadequate access to the means of supporting rural development in poor regions. Often times, government gives preference to areas with high potential and strong urban biases in the design of development programmes. This is the result of minimal commitment to rural development programmes by policy makers. In Nigeria, lip service is always paid to rural development.

(ii) Rapid population growth: There is a common argument which says that the more densely populated a country, the higher the probability of being poor. The rate at which population increases in Nigeria is alarming. It moves at geometric proportion which invariably leads to large family size. This encourages poverty to spread. The resources that would be used to cater for few people are spread to large population. This Malthusian thought contends that over population generates higher level of consumption which leads to low level of savings available for investment. This also in turn leads to low investment hence limited production.

(iii) Lack of involvement of the poor in the design of programmes: In Nigeria, all the poverty alleviation programmes enunciated by the various governments (military and civilian) excluded the poor (who ought to be the beneficiaries) in their planning and execution/implementation. Hence the poor did not benefit from the policies and programmes.

(iv) Low endowment of human capital. Human capital development is one of the keys to economic growth, development and social progress. It creates knowledge, broadens skills, and improves health which thereby constitutes a key to sustaining economic growth, raising living standards and enriching people’s lives. The neglect of human capital formation pauperises a society. In Nigeria, many people do not have the basic skills for employment which can guarantee them comfortable means of livelihood.

(v) Destruction of natural resources. This leads to environmental degradation and reduced productivity of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; this is often the

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desperate survival strategies of the poor, as well as inadequate and ineffective public policies on natural resource management and industrial pollution.

Consequences and Economic Implications of Poverty Poverty can result in many negative things in the personal life of individual in particular and to a larger extent, the society at large. Whatever negative effects it has on the individual must equally extend to the society as a whole. The inability of the system or leadership to provide the basic necessities of life to its citizens would have negative effects in many ways. Specifically, in a society where the majority of its members are poverty-stricken, there is a general loss of confidence in the constituted authority, thereby generating disrespect and rendering government policies ineffective. So long as people feel uncared for, and their loyalty to the system is not being reciprocated, the expectation effect, which is expected to facilitate the programme, would in this case incapacitate the success of policies as has been the case in Nigeria. In addition, poverty has the consequence of breeding social disillusionment with respect to what the societal objectives are and members’ responsibilities towards the attainment of these objectives. Just as ignorance maintains poverty, so also can poverty perpetuate ignorance since the victims cannot think and plan beyond where the next meal is coming from. It is a vicious circle, reproducing itself in perpetuity. To some extent, corruption, nepotism, crimes and other social vices are by-products of poverty. So long as making ends meet remains difficult, the propensity to explore other avenues, such as stealing, is high. Suffice it to say here that unmitigated corruption in high places as is the case in Nigeria currently, breeds corruption lower down, since the desire to amass wealth by those with responsibility of leadership can only be satisfied through the appropriation of that which is meant for the majority. In so doing, the majority is compelled to fend for itself ‘by any means available’. Economically, because people are poor and cannot afford the capital needed to expand production, production itself remains largely subsistence. Labour is therefore intensive and the margin of productivity is low. Even subsistence production is not fully utilized because of poor processing and storage techniques, the effect of changing weather conditions, and damage caused by pests and diseases. The intensification of agricultural production resulting from increasing population, and the lack of financial capital and equipment has brought to the fore evidence of an increasingly overworked soil. The linkage between economic performance and poverty has serious consequences, and can be very vicious.

No doubt, poverty has dampening effects on economic growth and development through inefficient use of resources, promotion of social and political upheavals and depletion of natural resources. The policy focus on poverty reduction in Nigeria has spanned many decades. There have been several attempts to put poverty reduction policies and programmes in the front burner so as to ensure the wellbeing of the poor.

However, despite the efforts of governments, the conditions of the poor have continued to deteriorate, and the population of the poor has continued to increase at an alarming rate. The poverty level appears as a contradiction considering the country’s immense human and material resources. Also, poverty situation is a paradox because despite the huge resources that have been devoted to poverty reduction by successive military and civilian governments, no tangible and substantial success has been achieved from the efforts. Before the late 1980s, poverty was more prevalent in the rural areas of the country. Therefore, no wonder the governments directed poverty reduction policies

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towards the rural areas. However, from the late 1980s till date, poverty has spread to the urban areas thereby encompassing both rural and urban areas of the country. Poverty and Development Development means many things to different people. Often times, development refers to economic development. Some scholars relate growth with economic development or development. However, an economy can grow without developing. Some scholars also distinguish between growth and development as phenomenon that takes place in different societies. Hence it is said that “economic development refers to the problems of under developed countries and economic growth refers to those of developed countries (Jhigan, 2008). According to Todaro and Smith (2008), development has at least three objectives. These are:

(i) to increase the availability and widen the distribution of basic life sustainable goods such as food, shelter, health and protection to all members of society;

(ii) to raise standard of living, in addition to higher incomes, the provision of more jobs, better education and more attention to cultural and humanistic values. All these serve not only to enhance material well-being, but also to generate greater individual and national self esteem;

(iii) to expand the range of economic and social choice to individuals and nations by freeing them from servitude and dependence, not only in relation to other people and nation-states but to the forces of ignorance and human misery.

Development in human society is a many-sided process. At the level of the individual, it implies increased skill and capacity, greater freedom, creativity, self-discipline, responsibility and material well-being (Rodney, 1972). Development came to be conceived of as a multidimensional process involving major changes in social structures, popular attitudes, and national institutions, as well as the acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of inequality and the eradication of poverty (Thomas, 2010). In the Nigerian political landscape, the poor are voiceless. Often times they are used and dumped. The poor are merely used to make up the numbers during electioneering campaigns. At the end of every campaign rally they are given pecuniary reward for their participation and “services”. On the day of voting exercise where every citizen ought to exercise their franchise to vote for candidates of their choice, the poor are paid to vote against their conscience and for candidates they do not like because their leaders who use them for their personal aggrandizement have directed them to do so. After the voting exercise they become irrelevant till the next election. Politically, the poor have no base as far as party membership is concerned because whichever party that brings more money is their party. They have no say on who become the party leaders or candidates. Socially, the poor are denied access to basic amenities such as potable water supply, electricity, good roads, health care, and other necessary infrastructural facilities that can make life more meaningful to them. The most affected victims in this regard are those in the rural areas and semi urban areas of the country. The poor cannot make any meaningful contribution to the development of any society except they are empowered economically while social amenities are provided. The person who cannot feed or have no roof over his head cannot develop his community in particular and the country in general. Instead, it should be the other way round. That is, the growth and development of the society would help the poor to meaningfully impact on the economy.

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In order to ensure the contribution of the poor to economic growth or development of the country, therefore, the government or leadership must empower the poor economically, and by so doing the poverty has to be alleviated through various strategies or means. However, Nigerian governments (both military and civilian) have attempted to alleviate poverty in the country. 9. Poverty Alleviation Policies

Policies made or enunciated by government are public policies. “Public policies are those developed by governmental bodies and officials” (Anderson, 1997.) Public policies are meant to solve people’s problems. This may be referred to as a policy problem. A policy problem is “a human need, deprivation, or dissatisfaction, self identified or identified by others for which relief is sought” (Egonmwan, 2000). In order for a situation or social situation to become a public policy problem, some of the following conditions must apply or occur: (a) A large number of people are in unfortunate conditions, suffer deprivation,

are dissatisfied with an undesirable situation. (b) These adverse conditions are recognized by many people. (c) In addition to those who suffer the unsatisfactory situation, the decision

makers are aware of the situation as they have responsibilities for coping with it.

(d) People outside the immediate social problem (i.e. third parties) must show concern.

(e) Large number of people think something must be done about the situation apart from merely recognizing the undesirable situation (Egonmwan, 2000).

Some of the poverty reduction policies put in place were as follows:

1. In 1975 the Universal Primary Education policy was enunciated. The purpose of the policy which was targeted at the illiterates was to provide free primary education. However the programme has been absorbed by the Universal Basic Education.

2. In 1986 the Directorate of Food, Roads, and Rural Infrastructure was established. The functions were a) To coordinate and streamline all rural development activities in the country

and to accelerate the pace of integrated rural development. b) To promote a framework for grassroots social mobilization c) To mount a virile programme of development, monitoring and performance

evaluation d) To provide rural areas with access roads and potable water e) To improve rural sanitation, literacy and technology.

It was targeted at the rural areas. It was to make rural areas more attractive to live in so as to stem migration to urban areas. It was also to change for better, the rural ways of life and modes of production in order to meet the challenges of increased agricultural and industrial production.

3. In 1986 the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was established. The objectives of the policy were: a) To provide vocational skills development programme to secondary school

leavers and graduates from tertiary institutions. b) Special public works programme.

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c) Small-scale Enterprises programme. d) Agricultural Employment programme

It was targeted at the youths in particular so as to provide skill for the unskilled; that to enable the youths acquire vocation.

4. The People’s Bank of Nigeria was set up in 1989 to a) To provide credit at low interest to encourage micro enterprises b) Provision of opportunities for self-employment for the vast unutilized and

underutilized manpower resources in the country c) Inculcating banking habits at the grassroots and reducing the rural-urban

migration d) Eradication of poverty and provision of succor to the poor e) Bringing relief to the financially marginalized groups in the society

However, this programme has been phased out.

5. In the year 2000 the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP). Its activity was to coordinate implementation of all Federal Government of Nigeria poverty eradication programmes. Its main focus was to coordinate all government poverty alleviation policies and programmes

In similar vein, the federal government also enunciated other programmes and projects which were aimed at reducing or alleviating poverty in the country at both rural and urban areas of the country. The various programmes were enunciated so as to achieve the actions and intentions of the various poverty alleviation policies. A programme is “the set or package of structures, processes, resources, and activities and actions designed to implement a particular policy” (Ikelegbe, 2005). According to Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1990), a programme is a plan or system under which action is to be taken toward a goal. Also, a programme is “a plan of future events and activities” (Hornby, 1995). A project is “a piece of work or plan that is organized carefully and designed to achieve a particular aim” (Hornby, 1995). The following programmes and projects were set up as fillip to complement the various policies earlier put in place:

1. The Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs). This programme was established in

1975 to actualize the following activities: a) Provision of decentralized opportunities and resources in agriculture to small farmers b) To increase production of food and fibre as well as producer incomes.

This programme represented a truly innovative approach to agriculture and rural development both in their integrated supply of farm inputs and infrastructural support and in their efforts to revamp and revitalize extension services. 2. The River Basin Development Authority. This was established in 1976 to undertake

comprehensive development of both surface and underground water resources for various purposes (e.g. provision of irrigation, infrastructure, and control of floods, soil erosion, and watershed management).

3. In 2000, the Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Bank was

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established. Its main activities include the provision of credit for the production, processing and marketing of agricultural products.

4. Also in 2000, the Universal Basic Education Programme (UBE) was established. Its activities include the provision of compulsory basic education for all up to the level of junior secondary school year 3 (that is, JSS 3)

5. The National Action Committee on HIV/AIDS (NACA) was set up in 2001 to provide

advocacy programme to phase out the spread of HIV/AIDS (NEEDS, 2004). Nonetheless, most of these poverty alleviation policies, programmes and projects enumerated in this chapter failed due largely to the following factors:

(a) Complete absence of mechanisms to ensure sustainability of programmes and projects (b) Excessive political interference in both military and democratic regimes (c) Absence of a comprehensive policy framework (d) Lack of proper coordination of policies, programmes and projects (e) Lack of involvement of beneficiaries in project design, implementation,

monitoring, and evaluation (f) Ineffective targeting of the poor which led to leakage of benefits to unintended

beneficiaries or targets (g) Unwieldy scope of programmes which resulted in resources being thinly

allocated to projects.

(h) overlapping of functions of the agencies/institutions which ultimately led to institutional rivalry and conflicts. (NEEDS, 2004)

10. Conclusion Poverty and development are strange bed-fellows. Poverty is a hindrance to growth and development of any nation. In Nigeria, a very large proportion of the population is poor (about 70%). This is one of the factors responsible for the under development of the country, hence the country is poles apart from its peers in other parts of the world. The poor cannot contribute to development of any country as they lack the basic necessities of life like food, shelter and clothing. Most of the policies and programmes enunciated in past by the various governments have not helped the poor to move away from the shackles of poverty. The reasons are either the policies and programmes were targeted at the wrong population of the country, or corruption and lack of good governance prevented the poor from benefiting from the policies and programmes.

As far as poverty continues to soar in the country and no immediate solution found to it, the country will find it difficult to develop politically, socially and economically as the poor will continue to remain voiceless ad powerless. Whether the country likes it or not, the generality of the people is worse for it. The empowerment of the poor can help in no small measure to the development of the country in all its ramifications. With the present situation, the poor are incapacitated.

11. Recommendations

For the country to achieve rapid economic growth and political development like her peers in other parts of the world, poverty must be eradicated and must be seen to be eradicated; and the following recommendations should be carried out:

(i) Any policies and programmes aimed at poverty reduction in the country must be taken seriously.

(ii) One of the ways to ensure such policies and programmes are implemented is by enlisting the poor themselves in the implementation.

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(iii) The basic necessities of life – food, shelter, and clothing, must be provided and made

affordable to the poor. (iv) On a similar note, access to economic resources like credit or finance should be

guaranteed for the poor so that they can contribute to the economic growth of the country. Collateral should not be introduced as the poor and low income persons cannot afford it.

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Nigeria and the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme: The Journey So Far.

By

1Chibuike R. Oguanobi, 2Anthony A. Akamobi, Ph.D,

3Chibueze A Aniebo, 4Emilia M. Mgbemena.

Abstract

This paper is an attempt at examining the extent to which Nigeria as a country has enhanced its trade relations with other member countries of ECOWAS, given the objectives of the region’s trade liberalization scheme. Data on the country’s exports to and imports from these other countries were collected for the period 1996 to 2008. Applying a simple descriptive statistics, it was found that the total trades between these countries were insignificant over the period. The paper went further to highlight some of the possible causes of poor trade in the region, which revolves around tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade. It is finally recommended among other things that the authorities in these countries especially in Nigeria should ensure that the provisions of the ETLS are comprehensively adhered to. Key words: ECOWAS, Nigeria, Intra-regional trade, ETLS, JEL Classification: F15, F53, F55. Introduction Over the years, the macroeconomic implication of cross-border economic integration has drawn the attention of most scholars of international economics. There has been a long-standing debate regarding the benefits of such integration. One of the major areas of integration is trade. Others include security, politics, and conflict resolution, among others. However, in the context of this paper, emphasis shall be on trade alone. Trade and investment are the essential factors for economic integration process (Balassa, 1965). Trade within an economic region (trade between countries of a particular regional group) is known as intra-regional trade. Regional trade arrangements are instrumental in promoting global trade and foreign direct investment (Muluvi et al, 2012). Efforts at regional and sub-regional integration have often focused on eliminating regional barriers to trade; enhancing the free movement of people, goods and capital across the region’s national borders.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was established on May 28 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria by the Heads of States and governments of fourteen (14) West African nations: Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal Sierra-Leone and Togo. The major objective of its establishment was to liberalize trade among member countries; eliminate barriers (both tariff and non-tariff) to trade; enhance the process of free-trade-area, custom union and common market; and finally achieve a common economic and monetary union for the region.

1,2Anambra State University Igbariam 3,4 Madona University Okija

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According to ECOWAS Vanguard (2003), ECOWAS was set up specifically to eliminate all tariff and non-tariff barriers to intra-ECOWAS trade, establish a common external tariff (CET) and commercial policy against non-ECOWAS countries, abolish all obstacles to the movement of factors of production and harmonization of domestic policies across its member countries. The community articulated a comprehensive trade liberalization programme known as the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS).

The ETLS was launched in 1990 as a progressive reduction resulting in total elimination of all barriers (tariff and non-tariff) to intra-ECOWAS trade. There were three categories of countries with varying annual tariff reduction rates. The least developed countries had up to 10 years, the middle group countries (8 years) and the most developed countries (6 years).

According to ECOWAS Vanguard (2013), the non-realization of the agreed implementation schedule aimed at eliminating all trade barriers by end of 1999 led the community to review the plan. The new plan which adopted a fast-track approach to achieve the region’s economic integration proclaimed the region as a free-trade-area (FTA) in the year

2000 and set January 1, 2000 for transformation into a customs union. Customs union was expected to enable member countries to charge a common tariff to non-members while eliminating tariff among members. It is however quite unfortunate that up till now, this plan has not been fully implemented. In view of the above, this paper is an attempt at exposing the activities that has taken place at Nigerian borders with other ECOWAS members over the years. This exposure would help us towards ascertaining whether or not the country has achieved its goals of embracing the ETLS.

No doubt, Nigeria is the largest country in West Africa accounting for about 60 Percent of the region’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Under this scheme, Nigeria targeted the following: Securing greater regional market access, promoting industrialization through export-led growth and capacity building required to meet global market competition. However, the achievement of these targets has been hindered by several factors. We shall discuss some of these factors in a later section.

Ngeria’s Trade within ECOWAS Export The fluctuations in the volume and values of Nigeria’s export to other ECOWAS countries are shown in Table 1. In 1996, 7225188 tonnes of commodities worth US $222098552 were exported. This value is about 60.67% of the total intra-community export value. The export volume decreased to 4140003 tonnes in 1997. This quantity worth US $257412517, constituting about 66.63% of the community’s total local exports earnings. Export volume fluctuated drastically until 2005 when it increased from 2747884 tonnes in 2004 to 28896949 tonnes. The value of this quantity was US $201326271 which constitutes 28.85% of the total intra-community value earnings.

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Table 1: Nigeria’s export to other ECOWAS members (1996-2008). Year Quantity in Tonnes Value in $m Export as % of total export

1996 76251,88 2220985,52 60.67

1997 41400,03 2574125,17 66.63 1998 27025,50 1727313,14 54.57 1999 28391,96 1045976,07 40.48 2000 16375,16 1439173,68 50.55 2001 11787,08 817851,91 35.46 2002 53680,49 1194204,51 37.93 2003 26491,80 1100612,78 33.67 2004 27478,84 1425504,81 34.08 2005 288969,49 2013262,71 28.85 2006 33198,59 3727143,35 53.40 2007 340684,03 2318641,73 33.22 2008 357718,23 2434573,82 34.88

Source: ECOWAS external trade statistics It decreased again to 3319859 tonnes in 2006. The value was estimated at US $3727143, 35 constituting just 53.40% of the total intra-ECOWAS export. Though the country’s share of total intra-ECOWAS export reduced significantly to 33.22% in 2007, the volume of export increased tremendously to 34068403 tonnes of commodities at a reduced value of US $2318641, 73. In 2008, the volume still increased to 357718, 23 tonnes worth US $2434573,82 tonnes of commodities. This value represented 34.88% of the total intra-community export. Import Over the years, the volume of Nigeria’s annual import from other ECOWAS countries has fluctuated. Data available to us (see table 2) shows that in 1996, 8873575 tonnes of goods worth US $134859,32 were imported from other member states of the community. This value constitutes just 8.30% of the entire intra-community imports. Table 2: Nigeria’s imports from other ECOWAS members (1996-2008).

Year Quantity in Tonnes Value in $m Import as % of total import

1996 8873576 13485932 8.30

1997 9432143 15031434 8.51 1998 12137717 13993664 5.30 1999 6607062 2017955 1.20 2000 5294280 7689831 3.31 2001 16162183 33264041 12.60 2002 17455197 8354492 3.44 2003 77988140 36136229 10.09 2004 19461461 31468448 6.98 2005 19365954 78160591 12.84 2006 145751802 23642596 3.88 2007 59255638 75715510 12.44 2008 61033307 77986975 12.81

Source: ECOWAS external trade statistics

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The volume of import increased until the 1999 fiscal year when it decreased to 6607060 tonnes worth US $20179, 55 constituting about 1.20% of the total intra-community import value. There was however decrease in volume to 5294280 tonnes of commodities in 2000, but the value increased insignificantly to US $76898, 31 constituting about 3.31% of total intra-ECOWAS import value. The period 2001-2003 recorded highly significant increases in both volume and values as well as the country’s share in total import value. The 2003 figures were 77988140 tonnes of commodities worth US $361362, 29 and constituting about 10.09% of the total intra-community imports. There were fluctuations for some periods until 2008 when the volume of import became 61033307 tonnes worth US $779869, 75 which constituted about 12.81% of the total intra-community imports.

From tables 1 and 2 above and the discussions that followed, we observed that over the years, Nigeria experienced unfavourable balance in its trade with other ECOWAS countries. Between 1996 and 2008, Nigeria’s export to other members of the community increased by only 9.6%, while its import from these countries increased by about 478.3%. This scenario may be attributed to the fact that Nigeria’s major export commodity is crude oil whose destination is mainly the advanced countries of Europe and America. Yet, Nigeria imports several consumer goods, including foods, from countries of this community.

1. Causes Of Nigeria’s Low Trade with Other ECOWAS Countries.

Following the statistics given in the previous section, it is quite clear that there have been improvement in the volume and value of Nigeria’s trade within ECOWAS. However, Nigeria has not yet fully exploited the opportunities offered to it by the regional trade liberalization scheme, a problem that is significantly associated with some institutional and regulatory barriers to regional trade. Some of these barriers are: Customs procedure: The customs and excise management Act governs the

importation of goods into Nigeria. Under the provisions of this Act, provisions of the customs and excise notices and the provisions of the Ministry of Finance, importers do not need any other registration except with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). But now, importers are compelled to make several registrations requiring several documents and payments. Though the government does these to bring efficiency to customs administration, they not only delay the process of trading but also increases the cost of trading, thereby discouraging some potential businessmen.

Rules of Origin: Nigeria applies the ECOWAS rules of origin. Under this rule, a finished product is expected to have a community origin, meaning that the good must wholly be produced or contain imported content of no more than 40% of the total cost of production. However, the procedure for obtaining the certificate of origin is too complex, lengthy and also costly for the business community. This also posses a great treat to trade progress in the region.

Custom tariffs: Under the ETLS, Nigeria was expected to keep adjusting its tariffs towards the ECOWAS common external tariff, which ranges from zero to 20% by 2007. But generally, Nigeria had failed in its trade reforms and therefore has high average tariffs. This high average tariff proves to be a significant obstacle to the growth of trade in the country in particular and the entire region in general.

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Immigration requirement: For citizens of ECOWAS member countries, Visa is not a necessity for travelling within the community. An ECOWAS passport with common features issued by member states’ governments is allowed for intra-regional travel of member states’ citizens for a period of no more that 90 days. However, in some countries like Nigeria, the processes of obtaining this ECOWAS passport are too cumbersome and significantly costly. This makes the cost of movement across borders very high, thereby having a significant negative impact on cross-border trade.

Roadblocks and checks: Within the ECOWAS territory, there are so many roadblocks mounted by the police, custom officers and other agencies along the major roads. For instance, while ECOWAS recommended just two checkpoints between Nigeria’s Mile-2 and Seme border, there are over 40 checkpoints along that road (Chimeziri, 2011). These checks are costly in terms of time and money. Making matters worse, police officers at these check-points especially in Nigeria often solicit bribes from transporters and traders. All these disrupt the efficient movement of people and goods within the community.

Language barrier: ECOWAS has three official languages: English, French and Portuguese. This makes free and efficient movement difficult, especially when an English-speaking traveller runs into a French speaking custom official or vice versa. Chimeziri (2011) narrated his 2010 experience. According to him, an English-speaking trader suspected to be a Nigerian was trying to move his goods across the Togo’s border into Ghana. He was held by custom officers at the Togo’s border with Ghana. Because the custom officers kept asking him questions in French and he could not hear or speak French, he was advised to pay an equivalent of 7,500 NGN to an interpreter, which he did in order to keep moving. Exposing the level of corruption among the custom officials, the same officer who refused to speak English finally spoke English fluently while trying to buy a pack of cigarette immediately.

Standard checks: In ECOWAS region, countries have agencies that screen goods to ascertain if they are of accepted standards. In Nigeria, there are the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). However, each country has its own approved standards. What is accepted in one country may not be accepted in another. Moreover, the screening and re-screening of goods by agencies of different countries adds to the cost of trade in terms of both money and time.

Licenses and permits: Crossing of borders in Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most difficult tasks facing every traveller (both motorists and passengers). So many licenses are required. They include import/export licenses, road transportation licenses, evidence of roadworthiness etc. Where multiple licenses are required for the production and distribution of goods, costs of doing business in that area are also multiplied. This is also a treat to the willingness of people to do business across national borders.

2. Promoting Trade within Ecowas Region: The Way Forward Enhancing regional growth and development through intra-regional trade has been the major objective of floating the ECOWAS trade liberalisation scheme. But following the statistics given in this paper, one would find it not unwise to believe that the level of trade between ECOWAS countries has been insignificant, at least during the period examined. The low level of trade in this region has been attributed to some institutional and

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regulatory barriers as listed in section 3 above. Having known the causes of low intra-ECOWAS trade, we hereby recommend as follows, the way forward. The governments of member states of ECOWAS especially Nigeria must make

the processes of business registration very simple and less expensive. The procedure for obtaining the certificate of origin for goods to be traded must

also be made simple and less expensive too. Countries such as Nigeria must ensure that their average custom tariffs are in

accordance with the provisions of ETLS. To reduce the cost of movement of people and goods, governments must ensure

that the cost (time and money) of obtaining an ECOWAS passport is reasonably bearable.

The governments of member countries especially Nigeria must limit the number of roadblocks and checkpoints to the number recommended by ECOWAS protocol. This is to enhance easy movement of people and their goods.

At every point of contact for internationals (business people and government officials) within the ECOWAS sub-region, there must be provision for speaking and understanding all the three approved languages for the region. This will go a long way in enhancing fast movement of people and goods across national borders.

ECOWAS as a unit should set up an agency to be responsible for ensuring that goods produced within the community are of good standard. There should be a common standard for all countries of the region. This is to ensure that time and money are not wasted by the receiving country in screening goods after that same good must have undergone similar screening at the country of origin.

Conclusion

Having in mind the broad objectives of ETLS, this paper examined the extent to which trade between Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries have geared towards achieving those objectives. After examining the data collected for the purpose of this verification, we found that trade between Nigeria and other countries of this region have been insignificant over the period examined. After highlighting the possible causes of insignificant trading in the region, we made some recommendations as seen in section 4 above. We therefore conclude that if the content of section 4 (recommendations) are comprehensively implemented, trade in the region would be enhanced and the objectives of ETLS achieved. References Balassa, B. (1965), “Trade Liberalisation and Revealed Comparative Advantage”, The Manchester School, Vol. 33, 99-123. Chimeziri U. (2011) “ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme: Still in the Doldrums”, online at www.articlesbase.com ECOWAS Vanguard (2013) “The ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme: Genesis, Conditions and Appraisal”, Vol. 2, Issue 3.

Muluvi A., Kamau P., Githuku S. and Ikiara M. (2012) “Kenya’s Trade within the East African Community: Institutional and Regulatory Barriers”, in Accelerating

Growth Through Improved Intra-African Trade, Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA).

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The Possible Impact of Tourism Industry on Nigeria Economy

By 1Ndajiya, Abdulrahman (Ph.D),

& 2Shehu Muhammad (M.Sc)

& 3Yunusa Hashim Muhammad (Ph.D)

Abstract

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. It embraces areas of Physical attractions like falls and rocks and so on; Manmade like amusement and holiday resorts; Wild life based attractions like games, gardens and fishing grounds; Cultural attractions like festivals,arts and crafts; Sports like local, regional and international; and Business tourism like seminars conferences and meetings. Scholars have argued even with models to justify that tourism is the best option for rapid socio-economic development of any nation, though still require much attention. The harrold-Domar model, confirmed to the fact that international arrivals and receipts expanded at an average of 7% annually. Thus, I is obvious that it is the growth of 21st century which has brought about rise in employment,elimination of social barriers, cultural revival, health therapy improved balance of payments, and so on. Although, inadequate funding, investment and political will have been a constraint to tourism industry, it has bright prospects if its policies are well articulated to develop it in a sustainable, equitable and responsive manner to raise the living standard of Nigerians.

1.0 Introduction

Tourism is believed to be the fastest growing industries across the world. Facts and figures have shown that it has an annual growth rate of 4% in countries like USA, Italy, France, Spain, UK, and Caribbean and of recent, African countries likeKenya. South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Gambia, Egypt, and so on, earned substantially from tourism as analyzed by Mani (2003). He further explained that both receipts and tourist arrivals have been on an increase, which implies the growth trend of the industry. In fact, according to ILO (2001), globally the World Tourist Organization (WTO) predicts that the number of international tourists will reach almost 1.6bn by the yea 2020 (as opposed to 565mn in 1995). Similarly, international tourism receipts will exceed US $2,000bn.

Thus, this development and indeed the mono-cultural nature of Nigerian economy leave no one in doubt as to the need to develop and sustain our tourism industry. Nigeria is a vast and fascinating country with varying geographical regions and ecological zones. It has diverse and amiable climatic variables rich in biological diversity. Cascading water systems, rolling links, pleasant and distinctive sceneries. Accordingly the Nigeria government has to diversify the economy to incorporate the tourism sector with the launching of Nigeria Tourist Association (NTA) in September, 1962.

1Department of Political Science, University of Abuja. andajiya@yahoo.com, GSM: 08065314242; 2Departmen of Economics, University of Abuja. 3Department of Political Science Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda University Lapai, yunusahashim330@yahoo.com, GSM: 07032413818.

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The dwindling mono-cultural oil economy in 70’s though rising in resent time still require Nigeria to develop its tourism sector because oil is vulnerable to fluctuations in demand and price in the international market.

So, for the sector to contribute to the wealth of the nation and the well-being of Nigerians, the Nigerian Tourist Association (NTA) metamorphosed into Nigeria Tourist Board (NTB) which now changed to Nigeria Tourist Development Corporation (NTDC) by the virtue of degree 81 of 1992 under the supervision of Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

According to Omotosho (2000) the NTDC has the following responsibilities:

Encourages people living in Nigeria to take Holidays in the country and People abroad to Visit Nigeria; Encourage the provision and Improvement of tourism amenities and Facilities in Nigeria like development of Hotels and ancillary facilities; Development Of sites to assist tourist agents; offer Technical and information advice to state and Tourism entrepreneurs on tourism joint Ventures and promotion.

Thereafter, the rest of the paper is organized as follows: part 2 dealt on the theoretical and conceptual issues in tourism. In part 3, growth, potentials and socio-economic impacts of tourism were examined while part 4 discusses problems and prospects of tourism. Part 5, is on Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations. 2.0 Theorical And Conceptual issues In Tourism

The concept of tourism has been defined by so many experts and Scholars. For instance, Dada (1986) defined tourism as “Migration of people, families and groups to places outside their normal residential areas for a limited period of time and their personal choice. While Ikwu (1992) defined it “as a temporary short movement of people to destination outside the place where they normally live and work”. However, a clear definition adopted by the International Association of scientific Experts in Tourism (IASET) reads “Tourism is the sum total of the phenomenon and relationship arising from the travel and stay of non-residents, in so far as they do not lead to permanent residence” (Ladan, 2003).

From these definitions given, it is quite apparent that tourism involves eating. Sleeping and moving around both at domestic and international levels, however, this all important sector could not grow in Nigeria. Although it has celebrated or observed its 30th Anniversary, people still wonder if there is anything to celebrate. But DA’ Silva (1992), feels we have a lot to celebrate since a high level of National Tourism Consciousness and Mobilization has been put in place such as establishment of Nigerian Tourist association (NTA) which has finally metamorphosed into Nigerian Tourist Development Corporation (NTDC) in 1992; also is private and public awareness in Nigerian Airways, Nigerian Railways, Dempster line; there is also professional and trade associations in hotels and travels, government has also put in place tourism policies e.g. DFRRI, MAMSER, NOA, Cultural Policy, Economic Diplomacy, BLP, WOTCLEF, strengthening of local governments, and so on.

However, DA’Silva (1994) argued for the need to reactivate tourism, thus in his words out of 450mn international tourist arrivals, Africa accounted for 13mn which Nigeria belongs. This situation is unacceptable, he therefore, urge

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Nigerian government to place emphasis on promotion and marketing of tourism industry. To this end Goyang (1994) argued for an appraisal of 1990 National policy for tourism in Nigeria which is crucial in developing the moribund industry. He explained that a new National Policy was timely, though prior to this, Lagos and Plateau States have their policy but this cannot create a well articulated socio-economic ideology for the nation. This idea was equally buttressed by Sani (1990), in which he presented a private sector’s view of what tourism policy should be and who should control tourism policy. He then argued that a National tourism policy must be dynamic, responsive and reflect current trends and development in the environment.

Goyang (1994) maintained that the national policy would develop our viable natural resources in a joint effort as opposed to each state on its own. This procedurebeing adopted in education and health sectors, therefore, tourism should toe the same line. Accordingly, he called for an institutional arrangement where tourism will develop from the grassroots level to the federal level. This view was shared by Ladan (2003), in which he argued that development can only be sustained if grassroots development of tourism is always imbibed on. He explained that artisans would remain and be encouraged at the expense of modern industrialization. So, also when a cultural event is prepared for tourism consumption however good, the original often- spiritual meaning is lost. In fact, tourism development must be vigorously pursued as observed by Ojo (1994). Because Nigeria has the resource potentials and he identified some economic circumstances of the post-colonial era, conductive to the development of tourism like rapid industrialization which has engaged many workers; phenomenal rise in real income levels; reduction of number of working days; increased ownership of mobility, and so on. Coupled with pride of rich diversity of physical, wildlife and human resources, varying from spectacular land from sceneries to populated game reserve, and from impressive historical monuments to captivating cultivating cultural festivals, all of which can become first-class tourism resources assuming effective and forward looking management, this position was quote in line with Ogbemudia (1991) when he recognizedthe economic potentials of tourism; particularly foreign exchange earnings. Nevertheless, Atutu (2001) believed that for a successive tourism development to be achieved there is the need to draw up a comprehensive tourism plan.

In other words, the overall national planning should take into account tourism planning, such that a detailed environmental analysis is carried out identifying areas of agriculture, ecological, geographical, mythological, lands are surveyed to capture industrial areas, airports, historic interests, towers, forts and palaces, traditional village cores and clusters, beaches as well as design and development programmes made available to visitors. Ikwu (1992) therefore emphasized that the tourism plan should also encapsulate marketing and product improvement programme if tourism was to be properly developed. He however, argued that this again depends on the technical and social conditions, such as good road networks, portable water, electricity, telephone, hospitality services, security, and patriotism like local patronage. etc. The promotional aspect should be geared towards enhancing the existing tourist facilities and developing new areas; control over factors that adversely affect the environment; ensuring the adequate provision of transport and communication systems. Awoseyin (1991) and Adejuwon (1986) asserted also that another major potentials required in developing tourism is the need for the hospitality industry to play major role which has been estimated at about 50% of all other potentials. Therefore, they argued for the hospitality industry to re-orientate its developmenttowards tourist needs, such as models, structures, technology, and management skill.

Although, views and opinions continued, on the need to develop

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Tourism by providing the necessary infrastructures coupled with the available potentials but these has not been realized. The constraint in realizing them is what Awoseyin (1990) termed as the lack of methodology for financing tourism projects. He thus suggests the need to identify the projects and the method required in financing it.

Furthermore, a cross analysis of the views revealed that much is required in the tourism industry of which think the theory of Big Push and Harrold-Domar model may become expedient. In the sense that, while Harrold-Domar requires not only the growth of the savings and investment but to ensure growth rate of GDP at the least rate of 7% On the other hand, Big Push theory will argue that a viable industry like tourism all over the world requires a huge and substantial amount to be invested in such sector if at all we want to develop it. 3.0 Growth, potentials and Socio-economic Impact of Tourism in Nigeria

The tourism sector has witnessed phenomenal growth across the world which has had a symbolic impact on Nigeria; with the launch of 1990 National tourism Policy in a bid to develop its tourism industry. More so, every year substantial percentage of the world population travel on unrestricted movements both within the country and outside it. Indeed, this growth has brought about high employment worldwide, increasing wealth of nations, improving balance of payments and as a veritable tool of human development.

An acceptable index for measuring growth of tourism is usually in term of international arrivals and receipts, thus, over the past forty years, global tourism has expanded at an average of 7% a year in arrivals and 12% a year in receipts, a growth record unmatched by any other economic sector (Omotosho, 2000). This can be analysed within the framework of Hoarrold - Dormarmodel, who saw growth and development as dependent on capital formation.

More so, WTO forecast shows that, international tourist arrivals worldwide is predicted to reach 1bn by the year 2010, also receipts are predicted to reach US$1,550. Between 1950 and 1999, movement of person across frontiers exceeded 664mn, while receipts from tourism which dues not include fares paid to corners is also in excess of $455bn representing per annual receipt of US$685.

There has been a remarkable expansion in tourism activities aided modern by transportation, growth in human activities and international politics. It has become the source of wealth and economic diversification to Asia, North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean nations. Although, Europe and America were initially toping the regions, Asia and the pacific religion have dominated for the past 15years. Resent developments by tourists to discover new grounds for fun and excitement would have made Africa and indeed Nigeria very relevance but this is not so and thus, Europe and America has took over the dominance of this industry again.

For many centuries, international tourism is an indispensable source of foreign currency earnings. According to the world Tourism Organisation, tourism is one of the top five export categories for 83% of countries and the main source of foreign currency for at least 38% of them. Appendix 3.2 and 3.3 show the growth rates in receipts from international tourism in the different regions of the world as defined by the WTO (see Appendix 3.1.) and their perspective market shares. Thus, Appendix 3.2 shows that in 1985 when the world total receipts was 118.1b. Africa received 2.5b of the figure, Americas received 33.3b, Asia got 15.6b, Europe 63.5b and Middle East 4.2b. The trend continued in 1990, with Europe maintaining a steady growth of 143.5b receipts and a share of 54.4% of world receipt flow, followed by Americas and then Asia with more than double the 1995 figure. However Africa and Middle East marginally increased 1995 to 1998 however, from Appendix 3.2 to 3.3 we can see a remarkable change in the trend

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of tourists flow. For instance, in 1998, when world receipts were 441.0b, Africa’s share was 9.8b, which was 2.22%. However, the shares of other religions have continued to dwindle. Approximately 15years, percentage receipts in America declined from 28.2% in 1985 to 26.2% in 1998 and European share also reduced from 53.8% to 52.3% in the same period. This decline in their share was quite unbelievable because most crowd-pulling major world events took place in either of the two regions.

Atlanta 1996 Olympic games, USA’94 World Cup finals, France’98World Cup finals are examples of those events, which boosted the regional receipts without significant flow over previous years of significance is the average growth rate of the six region within the period. The Middle East, Asia and Africa got the biggest boost with growth rate of 6.9%, 7.0% and 7.02% respectively. Although, the other three regionsgrowth were not bad but Europe and Americas from Appendix 3.3 have shown the world’s leading earners of tourism spending considering individual countries within the regions.

Again, Appendix 3.4 have shown the world top earners from international tourism leading by united states, followed by Spain, etc. This is reflecting the fact that closeness to origin of the travelers still matters and the fact that countries in these region have had the time, resources and demand needed to develop their tourism industry. From appendix 3.5 the Americas clearly the unchallenged leader with about 4.8% share of tourism receipts, while Africa’s earning from tourism same year exceeded that of the middle east (23.2b)

The significance of these statistics is that it is much cheaper to visit Africa in view of the very weak currencies at the destinations. The North, East and South Africa have reminded the primary destinations. For example, North Africa countries, notably Algeria, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia took 35.3% of Africa’s share in 1999 whereas 13 countries in West Africa shared only 9.7%. East Africa shared 22.6% and South Africa 30.4%, Thus, these figures portends that Africa is the region of the future world Tourism in Nigeria cannot be an exception. The reasons justifying the statement are as follows;

- The average international tourism are seeking new natural grounds and endowment devoid of man-made as the case in the western world.

- Conflicts and political uncertainties, which have constrained Africa tourism, are beginning to fade away.

- Countries are achieving independence, absence of apartheid and military dictatorship; and

- In fact Western Tourist destinations have reached the points of satiety in which the marginal utility of tourism tends to negative both on humans and environment. Therefore, Why not turn to Africa tourist destinations which are largely unused.

- Nigeria has all the above advantages, hence the need to explore the following tourist attractions in Nigeria.

Potentials of Tourism

Tourism has been growing since the 70’s and 80’s but at this time Nigeria’s hopes, dreams and thought were not matured enough to pursue that sector of the economy until the 90’s. By this time factors or potentials which are prerequisite for tourism development were very much there, and are still there and will most probably be there for a long time to come, for instance, the Gurara Water Falls, Ikogosi and Wikki warm springs, Mambilla Plateau, Riyom rock formation, Idanre Hills, Zuma Rock, Olumo Rock, Ikom Water Falls, etc.

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- Ikeja water parks, Snake Island, Ibadan Amusement Centre, Abuja parks and Amusement, Lagos bar beach, Obudu Cattle Ranch, Nicon and Sheraton Hotels, Zaranda Hotels. Etc.

- Yankari, New Bussa and Bauchi Game Reserves. Plateau Gardens and Monuments, Kano and Ibadan zoo’s, Cross river boat and fishing regatta, Argungu fishing festival etc.

- Atilogu Dancers, kuntigi and kalangu local guitarists, Yam festival, Gale and GboyaNupeTraditon, Eyo masquerades, Ekwechi Festival in Ebira Bronze Statutes from Benin, local fan and hat from North, local cloth dyers from China etc.

- Dambe and Langa Traditional from North, Circus from China etc. - Varieties of Seminars, conferences, meetings and Workshops in hotspot tourist

locations across Nigeria. 3.3 Social-economic Impact of Tourism From the foregoing explanations of potentials or opportunities of tourism in Nigeria, the following socio-economic impacts are clearly indentified. First and foremost, the economic impact of tourism is the income and wealth it creates for the people and the nation. This is further heightened by the concept of Tourism income multiplier (TIM) meaning that a demand by a tourist to an area implies spending some money with the people in those areas who in turn spend in other places, this continues on and on. Again, it is gravifying to note that the percentage of jobs that depends directly or indirectly on tourism demands average at 5 to 7%. These employment are found in tourism sites, hotels, airlines, travel agencies and other associated products to tourism. In fact, the growth of tourism would not have been possible without a vibrant labour. Also, another economic impact of tourism is that it it increases foreign exchange earning to provide the investment necessary so as to finance economic growth, while rectifying our balance of payment deficit. Figures have shown the increasing number of international tourist arrivals and receipts thereby ensuring that balance of payment always balance. Economic impact of tourism could be in terms of investment and development. That is, once the business of tourism is booming in an area then investors are poised to invest while the area develops rapidly e.g. industries, infrastructures (road, water, etc.) On the other hand, social impact in terms of public awareness and information flow. For instance, WAI.MAMSER.NOA.Etcwerelaunched to equally create social awareness and the need to warmly received visitors. Another social is that tourism visits enable one to meet people from differentbackgrounds, thereby creating understanding, peaceful co-existence, exchange of ideas, Pleasantries and promote unity. Social impact of tourism could be in form of cultural revival or reawakening, promoting natural arts and crafts, health therapy, etc. Another social impact of tourism is creating a good relationship between man and his natural environment, conservation and protection. More so, social impact could create positive international image, cultural exchange and enrichment. 4.0 Problem and prospects of Tourism in Nigeria

Despite the potentials and opportunities available for tourism development in Nigeria, it is still bogged with the following problems:

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The major problem facing the tourism industry is the lack of political will on the part of the government which give rise to the numerous problemsfacing the industry. Again, is the urgent need for the review of national policy on tourism so as to make it more encompassing, broad based proper planning and dynamism, such as giving tourism its rightful place in the constitution, offering tourism courses in universities, standardization of hotels, funding, zoning etc.

Also, the model and structure couple with technology and management still of the hotel in Western Europe is not peculiar to our environment. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t transfer such ideas but they should be monitored, tailored and adopted to our tradition and cultural inclinations.

Another problem of tourism is that of funding. It is not advisable and not the case in place, where tourism has developed to have too much government involvement but rather government provide the guidelines then allow the private sectors and financial institutions to take up the development of tourism industry. In fact, tourism is a product of sectoral cooperation and governmental backing.

More so let us not lose the sight of developing infrastructures. This is a very big problem in Nigeria. A situation where roads are in bad shape, inadequate and in some cases absence of portable water, erratic power supply, poor communication networks and other aspects of social amenities required to support tourism are not in existence will not augur well for tourism industry.

Political instability, conflicts, insecurity and poor attitudinal changes among Nigerians will tend to scare away genuine tourists. Nevertheless, from the catalogue of problems plaguing the prospects of this viable industry cannot be overemphasized due to the following reasons.

Nigeria has all the potentials of tourist attractions from rocks and falls cut through wildlife parks and gardens down to hotels and conference centres. Though we have observed tourism policy as a problem but the launch of the first tourism policy is an indication of government intention to that sector, coupled with the so many awareness and campaigns to instill discipline and respect by Nigerians towards visitors.

Also, a relative political stability with the young democracy put in place has been achieved. Intensified effort to develop infrastructures, creation of tourism ministry and corporation are all indication towards developing a prosperous tourism industry. 5.0 Summary and Conclusion The paper has made it clear that the place of tourism industry in any economy including Nigeria, which is endowed with so many potentials, cannot be overemphasized. Because we have seen the growth in the sector couple with the need to comb all aspects of tourism industry as well as constraints and prospects of the industry. In fact, this is the only sector that experiences forward and backward linkages. Therefore, it is my conclusion that effort should be geared towards increasing the political will, funding and all the investment required to fully develop the industry. Recommendation There is the need to develop an encompassing tourism policy if it has to be sustainable, equitable and responsive so as to contribute to Nigeria’s economic development and in effect raise the quantity of life of all her people. Government should intensify vigorously the marketing and promotion of Nigeria cultural, historical and archaeological treasures. Funding of tourism should be tackled. To this end, government should provide all the enabling environment to support private sectors in tourism development. Much

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attention should be given to environmental aspects of tourism i.e. Ecotourism which consists of wildlife tourism and natural parks. Thus, the federal Ministry of commerce and Tourism as well as Tourism Corporation be strengthened. The collection and collation of tourism statistics and the establishment of tourism satellite accounts as is done across the world be vigorously pursued. Tourism information should as a matter of significance be available on Internet for users and investors. There is the need to embark on aggressive manpower development required in the tourism industry, such as in hotels and catering, training schools and institutions should be established. References

Aboyade, O. (1983), Integrated Economics; A study of Development Economics, 1st ed.,ELBS and Addison-Wesley Publishers, London.

Adejuwon, F.J.(1986), Organising a system of Tourism and Hotels in West Africa

Hospitality, Vol.1, No.1 Aturu. A. S (2001), Tourism Planning approach the key to Nigeria Tourism Development

IICIMA Bulletin. Vol. 1, No. 15, April-July Awoseyin, L. (1990), Methodology for financing tourism projects in Developing

Countries African Hospitality, Vol. 1, No., 2, July-September. Awoseyin L. (2002), Africa is the Tourists` Destination of the future African Hospitality

Vol. 5. No.1 Dada, M. O. (1986), Economic aspect of the Tourism Industry in Nigeria, Hospitality in

Nigeria, Vol. 1, No. 1. DA`silva M. E. (1992) Tourism in Nigeria: Causes of underdevelopment And need for

reactivation, African Hospitality, Vol. 3, No.3. DA`silva M. E. (1992) Tourism in Nigeria Need for reactivation (Technical), African

Hospitality, Vol. 4, No.1. Goyang. G. (1994) Tourism policy for Nigeria: A Critical Review, African Hospitality,

Vol. 5, No.1. Ikwu, F. (1992) The concept of marketing and promotion of tourism in A Structural

Adjustment Economy. African Hospitality, Vol. 3, No.3. ILO (2001) Report on Human Resources Development, employment And Globalization

in the Hotel, Catering and Tourism sector, Geneva, 2-6th April Jhingan, M. L. (2000), The Economic Development and Planning, 33rd ed., New A.S

Offset Press, New Delhi, India Ladan A. F. (2003) Grassroots` Tourism for a sustainable development, Tourist Flash,

September-November.

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Mani. A. I. (2003) Tourism: A Goldmine untapped-A paper delivered at conference of

the Federation of tourism Associations of Nigeria held at Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, November 21st

Ogbemudia. D. (1991) Tourism and its potentials, African Hospitality Vol. 2, No. 1. January-March.

Ojo, A. (1994) An overview of Tourism Development, Resources PotentialsProblems and

Constraints in Nigeria, African Hospitality, Vol. 5, No, 1. Omotosho O. (2000), Tourism Development, Oppurtunities, Benefits and Challenges in

Nigeria, - A paper presented at Annual Conference of world conference of Mayors October 15-19th Abuja.

SaniA. I. (1990), Tourism Policy: Its framework and investors`

Expectations, African Hospitality, Vol. 1, No.3, October-December.

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Business Process Re-Engineering and Customer Responses in Selected Food and Beverages Companies in Lagos State

By Waidi Adeniyi Akingbade {Corresponding Author}

Abstract Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is the method by which the existing business practices are designed and changed to achieve dramatic improvement in organizational performance. Organizational re-engineering is often directed towards customer satisfactions and retention for profitability and competitiveness. But most organizational re-engineering are often implemented without measuring customer responses in order to improve their present and future performance. This study assess customer responses in selected food and beverages industry in order to further make strategic decision for improved performance and competitiveness. Two hypotheses were tested to determine, whether: there is a significant relationship between customer satisfaction and quality product; there is a significant relationship between price and customer retention. Survey research method was adopted for the study and 2150questionnaires were given to the respondents which were selected randomly, out of which 1900 returned duly completed and properly filled questionnaires. Correlation was used to test the hypotheses for data analysis. Findings show that provision of quality product enhances customer satisfaction and competitive prices in the industry improved customer retention. The study recommends that BPR should be used by company for production of quality product, quick service delivery, charging of reasonable price, cost reduction which result in profitability and cost savings for the company in the long run. Keywords: Business Process Re-engineering, Quality Product, Customer Satisfaction. 1. Introduction Organizations in competitive environment are forced to re-evaluate their business models and underlying business processes to cope with the changing condition. Business process re-engineering represents a core of the functioning of an organization because the company or business primarily consists of processes not product or services. In other words, managing a business means managing its processes (Groover, Jeong, Keitinger, Jeng 2011). Despite the importance, business processes have been neglected for a long time in managerial studies mainly due to the fact that departments are structured in a functional or product oriented way. The extensive literature on business process management (e.g. Davenport, 1993, Hammer & Champy 1993; Caron, Jarvenpea, and Stoddard, 1994; Earl, Sampler and Short, 2005) suggests that organizations can enhance their overall performance by adopting a process view of business.

The corporate world has historically measured financial performance and sales volume. Measures of financial performance, sales volume and customer satisfaction are not wrong: they are merely insufficient. Many organizations fail to understand how these indicators fit within the comprehensive measurement strategy that is required to effectively re-engineer and re-design processes (Davenport, 1994). An increasing number of academics are now extolling the central role of business process re-engineering in improving organization performance. Most importantly, Kaplan and Norton (2004) places business process re-engineering at the Centre of their approach of measuring a firm`s progress in implementing strategy. In moving to Department of Business Administration & Management Technology, Lagos state University, Ojo; Lagos, Nigeria. P.O. BOX 10149, LASU, Post Office, Ojo, Lagos State, Nigeria Tel: 234-80-3050-0622 E-mail: akinwaidi@yahoo.com

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a process enterprise, manager needs to conduct a thorough analysis to determine what aspect of process performance are most directly linked to achieving the organization’s overall objectives. Business process re-engineering involves the radical redesign of core business processes to achieve dramatic improvement in productivity, quality product, cycle times, quick service delivery, charging of reasonable price and quality control.

Most organizations that have used process re-engineering agree that it does indeed provide numerous benefits including cost saving, quick service delivery, more efficient execution of work, improved customer’s focus and better integration across the organization to enable them satisfy their customers in order to retain them. The quality of product and price competitiveness leads to customer satisfaction and retention by the organization. This paper assesses the concept of process re-engineering. It also seeks to evaluate its integration in to organization system and how it could be implemented for organization improved performance. Statement of the Problem The concept of Business Process Re-engineering could be traced to the Business Process Management of the 1990’s. Many organizations have adopted it to be competitive as to cope with the changing condition. However, experiences have shown that companies that are adopting Business Process Re-engineering have different success level (Hammer & Champy, 1993). Individual organization success depends on established balance between organization structure and organization’s environment. In other words, not all organizations have benefitted substantially from Business Process Re-engineering. Many firms have found that even dramatic level of Process re-engineering and improvements often do not translate into better business performance. Many organizations have based their application of Business Process Re-engineering on faulty methods and assumption that tend to undermine quality products, quick service delivery, competitive prices, customers satisfaction and retention. Many managers that have adopted it lack project management re-orientation and are unaware of the organization resistance to change. The extent to which these have influenced the effectiveness of business process re-engineering in selected food and beverages companies in Lagos State is the main focus of this paper. Research Questions

i. To what extent does quality product improved customer satisfaction? ii. Does reasonable price enhance customer retention?

Hypotheses Two null hypotheses were postulated:

1. There is no significant relationship between Customer satisfaction and quality product.

2. There is no significant relationship between price and customer retention. Literature Review Goal and Objectives of Business Process Re-engineering The goal of business process re-engineering is to redesign and change the existing business practices or process to achieve dramatic improvement in organizational performance. Organizational development is a continuous process but the pace of change has increased in manifolds. In a volatile global world, organizations enhance competitive

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advantage through Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) by radically redesigning selected processes.

Sharma (2006) posited that business process re-engineering implies transformed processes that together form a component of a larger system aimed at enabling organization to empower themselves with contemporary technologies business solution and innovations. Organizational effective performance has become a watchword in modern business; as a result there are inexorable pressures for Business Process Re-engineering. The rampant and rapid expansion of competition across markets and geographic raises important questions such as:

How should work be redesigned? Who does it? Where do they do it? How to get it performed?

These questions necessitate venturing of Business Process Re-engineering into the overall strategy for sustained competitive advantage, check costs, and differentiate products and effective price management with greater intensity and then flawless execution (Groover, et al 2011). At this juncture, it is pertinent to ask what is “Business Process” and as well as “Business Process Re-engineering.”

According to Stoddard and Jarvenpea (1995) Business Process are simply a set of activities that transformed a set of inputs into a set of outputs (goods or services) for another person or process using people and equipment’s. Business process entails set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business output or outcome. It involves a wide spectrum of activities procurement, order fulfillment, product development, customer service and sale (Sharma 2006). Thus, Business Process Re-engineering becomes an offshoot of Business Process. Hammer and Champy (1993) argued that “the fundamental reconsideration and radical redesign of organizational process, in order to achieve drastic improvement of current performance in cost, service and speed enjoys a fair measure of consensus. One can then assume that Business Process Re-engineering connotes the analysis and design of workflows and processes within and between organizations (Davenport and Short 1990). Basic Assumptions of Business Process Re-engineering. Business Process Reengineering relies on a different school of thought. It believes in continuous process improvement, re-engineering assumes that current process is irrelevant and there is need to commence another one. Such a clean slate perspective enables the designers of business process to focus on new process. This is to project oneself on

What should the process look like? How do my customers want it to be like? How do best-in-class companies do it? What we might be able to do with no technology?

Business Process Re-engineering in the actual sense, have mixed successes therefore, business process reengineering projects aimed at transforming inefficient work process. Henceforth, organizations such as food and beverages industry and other manufacturing industries need to optimize results from this model in real business situations.

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Application of Business Process Re-engineering in Nigeria Food and Beverages Industry. Food and beverages industry comprises of companies that are in to the production of soft drinks, beer, wine, table and sachet water, cocoa beverages, fast foods, etc.

In Nigeria, the changing dynamics of food and beverages and other manufacturing industries market forced players at all levels to re-engineer. The food and beverages industry operations and functions were redesigned to meet emerging challenges of diversification, slashing operating cost, outsourcing, portfolio investment, production and manufacturing systems. The change brought about by re-engineering in food and beverages industry are reflected in product and services to give a new form or structure by introducing product and service scheme such as sachet beverages of different price range. In order to survive and flourish in a global economy business must respond to major trends reshaping markets. Hence, the dynamics of the underlying forces at work require a renewed thrust on BPR in food and beverages industry to contribute to management and diversification of growth horizons by impacting on productivity and profitability (Aremu & Saka, 2006).

Acting on this conviction, BPR has continuously improved organizational performance in Nigeria and the manufacturing sector has in recent times witnessed tremendous reengineering process in Nigeria. The modern business is characterized by stiff competition both locally and globally, hence, reengineering process becomes a veritable engine of organizational survival. Besides an organization which relies on arm chair business process risks redundancy or even extinction in the face of modern technological order. The multiplier effects of BPR provide an impetus to the industry through impressive success across companies. Several authors have provided their own interpretation of the changes being applied to the organization, Davenport and Short (1990) have described BPR as the analysis and design of work flows and processes within and between organizations. Hammer and Champy (1993) have promoted the fundamental rethinking and radical design of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as cost reduction, quality product, quick service delivery. Sharma (2006) has focused on the rethinking, restructuring and streamlining of the business structure, processes, methods of working, management systems and external relationships through which value is created and delivered. Keitinger and Groove (2004) on the other hand, believe that BPR involves the concurrent redesign of processes, organizations and their supporting information systems to achieve radical improvement in time, cost quality and customer’s regard for the company’s products and services. While Robert (2007) describes the fundamental rethinking and design of operating processes and organizational structure, the focus is on the organization’s core competencies to achieve dramatic improvements in organizational performance, as BPR’s essential components. Although the definition by the Davenport and Short (1990) is much narrower, their description of the concept is as far reaching. In practice, both TQM and BPR have focused on the definition and operation of business processes to produce products and services within a defined business scope. However, neither TQM nor BPR have focused on strategic business direction setting or planning but of course this may be necessary components in achieving this vision. Also each methodology, in its own right, does not have the intention or the capability of reinventing business or industry. More importantly only one of these definitions refers to information systems. It can thus be said that BPR is not necessarily dependent on IT solutions. This is general agreement that IT can be

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powerful enabler, with the “radical improvements sought more a function of organizational process redesign rather than IT implementation” (Davenport & Beer, 1995; Hammer and Champy, 1993). While IT specialists insists that new systems are central to BPR, the challenge is increasingly one of organizational change and the visioning involved in that change rather than the technology itself (Earl, et al, 2005). Theoretical framework The concept of reengineering traces its root back to management theories developed as early as nineteenth (19th) century. The purpose of reengineering is to “make all your processes the best-in class”. Fredrick Taylor suggested in the 1860’s that managers could discover the best process of performing work and reengineering echoes the classical believe that there is one best to conduct tasks. In Taylor’s time, technology did not allow large companies to design processes in a cross-functional or cross dimensional manner. Specialization was the stake-of- the- art method to improve efficiency given the technology situation at that time.

According to Hammer and Champy (1993) business process reengineering (BPR) is defined as the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed." Although Hammer and Champy (1993) declared that classical organizational theory is obsolete, classical ideas such as division of labour had an enduring power and applicability that reengineering has failed to demonstrate. Business process reengineering (BPR) does not appear to qualify as a scientific theory because among other things, it is not duplicable and it is limited in scope (Maureen et al, 2005). Today organizational development is a continuous process but the pace of change had increased in manifold. This means that in this competitive environment organizations will enhance its competitive advantage in its operation if it effectively design and implement Business Process Reengineering (BPR) selected processes. Davenport (1993) a famous BPR theorist emphasized the term process innovation, in his definition and he described it as ”encompasses the envisioning of new work strategies, the actual process design activity, and the implementation of the change in all its complex technological, human, and organizational dimensions”. The question now is what is Business Process Reengineering? Business Process Reengineering (BPR)” is the analysis and design of workflows and processes within and between organizations (Davenport and Short, 1990).

At this juncture, it is relevant to emphasize the term “business process”. Davenport and Short (1990) defined business process as a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve defined business actions. A process is a structured measure set of activities designed to produce a specified output for a particular customer or market. It implies a strong emphasis on how work is done within an organization, Davenport (1993). Examples of processes include developing a new product, ordering goods from a supplier, creating marketing plan, etc.

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Fig 1: Relationship between business process reengineering and customer responses Source: Adapted from Matzler, K, et al (2005) The relationship between customer satisfaction and shareholder value, total quality management, vol.16, No. 5 Dimension Description Tangible Appearance of physical product Reliability Ability to perform the promised service dependably, accurately Responsiveness Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service Assurance Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and

confidence in the product Empathy Caring individualized attention to firm provides to its customers. Cross selling The total sales of the company grow and markets can be penetrated faster because

customers who have become loyal are responding between firms marketing efforts.

Low price sensibility Satisfied customers are less price sensitive. The lower price – sensibility increase the willingness of the customers to pay for the benefits they receive.

Word of mouth Positive word- of – mouth can significantly enhance the effectiveness of marketing communication and therefore, lower acquisition costs for new customers, which increases a firms cash flow.

Repurchase The continuous repurchase of a company’s product results in a stable relationship between customer and supplier which allow a firm to generate meaningfully knowledge about the customers.

Source: Source: Matzler, K, et al (2005) The relationship between customer satisfaction and shareholder value, total quality management, vol.16, No.5 Concept of Business Process Reengineering The concept of reengineering has been widely adopted by industries such as food and beverages, financial services, retailing and manufacturing. Reengineering is the radical redesign of an organization’s processes, especially its business processes. Rather than organizing a firm into functional specialties’ like production, accounting, marketing e.t.c, and looking at the task that each function performs, we should according to the reengineering theory, be looking at complete process from materials acquisitions, to production, to marketing and distribution. The firm should be reengineered into a series of processes.

BPR: Cost Reduction,

Quality Product, Quick

Service Delivery, Reasonable

Price,

Features of QP:

Tangibility Responsiveness Reliability Empathy Assurance

Customer Responses: Customers Satisfaction. Attributes of CS:

Repurchase Cross selling Reduce price

sensitivity Positive word of mouth

Customers

Retention

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The reengineering concepts involve four dimensions that are stated below:

i. Innovative Rethinking: This is a process that it is itself utterly dependent on creativity, inspiration and old fashion luck. Drucker (1993) argues that this paradox is apparent only not real most of what happens in successful innovations is not the happy occurrences of a blinding flash of insight but rather, the careful implementation of spectacular but systematic management discipline.

ii. Process Function: Taking a systematic perspective, Hammer and Champy (1993) describes process functions as a collection of activities that take one or more kinds of input and creates an output that is of value to the customer. Typical process of this includes ordering of organizational structure, manufacturing, production, development, delivery and invoicing.

iii. Radical Change: In radical change, a key business process is the transformation of

organizational element; it is essential to an organization survival. Change leads to new ideas, technology, innovation and improvement. Therefore, it is important that organizations recognize the need for change and learns to manage the process effectively (Pamela et al, 1995).

iv. Organizational Development and Performance: It takes a look at the firm’s level

of efficiency and way to improve its current activity in order to meet up to standards and survive the competitive pressure. One way to judge the performance of an organization is to compare it with other unit within the company. Comparisons with outsiders however can highlight the best industrial practices and promote their adoption. This technique is commonly term “bench making” (Roberts, 2007).

Relationship between Business Process Reengineering and Information Technology Hammer (1990) considers information technology (IT) as the key factor in the BPR for organization that wants to witness a “radical change” in its operation. He prescribes the use of IT to challenge the assumption inherent in the work processes that have existed since long before the advent of modern computer and communication technology. He argues that at the heart of reengineering is the notion of discontinuous thinking or recognizing and breaking away from the outdated rules and fundamental assumptions about technology, people and organizational goals that no longer hold. Aremu and Saka (2006) argued that information technology (IT) is a strategic resources that facilitates major changes in competitive behavior, marketing and customer service. In essence, IT enables a firm to achieve competitive advantages. Davenport and Short (1990) further posted that business process reengineering requires taking a broader view of both information technology (IT) and business activity and of the relationships between them. IT should be viewed as more than an automating or mechanizing force to fundamentally reshape the way business is done. Information technology and business process reengineering have recursive relationship. IT capabilities should support business process and business should be in terms of the capabilities IT can provide. Davenport and Short (1990) refer to this broadened, recursive view of IT and BPR as the new industrial engineering business process represents a new approach to coordination across the firm, IT promises and its ultimate impact is to be the most powerful tool for reducing cost of coordination.

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Elements of Re-engineering in an Organization According to Ezigbo (2003), the essential elements or principles of reengineering include the following:

Rethinking the theory of the business. Challenging old assumptions and discharging old rules that are no longer

applicable. Breaking away from the conventional wisdom and the constraints of

organizational boundaries. Using information technology not to automatic outdated process but to redesign

new ones Externally focus on customers and the generation of greater value for customers. Internal focus on harnessing more of the potential of people and applying to

those activities that identify and deliver values to customers. Encourages training and development by building creative work environment. Think and execute as much activity as possible horizontally, concentrating on

flows and processes through the organization. Steps Involved in Business Process Reengineering Davenport and Short (1990) prescribe a five step approach to business process reengineering. These are:

i. Develop the business vision and process objectives: Business process reengineering is driven by a business vision which implies specific business objectives such as cost reduction, time reduction, output quality improvement, quality of work life.

ii. Identify the processes to be redesigned: Most firms use high impact approach which focuses on most important processes or those that conflict most with the business vision. Few numbers of firms use the exhaustive approach that attempts to identify all the processes within an organization and they prioritize them in order to redesign urgency.

iii. Understand and measure the existing process: For avoiding the repeating of old mistake and for providing a baseline for future improvements.

iv. Identify information technology (IT) levels: Awareness of IT capabilities can and should influence process. This is because IT is a sine qua non to the business process reengineering.

v. Design and build a prototype of new processes: The actual design should not be viewed as the end of the BPR process rather, it should be viewed as a prototype, aligns the BPR approach with quick delivery of results and the involvement and satisfaction of customers.

Benefits of Business Process Re-engineering The hard task of re-examining mission and how it is being delivered on a day to day basis will have fundamental impacts on an organization, especially in terms of responsiveness and accountability to customers and stakeholders.

Reengineering as a must tool to improve efficiency, productivity and quality of product or service and the motivation for reengineering usually the realization that there is a need to speed up the process, reduce needed resources, improve the productivity, efficiency and improve competitiveness. Also the rewards of reengineering are many including empowering employees, eliminate waste, unnecessary management overhead and obsolete or inefficient processes, producing often significant reductions in cost and

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cycle times, enabling revolutionary improvements in many business processes as measured by quality and customer service, helping top organizations stay on top and low achievers to become effective competitors. Besides, process reengineering radically changes the work environments. Individual processes are combined to gain efficiencies and productivity. Workers are allowed to make decisions on the spot to eliminate process roadblocks and increase speed to market. Not only is this beneficial for overall business performance, it can also increase employee satisfaction and loyalty. Employees can expand their skill and knowledge into other areas and have the ability to make decisions that affect their individual performance (Hammer 1996). Hammer and Champy (1993) have identified five major functions of Business Process Re-engineering and they are; business growth, increased effectiveness, improved effectiveness, reduced cost, and meaningful job for employees. Although BPR is very effective in controlling cost and improving efficiency, its implementation is a hard nut to crack. Employees are very resistant to this kind of change thus, it is important to have extensive support from the top management. Furthermore, there are several impacts of reengineering on customer and company itself. Customer

BPR increases the customer satisfaction about the services that are provided such service become more efficient and systematic.

BPR motivate the customer loyalty because the company product is of high quality at affordable prices.

Customers valued speed, efficiency and easy access to information about the company products.

Company Improve the value of the company because the BPR increase the efficiencies and

effectiveness in the service and also their productivity. Systematic and efficient procedure in the organization structure. The strengths and weakness of an organization service can be evaluated in terms

of the relative importance of the services attributes to the customer. Encourage organization to strive toward short term financial results while

utilizing methods that damage long term employee morale and customer service. BPR can give the dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of

performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed in the business. Problems of Business Process Re-engineering Project in company Despite the sound theoretical background and striking results, business process reengineering has not always led to stellar performance. In fact, Bashein et al (1994) showed that only 30% of BPR projects achieved performance breakthrough. Reasons for large failure include:

a) Lack of sustained management commitment and leadership b) Unrealistic scope and expectation c) Resistance to change d) Non encouragement to conceptualization of business process e) Non- detailing of rewards and recognition with new business process.

Methods and Materials In order to examine the relationships that exists between BPR and customer responses in selected food and beverages companies in Lagos State. The study was conducted in

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Lagos State, the most densely populated city in Nigeria and the commercial capital of the country. It therefore implies that Lagos could serve as a good representative of industrial characteristics of Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design was used by collecting data from a defined population. The use of survey research method was justified because it follow a correlational research strategy and helps in predicting behaviour (Borden and Abbott, 2002) It also helps to ascertain whether or not a relationship exists between the variables of study (Kerlinger, 1973). Responses were sought from both employees and those that consumed food and beverages products in Lagos State. The target population consisted of those that consumed food and beverages products. A simple random Sampling technique was used in selecting respondents. A sample size of 2150 from the general customers was used for the study. Simple random sampling method was adopted in selecting respondents from the population of study and this helped to ensure that each customer has an equal chance of being selected. The instrument used for collecting data in the study was a questionnaire and was mainly designed to elicit information from customers. The questionnaire was made up of 20 items grouped into four main parts. Part 1 collected data on customer satisfaction and was made up of five items, part 2 collected data on quality product and also contained five items, part 3 collected data on product price and has five items, part 4 collected data on customer retention and was made up of five items. The dependent variables examined in this study are customer satisfactions and customer retention that result from the application of independent variables; quality products and reasonable price by food and beverages industry. The questions were tailored along a five point likert scale. The responses were coded and mapped in to numeric values such as Strongly Agree=5points, Agree=4points, Undecided=3points, Disagree=2points, Strongly Disagree=1point. According to Saunders, Lewis and Thonhill, (2003), sampling is a part of the entire population carefully selected to represent that population. The justification for using random sampling technique is that it eliminates the possibility that the sample is biased by the preference of the individual selecting the sample (Bordens and Abbott, 2002). Another justification is that it is particularly necessary when one wants to apply research findings directly to a population (Mook, 1983).

The inferential study design was also employed because it consists of correlation, regression and anova which help in ascertaining relationship and strength of relationship between variables.

Normality tests were conducted on all variables so as to ensure that the data was normally distributed and thus applicable for further statistical analysis. Validity and reliability tests were conducted to verify the quality and integrity of the constructs used in this research. In emerging markets, a Cronbach Alpha of above 0.6 represents a reliable set of measures of the underlying construct (Burgess & Steenkamp, 2006). The analysis showed that all constructs were reliable and the questions forming these constructs were internally consistent.

The questionnaire formed the main source of primary data whilst related published literature particularly from the internet, journals, textbooks and reports provided secondary data for the study. Correlation analysis, Anova and simple regression analysis were performed to test the strength of relationships between variables. 250 out of 2150 responses received were rejected due to non-responding and incompleteness. Therefore, 1900 questionnaire representing 79% were completely filled and returned for the study.

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The table shows the correlation coefficients between each pair of variables listed, the significance level and the number of cases.

Form the table, it could be established that there is a positive correlation between customer satisfaction and quality product given the pearson correlation coefficient (0.589). The more the quality of products of an organization, the higher the level of customer satisfaction that would be attained. The strength of their relationship can also be determined based on the suggestion of Borden and Abbott, (2002). It can be seen that r=.589, this means that there is a high correlation between the two variables suggesting quite a strong relationship between customer satisfaction and quality of product. We can also say that the high value can be attributed to characteristics of quality product such as tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Agbor, 2011).

Secondly, it could be established that there is also a positive correlation between product price and customer retention given the pearson correlation coefficient (0.677). The lower the price or a moderate price, the higher customer retention advantage available to the organization. The strength of their relationship can also be determined based on the suggestion of Borden and Abbott, (2002). It can be seen that r=.677, this means that there is also a medium correlation between the two variables suggesting quite a weak relationship between price and customer retention. Confidence was established in the results as the respective levels of statistical significances have their value less than 0.05 level (Sig. = 0.000). Hypothesis One: There is no significant relationship between customer satisfaction and quality product.

Model Summary

.589a .347 .135 .46991Model1

R R Square AdjustedR Square

Std. Error ofthe Estimate

Predictors: (Constant), Quality producta.

Correlations

.

1900 .589** .000 .1900 1900 -.126 ** -.143** .000 .000 1900 1900 1900 .145** -.011 .677** .000 .646 .0001900 1900 1900 1900

Pearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)NPearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)NPearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)NPearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)N

Customer satisfaction

Quality product

Product price

Customer retention

Customersatisfaction

Qualityproduct Product price

Customerretention

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).**.

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The R square is given as 0.347. This means that the model (quality product) was able to explain 34.7% (expressed as a percentage, multiply by 100, by shifting the decimal point two places to the right) variation in the dependent variable (customer satisfaction). R square value in the sample tends to be a rather optimistic overestimation of the true value in the population as the Adjusted R square depicted a small value. It helps to correct the R square to provide a better estimate of the true population value.

This table helps to assess the statistical significance of the result. It helps to test the null hypothesis and given a statistical significance (Sig. = .000; this really means p<0.05), we say that there is a relationship between quality product and customer satisfaction.

Quality product price has a beta value of 0.589 with Sig. of 0.000, the value is less than .05. This variable is making a significant unique contribution to the prediction of the dependent variable (customer satisfaction). Hypothesis Two: Price has no significant impact on customer retention.

The R square is given as 0.458. This means that the model (product price) was able to explain 45.8% (expressed as a percentage, multiply by 100, by shifting the decimal point two places to the right) variation in the dependent variable (customer retention). R square value in the sample tends to be a rather optimistic overestimation of the true value in the population as the Adjusted R square depicted a small value. It helps to correct the R square to provide a better estimate of the true population value.

ANOVAb

15.587 1 15.587 70.588 .000a

419.106 1898 .221434.692 1899

RegressionResidualTotal

Model1

Sum ofSquares df Mean Square F Sig.

Predictors: (Constant), Quality producta.

Dependent Variable: Customer satisfactionb.

Model Summary

.677a .458 .327 .34881Model1

R R Square AdjustedR Square

Std. Error ofthe Estimate

Predictors: (Constant), Product price a.

Coefficientsa

3.547 .075 47.084 .000.156 .019 .589 8.402 .000

(Constant)Quality product

Model1

B Std. Error

UnstandardizedCoefficients

Beta

StandardizedCoefficients

t Sig.

Dependent Variable: Customer satisfactiona.

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This table helps to assess the statistical significance of the result. It helps to test the null hypothesis and given a statistical significance (Sig. = .000; this really means p<0.05), we say that there is a relationship between product price and customer retention

Product price has a beta value of 0.677 with Sig. of 0.000, the value is less than .05. The variable is making a significant unique contribution to the prediction of the dependent variable (customer retention) Discussion The quality of a product determines the level of customer satisfactions. Customers are always sensitive to the quality of different types of product and determine their preference based on the level of the quality (Agbor, 2011). Product of high quality possessed the following attributes: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (Agbor, 2011). It is also revealed that product of poor quality are always neglected by customers. Organization that produced quality goods enjoyed high level of patronage and hence improved the profitability. Food and beverages customers in Lagos are sensitive to the production quality of different companies in the industry. Companies that are noted for producing high quality product are known to have competent managers and employees that put quality and customers satisfaction as priorities (Matzler, Hinterhuber, Daxer & Huber, 2005; Wang, et al, 2006). Therefore, quality product is a catalyst to customer satisfaction, in returns customer satisfaction benefits the company in the following way: repurchase, cross selling, reduced price sensitivity and positive word of mouth (Matzler, et al, 2011). It is also found out that price is a major determinant of customer retention. Organisation that would like to be competitive in the dynamic business environment should place reasonable prices that are affordable to the customers in order to retain them (Akhtar, et al 2011).

In Lagos State where large numbers of people fall within the middle and lower class, customer responses to differences in the price of the same product is highly expected. These categories of consumers will prefer lower priced goods. This agree with the law of demand which states that the lower the price the higher the quantity demanded and the higher the price the lower the quantity demanded (Dwivedi, 2002). This

ANOVAb

68.123 1 68.123 559.909 .000a

230.926 1898 .122299.050 1899

RegressionResidualTotal

Model1

Sum ofSquares df Mean Square F Sig.

Predictors: (Constant), Product pricea.

Dependent Variable: Customer retentionb.

Coefficientsa

2.904 .048 61.079 .000.270 .011 .677 23.662 .000

(Constant)Product price

Model1

B Std. Error

UnstandardizedCoefficients

Beta

StandardizedCoefficients

t Sig.

Dependent Variable: Customer retentiona.

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explained the reason why large number of customers in Lagos State consumed Coca-Cola and Peps as a result of their low prices, and why they have over the years have the largest number of customers (Martisiute, Vilutyte, Grundey, 2012). Limitations Despite customer responses, it was also realized from the study that customers are not responsive to the lower prices of some products in the food and beverages industries in Lagos State. The middle class and the upper class are not influenced about price difference of products. They sometimes attributes price increase to quality product and hence their preference for higher priced products. This is in line with differentiation business strategy that increase in price is attributed to quality product differentiation (Oyedijo, 2004 and David, 2009). Therefore, lower prices may not necessarily be the sole determinant of customer retention. Recommendations The study recommends that company in the food and beverages industry should ensure that quality products are provided in order to satisfy their customers. It also recommends that food and beverages companies should make the prices of their product to be competitive enough as to retain customers. Company should not overprice their products so that they will maintain and retained their customers in order to be competitive, productive and profitable. Summary and Conclusion The study revealed that only company that produced quality product and charged competitive and reasonable prices for their product could survive in the turbulent and dynamic Nigeria food and beverages industry. References

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The Role of Top Management in Business Organizations

By

Okafor Obiefuna A. (Ph.D)

Abstract The success of any organization towards meeting its objectives, depend largely on the vision of top management. It is a well known fact that a ship without a good captain continues to hover aimlessly without tiding the right movement. Top management in any organization is like a compass through which the organization finds its bearing. The failure of most organization stems from the fact that the top management of such organization failed woefully in their duties. In this papar, attempt is made to define management as well as undergaining the interchangeability of the quality management with administration. A light was thrown also on the various levels of management in any organization because there has to be synergy in organization, for it to perform optimally. The functions of these various levels of management were highlighted as having an impact on the overall functions of top management. Most organizations that are seen to be doing well are being run by efficient managers who understand what it means to run an organization. This write up also highlighted the various roles being played by top management using the model developed by Mintzberg. Key words: Management, administration, first time management, middle management, functional management6, managerial roles.

Introduction

Definition of Management

The concept of management which is central to this work, is one of the most crucial variables in organization study on which there is no consensus as to its definition. Many writers have conceptualized management in various ways depending upon the approach and orientation. The word management is usually used in four major ways viz as a resource, a body of knowledge, a process of organizational action, and as an economic act of allocation of scarce resource (factor of production).

As a resource, Johnson and Page (1975) see management as those “People responsible for directing and running an organization”. According to Drucker (1979), management is multipurpose organ that manages a business, manages managers and manages workers and work. Management is seen by others to be a body of knowledge about the activity or science and art of managing which is regarded as a profession.

As a purpose, Longe Necker (1981), defines management as the process of “acquiring and combining human, financial and physical resources to attain the organization’s goal of the community”. While Brench (1973), sees management as a social process “entailing responsibility for the effective planning and regulation of the operation of an enterprise. Fayol (1959), argues that Management is “to forecast, plan, to organize, to command and to control.

Department of Hospitality And Tourism Management Federal Polytechnic, Oko

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So popular is management as a process that some writers like Mali (1981), suggests the addition of management to the four factors of production. He sees management as a factor of production concerned with the organization and coordination of the other factors.

The term management is usually used interchangeably with “administration” to denote the same kind of activity and people found at the apex of bureaucracies in organizational settings. Although administration is the term preferred, in the public sector, both terms refers to “a process, the way people get things done through other people in an organizational setting. Management is, therefore thought of as a special kind of leadership activity in which the accomplishment of organizational goals and objective is paramount.

Management can then be seen as the art and science of achieving the objectives of an organization in the most efficient way. It also includes getting things done through other people and the effective control of men, money, machines and materials. Whereas administration can be seen as the art of formulating and implementing policies of an organization through a bureaucratic system to achieve desired objectives. One cannot divorce management from administration, because when there is management, administration is the accompanying factor. Hitherto, administration and management were misconstrued. Management is oriented towards establishments, but is now being realized that administration and management are synonymous. Consequently, management has come to be used in the public sector and vice versa, for instance, institutional management, military/hospital administration and business administration.

There, management and administration are the same, despite the minor differences in their technical usage and their areas of application. Furthermore, both terms are made up of the same organizational functions of planning, organizing, controlling, staffing, motivating, communicating, and coordinating.

Although the history of management is as old as ancient civilization, manifested in such areas as the military escapades of Alexander the Great, and the construction of the pyramids in Egypt, the hanging garden of Babylon, the study of management and the role of the manager in an organization came into prominence and consciousness largely as a result of two revolutions. One of these, which Boulding has called the “Organizational Revolution”, occurred in America. The manifestations of this revolution showed up in the emergence of “large, complex organizations in government, business enterprises, and the labour movement. According to Boulding, there had been two prominent factors that ignited the growth of organizations prior to the organizational revolution. In the first instance, “as organizations grew in size, they increasingly faced longer geographical and social environments which organizations when grew in size, they bred increasingly unfavourable internal environments”. But, with time and a series of developments in communications, coordination, scientific discoveries of sophisticated equipment, large scale production and improved skills acquired by Managers, the limiting factors were overcome, and this, gave birth to the organizational revolution.

The second revolution christened “Managerial Revolution” was mainly concerned with business enterprises. As business enterprises grew in size, there was an approximately proportional need to increase the skills of the managerial staff. Hence, selection of top managers was now largely in terms of ability, training and experience.

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This is because of the need for new techniques to cope with the complexities of large organizations; there began elaborate studies and great emphasis on the theory and practice of management. Managers Managers are introduced within an organization, to help such an organization to accomplish its objectives. Hence, Stoner (1982), defines Management as the planning, organizing, leading and controlling the efforts of organizational members, making use of organizational resources to achieve stated organizational goals. Managers initiate organizational activities, use organizational resources, projects, allocate budgetary resources and carry out performance evaluation of their managerial activities. So Managers provide leadership at the various levels of organizational/operational activities. Types of Managers First-Line Management These managers coordinate the work of others who are not themselves managers. Those at the level of first-line management are often called Supervisors, office managers, or foremen. These are typically the entry level line positions of recent college graduates. The subordinates of a first-line manager may be blue-collar workers, sales persons, accounting clerks, or scientists, depending on the particular tasks that the subunit performs. For example production, marketing, accounting or research. First-line managers are responsible for the basics of the organisation according to plans provided by their supervisors.

First-line managers are in daily or near daily contact with their subordinates, and they are ordinarily assigned the job because of their own subordinates and with other first-line supervisors whose tasks are related to their own.

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Vertical and Horizontal Specialization of the Management Process Source: Ivancerich et al (1986)

Manager

Manager production Manager Marketing

Subordinates Subordinate Subordinate Subordinates Subordinate Subordinate

Top Mgt Middle Mgt FIRST-LINE MGT In daily Contact Respond for Work given by supervisor

Horizontal – specialization of the management process

VICE PRESIDENT PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR

VICE PRESIDENT MARKETING

SALES MANAGER

PRESIDENT

Station foreman

Station foreman

Station foreman

Subordinate Subordinate Subordinate

Regional

Regional

Regional

Sales persons Sales persons Sales

VICE PRESIDENT ACCOUNTING

ACCOUNTING UNIT MANAGER

VICE PRESIDENT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

LABORATORY MANAGER

Audit Supervisor

Budget

Collections

Accountant

Accountant

Accountant

Project Manager

Project Manager

Project Manager

Technician

Technician

Technician

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Managing for Performance Middle Management: Middle managers are known in many organizations as the departmental managers, plant Managers, or Director of operations. Unlike first-line managers those in middle management then plan, organize, lead, and control the activity of other managers yet, like first-line managers, they are subject to the managerial efforts of a superior. The middle manager coordinates the activity (for example, marketing) of a sub unit. Top Management A small cadre of managers, which usually includes a chief executive officer, president, or vice president, constitutes the top management. Top management is responsible for the performance of the entire organization through the middle managers. Unlike other managers, the top managers are accountable to none other than the owners of the resources used by the organization. Of course, the top level manager is dependent on the work of all, of his or her subordinates to accomplish the organization’s goals and mission.

The designation top, middle, first line classifies managers on the basis of their vertical rank in the organization. The completion of a task usually requires the completion of several inter-related activities. As these activities are identified, and as the responsibility for completing each task is assigned, that manager becomes a functional manager. Functional Management As the management process becomes horizontally specialized, a functional Manager is responsible for a particular activity. See overleaf: the Management process has been divided into four functions; production, market, Accounting, and research.

Thus, one Manager may be a first-line manager in production while another may be a middle manager in marketing.

The function refers to what activities the manager actually oversees as a result of horizontal specialization of the management process. The level of the manager refers to the right to act and use resources within specified limits as a result of vertical specialization of the management process. Management Level and Management Functions Management functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling are performed by all managers. However the amount of time and effort devoted to each function depends on the manager’s level in the organization. For example first-line managers usually spend less time planning than top managers. However, they spend much time and effort leading and controlling. At high levels in the organization, for more time is spent planning and less time is spent leading. The amount of time and effort devoted to organizing and controlling are usually fairly equal at all level of management. Management and Managerial Activities Management is a process of complex problem activities in an organization which has implication for information processing and implementation of activities related to attainment of organizational objectives. Activities performed by managers in organizations include:

1. Setting objective for a given area of business activity in an organization. 2. Perception of organizational problems and opportunities both from internal and

external dimensions of performance.

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3. Understand the consequences for an organization, Its present problem and opportunities through diagnosis.

4. Generation of action responses to the current problems and opportunities. 5. Analysis of the consequences for action recommended. 6. Choice of the preferred alternative course of action. 7. Programming and budgeting for the selected alternative course of action. 8. Directing and leading implementation groups, effective communication,

motivation and supervision. 9. Measurement of organizational performance in relation to set objectives. 10. Continuous surveillance capacity, in terms of trends, opportunities, threats,

break-through etc both in the business environment and internal operative activities.

Sub-Cycle of Managerial Activities According to Ansolf (1984), there are four sub-cycle of managerial activities in organization. These sub-cycle include:

Managerial Roles in Business Orgnaisations Five managerial roles can be identified in organizations (Ansolf (1984). These managerial roles fit certain managerial levels, in organizations. These managerial roles are:- 1. Manager – Leader 2. Manager – controller 3. Manager – Administrator 4. Manager – Planner 5. Manager – Entrepreneur.

Objective Perception Opportunities

Diagnosis

Generation of responses

Analysis of Consequences

Selection

Programming Measurement of Performance

Communication and leadership

Communication and leadership

10

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8

9

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Manager – Leader Managers play the role of leadership in organizations especially when they lead groups within the organizations. Under this condition their major role is to influence the group of members towards goal setting and goal attainment. They may perform task related and social related functions in other to influence group members to action. Some other views suggest that leadership roles demand concern for employees and concern for task or responsibility.

However, the contingency approaches to leadership suggests type of leadership and subordinate relationship, task structure and power position of the leader as critical factor in leadership influence. Looking at the definitional discussions so far on leadership, we can visualize managerial decisions through group activities in organizations. Managerial leadership demands ability to communicate effectively, identify skills in human beings, motivate people and performance measurement. Administrative Management (Controller) General control is the process of ensuring the activities that are planned and the activities that are implemented. So, control has to do with measurement of performance and taking corrective actions. The administrative manager plays the control function in an organization. To be an administrator, one must have a thorough understanding of the variables which are critical to the firms success. There is need for a skill in pin pointing the sources of action. While aware of the human elements, the administrator does not allow personal loyalties and influences to becloud the substantive problems. He is prepared to face up to personal conflicts which are precipitated by through-minded decisions – (Ansolf 1965). Manager – Planner The planner Manager is also concerned with the present and future performances of an organization. So, he is concerned with performance and measurement. The planner is devoted to optimizing the firms future performance, though capitalizing in future opportunities in the firms historical business and guiding the firm towards attaining the goals for the firms future performance. The Planner is analytical, methodical and future oriented. The Entrepreneur Manager The entrepreneur Manager is a risk taker who does not intend extrapolating the present internal dynamics of a firm into the future. In the real sense an entrepreneur is someone who assumes risk of business ownership and manages it for profitable purposes. Entrepreneurial Managerial characteristic, are needed during the period of strategic change with flexibility, in considering alternative portfolios of business which are needed. During this period, Planner Managers may likely remain incremental by trying to extrapolate the present dynamics of business into the future. However, an entrepreneurial manager will take the risk of diversifying the present business activities of a firm. Managerial Roles One of the most frequently cited studies of Managerial roles was conducted by Henry Mintzberg. He observed and interviewed five chief executives from different industries for a two week period. He determined that managers serve in 10 different but closely related roles. The roles can be divided into three categories:

1. Interpersonal roles 2. Informational roles

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3. Decisional roles as described in the diagram below;- Mintzberg’s 10 Management Roles: Description and Activities

Roles Description Identifiable activities

A. Interpersonal 1. Figureheads:

Symbolic head; obliged to perform a number of routine duties of a legal or of social nature

Ceremony, status, requests, solicitations

2. Leader Responsible for the motivation and activation of sub-ordinates; responsible for staffing, training and associated duties.

Virtually

3. Liaison Maintained self developed net work of outside contacts and informers who provide favours and information

Acknowledgements of mail. External

B. Information 1. Monitor

Seeks and receives wide variety special information (much of it current to develop & through understanding of the organization and environment emerges as nerve centre of internal and external information of the organization.

Handling all mail and contract which are primary informational such as periodic news and observational tours.

2. Disseminator Transmits information received from outsiders or from subordinates to members of the organization some information factual, some involving interpretation and integration.

Forwarding mail into the organization for informational purposes, verbal contacts involving information flow to subordinates including review session or spontaneous communication.

3. Spokes person Transmits information to outsiders on the organizations plans, policies, actions and results, serves as experts on the organisation’s industry

Board meetings handling mails and contacts involving transmission of information to outsiders.

C. DECISIONAL 1. Entrepreneur

Search the organization and its environment for opportunities and initiates improvement projects to bring about change; supervises design of certain projects as well.

Strategy and review sessions involving initiation or design of improvement projects.

2.Disturbance handler Responsible for corrective action when the organization faces important unexpected disturbances.

Strategy and review involving disturbances and crises.

3.Resource Allocator Responsible for allocation of organizational resources of all kinds in effect the making or approving of all significant decisions

Scheduling request for Authorization any activity involving budgeting and the programme of subordinate works.

4. Negotiator Responsible for representing the organizations at major negotiations.

Negotiation.

Adapted from: H.Mintzberg, the Nature of managerial work (Engle wood Cliffs; N.J.Prentice Hall, 1980) pp. 91-92. Interpersonal Roles The three roles of figure-head, leader and Liaison grow out of the Managers’ formal authority and focus on interpersonal relationships. By assuming these roles, the manager is also able to perform informally which, in-turn, lead directly to the performances of decisional roles. All managerial jobs require some duties that are symbolic or ceremonial in nature.

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The manager’s leadership role involves directing and coordinating the activities of the subordinates. This may involve staffing (hiring, training, promoting, dismissing) and motivating subordinates. The leadership role also involves controlling, making sure that things are going according to plan.

The Liaison roles involve managers in interpersonal relationships outside of their area of command. This role may involve contacts both inside and outside the organization. Within the organization, managers must interact with numerous other Managers and other individuals. They must maintain good relations with the managers who send work to the units as well as those who receive work from the unit. Informational Roles:- The informational role establishes the Manager as the Central point for receiving and sending non-routine information. As a result of the three interpersonal roles discussed above, the manager builds a network of inter personal contacts. The contacts aid him or her in gathering and receiving information as a monitor and transmitting that information as the disseminator and spokesperson.

The monitor role involves examining the environment in order to gather information changes, opportunities, and problems that may effect the unit. The formal and informal contacts developed in the liaison roles are often useful here.

The disseminator role – involves providing important or privileged information to subordinates. The president of a firm may learn during a lunch conversation that a large customer of the firm is on the verge of bankruptcy. Upon returning to the office, the president contacts the Vice president of marketing, who in-turn instruct the sales force not to sell anything on credit to the troubled company.

In the spokesperson roles, the manager represents the unit to other people. This representation may be internal when a Manager makes the case for salary increases to top management. It may also be external when an executive represents the organizations views on a particular issue of public interest to local civic organizations. Decisional Roles Developing interpersonal relationships and faltering information are important, but they are not ends in themselves. They serve as the basic inputs to the process of decision-making. Some people believe decisional roles – entrepreneur, disturbances handler, resource allocator, and negotiator are a Manager’s most important roles.

The purpose of the entrepreneurial role is to change the unit for the better. The effective first-line supervisor is continually looking for new ideas or new methods to improve the Units performance.

In the disturbance handler role, managers make decisions or take corrective action in response to pressure that is beyond their control. Usually the decisions must be made quickly, which means that this role takes priority over other roles.

The Resource allocator – places a manager in the position of deciding who will get what resources. These resources include money, people, time and equipment. Invariably there are not enough resources to go around, and the manager must allocate the scarce goods in many directions. Resource allocations, therefore, is one of the most critical of manager’s decisional roles.

A first-line supervisor must decide whether an over time schedule should be established or whether part-time workers should be hired. In the negotiator role, a manager must bargain with other units and individuals to obtain advantages for his or her units. The negotiations may concern work, performance, objectives, resources, or anything else influencing the units. A sales manager may negotiate with the production department over a special order for a large customer. A

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first-line supervisor may negotiate for new typewriter, while a top manager may negotiate with a labour union representative.

Mintzberg suggests that recognizing these 10 roles serves three important functions: first, they help explain the job of managing while emphasizing that all the roles are inter-related, neglecting one or more of the roles hinders the total progress of the manager. Second, a team of employees cannot function effectively if any of the roles is neglected. Team work is an organizational setting, required that each role be performed consistently.

Finally, the magnitude of the 10 roles points out the importance of managing time effectively, an essential responsibility of managers if they are to successfully perform each of the (10) ten roles. Managerial Level and Roles As one would expect, the level in the organization will influence which managerial roles are emphasized, although at every level, each role must be performed to some degree, obviously, top managers spend much more time in the figure head role than do the first-line supervisors. The liaison role of top/middle managers will involve individuals and groups outside the organization while at first-line level, the liaison will be outside the unit but inside the organization. Top managers must monitor the environment for changes that can influence the entire organization. Middle managers monitor the environment for changes likely to influence the particular function that they manage. The Implication of the Future Roles of Top Management for the Future Organizations There are three implications of the future roles of top management for the future organizations. These are:

1. Top management activities have increased historically, it has only been an enlargement but not a replacement of old general management functions. So as environmental turbulence increases top management functions will enlarge. So, towards the end of this century the volume of top management was decentralization. This was the action adopted in American firms. However, after decentralization, American firms found out that the general managers were still overloaded, then the next solution was to create a corporate office. This means a structural solution which created either multi-divisional organization structure or a holding-company organization structure. The corporate office then handled only limited functions. The two major approaches adopted above (decentralization and hold company solutions) represent what Thompson (1967) called organizations batching out some of the components parts to form independent organizations when the organization has grown so large and becomes so complex. So, one of the ways to manage complexity is to reduce it to manageable levels. This is the essence of batching or reorganizing to form multi-divisional or holding company structures.

2. During the coming years executive decision making will continue to expand.

This means that in coming years the top managers will use more expert staff and technologist in the management of organizations and this situation will further widen the gap between line managers and staff advisers to the top management. In the past the solutions to these problems were those of the principles of staff and line relationships. This new decision of the increase of experts in the

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management of organizations may reintroduce the previous ideas of project management. When the business annoment became discontinuous in the early 50’s and 60’s. managers brought in experts within the organizational structure to handle peculiar problems with the specific departments of such organizations.

3. Ansoff (1984) sees the future top manager as the “man of the moment”

management archetype who can no longer cope with the many inter connected complexities of a general management job. It is increasingly necessary particularly in diversified firms to ensure the knowledge, skills and talents of archtypes.

So, over the coming years the functions of the general management will change its organizations. Events of the past few years reveal that business organizations have continued to grow in size and complexity. This may not be so with some businesses here in Nigeria that are indigenously owned. However, those that are owned by foreign investors have grown in complexity, Government owned business organizations like PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria), NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Company), NITEL (Nigerian Telecommunications) etc have grown in complexity. The sources of this growth in structural complexity include increment in investment and technological innovation. Increase in complexity and technology have already affected decision making by increasing its horizon. The immediate implication is that the general manager can no longer cope with the present complexity of general management functions. As a result of this situation various solutions were sought in the developed countries where this phenomenon of complexity first appeared. The first consequence of general management functional enlargement was that group decision making emerged. General Management and Organisation Experts In order to adjust to the new complexities in the organizational structure which have induced general management to employ new staff managers and management scientists to improve the performances of organisations, the top managers must be developing expertise in managing experts. Caliberating Method In some business organizations, experienced managers and general managers who work with technologists and scientists calibrate the experts who work with them. They do this by keeping track of the major outcomes predicted by the experts and learn to keep their prediction toward higher or lower expectation. They may even assign special tasks to experts with a major purpose of verifying the reliability of the expert’s predictions. Development Of A Skill In Cross Ideological Communication Since managers and experts have distinctive norms and aspirations which they bring to work, understanding of these norms, and of their influence on the behaviour of experts is helpful in evaluating the proposals. So, there is need for managers to understand the roles that experts play in the organisation and then develop skills in cross-ideological communication. The idea of any form of communication is to get the response desired.

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Dialetic Confrontation Sometimes, experienced managers, when confronted with major decisions will frequently use the advice of experts and may engage them on a dialective confrontation of opinions. This approach will provide management the opportunity of investigating the truth about the advice of an expert. Acquiring Sufficient Knowledge About The Respective Fields Expertise The continuous growth of the business organizations and the expansion of general management responsibility mean that in the future, there will be multiple general managers in the organization for most of the general management responsibilities. Instead of looking for a general manager who is expected to possess all the talents possessed by the other functional managers, more general managers will be employed to provide the respective functional services. Conclusion The degrees of development of managers, structures, management systems and work processes in organizations differ and this situation accounts for differences in organizational effectiveness. In some organization these components of organizational structure are highly developed and effective, while on others the degree of development is low and there is structural ineffectiveness.

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References

Ansoff, H.I. (1965) corporate strategy, penguin, book London PP 241-265. Ansoff, H.I. (1984) Implanting, strategic Management. Prentice Hall International PP 95-

102. Brench, E.G.L. (1973) Management, its Nature and significance Isaac pitman and sons

Ltd, London P 30. Boulding .D. (1980) The Dynamics of Management Longman Group Ltd, New York P

16. Drucker, P.E. (1979) The practices of Management William Heinemann Ltd London P.

216. Fayol, .H. (1959) General and Industrial Management Fitman London P. 84. JOHNSON, HANA AND PACE, G. TERRY (1975) International Dictionary of

Management, a practical of wide Kogan Ltd, London P. 211. LONGENECKER .P. (1981) Management. Ohio, chaniles E. merril publishing co. USA.

P. 5. Vancerich et all (1986) Managing for performance New York P 405. Koontz et all (1983) Management (McGraw Hill inc-sevent Edition, Japan.P.28. Mali P. (1981) Management hand book, Operating Guidelines, Techniques and practices.

John Willey New York. P. 24. Mintzberg .H. (1980) The Nature of Managerial work Engle wood cliffs, N.J. prentice

Hall. PP 91-92. Pugh D.S. (1980) Writers on organisations. 2nd edition penguin books, New York P.16. Troner J. (1982) Management. Mc craw-Hill Book company prentice hall New York PP. 65-74.

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Social Studies as an Instrument for Global Peace: Analytical and Prescriptive Perspectives

By

Odia, A.A. Abstract Social studies is vital for peace education as well as promotes national and international development. The focus of social studies is essentially man, the society and the environment. Its ultimate aim is to equip individuals with knowledge and understanding for peaceful relationships and living. Through the subject, learners are expected to acquire requisite skills, values, attitudes, and cognition to meet the challenges of a peaceful Nigerian and international society. It has been observed that the nations who used social studies as a corrective measure for reconstruction and rehabilitation of their societies placed high value in the implementation of their social studies curriculum because the subject exposes them to new values and skills necessary for the sustainability of a peaceful nation.

Key words: Social studies, peace, global peace, peace education, social studies curriculum Introduction Social studies is that part of the school’s general education programme which is concerned with the preparation of citizens for participation in a democratic society. The most important aim of social studies education in a democracy is to help students acquire a store of tested social theory, or body of principles relevant to contemporary social issues and beliefs (Onyabe,1980). According to the National Council of Social Studies (NCSS 1992), as reported by the African Social and Environmental Studies Programme (ASESP) and the United States National Council for the Social Studies (1994), the following position on the nature of social studies is adopted: Social studies is the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. Within the school programme, social studies provides coordinated, systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, as appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics and natural sciences. The primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally interdependent world. Social studies as “a subject which studies man in his environment. It is the study of how the environment influences man and how he in turn influences the physical, social, economic, political, psychological, cultural, scientific and technological environment”. Okobiah (1984) sees social studies as “an interdisciplinary curriculum that attempts to unify the various disciplines of the social sciences in dealing with the social problems of health, family relations, civic affairs, community life, production, recreation, conservation”. Onyesom (1990) defines social studies as “the study which equips man with the tools necessary for solving problems in his emerging social and physical environment in an attempt to make the society a more liveable one”. In order to understand the meaning of social studies at a glance, the following have been put forward by Iyamu (1991) that: (a)social studies focuses on the relation of man to the

agnes_odia@yahoo.com, 234-8138865461 Department of Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies Faculty of Education, University of Benin Benin City

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environment in which he lives and the world, (b)social studies is concerned with the relation of man to other human beings as a member of the family, peer group, community, school, work place, church and so on; (c) social studies is concerned with the relation of human beings to themselves;(d) social studies is basically a programme of citizenship education; and (e)social studies is a problem-approach discipline.

According to Ezeoba (2012), the ultimate aim of social studies is to equip individuals with knowledge and understanding for peaceful relationships and living. Similarly, she argues that nations which used social studies as a corrective measure for reconstruction and rehabilitation of their societies place high value in the implementation of their social studies curriculum so that the subject exposes them to new values and skills necessary for the sustainability of a peaceful nation.

The structure of this paper is organized as follows: The next section examines the concepts, dimensions and paradigms of peace. Section 3 considers peace education and it effective components as well as John Dewey’s thought on relativistic peace education and the bargaining theory of peace education. Section 4 explores social studies an as instrument of global peace from the analytical and prescriptive perspectives. Section 5 concludes the paper.

2.0. The Concept of Peace Conceptions of peace span religions and culture, incorporating such values as security and harmony as well as justice and human dignity. Every major system of faith and belief, whether religious or secular in character, has in one way or another promised peace as an outcome of the implementation of its precepts. Peace is conceptualized simply as an absence of war or, more precisely, as a temporary suspension of hostilities secured by military power (Funk, 2002.). Wulf (1991) asserted that peace must not only be conceived as the absence of war and direct violence (concept of negative peace), but rather, working towards peace as the means to the realization of conditions leading to a maximal reduction in “structural violence” (concept of positive peace).

According to Danesh (2006) in his “integrative theory of peace”, peace is a psychological, social, political, ethical and spiritual state with expressions at intrapersonal, inter-group and international areas of human life. According Osemene (2012), peace means a political condition that ensures justice and social stability through formal and informal institutions, practices, and norms. Several conditions must be met for peace to be reached and maintained: (1) balance of political power among the various groups within a society, region, or, most ambitiously, the world; (2) legitimacy for decision makers and implementers of decisions in the eyes of their respective group, as well as those of external parties, duly supported through transparency and accountability; (3) recognized and valued interdependent relationships among groups fostering long-term cooperation during periods of agreement, disagreement, normality, and crisis; (3) reliable and trusted institutions for resolving conflict; (4) sense of equality and respect, in sentiment and in practice, within and without groups and in accordance with international standards; (4) mutual understanding of rights, interests, intents, and flexibility despite incompatibilities.

According to Rummel (n.d.), peace is seen as concord, or harmony and tranquility. It is viewed as peace of mind or serenity; it is defined as a stated of law or civil government, a state of justice or goodness, a balance or equilibrium of powers. Peace may be opposed to or an opposite of antagonistic conflicts, violence or war. It may refer to an internal state (of mind or of nations) or to external relations. Peace may be narrow in concept referring to specific relations in a particular situation (like a peace treaty), or over-arching, covering a whole (as in world peace). Peace may be a dichotomy

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(it exists or it does not) or continuous, passive or active, empirical or abstract, descriptive or normative, positive or negative. According to Rummel (nd) , peace derives its meaning and qualities within a theory or framework. He thus sees peace as a phase in a conflict helix, an equilibrium within a social field. Funk (2002) is of the opinion that peace is undoubtedly one of the most universal and significant of human ideals, it is however one of the few positive symbols having meaning for the whole of humanity. Implicitly, we circumscribe the meaning of peace to accommodate a system of largely implicit beliefs about how the world works, about what power consists of, and about what is expedient. As a result, the peace ideal is either co-opted by competing value priorities or remains distant from our daily activities and experiences. The “ideal” becomes separated from the “real”, and peace becomes a pious invocation, a means to an end, or an empty term of rhetorical self-justification. Dimensions of Peace Chhaya Rai, Vidyalaya, Jabalpur and Pradesh (nd.) identify the different dimensions of peace such as: Personal or Mental peace: This refers to the inner state of calm or tranquility.Mental peace reveals a state of unshakable quietness and composure which is achieved through the inculcation of such creative virtues as friendliness, compassion, mercy, moderation, modesty, forgiveness, non-violence, love and so on. Social Peace: This refers to the state of social justice and development. Peace at national level or national states of stability, progress and freedom from evil disorder. International peace or peaceful relation among all nations.Global Peace: This refers to the peaceful co-existence of all existent.

Other forms of peace identified by Pureza & Cravo (2009) include: World Peace: This is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or people. World peace is an idea of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare. The term is sometimes used to refer to a cessation of all hostility amongst all humanity. Democratic Peace: This is a theory which posits that democracies are hesitant to engage in armed conflict with other identified democracies. It is assumed that democracy is a cause of peace. Democratic peace hypothesized that democracies do not go to war with each other and are more prone to peace. Capitalist Peace: This posits that according to a given criteria for economic development (capitalism), developed economies have not engaged in war with each other and rarely enter into low-level disputes. Perpetual Peace: This is a condition that needed to be maintained by politics between states with governments which represented society and separation of power (Kant, 1975). The Paradigms of Peace Funk (2002) identifies five approaches to peace. These include: 1. Power Politics: Peace through coercive power This paradigm promulgates a pessimistic reading of human nature and a competitive model of international politics. Advocates of this paradigm contend that there are no universal values that can be held by all actors in the international system. Furthermore, the absence of a world government or “higher power” to which states must submit themselves renders politics among nations anarchic and unpredictable, characterized by shifting alliances and the ever-present threat of violence. According to the proponents of the power politics paradigm, “if you want peace, prepare for war”. Violence arises inevitably from human competitiveness and covetousness; peace is secured through the

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forceful imposition of order. Power politics equates power with the ability to hurt and therefore regard it as the exclusive possession of governments and armed militant groups. 2. World Order: Peace through the Power of Law This paradigm views the “order” created by practices of power politics as a form of disorder, proposes that sustained cooperation among states and other significant actors such as non-governmental (activist) organizations and intergovernmental organizations, is both possible and necessary. It is precisely because of the failure of competitive, state-centered models of international relations to secure human interests that advocates of the world order paradigm argue that broader and more intense efforts to achieve international cooperation are necessary. According to the world order paradigm, “if you want peace, prepare for peace”. Peace can be actively sought through policies and efforts that build consensus, reduce injustice, create opportunity, and provide multilateral frameworks for responding to common challenges. 3. Conflict Resolution: Peace through the Power of Communication This paradigm offers a pragmatic approach to peace through the development and refinement of skills for analyzing conflicts and responding to them with effective strategies of communication and negotiation. Whereas the proponents of world order concern themselves primarily with macro-level, structural issues such as distributive justice and the institutionalization of international cooperation, practitioners of conflict resolution focus more on processes of interaction among individuals and groups and on the relationships that characterize them. Conflict resolution paradigm opines that conflict is natural at all levels of human interaction and organization, from the interpersonal to the inter-ethnic and international. Although, it can cause estrangement and great human suffering, conflict does not inevitably lead to violence, and is often necessary for major changes in relationships and social systems. Peace, then, is understood as a continuous process of skillfully dealing with and, whenever possible, preventing or transforming conflict. To the proponents of this paradigm, “if you want peace, train for the processes of peace. Develop skills for communication and coexistence”. 4. Non-violence: Peace through Will Power This paradigm proposes that the power of any government derives primarily from the consent of the people, and only secondarily from coercion. Non violence is seen as an action animated by principle and informed by the proposition that means and ends are inseparable. This paradigm upholds that, peace cannot be disconnected from justice, and justice entails an absence of opposition whether perpetrated indirectly by inequitable structures and institutions or directly through the use of weapons. To the proponents of this paradigm, “if you want peace, work for justice… justly”. This entails a commitment to work for peace by peaceful means through training, strategic planning, constructive programmes, and personal discipline. 5. Transformation: Peace through the Power of Love This paradigm focuses on the centrality of education, cultural change, and spirituality in all genuine attempts to make peace a reality in daily life. It sees peace-making as a profound internal process in which the transformation of the individual becomes a metaphor for and instrument of broader changes. Transformation, then, involves the cultivation of a peaceful consciousness and character, together with an affirmative belief system and skills through which the fruits of “internal disarmament” and personal integration may be expressed. Transformation unites doing with being, task with

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experience. To the proponents of this paradigm, “If you want peace, be peace. Be an instrument of peace.” 3.0. Peace Education Peace education has to do with training on the avoidance and management of violent conflict, better human relationship, unity and internal cooperation among the various tribes of the country (Ezeoba,2012). Nsikak-Abasi & Nneji (2010) describe peace education as those aspects of formal and non-formal education, in-school and out-of-school learning aimed at the elimination of groups’ prejudice, stereotypes and hatred which make people prefer war to peace, violence to non-violence, exclusion to cooperation, and destruction to construction. Peace education is therefore education for peaceful and non-violent coexistence (Ezeoba,2012). According to Osemene (2012), peace education is the process of acquiring the skills, values, and knowledge that promote harmonious relationship among people in the society. Peace education could be formal or informal. Peace education views the world as one whole, a single community, a fellowship of human beings who have the same instincts of hunger and sex, the same aspirations of generosity and fellow-feeling, and helps people to feel more for other people, enable them to change the exploitative and oppressive society, and to create a non-violent and just society. It is the deliberate attempt to educate children and adults in the dynamics of conflict and the promotion of peace making skills in homes, schools, and communities throughout the world, using all the channels and instruments of socialization. It involves the process of proactive enlightenment on the knowledge and skills of observing and responding to early warning indicators.

The aim of peace education is to incorporate into the educational process a knowledge of the dangers posed to human life and human social life by war, violence, poverty, and oppression (Wulf,1991). Some of the goals for effective peace education are: (1)to appreciate the richness of the concept of peace; (2)to address fears;(3)to provide information about security systems; (4) to understand violent behaviour; (5) to develop intercultural understanding;(6) to provide for a future orientation; (7) to teach peace as a process;(8) to promote a concept of peace accompanied by social justice; (9) to stimulate a respect for life; and (10)to end violence.

Pre-requisites and components of effective peace education According to Danesh (2006), the prerequisites of effective peace studies which also constitute the components of effective peace education include the following:

1. truly effective peace education can only take place in the context of a unity-based worldview

2. peace education can best take place in the context of a culture of peace 3. peace education best takes place within the context of a culture of healing 4. Peace education is most effective when it constitutes the framework for all

educational activities.

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Prerequisites Components - Elements of a unity-based world view - Study of the unity

based - Elements of a culture of peace worldview - Elements of a culture of healing - Study of elements of a - Peace as the framework culture of peace

For the curriculum - Study of elements of a

culture of healing - Study of all subjects within the framework of peace.

Applications - Application of the unity-Based worldview - Creation of a culture of peace - Creation of a culture of healing - Creation of a peace-Based curriculum

Gavriel Salomon (2002) summarises current peace education activities under four categories: (1) Peace education mainly as a matter of changing mindset;(2) Peace education mainly as a matter of cultivating a set of skills;(3) Peace education mainly as a matter of promoting human rights (particularly in the Third World countries); and (4) Peace education as a matter of environmentalism, disarmament, and the promotion of a culture of peace. John Dewey’s relativistic thought on peace education John Dewey applied his instrumentalism and progressive education ideas to the advancement of world peace after World War I. Dewey’s peace education was based on the view that teaching subjects like history and geography should be premised on the goal of promoting internationalism. His educational objective was to counter the philistine notion of patriotism and nationalism developed by individual nation-states which had been a basic cause of war. (Howlett,2008). Dewey’s interest in peace education was defined by a curious mixture of moralistic beliefs, democratic values and non-religious ethics. The basic thrust of Dewey’s pragmatic philosophy and peace education efforts after 1918 was formulating the method of intelligence in such discriminating fashion as to minimize the appeal to nationalistic propaganda. According to him, eliminating the institution of war required an educational programme that would reconstruct existing social and political habits.

Dewey insisted that there were two subjects that represented the foundation blocks necessary for building international understanding- geography and history. These subjects according to him are believed to enable students reconstruct the past in order to cope with the present. Teaching geography to impressionable young minds had to become dynamic in order to act as a catalyst necessary for shaping a global picture. The teaching of geography originally appeals to the imagination, while the teaching of history should also promote the goal of peace by divorcing itself from the past emphasis on the study of dates, military heroes, and battles. He stressed that teachers should focus more on the social meaning of history: “History is not the story of heroes, but an account of social development; it provides us with knowledge of the past which contributes to the

Figure 1: Prerequisites and component of an effective peace education programme (Adapted from Danesh, 2006)

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solution of social problems of the present and the future”. Present day problems such as wars, should be examined in their historical setting in order “to determine the origin of the problem; find out what sort of situation caused it to become a problem”.

Dewey’s peace curriculum was designed around promoting an attitude of world patriotism. The real key to Dewey’s peace education programme is transforming the notion of nationalism into a more transnational perspective. In calling for a peace education programme in schooling, Dewey encouraged the creation of a curriculum which emphasizes the development of an attitude and would accomplish the following: (1)Promoting the idea of world patriotism;(2) Using the social sciences, especially geography and history, as a bridge for understanding other cultures; and (3) Rectifying the more sinister aspect of patriotism and nationalism that have been a basic cause of war between/among nations. His peace education ideas also challenged the role of teachers and urged them to incorporate the values of peace and global cooperation among nations in their curriculum (Howlett, 2008). The submission of John Dewey on the use of subject such as geography and history in promoting peace education can be said to be in line with social studies curriculum. Social studies as a subject is a combination of geography, history and civics. John Dewey’s writings on peace education is therefore in line with the social studies as an instrument of global peace. Bargaining Theory of Global Peace According to Hegre, Oneal & Russett (2009), trade does promote peace and conflict contemporaneously reduces commerce, even with extensive controls for traders’ rational expectations of violence. Violence has substantial costs, whether these are paid prospectively or contemporaneously. Jervis (2002) and Gleditsch (2008) assert that there is now extensive social scientific evidence that interdependence and international organizations as well as democracy reduce interstate conflict. The World Trade Organization (WTO) lists some of the benefits of the trading system it manages, the first being that, it helps to keep the peace because “sales people are usually reluctant to fight their customers”. The second benefit highlighted is that disputes are handled constructively by the organization’s institutions and procedures. It is a happy irony of the post-cold war era that WTO now denotes the World Trade Organization, and not the Warsaw Treaty Organization.

Moreover, the liberals have argued that interdependence reduces conflict because conflict discourages commerce. The use of force reduces the gains from trade and imperils the flow of information necessary for the development of mutual understanding. The costly nature of conflict is also central to contemporary applications of bargaining theory; commercial relations increase the likelihood of peace because trade and investment make costly signals possible. Economics, trade and commerce are important themes in social studies and they help to emphasize the importance of promoting peace globally. These themes thus portray social studies as an instrument of global peace. 4.0. Social studies as an instrument of global peace: Analytical and prescriptive perspectives. According to Danesh (2006), the universal presence of conflict and war in human history has always necessitated that priority be given to education for conflict management and war preparation, and for the preservation of the larger community. Social studies can act as a catalyst of peace, both nationally and globally. Social studies is looked as an instrument of global peace based on the following perspectives- analytical and prescriptive

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4.1. Analytical Perspective of social studies Teaching World Mindedness in Social Studies classrooms The need to teach global perspectives in schools has heightened with the proliferation of information-sharing technologies and the growing interconnectedness of world systems, hence, the suggestion that if social studies is to do better in the preparation of global citizens for the future, it has to pay attention to global perspectives. In the light of the above assertion, Mhlauli (2014) suggests the following as ways in which teaching global perspectives in social studies can help promote global peace among global citizenry. Teaching about world mindedness World mindedness refers to teaching about the world. World mindedness is defined as knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to live effectively in a world possessing limited natural resources and characterized by ethnic diversity, cultural pluralism, and increasing interdependence. It involves learning about problems and issues which cut across national boundaries and the interconnectedness of systems which may be cultural, ecological, economic,political and technological (Merryfield & Wilson,2005; Merryfield, 2012,Mhlauli,2014).

Social Studies education incorporates and teach themes on world issues such as: (1) Socio-political issues (poverty, conflicts/war tribalism);(2) Environmental issues and natural disasters; (3) Economic issues (trade, economic recession (4) Social issues (communication and information technology); and (5) Political issues (international relations, celebration of international days such as World AIDS Day, World Peace Day, Commonwealth Day etc). Emphasis should placed on the importance of these world issues because they affect global peace.

In-service training for social studies teachers on global education pedagogies and the use of technology need special attention. Teacher educators need to strengthen their programmes towards a global perspective in order to able “to walk the walk and talk the talk” more. This means that teacher educators need to make learning relevant, integrate technology, use performance-based assessments, and create opportunities for interdisciplinary instruction. In-service and pre-service teachers need to be prepared to infuse global perspectives in their daily classroom practices and instruction. Pre-service and in-service teachers need to be provided with opportunity to engage in study abroad programmes in order to learn from their counterparts.

Prescriptive Perspective According to Iyamu & Onyeson (1991), social studies is a subject whose scope is not definite. By its interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary commitment, it is difficult to say where social studies begins or ends. This coupled with its focus on changing social conditions of man and society makes its scope assume an increasing horizon. Also, social studies is unique as a corrective study. It is a problem-approach discipline. It focuses on the problems of man and the society as well as how to solve them. It also sought ways to correct felt social imbalances in the society. From the above position, it becomes evident that the subject embraces issues of concern in the society both local, national and global and plays a very important role in promoting peace in all its ramification. Conflicts have bedeviled the world in our contemporary days and if there must be peace, then social studies as a corrective subject/discipline has a vital role to play.

Some of the ways social studies can help promote global peace are include : First, social studies curriculum should be reviewed to accommodate courses and themes such as multicultural education and international education, as these will enable learners from various cultures, tribes, ethnicity and races learn about other cultures besides theirs.

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This in the long run will help to foster good relationship and promotion of peace among them. Peace education should be incorporated into the social studies curriculum. Emphasis should be placed on the importance of peaceful relationship among people and nations. Second, social studies should also place emphasis on the negative consequences of conflicts and wars on all the parties concerned and try to discourage the minds of the learners on involving in wars or acts of violence that could hinder peace at all levels. Themes such as conflict resolution and negotiation should be incorporated into the social studies curriculum so as to enable the learners acquire requisite knowledge and skills on conflict management that will make for peace at all levels of human life. Third, social studies should also teach on the importance of war and conflicts. This is sometimes necessary because without conflicts and war, there cannot be lasting peace as supported by the power politics paradigm which asserts that “if you want peace, prepare for war”. There is need for strict compliance in implementation of the social studies curriculum. This is necessary for learners to acquire all the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude needed for peaceful living and conflict management. If global peace is to be achieved, then, there is need for training of social studies teachers on peace education. Many social studies teachers are ignorant of peace studies (with reference to global peace) and as such they need to be properly trained as this will enable them to properly handle or teach peace studies to the learners. There is also the need to increase the number of social studies teachers for effective curriculum implementation. The media also has a very crucial role to play in promoting the cause of social studies as it relates to global peace and peace education. Social studies teachers and experts of peace education and global peace can preach peace at all levels (local, state, national and international) of governance. This can happen by sensitizing the people through the media-television, radio, newspapers and even through the use of the internet.

Conclusion The place of social studies as an instrument for global peace cannot be overemphasized. Social studies as a discipline/subject for correcting ills of society has a broad curriculum to accommodate contemporary issues like global peace because it has the potentialities to promote and foster communal, national and global. Therefore, countries must place emphasis on incorporating social studies in their school curriculum or review the existing social studies curriculum to accommodate courses such as multicultural education and international education. Moreover, social studies teachers and other practitioners should be trained and retained to be adequately equipped and informed to preach this gospel of peaceful living among nations of the world.

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Imperatives of Development Centres for Rural Development in Ebonyi State By

1Tiben Benz Nwali &

2Nwoba, Martin O. E. &

3Elom, Ikechukwu Ubochi Abstract

This paper captured the imperatives of the creation of Development Centres for the development of rural communities in Ebonyi State. The major objective of this study is to examine how Development Centre creation relates to rural development in Ebonyi State. The paper therefore is anchored on the Modernization Theory of development as explained by Adam Smith, David Richardo, Joseph Schumpeters and associates. The theory explains development as a process that goes in stages cutting across the traditional stage, the pre- take off stage, the take off stage, the stage of maturing and that of mass consumption. The major findings of this study is that despite the pragmatic ideas underlying Development Centre creation for accelerating development in Ebonyi State, the idea has been fraught with political influence as the regime in power use Development Centres as patronage to loyalists who could not make it to executive council. It is on this premise that the study recommends that: Development Centre coordinators should be given a target to achieve in respect to development of their areas of jurisdiction and the need for constant and retraining of management committees and staff of the Development Centres for effective operation. Keywords: Development, Centre, Ebonyi State, Rural Areas. Introduction

Since the colonial times, most development efforts of most developing countries of the world are directed towards the urban centres at the expense of the rural areas, even though most of the raw materials for the development and sustenance of the urban centres come from the rural areas.

It was not until the 1970s according to Onah (2010) that governments of developing countries began to think of definite policy programmes for the development of the rural areas. They became aware that no meaningful development of any nation can take place when the bulk of its populations are still poor and neglected. This is why considerable attention is now being placed on the issue of rural development by not only making special budgetary provisions, but also inviting international assistance from development partners.

The idea of creating development centres by some states in Nigeria is perhaps one of the institutional approaches to effective rural development in Nigeria (Onah 2010). Development centres are administrative centres created from existing local governments in the states backed by edits of the state assemblies. Development centres are prototypes of local government councils in a state, with officials appointed by the state governors. For example, in Ebonyi State law No.7 of 2001 local government creation and transition provision, as amended 1Public Administration Department, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki E-mail: benznafreedontreasure080@gmail.com, Phone: 08037706495 2Department of Public Administration, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki 3Public Relations Unit, Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo

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on August, 2006, there exists 67 development centers. The development centres are headed by a coordinator and 5-member management committees.

Agreeably, most local government areas are pretty large and differently characterized. This partly gives reason for the Development Centres which assumes to be indeed closer to the people. Development Centres are therefore, growth poles, or growth centers which cater and care for the peculiar needs of the rural areas (Nwali 2013).

Another reason for the creation of Development Centres according to Onah (2010), Okpata (2003) and Nwali (2013) is decentralizing in infrastructures which hitherto, were concentrated at the Local Government Headquarters. Closely related to this are supervision and monitoring of projects. Because of the proximity advantage, Development Centre management members are strongly positioned to monitor projects and infrastructure in their areas of domain.

However, irrespective of these elegant ideas, Development Centres face challenges ranging from political problems, through social problems, to financial challenges. More so, it is observable that many state Governors use the opportunity of the phenomenon of Development Centres as political patronage for loyalists who could not make it to the Executive Council. Sometimes, the Centres are used to build up political structures. There are also situations where the power struggles between the Coordinators and the Executive Chairmen of the mother local government is vicariously ferocious. It is also known that Development Centres are not adequately funded, irrespective of existing formular for sharing revenue. In those situations, the main objectives of Development Centres are truncated and obviated (Nwali 2013).

But be that as it may, Development Centres have, as their primary functions, the responsibility for rural development. We shall therefore make some further conceptualization of development, rural development, nature of rural environment and the implications of these for development centres. History and Philosophy of Development Centres Creation

The philosophy and rationale behind the creation of Development Centres in Nigeria generally and Ebonyi State in particular is hinged on the core task that determines the structures and functions of the local government system. The core tasks derives from the ideological tenet of the regime and to a large extent, determines the structural configuration of the local government administration. Therefore, within the local government, the expectation is that there should be congruence between the structure and the core task and between the core task and the ideological tenets of the government (regime) in power. This rationale pervades the evolution of local government creation in Nigeria and that of Development Centres in Ebonyi State (Okpata, 2003).

Consequent upon this, Ebonyi State government in 2001 and 2006 respectively, enacted a law by the State House of Assembly, creating sixty seven Development Centres. The law enabling this creation has defined objectives which include:

a. To ensure stable and balanced state; b. To decentralize power to the rural populace and c. To enhance the structure of political and social mobilization in the state

(Ebonyi State Local Government law, 2001:10 cited in Okpata, 2003). Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on the analysis of Modernization Theory of Development. Proponents of this view include Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Joseph Schumpeters, W. W. Restow, Barbara Ward, etc. It represents the relationship among nations in the form of

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an international division of labour, whereby some societies contribute to the world market only on commodities in the category of “primary” while others have the advantage of some unequalled proficiency in the production of capital goods and industrial manufactures. These theories explain the disparity in the wealth of nations with reference to unequal experiences of nations with the major revolutions that condition industrial advancement. These revolutions, according to Barbara Ward are those of ideals (equality and progress), biological revolution that related to the application of science and saving (or capital) to the economic processes of our lives.

In the classic view, these four revolutions – “of equality, of this worldliness, of rising birth rates and of driving scientific change” all started in the North Atlantic arena, in those nations which lie around the North Alantic Ocean, Britain, Western Europe and North America have, by working and expanding together created a new kind of human society, the wealthy and affluent society. According to them, a sort of mutation has occurred and the people in the North Atlantic area no longer share the same way of life with the underdeveloped and emerging people because in the later, none of the revolutions has been fully at work. They have had little idea about equality. There was in the past no great urge for general material progress. The pressure of population followed a strict rotation of famine and feast and had little of the explosive burst that the North Atlantic nations have witnessed. Above all, traditional societies did very little saving and had virtually no science. What has happened is that around the North Atlantic, a ring of societies came into being with more wealth, more economic resources at its disposal than the underdeveloped societies will ever know (at least in this century). This is the profoundly revolutionary change to which all the subsidiary revolutions have contributed. Accordingly, there is an international division of labour, whereby the underdeveloped society offer only primary (raw material) products in the world market, whereas the developed societies have the comparative advantage of offering industrial manufactures and capital goods. Perhaps, by far, the most ambitious categorization of the international division of labour is that which was given by W.W. Restow as the five epochs in the development of human societies. The five stages which correspond with the levels of industrialization of societies are: (a) Traditional Society: In a traditional society, production functions are limited. This is a society that has Pre-Newtonian Science as well as Pre-Newtonian Attitude to the physical world. The traditional society is not based on modern technology. A ceiling, therefore, existed on the level of attained output per head. The level is limited by the inaccessibility of modern science. Its application and its frame of mind is no science. In terms of behaviour, the traditional society believes that the next generation cannot be better than the present one. There is, therefore, an unfortunate prevalence of long range fatalism. (b) Pre-take-off: This is the stage where society is getting ready to take off. It is a society in transition. So many changes are taking place both materially and immaterially. Banking, transportation, communication, import and export, etc., are on the increase. Also, the people are beginning to adopt a positive attitude to private property. They begin to cherish modernity and everything that nourishes human existence. However, the stimuli for these changes are exogenous. The pre-take-off society has no technology and therefore cannot develop of its own accord. This implies that colonialism is a pre-condition for the development of the emergent nations. Any society at this stage is a dual society having attitudes of tradition that exist side by side with modernity. Society also

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cannot be industrially independent until the foreign element of development has been internalized to the extent of enabling independent and self sustained growth. (c) Take-off: This is a state at which society is becoming economically independent. Independent industries begin to emerge. Society at this stage is prepared to overcome those traditional barriers to development. There is social overhead capital and also a surge in technological development in industry and agriculture. There also emerges a political leadership that has the economic growth of the nations as its priority. Much of the capital is still imported, so foreign investment is welcome. However, such society is able to invest 5 percent to 10 percent of its National Income in productive capital. There is therefore an accelerator and multiplier effect in the economy where the growths of various sectors of the economy are complementary and mutually supportive. Society at this stage is developing its capital production possibilities to enhance a self-sustained economic development. (d) Maturity: Society at this stage has taken off and is driving to maturity. Economic growth now supersedes population growth and society could invest between 10 percent of its National Income. The economy begins to diversify, structures change; both importation and exportation are irreversibly on the increase. Society now begins to assert itself in the international context and attempts to dominate others if possible. There is a change of emphasis in industrialization beyond needs and towards capital and luxury goods.

The third world countries like Nigeria have not developed to this stage. A mature society is that which has demonstrated the capacity to transcend those original impetuses that powered it into “take-off” and also the capacity to apply the fruits of modern science within its boundaries. The mature society can by no means boast of a capability to produce everything, but now, it can specialize in certain product lines that will enhance its bargaining position in the international system. (e) High Mass Consumption: At this stage, society has achieved maturity and is going beyond it to emphasize the production of consumables. It begins to produce for the better life of its citizens. The personal income of the citizens increase substantially and their consumption patterns change and the proportion of the urban population to the general working population increases. A society in the age of high mass consumption is a welfare society. The efficacy of the modernization theory which makes it relevant to this study is premised on the grounds that development in all societies is not the same. The theory identifies that some societies have developed; others are developing while there are those that are yet to witness development like most rural areas in Nigeria. It is on the premise of the need to develop rural areas in Nigeria that occasioned the philosophy of local government and development centre creation in order to achieve a balanced and equitable state. For the fact that most rural areas in Nigeria are in their primitive or traditional nature; no good road network, no portable drinking water, no health or education facilities and presence of endemic diseases etc, therefore the need to champion state development strategies towards the rural areas can be better achieved through development centres.

Development and Rural Development: A Conceptual Discourse

Development involves progression, movement, and advance towards something better, (Okoli and Onah, 2002). It is improvement on the material and non-material aspects of life. It involves action, reaction and motion. A developing community is thus a

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community in motion, a people in search of self improvement; and a group concerned with, and committed to, its advancement through its own efforts (Onah 2010).

Development goes beyond economic and social indicators to include the improvement of human resources and positive change in their behaviour. For us in this study, development includes increase in the citizens’ access to:

Food, water and shelter. Information and means of communication Healthcare delivery, and Justice, etc. When these are obtainable, there will be increase in the individual’s dignity,

happiness and patriotic values and quality of life. This is probably why Todaro (1982) defined development as “a multi-dimensional process involving the re-organization and re- orientation of the entire economic and social system. This involves, in addition to improvement of income and output, radical changes in institutional, social and administrative structures as well as in popular attitudes, customs and beliefs”. The main contention according to Ujo (1979) is that development is both a physical process and a state of the mind. The transformation of institution is one aspect which is capable of making the thinking of the people to change in the right direction.

As Emezi (1979) wrote, the actions, reactions and interactions which qualify for inclusion as elements of development are products of rational thinking, conscious planning and genuine citizens’ involvement. They are not chance events or chance phenomena. They relate first to economic system because they seek to raise living standard, widen extensively the scope of productive work at the community level and create or strengthen the necessary foundations or infrastructure for higher, larger and more beneficial changes in the economy.

Secondly, they relate to the social because they affect the education, health, housing, games and sports, culture, care of fellow human beings, social ethics and social justice, and these are matters of both the body and the mind which jointly facilitate healthy growth and more meaningful advancement of the individual in society.

Thirdly, they relate to the political system because they seek to create better patterns of legitimacy; patterns which are good and valid because they create condition which enable all or the most significant groups in the population to anticipate in the political process and have access to effective representation in the process of making decision and of allocating scarce resources and values of their communities.

Any attempt at conceptualizing “rural development” should start with defining “development”. There are controversies as to what development is and the path to it. This can be attributed to the scholars’ often unstated assumption, ideological persuasion and socio-economic and political background (Nnadozie, 1986). However, two alternative paths to development are discernable; Western Liberal and Marxist or Socialist.

The western liberal scholars see development as total transformation of traditional or pre-modern societies into the type of technologies and politically stable nations of the western world. Implicit in the above definition is that there is one average or normal path to development which countries have followed in the past and which they are obliged to in future.

They break development into economic, social and political aspects. According to them, economic development is a process of transforming from a primitive, traditional, agricultural and low-productivity economy, to a modern, industrial and efficient capitalist economy. They also see social development as the institutionalization of western behavior, patterns and norms, while political development focuses on the continuous

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differentiation of political ‘roles’ and structure, increased sub-system autonomy and a diffusion of secular rational norms in the political culture (Ofuebe, 1991).

The scholars of Marxist philosophical persuasion, found the above conception of development grossly deficient, because, it has not led to real development, instead, it enhanced the progressive underdevelopment of most third world states. Thus, they see development as socio-economic transformation which man engenders as he jointly with his fellows, interacts with the natural environment through labour power. In other words, development is a human issue, which should involve the total and full mobilization of a society. Development therefore is a dialectical phenomenon in which the individual and society interact with their physical, biological and inter-human environments, transforming them for their own betterment and that of humanity at large and being transformed in the process (Nnoli, 1981).

Rural Development on the other hand concerns with the improvement of the living standard of the low-income people living in the rural areas on a self-sustaining basis through transforming the socio-spatial structures of their productive activities. It implies a broad based reorganization and mobilization of the rural masses and resources, so as to enhance the capacity of the rural populace to cope effectively with the daily tasks of their lives and with the change consequent upon this (Mabogunje, 1980). This definition has three important features:

- Improving the living standards of the subsistence population: This involves the mobilization and allocation of resources so as to reach a desirable balance over time between the welfare and productive service available to the rural subsistence populations.

- Mass participation: This requires that resources be allocated to low income regions and classes and that the productive service actually reach them.

- Making the process self sustaining: This requires the development of appropriate skills and implementing capacity and the presence of institution at the local, regional national levels to ensure effective use of existing resources and to ensure effective development of the subsistence sector. Self sustenance means involving and reaching the rural people through development programmes. (Uma-lele, 1975). According to Uma-Lele (1975), the achievement of the above objectives involves the interaction of the following crucial variables:

- National policies: These include land tenure systems, commodity pricing and marketing systems, wages and interest rate structure, etc.

- Administrative system: These include the degree of centralization or decentralization in governmental structures.

Nature of Rural Environment Before embarking on any rural development, it is pertinent to understand the nature of our rural environment. The rural environment is characterized by: i. Extreme Poverty: The rural masses are poor because they have suffered age-

long neglect in the provision of infrastructural facilities that are necessary for social and economic development. The people depend mainly on subsistence agriculture, as well as on the middlemen to get their produce sold in distant markets at price which are determined by the buyers and consumer. Hence, they generate low incomes that can hardly cater for their basic needs. This makes them to be below poverty level on yearly basis, (Nwali, 2013)

ii. Malnutrition: The bulk of goods consumed is made of carbohydrates and less of protein and other food types that can help their body fight against diseases. The most vulnerable groups are the children who suffer from kwashiorkor and other

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childhood diseases. Lack of education and proper medical advices in the rural environment have contributed to poor knowledge of the type of food to be consumed.

iii. Prevalence of Diseases: Poor nutrition, poor environmental sanitation, general state of poverty and lack of personal hygiene are responsible for the high incidence of communicable diseases in the rural environment.

iv. Exploitation of Diseases: The low standard of living and resultant high poverty level have exposed the rural masses to exploitation by the rich and educated urban elites. The labour of the rural masses is hired at low prices. They work for long hours and paid meager wages. Even for those of them who migrate to the centres are subjected to the same treatment as their counterparts in the rural areas.

v. Lack of Infrastructural Facilities: This is the main bane for rural poverty and isolation. The rural areas are not provided with good roads and transportation system, communication, medical facilities (hospitals and clinics), educational institutions (except primary schools under ramshackle accommodations), potable water, electricity etc. The lack of all these is putting the rural areas in a perpetual cycle of poverty.

vi. Poor Housing and Sanitation: Most of the houses are made from simple resources that are less durable and attractive. The building walls are made from mud and clay, while the roofs are made of thatched grasses or bamboo leaves that are woven together in sheets. All these can easily give way under the vagaries of strong weather conditions such as heavy rainstorms or windstorms. Because of lack of pipe borne water, there is no good toilets system. Rather, simple pit latrines and open sewage disposal are common within the rural areas.

vii. Subsistence Agriculture: This is the main sector of livelihood for rural dwellers and involves the use of simple hand tools such as hoes and cutlasses. The cultivable lands are fragmented using “ban and slash” method, lack the use of fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides; highly labour intensive and low yields per hectare of cultivation. The poverty level of the rural farmers makes it difficult for them to introduce mechanized farming and purchase the necessary inputs that can boost production.

viii. High Rate of Illiteracy: Lack of educational institutions in the rural areas is responsible for high level of illiteracy among the rural people. Even where schools are located in the rural areas, there is the dearth of qualified teachers because most teachers do not want to be posted to teach in the rural environments. The reason is simply because of lack of incentives and poor infrastructural facilities.

ix. Unemployment: The large rural populations that are illiterates have contributed to the high incidence of unemployment opportunities. And when young people migrate to the urban centres, they only go there to add to the army of the unemployment people.

Implications of Development Centres for Rural Development The development centre management and operators have the responsibility of adopting strategies for rural development that are appropriate to the specific environment. Specifically, the objectives of rural development are to:

a. Reduce rural poverty. b. Increase production at rural level. c. Increase rural income level. d. Increases employment and stem rural urban migration. e. Provide basic rural infrastructure (roads, water, electricity, clinics, etc)

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f. Integrate rural areas into the development plans. Rural Development Strategies

In order to successfully implement the above stated objectives of rural development, certain strategies must be involved. Like any policy issue, there is the need for proper conceptualization of ideas which must be translated into plans and programmes. There plans and programmes are then implemented through a well co-ordinated control, monitoring analysis and evaluation measures (see the diagram below). Policy cycle In any policy cycle, the most difficult stage is at the implementation. Efficient and effective policy implementation would require inputs of sound managerial and administrative capabilities in terms of proper activity scheduling, resource mobilization and rationalization, network analysis, budgeting, supervision, problem solving, decision making and cost benefit analysis.

Unfortunately for most development countries, the non-attainment of policy objectives could be attributed to many factors, some of which include lack of commitment and discipline, corruption, diversion of resources, overlapping roles of implementation agencies, award of contracts on the basis of political patronage rather than on the ability to perform etc. The effects of all these result in the numerous abandoned projects dotted all over the rural environments in Nigeria.

Rural development strategies which involve the development of some specific programmes, may be sectoral and multi-sectoral approaches. In Nigeria for example, some of the programmes constituting the strategies are: i. Agriculture Development Strategy: There is need for radical transformation of

agricultures system (land reforms, introduction of high yield seeds, fertilizers, credit system, application of simple farm technology, etc). Agriculture activities relevant to the environment should be facilitated by subsidizing the inputs. Youths should be encouraged to go into agriculture by giving them loan and materials.

ii. Mobilization of rural masses for participatory development. iii. Erosion Control: To minimize water and wind erosion by construction of drainage

channels and planting of tress of service as wind-breakers. iv. Rural Housing Scheme: Encourage the rural poor masses to use cheap building

material as well as introducing simple modern building technology. v. Women Mobilization for Rural Development: By encouraging the formulation

of women groups and teaching them to engage in local production activities so that they can earn better income for self development and sustenance. Examples are better life programme for rural women; family economic advancement programme (FEAP); family support programs (FSP); women cooperative societies etc, through

Policy initiation

And formulation

Policy review

And formulation

Policy monitoring And formulation

Policy implementation

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these groups, rural women can attract financial support in form of small scale loans for their businesses.

vi. Environmental Protection: This covers aspects of environmental management such as erosion control, generation and disposal of wastes, environmental pollution control in industrial areas, mineral producing areas, and forest conservation.

vii. Poverty Alleviation Programme: All activities programme put in place that would reduce unemployment and enhance income generating capability of the rural masses. Development centres should kew into national poverty alleviation programmes.

Conclusion and Recommendations The idea of the creation of Development centres is pragmatic. Development centres as growth centres have the capability of accelerating rural development in Nigeria. Considering the state of our rural environment characterized by oppression, degradation and deprivation, development centres can address the numerous inadequacies in the rural areas such as poor road network, lack of electricity, pipe-borne water, hospitals, bridges etc.

However, the effectiveness and impact of the development centre vis-à-vis rural development can only be possible if they are adequately funded and empowered. A situation where the centres are turned into pay points for workers is not healthy. The centres should be funded and challenged for higher productivity.

Closely linked to the above is the revenue sharing formular between the centres and the parent local governments via joint state local government account (JAC). The sharing formular should be clear and religiously followed. This will remove and reduce antagonism observable between co-ordinators and executive chairmen.

Development centres should be given targets to be achieved yearly or periodically in respect of the development of their areas of jurisdiction. The target can be executed through budgets. The implication of this is that they should also take active part in annual budgetary exercises.

One of the strong elements for planning and policy making is good data management. The development centres can help in generating, processing, storage and retrieval of data. If the offices are organized well, the centres can effectively manage data obtainable at the grassroots for effective planning and decision making.

Additionally, there is need for constant training and retraining of management and staff of development centres in various aspects of local government administration including development administration. The management and staff should therefore be of high quality so that they can be receptive to training.

Finally, the concept of development centres should be kept alive, improved upon and sustained. This is because the experiment has helped in opening obscure parts of the states and has facilitated even development for some long blighted rural areas. Apart from being easy reach for local administration and development, development centres are politically expedient considering their strength in spreading the dividends of democracy.

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References Lele Uma (1975) The Design of Rural Development: Lessons from Africa, Baltimore.

John Hopkins University Press. Mabogunje, A.L. (1980) The Development Process: A Special Perspective, London,

Hutchison and Co. Publishers Ltd. Okoli; F.C and Onah, F.O. (2002) Public Administration in Nigeria: Nature, Principles

and Application Enugu: John Jacob’s books. Sule, J.Y. (2006) rural development in perspective, Lagos: diolus communication. Okpata, F. O. (2003) Contemporary Issues and Practices in Local Government

Administration. Enugu: Jones Communications Publishers. Okpata, F. O. and Nwali, T. B. (2013) Public Sector Administration in Nigeria:

Approaches in Intergovernmental Relations and Labour Management. Abakaliki: De Oasis Communications & Publishers.

Nwali, T. B. (2013) Nigerian Government and Administration: Current Problems and

Emerging Issues. Abakaliki: De Oasis Communications & Publishers. Nwali, T. B. and Nkwede, J. O. (2014) Politics and Administration: Terminologies and

Classical Concepts. Abakaliki: De Oasis Communications & Publishers. Onah, F. O. (2010) Managing Public Programmes and Projects. Nsukka: Great AP

Publishers.

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The Imperatives of an Accounting Bridge on the Impact of Law, Equity and Class Struggle In Nigeria

By Ezeagba, Charles Emenike; Ph.D

Abstract

This paper explores striking a balance between law, equity and class struggle in Nigeria through proper preparation and presentation of accounting information so that the end users will be able to make a well informed decision. It highlights the increasing agitation in various parts of Nigeria which has made the country a transitional society inspite of its fifty three years of nationhood. A contributory factor to these agitations is inequity and class struggle in the polity. The affluent control the economy. But other class in the society can be joint owners through purchase of shares / placement in Nigerian companies. But the financial information contained in the financial statements of companies should be adequate, fair and full so that out of the meager resources of low income earners, they can be sure of a viable investment. The paper concludes that Nigerian accounting system should focus on the peculiarities of Nigerian environment while meeting the requirements of relevant accounting standard. It is the view of the author that given the requisite accounting information and investment in enterprises by various classes in Nigeria, the gulf between the rich and poor in Nigeria will be reduced.

Key words: Accounting Bridge, law, equity, class, Nigeria. Introduction

A society can be defined as a unit consisting of institutions and culture which are exclusive to a group of people (Otite and Ogionwo 1979). This definition centres on the institutions and the culture which are the products of people living in communities. Thus a society encapsulates human beings of all ages and of both sexes who live in groups and members of each group share the same culture. It is a network of relationship.

Nigerian nation is a society with attributes of people, institutions and relationships Nigeria is not only divided along ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religions lines; the most potent division is that of class, that is the gulf between the rich and the poor. If there is class division in Nigeria, law may not necessary serve as a regulator of socio-political economic and cultural behaviour as there will be no true equality before the law. One way the affluent continues to impoverish the poor in Nigeria is the control of the economy. Nigerian economy is generally capitalist driven. Companies are incorporated by the affluent and the poor are swayed to join in the ownership through sale of shares to the public.

From the low income paid to the vast majority of the population, the picture is painted by the affluent that these companies they incorporated are doing well and are worth investing in by all and Sunday. Most often what is reported in the operating statement of Nigerian companies do not reflect a true and fair view of the financial position of these companies. That perhaps accounts why Bank shares were over priced between 2005 and 2007 during the Central bank of Nigeria recapitalization of Banks. Department of Accountancy Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka 08063500440, 08051988611

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that is statutory charged with regulating activities in the capital market and reports of companies did not live up to expectation with the attendant result that investors, low income earners and the affluent lost huge sums of money in depreciated stock value after less than a year of purchase of those shares the situation has largely remained the same till today.

In the light of the above, some of the encumbrances in the inbalance of law, equity and class struggle in Nigeria can be reduced if the accountant who is trusted with the wealth of the poor and the rich serve as a watch dog in presenting true operating results of companies in Nigeria. This is because, the economic distortion in Nigeria which translates in the rich getting richer and having all the resources to influence institutions and the poor getting poorer and being weakened to fight for his or her rights over institutions in which he has vested interest as a citizen or a potential investor. The Nature of Law

Law has evolved as alternative to private feud and vengeance and as a supplement to the informal social process by which owner groups deal with disputes. Law as a means of maintaining public order suppresses deviant behaviour. Law forestalls social order facilitizating co-operative action. Law constitutes and regulates the principal organs of power. In 2007, the Supreme Court of Nigeria declared the action of the then President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo where he declared, the seat of the then Vice-President; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar vacant as illegal, unconstitutional, void and of no effect as according to the apex court he has no such power.

Ezeagba (2009) opined that the law of a given community is the body of rules which are recognized as obligatory by its members. Law can be classified into: natural, man-made and divine laws.

The Nature of Equity

To Jegede (1981) equity simply means right doing, good faith, honest and ethical dealings on transactions or relationship between man and man or whatever is right and just in all human transactions and relationships.

In the technical juridical sense of the term “equity”, equity means a special and peculiar department of the English legal system which was created, developed and administered in the Court of chancery.

For the purpose of this paper, the general juristic sense of the term equity fits into the topic of this paper and we shall concentrate our discussion on it.

Lord Denning, (1952) a foremost late English jurist in his work titled “the need for a new equity” expressed the view that the Court of Chancery are no longer courts of equity because they are fixed and immutable as the courts of law ever were. Lord Denning contended that there is need for a new equity which should not contend itself only with recording the law as it is, but law as it should be. In this sense, law should be a no respecter of person. Everybody should be equal before the law. Class Structure in Nigeria

According to Kornblum (2000) classes are social strata which are based primarily on economic criteria such as occupation, income and wealth. Classes are generally open to entry by new comers at least to some extent in modern societies, there tends to be a good deal of mobility between classes. England is famous for its social classes and for the extent to which social classes defines how people are thought of and how they think of themselves. George Orwell, the author of Animal farm and in 1985, he also wrote about the English class system earlier in the twentieth century; when he lived among the homeless and the migrants

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workers at the very bottom of the class system and among miners. In the following passage, he ascribed how class affected his good or evil, of pleasant and unpleasant, of funny and serious, of ugly and beautiful are essential middle class notions, my taste in books and books; food and cloths, my sense of honour, my table manners, my forms of speech, my accent, even the characteristics of my body are the product of a special kind of upbringing and special niche half way up the social hierarchy. The same thoughts can be found in a typical Nigeria middle class citizen though modern classes are not homogenous - their members do not all share the same social rank.

There are variation in people’s material well being and in how much prestige they are accorded by others within a given class; these variation produce groups known as status group, are defined by how much honour or prestige they receive from the society in Nigeria.

The way people live (often referred to as their life style), the work they do, the quality of their food and housing, the education they can provide for their children, and the way their leisure time are all shaped by their place in the stratification system.

The way people are grouped with respect to access to scarce resources determined their life chances – that is, the opportunities they will have or be denied throughout life. Also the kind of education and health care they will receive, the occupations that will be open to them. The percentage of work force engaged in Agriculture in Nigeria according to Reddy (1994) was 54%. Having the single most important factor in determining survival however is income. At the extreme of poverty in Africa with per capital income of N800,000, life expectancy is 52 years. At the other end of the income spectrum in the United States, with annual per capita income of US 20,000, average life expectancy is 75 years.

All capitalist societies like Nigeria according to Karl Marx have objective classes - social classes, that an observer can identify by simply working at people’s visible, special relationships to the means of production in their society. The workers for example are easily identified as an objective class that does not own the means of production and sells its labour in return for wages. The capitalists are the objectives class that owns the means of production – the machines and property and buys the labour power of the working class.

To Marx, subjective class refers to the extent to which the people in a given stratum of society actually perceive their situation to improve its fortunes only by taking some of the power of another class (the capitalist). Being class conscious, a subjective class can form a political association that will allow them to fight effectively against the capitalist. Towards An Accounting and Accountability Bridge

In our introductory remark in this paper, we posited that the most potent division in the Nigerian society is the gulf between the rich and the poor. The means and ownership of production lies in the hand of the affluent members of the society. The affluent through this ownership dictate the paltry wages paid to workers comprising mainly the poor.

To increase their capital base, the companies / enterprises owned by the affluent in the society have had to sale their shares to members of the public. The sale of shares through subscription has enabled the poor to be joint owners of the business set up by the affluent. However, the experience of investors in Nigeria since 2007 especially after the banking recapitalization exercise and global economic meltdown has been that of shock and dashed hopes.

Stocks that were over priced suddenly plummeted that shareholders investment diminished drastically. One reason for this trend was that financial accounting information on which the value of shares were determined did not represent the financial position of those entities as they are. Because of the serious nose diving of the share prices and the attendant losses incurred by the shareholders, there is general apathy in Nigeria now towards investment in stocks /shares.

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Against this background, proper presentation of financial accounting information becomes paramount. If people are sure of the true network of the shares they buy and the return on investment over some years, people will again embrace investment in shares and thereby become joint owners of companies. This way, the class struggle will reduce and adherence to law by all and sundry and equality before the law will improve.

Accounting is a broad discipline concerned with identification, measurement and communication of economic data. Financial accounting which is an aspect of accounting is concerned with preparation and presentation of accounting information in line with relevant statements of accounting standards, principles, concepts and convention and in accordance with legal requirements.

A financial accounting report must be adequate, fair and full. Adequate disclosure is the most commonly used of the disclosure expressions. It implies a minimum amount of disclosure commensurate with the negative objective of making the statement not misleading. The main essence of financial reporting should be to provide users of financial statement with significant information to aid them in the making of decisions in the best possible way. This implies that information that is not material be omitted to make the presentation meaningful and understandable. Fair disclosure concept implies an ethical objective of providing equal treatment for all potential readers. Full disclosure on the other hand implies the presentation of all relevant information. To some, full disclosure means the presentation of superfluous information and therefore in appropriate. In summary, corporate reports need to reflect current value where they differ significantly from historical values (Osisioma 2004).

Thus financial reporting should provide information that is useful to present and potential investors and creditors and other users in making rational investment, credit and similar decisions. Another objective of financial reporting is to provide information to help present and potential investors and creditors and other users in assessing the amounts, timing and uncertainty of prospective cash receipts from dividends or interest and the proceeds from the sale, redemption, or maturity of securities or loans. Financial reporting should also provide information about the economic resources of an organization or enterprise, the claims to those resources (obligations) of the enterprise to transfer resources to other entities and ownership equity and the effects of transaction, events and circumstances that change its resources and claims to those resources.

Accounting and financial reports should be tailor-made and restructured to suit the particular environment where they operate in order to be useful. For the developing countries in particular, this will re-emphasis the need for greater relevance and usefulness taking into consideration the environmental variables of ignorance and unsophistication in interpreting accounting statements (Ezejelue 1978). A less developed country like Nigeria striving to develop is merely trying to improve on those economic and social indicators of underdevelopment, such as the Gross National Product (GNP), per capita income and the social factors.

The major criticism of the evolution of accountancy in Nigeria and other countries which have adopted the colonial system almost entirely is that due to a mixture of habit and vested interest, these countries have adopted principle and system of accountancy which originally evolved to meet the needs of United Kingdom capitalism a century ago. These principles and system have already shown to be of dubious relevance to the present day British economy and they are therefore, most unlikely to be appropriate for the entirely different social and economic environment of the developing world (Briston 1978). Instead of sheepishly embracing the colonial system, developing countries including Nigeria should concentrate upon an assessment of their information needs ... and should seek to establish training programmes to produce the staff for the provision and use of their information ... the

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influence of the UK accountancy bodies upon the developing countries is, on balance, highly determined.

The rich should be properly assessed for the purposes of determination of their income tax. The situation where the rich and affluent pay negligible amount as income tax in Nigeria while the middle class pay properly assessed income tax widens the class distinction in Nigeria.

Relevant tax laws especially as it concerns allowable tax reliefs should be adjusted from time to reflect the inflationary trend in the country. By this, the low income earners will have more disposable income thereby bridging the gap in income of the affluent and low income group in Nigeria. Because the Nigerian economy is not fully market driven, accountability should focus on the provision of information to the few in the private and public sectors who make decisions on the optimum use and allocation of resources towards enhancing development. Nigeria accounting system while meeting international standard should take into consideration the peculiarities of our developing economy.

All accounting information that will assist the user to assess the financial liquidity, profitability and viability of a reporting entity should be disclosed and presented in a logical, clear and understandable manner (SAS N0. 2).

Conclusion The challenges of inequality, law and class structure in Nigeria can be reduced through economic empowerment of the various class structures in the Nigerian society. Accounting comes in here as an aid through provision of sound financial information about entities in Nigeria to assist would be investors with useful information for decision making on investment so that everybody who wishes can invest and be part of ownership of means of production.

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References

Allen, C.K. (1969). Law in the making, 7th Ed. Pg. 385. Briston, Richard (1978) "The evolution of accounting in developing countries; The

International journal of accounting educational research. Clintock, M.C. (1948). Handbook of the Principles of Equity 2nd Ed. Pg.l. Denning, Lord (1952). The need for a New Equity 5 C.L.P.l at pg. 8. Ezeagba, C.E. (2009). Nigerian Business Law: Application and

Relevance to Accounting and Managerial Issues and Problems; Awka, Criston International Co. Ltd.

Ezejelue, A.C. (1978). "Improving financial reporting in developing countries" Accountants

Record UK No. 23. July/August. Ezejelue, A.C. (2004). Accounting Problems in Developing Countries. Abia State

University Inaugural Lecture. Jegede, M.I. (1981). Principles of Equity. Benin City; Ethiope Publishing Corporation. Pg.

10. Korn Blum W. (2000). Sociology in a Changing World 5th Ed. New York, Harcourt College

Publishers pg. 329. Otite, Onigu and Ogionwo N. (1979). An Introduction to Sociological Sciences, Ibadan,

Heinemann Educational Books Nig. Ltd. Pg. 41. Osisioma, B.C. (2004). Corporate Strategic Change in Nigeria. A search for an Accounting

Perspective, UNIZIK Inaugural Lecture Series 7 pg. 67.

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Effects of Monetary Policy On The Commercial Banks Lending In Nigeria

By Jegede Charles Ayodele (Ph.D)

Abstract

This paper empirically examines the effect of monetary policy on commercial bank lending in Nigeria between 1988 and 2008, using macroeconomic time series variables of exchange rate, interest rate, liquidity ratio, money supply, and commercial bank loan and Advances. Using Vector Error Correction Mechanism of Ordinary Least Square econometric technique as the estimation method. The findings indicate that there exists a long run relationship among the variables in the model. Specifically, the findings revealed that exchange rate and interest significantly influenced commercial bankslending, while liquidity ratio and money supply exert negative effect on commercial banks’ loan and advances. The major conclusion drawn is that monetary policy instruments are not effective to stimulate commercial bank loans and advances in the long-run, while banks’ total credit is more responsive to cash reserve ratio. Thus, monetary authority should make efforts to develop indirect monetary instruments and exercise appropriate control over the monetary sector. Keywords: Monetary Policy, Commercial Bank loans and Advances, Money Supply, Interest Rate, Exchange Rate Introduction Monetary policy is one of the macroeconomic instruments with which nations (including Nigeria) do manage their economies (Ajie and Nenbe, 2010). According to Ubi, Lionel and Eyo (2012), monetary policy is an aspect of macroeconomics which deals with the use of monetary instruments designed to regulate the value, supply and cost of money in an economy, in line with the expected level of economic activity. It covers gamut of measures or combination of packages intended to influence or regulate the volume, prices as well as direction of money in the economy per unit of time. Specifically, it permeates all the debonair efforts by the monetary authorites to control the money supply and credits conditions for the purpose of achieving diverse macroeconomic objectives. In Nigeria, the responsibility for monetary policy formulation rests with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) (Ajie and Nenbe, 2010; Ajayi and Atanda, 2012; Abata et al., 2012).

In Nigeria as in other developing countries, the objectives of monetary policy include full employment, domestic price stability, adequate economic growth and external sector stability. The supplementary objectives of monetary policy include smoothening of the business cycle, prevention of financial crisis and stabilization of long term interest rates and real exchange rate (Mishra and Pradhan, 2008). In pursuing these objectives, the CBN recognises the existence of conflicts among the objectives necessitating at some points some sort of trade-offs (Uchendu, 2010). The Bank manipulates the operational target (monetary policy rate,MPR) over which it has substantial direct control to influence the intermediate target (broad money supply, M2) which in turn impacts on the ultimate objective of price stability and sustainable economic growth (Okafor, 2009; Uchendu, 2009). Department of Banking and Finance, Faculty of Management Sciences Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria E-mail: jegede_charles@yahoo.com

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Monetary policy and Commercial Banks are inextricately(???) linked together. In fact, the assessment of the Banking System (particularly in the area of loans and advances) can be evaluated through the performance of monetary policy tools, which can be broadly classified into two categories- the portfolio control approach and market intervention. Olokoyo (2011) expressed that commercial banks decisions to lend out loans are influenced by a lot of factors such as the prevailing interest rate, the volume of deposits, the level of their domestic and foreign investment, banks liquidity ratio, prestige and public recognition to mention a few. Many developing countries, including Nigeria have adopted various policy measures to achieve targeted objectives. Ajie and Nenbee (2010) contended that reserves of the banks are influenced by the Central Bank through its various instruments of monetary policy. These instruments include the cash reserve requirement, liquidity ratio, open market operations and primary operations to influence the movement of reserves. All these activities affect the banks in their operations and thus influence the cost and availability of loanable funds. Thus, monetary policy instruments are critical in the demand for and supply of reserves held by depository institutions and consequently on availability of credit.

By manipulating these instruments, central banks affect the rate of growth of the money supply, the level of interest rate, security prices, credit availability and liquidity creation from the and of commercial bank. These factors, in turn can exert monetary imbalances or shocks on the economy by influencing the level of investment, consumption, imports, exports, government spending, total output, income and price level in the economy. Kashyap and Stein (2000) and Amidu and Wolfe (2008) studies cited in Ajayi and Atanda (2012) provided empirical evidence to support the effect of monetary policy changes on loan supply of less liquid banks, deposit base and induce banks ability to perform their expected roles within the financial system. Ogunyemi (2013) reported that some monetary policy instruments like minimum rediscounting rate (MRR); liquidity ratio, exchange rate in the recent time in Nigeria was not in favour of the increase in the volume of commercial banks loans and advances in Nigeria due to poor infrastructural facilities and high cost of operating in such a volatile environment.

Despite several empirical evidences that found the efficacy of monetary policy lies on the effectiveness of the real sector; how those monetary policies had influenced the volume of Commercial Banks loans and Advances in Nigeria remains unresolved and demands investigation. This study, therefore empirically evaluate and investigates whether monetary policy influences Commercial Bank lending activities in Nigeria. This study employs the use of econometric techniques to determine the relationship and linkage between the monetary policy and Commercial Banks loan and Advances in Nigeria, which is poised to established the effects of monetary policy on Commercial Banks lending in Nigeria.

Literature Review and Empirical Studies Monetary policy being a major economic stabilization weapon involves measures taken by the Central Bank to regulate and control the volume, cost, availability and direction of money and credit in an economy to achieve some specified macroeconomic policy objectives and to counter all undesirable trends in the economy. According to the United States Federal Reserve Board, (2006), monetary policy is the process by which the Government, Monetary Authority or Central Bank of a country controls the supply of money, availability of money and cost of money or interest rate to attain a set of objectives oriented towards the growth and stability of the economy. Monetary policy represents a combination of measures design to regulate and control volume of money and credits in order to achieve certain macroeconomic objectives. CBN Annual Report

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(2004) defined monetary policy as a measure introduce by the monetary authority on monetary targeting and the mopping up of excess liquidity, aimed at ensuring a non-inflationary macroeconomic environment. Similarly, CBN Annual Report (2009), refers to it as specific action taken by the Central Bank to regulate the value, supply and cost of money in the economy with a view to achieving Government.s macroeconomic objectives. In a nutshell, the aims of monetary policy are basically to control inflation, maintain healthy balance of payments position in order to safe guard the external value of the national currency, and promote adequate and sustainable level of economic growth and development.

Credit on the otherhands refers to the status of being trusted to pay money back to somebody who lends it to one (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 1998). It means a sum of money lent by a bank (Central Bank) to someone (Federal Government) who agrees to pay back with interest at a future date. Credit to the Federal Government enable it finance her budget deficits and carry out developmental projects in the country. Nwankwo (2000) in Olokoyo (2011) argued that credit constitutes the largest single income-earning asset in the portfolio of most banks, thus explained why banks spend enormous resources to estimate, monitor and manage credit quality. This is understandably, a practice that impact greatly on the lending behaviour of banks as large resources are involved. Commercial banks perform three major functions, namely, acceptance of deposits, granting of loans, and the operation of the payment and settlement mechanism. In terms of flow of funds, the banking system, clearly dominates and has an important impact on the level of economic development. Adedoyin and Sobodun (1991) assert that “lending is undoubtedly the heart of banking business. Therefore, its administration requires considerable skill and dexterity on the part of the bank management”. Chizea (1994) asserted that “there are certain aspects of fiscal and monetary policies which could affect the decision of the discerning and informed public to patronize the bank and the lending behaviour of commercial banks. Paramount amongst these measures is what he called the interest rate disincentive. Interest rates have been so low in the country that they are negative in real terms”. As inflation increased, the purchasing power of money lodged in deposit accounts reduce to the extent that savers per force pay an inflation tax. There is also the fear that the hike in interest rates would increase inflation rates and make a negative impact on the rate of investment. Usman (1999) also supported this position by stating that “a major regulation affecting commercial banks lending in Nigeria is the restriction on the amount of interest they are allowed to pay on deposits in an effort to attract additional depositors and the interest they charge on their fund based activities” Usman (1999), commenting on the factors that affect commercial banks’ lending behaviour said that, “the sound and viable functioning of commercial banks in Nigeria is adversely affected by the choice of certain policy instruments for the regulation of banking operations. Such instruments include a rigidly administered interest rate structure, directed credit, unremunerated reserve requirements and stabilizing liquidity control measures like the stabilization securities of the past”.

Chodechai (2004) further stressed that “banks’ lending decisions are also influenced by the past relationship with the borrowers”. Past relationship according to him can help banks to obtain more private information, leading to a more accurate understanding of the borrower’s business and financial situation. Carletti et al (2006) however, discussing on multiple-lending is of the opinion that banks choose to share lending whenever the benefit of greater diversification, in terms of higher cost per project monitoring dominates the cost of free-riding and duplication of efforts.

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Two fundamental propositions explain the effects of policy instruments on commercial banks lending abound in literature. The first is the Loan Pricing Theory argue that Banks cannot always set high interest rates, e.g. trying to earn maximum interest income. Banks should consider the problems of adverse selection and moral hazard since it is very difficult to forecast the borrower type at the start of the banking relationship (Stiglitz and Weiss, 1981). If banks set interest rates too high, they may induce adverse selection problems because high-risk borrowers are willing to accept these high rates. Once these borrowers receive the loans, they may develop moral hazard behaviour or so called borrower moral hazard since they are likely to take on highly risky projects or investments (Chodecai, 2004). Second is Multiple-Lending Theory of suggests that banks should be less inclined to share lending (loan syndication) in the presence of well developed equity markets and after a process consolidation. Both outside equity and mergers and acquisitions increase banks’ lending capacities, thus reducing their need of greater diversification and monitoring through share lending. (Carletti et al, 2006; Ongene & Smith, 2000; Karceski et al, 2004; Degryse et al, 2004). The theory has a great implication for banks in Nigeria in the light of the recent 2005 consolidation exercise in the industry. Bank Lending Channel of Monetary Policy Transmission The monetary policy transmission mechanism refers to the routes through which monetary impulses are communicated to the real sector of the economy. Mishkin, (1995), argued that to be successful in conducting monetary policy, the monetary authorities must have an accurate assessment of the timing and effect of their policies on the economy, thus requiring an understanding of the mechanism through which monetary policy affects the economy. The bank lending channel represents the credit view of this mechanism. According to this view, monetary policy works by affecting bank assets (loans) as well as banks’ liabilities (deposits). The key point is that monetary policy besides shifting the supply of deposits also shifts the supply of bank loans. For instance, an expansionary monetary policy that increases bank reserves and bank deposits increase the quantity of bank loans available. Where many borrowers are dependent on bank loans to finance their activities, this increase in bank loans will cause a rise in investment (and also consumer) spending, leading ultimately to an increase in aggregate output, (Y). The schematic presentation of the resulting monetary policy effects is given by the following: M ↑ → Bank deposits ↑ → Bank loans ↑ →I ↑ → Y ↑ (Note: M= indicates an expansionary monetary policy leading to an increase in bank deposits and bank loans, thereby raising the level of aggregate investment spending, I, and aggregate demand and output, Y, ).

In this context, the crucial response of banks to monetary policy is their lending response and not their role as deposit creators. The two key conditions necessary for a lending channel to operate are: (a) banks cannot shield their loan portfolios from changes in monetary policy; and (b) borrowers cannot fully insulate their real spending from changes in the availability of bank credit. The importance of the credit channel depends on the extent to which banks rely on deposit financing and adjust their loan supply schedules following changes in bank reserves; and also the relative importance of bank loans to borrowers. Consequently, monetary policy will have a greater effect on expenditure by smaller firms that are more dependent on bank loans, than on large firms that can access the credit market directly through stock and bond markets (and not necessarily through the banks).

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Review Of Empirical Studies Several studies have been carried out by different scholars to explain how monetary policy influenced commercial banks lending practices and activities. However, some of the well known studies are the ones which incorporated various monetary tools in analyzing the effect of macroeconomic stability on banks’ lending and activities. In a study carried out by Gertler and Gilchrist (1994) on how bank business lending responds to monetary policy tightening. Their study reveals that business lending does not decline when policy is tightened. They concluded that the entire decline in total lending comes from a reduction in consumer and real estate loans. However, Kashyap and Stein (1995) find evidence that business lending may respond to a tightening of monetary policy. They find that when policy is tightened, both total loans and business loans at small banks fall, while loans at large banks are unaffected. The differential response of small banks may indicate they have less access to alternative funding sources than large banks and so are less able to avoid the loss of core deposits when policy is tightened.

In Italy, Gambacorta and Iannoti (2005) studied the velocity and asymmetry in response of bank interest rates (lending, deposit, and inter-bank) to monetary policy shocks (changes) from 1985-2002 using an Asymmetric Vector Correction Model (AVECM) that allows for different behaviours in both the short-run and long-run. The study shows that the speed of adjustment of bank interest rate to monetary policy changes increased significantly after the introduction of the 1993 Banking Law, interest rate adjustment in response to positive and negative shocks are asymmetric in the short run , with the idea that in the long- run the equilibrium is unique. They also found that banks adjust their loan (deposit) prices at a faster rate during period of monetary tightening (easing) (see Somoye and Ilo, 2009).

Van den Heuvel (2005) in his study shows that monetary policy affects bank lending through two channels. They argued that by lowering bank reserves, contractionary monetary policy reduces the extent to which banks can accept reservable deposits, if reserve requirements are binding. The decrease in reservable liabilities will, in turn, lead banks to reduce lending, if they cannot easily switch to alternative forms of finance or liquidate assets other than loans.

A study by Punita and Somaiya in 2006 on the impact of monetary policy on profitability of banks in India between 1995 and 2000 provided some dissenting evidence that lending rate has a positive and significant influence on banks’ profitability, which indicates a fall in lending rates will reduce the profitability of the banks. It was also found out that bank rate, cash reserve ratio and statutory ratio significantly affect profitability of banks negatively. Their findings were the same when lending rate, bank rate, cash reserve ratio and statutory ratio were pooled to explain the relationship between bank profitability and monetary policy instruments in the private sector.

Amidu and Wolfe (2008) examined the constrained implication of monetary policy on bank lending in Ghana between 1998 and 2004. There study revealed that Ghanaian banks lending behaviour are affected significantly by the country’s economic also support and change in money supply. Their findings also support the finding of previous studies that the central bank prime rate and inflation rate negatively affect bank lending. Prime rate was found statistically significant while inflation was insignificant. Based on the firm level characteristics, there study revealed that bank size and liquidity significantly influence bank’s ability to extend credit when demanded. A similar study was conducted for Ghana by Mohammed and Simon (2008).

Somoye and Ilo (2009) investigated the impact of macroeconomic instability on the banking sector lending behaviour in Nigeria between 1986 to 2005. Their study revealed the mechanism transmission of monetary policy stocks to banks operation. The

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result of cointegration and Vector Error correction suggests a long-run relationship between bank lending and macroeconomic instability.

This study will empirically analyze the effect of monetary policy on the commercial banks lending in Nigeria with the intension of determining the influence of monetary policy instruments on commercial bank loan and advances. Methodology The study employed secondary data and a time series analysis for the period of 1998-2008, which were obtained from sources like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The study make use of inferential analysis with the Augmented Dickey fuller (ADF) test for Units root and the co-integrated test is conducted through the Johansen Cointegration test (1988) to determine whether long-run relationship exist between the variables. In order to reconcile the short-run behaviour, an error correction Model (ECM) is used to determine an accurate predictions relationship between monetary policy and Commercial Banks loans and Advances. The following model is specified in an attempt to determine the effectiveness of monetary policy on Commercial Banks loans and Advances in Nigeria presented as : CBLA = f(MS2, INTR, LR,EXR) .............................................................................. (1) Putting it in an estimation form, we have CBLA = a + bLogMS2 + cINTR + dLR + gEXR + U .............................................. (2) Apriori = a and b > 0 while c, d, and g < 0 Where: CBLA = Commercial bank loan and advances MS = Money supply INTR = Interest rate LR = Liquidity ratio EXR = Exchange rate U = Stochastic error term Empirical Results Using the augmented Dickey-Fuller tests, the results as presented in Table 1 above revealed that only money supply (MS2) and liquidity ratio (LR) are stationary at the level while other series (variables) are stationary at first difference. That is, the result indicates that the variable, MS2 and LR are integrated of order zero – I(0) while other variables – EXR, INTR and CBLA are integrated of order one – I(1).Therefore, a co-integration test was carried out to confirm and determine the existence of a long-run relationship among the variables. Cointegration Test The Johansen cointegration test reveals that there is a long-run relationship between Commercial Bank loan and Advances (CBLA) and other variables captured in the model. The result indicates three co integrating equation(s) at 5 per cent levels. The conclusion drawn from the result is that that there exists a unique long-run relationship between LOG(MS2), LR, EXR, INTR and LOG(CBLA). Since there are three co integrating vector, an economic interpretation of the long-run relationship between monetary policy and Commercial Bank loans and Advances in Nigeria can be obtained by normalizing the estimates of the unconstrained counteracting vector on Commercial Bank loans and Advances. The identified co-integrating equations can then be used as an error correction term in the error correction model (ECM). This series will form the error correction

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variable, similar to the residuals generated when using the Engle-Granger two-stage method.

Having established the extent and form of co integrating relationships between the variables of the model, an over parameterized error correction model as shown in Table 3 was estimated. At this level, the over parameterized model is difficult to interprete in any meaningful way: its main function is to allow us to identify the main dynamic patterns in the model.

But this study will be concerned with the parsimonious model which is more interpretable. Table 4 shows the result of the parsimonious model. From Table 4, the lagged value of exchange rate (EXR) is negative and conforms to economic theory. The coefficient of lagged exchange rate (EXR(-1) is statistically significant at 5 per cent level. The implication of this result is that a 1 per cent decrease in previous year’s exchange rate will lead to 0.466763 per cent increase in commercial bank loans and advances, all things being equal. That is the higher the price of exchange rate, the lesser the volume of Commercial Bank loans and Advances, vice-versa. This result further supports the study by Ogunyomi (2011) who investigated monetary policy and Commercial Bank loan and Advances in Nigeria and concluded that exchange rate has significantly influenced the volume of Commercial Banks loans and Advances in Nigeria between 1975 to 2008.

The coefficient of lagged money supply (MS2) is -32.75372. This implies that there is negative relationship between CBLA and MS2 in the short-run such that a unit change in MS2 will decreases the Commercial Banks and Advance, created by the Commercial Banks in Nigeria and vice-versa. This means that in this study broad money supply (MS2) had not encouraged increase in the volume of Commercial Banks loans and Advances from 1988 -2008. This may not be unconnected with the high rate of inflation in the country.

The coefficient of lagged interest rate is 0.720626. This implies that there is a positive relationship between CBLA and interest rate in the short-run such that a one-unit increase in interest rate (INTR) will increase the CBLA by 0.720626, all other variables being held constant. The result shows that interest rate play a significant role over the years in the volume of Commercial Banks loans and advances in Nigeria. No wonder various banks has their individual rate of interest on loans and advances given to the public.

Furthermore, the coefficient of second lagged (LR) is -0.540669. This implies that there is negative relationship between CBLA and LR in the short-run such that a unit change in LR will decrease the loan and Advances, created by the Commercial Banks in Nigeria and vice-versa. This means that in this study liquidity ratio of Commercial Banks had not encouraged increase in the volume of Commercial Banks loan and Advances.

The strong significance of the coefficient of the error correction mechanism (ECM) supports our earlier arguments that the variables are indeed cointegrated. The ECM shows a relatively high speed of adjustment (39 per cent) of the short-run and long-run equilibrium behaviour of Commercial Banks loan and Advances (CBLA) and its explanatory variables.

The adjusted R2 shows that about 65 per cent of the total variation in volume of Commercial Banks loan and Advances is determined by changes in the explanatory variables. Thus, it is a good fit. The F-statistics (22.09) indicates that all the variables are jointly statistically significant at 5 per cent level. The Durbin Watson statistics of 2.4 reveals that it is within the acceptable bounds, thus it is good for policy analysis.

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Concluding Remarks This paper investigated the possible effects of monetary policy on Commercial Banks lending in Nigeria. The analysis was done using the Bank Lending Channel Mechanism model, Loan Pricing Theory and Multiple Lending theory as the theoretical framework that incorporates the role of monetary policy. The paper has shown, using the error correction mechanism of the ordinary least squares regression technique, that the efforts of monetary policy at influencing the volume of Commercial Banks loan and Advances in Nigeria through exchange rate and money supply do not influenced volume of Commercial Banks loan and advances. The result is in consistent with the findings of Ogunyomi (2011) which conclude that Monetary Policy are ineffective for increasing the volume of Commercial Banks loan and Advances in Nigeria and executed in such a way that the objective it is to achieve is clearly and transparently defined in response to the dynamics of the domestic economic developments. Hence, we suggest that monetary authority should make efforts to develop indirect monetary instruments and exercise appropriate control over the monetary sector. The use of indirect monetary policy instruments influences the supply of bank reserves and by implication money supply in the economy which in turn directly generate price change in financial asset. References Ajayi, F. O. And Atanda, A.A. (2012). Monetary Policy and Bank Performance in

Nigeria: A Two-Step Cointegration Approach. African Journal of Scientific Research, 9(1): 462-476.

Amidu, M. And Wolfe Simon (2008). The Impact of Monetary Policy on Banks, Credit in Ghana. IAABD 2008 Proceeding Track 1.

Abata, M. A., et al. (2012). Fiscal/Monetary Policy and Economic Growth in Nigeria: A Theoretical Exploration. International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences, 1(5): 75-88.

Ajie, H. A. and Nenbe, S.G. (2010). An Econometric Analysis of Monetary Policy and Stock Prices in Nigeria: 1986-2008. International Journal of Economic Development Research and Investment, 191): 175-192.

CBN (1993): Perspectives of economic policy reforms in Nigeria, Research department, CBN, Lagos.

CBN, (2004), „„Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses‟‟ CBN Press. CBN (2009). 50 years of Central Banking in Nigeria. A publication of Central Bank of

Nigeria. FRBSF, (2004), „U.S. Monetary Policy: An Introduction‟ Federal Reserve Bank of San

Francisco (FRBSF). Htt://www.frbsf.org/publications/federal reserve monetary policy.htm

Federal Reserve Board, (2006), “Monetary Policy” Masha, S. N., Essien, M.L., Musa D., Akpan B. and Abeng, M.O. (2004). Theoretical

Issues in Financial Intermediation, Financial Markets, Macroeconomic Management and Monetary Policy. In Nnanna, O. J., Englama, A. and Odoko, F.O. (eds), Financial Markets in Nigeria. Central Bnak of Nigeria Publication, 7-27.

Mohammed, A. and Simon, W. (2008). The Impact of Monetary Policy on Banks’ Credit in Ghana. AERC Paper TI-I, Naairobi Kenya.

Mishkin, F.S. (1995). Symposium on the Monetary Transmission Mechanism. Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 9 No 4.

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Nwankwo, G.O. (1991). The Money and Capital Market in Nigeria. Ibadan: Publisher

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Olokoyo, F.O. (2011). Determinants of Commercial Banks’ Lending Behaviour in Nigeria. International Journal of Financial Research, 2(2): 66-72.

Ogunyomi, O.O. (2011). The Impact of Monetary Policy on Commercial Banks Loans and Advances in Nigeria: An Empirical Investigation (1975-2009). Available online at http://www.researchgate.net/publication/228118448

Somoye, R.O.C. and Iio, B.M. (2009). The Impact of Macroeconomic Instability on the Banking Sector Lending Behaviour in Nigeria. Journal of Money, Investment and Banking, Issue 7.

Ubi, P.S., Effiom, L. And Itam, E.E. (2012). Monetary Policy and Industrialization in an Emerging Open Economy: Lessons from Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social sciences, 2(8): 270-288.

Appendix

Table 1: Augmented Dickey Fuller unit root test Variables ADF Statistics

(Computed) 5% Critical Value Remarks

Level Ist Difference Level Ist Difference Log CBLA Log MS2 EXR INTR LR

-2.824220 -4.571559 -1.919447 -5.341324 -3.554010

-5.761706 -3.403271 -3.918905 -7.784744 -2.654317

-3.658446 -3.690814 -3.658446 -3.658446 -3.658446

-3.673616 -3.710482 -3.673616 -3.673616 -3.733200

I(1) I(0) I(1) I(1) I(0)

Table 2: Unrestricted Cointegration Rank Test (Trace) Hypothesized Trace 0.05

No. of CE(s) Eigenvalue Statistic Critical Value Prob.** None * 0.904753 108.7475 69.81889 0.0000

At most 1 * 0.803196 64.07301 47.85613 0.0008 At most 2 * 0.751311 33.18760 29.79707 0.0196 At most 3 0.297251 6.748148 15.49471 0.6071 At most 4 0.002407 0.045788 3.841466 0.8305

Trace test indicates 3 cointegrating eqn(s) at the 0.05 level

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Table 3: Result of the over-parameterized model/estimate Vector Autoregression Estimates Date: 05/15/13 Time: 10:41 Sample (adjusted): 1991 2008 Included observations: 18 after adjustments Standard errors in ( ) & t-statistics in [ ]

LOGCBLA D(EXR(-1)) LOGMS2 LOG(MS2(-1)) D(INTR) D(LR) LOGCBLA(-1) 0.192837 17.45808 0.015738 -3.47E-13 0.924714 0.585704 (0.29004) (6.56644) (0.03928) (1.8E-13) (1.92512) (3.84627) [ 0.66485] [ 2.65868] [ 0.40067] [-1.95617] [ 0.48034] [ 0.15228]

D(EXR(-2)) 0.017518 -0.390599 -0.002896 1.11E-14 -0.032989 -0.133997 (0.01258) (0.28470) (0.00170) (7.7E-15) (0.08347) (0.16676) [ 1.39308] [-1.37198] [-1.70039] [ 1.44514] [-0.39524] [-0.80353]

LOGMS2(-1) -0.036618 44.41992 1.782064 1.000000 -0.829697 -10.82907 (1.88007) (42.5637) (0.25460) (1.1E-12) (12.4787) (24.9315) [-0.01948] [ 1.04361] [ 6.99948] [ 8.7e+11] [-0.06649] [-0.43435]

LOG(MS2(-2)) 1.041759 -65.89671 -0.785017 3.62E-12 0.051225 6.595783 (1.95415) (44.2408) (0.26463) (1.2E-12) (12.9703) (25.9139) [ 0.53310] [-1.48950] [-2.96646] [ 3.02977] [ 0.00395] [ 0.25453]

D(INTR(-1)) 0.065864 0.444686 -0.004227 7.94E-15 -0.556533 -0.497337 (0.03914) (0.88618) (0.00530) (2.4E-14) (0.25981) (0.51907) [ 1.68265] [ 0.50180] [-0.79744] [ 0.33173] [-2.14211] [-0.95812]

D(LR(-1)) 5.39E-05 0.447633 0.002896 -6.70E-15 0.094533 -0.625914 (0.01330) (0.30105) (0.00180) (8.1E-15) (0.08826) (0.17634) [ 0.00405] [ 1.48692] [ 1.60820] [-0.82471] [ 1.07107] [-3.54952]

D(LR(-2)) -0.009482 0.250961 0.002448 -1.36E-15 -0.031291 -0.199864 (0.01445) (0.32720) (0.00196) (8.8E-15) (0.09593) (0.19166) [-0.65604] [ 0.76699] [ 1.25063] [-0.15395] [-0.32619] [-1.04281]

C -2.432238 52.31771 -0.088154 0.000000 -2.165514 53.58259 (2.11851) (47.9619) (0.28689) (1.3E-12) (14.0613) (28.0935) [-1.14809] [ 1.09082] [-0.30728] [ 0.00000] [-0.15401] [ 1.90729] R-squared 0.918710 0.489004 0.997166 1.000000 0.488937 0.703016

Adj. R-squared 0.861807 0.131307 0.995183 1.000000 0.131192 0.495128 Sum sq. resids 4.648144 2382.371 0.085240 1.74E-24 204.7704 817.3893 S.E. equation 0.681773 15.43493 0.092326 4.17E-13 4.525156 9.040958 F-statistic 16.14523 1.367090 502.6944 2.43E+25 1.366720 3.381696 Log likelihood -13.35576 -69.51021 22.63297 -47.42455 -59.88259 Akaike AIC 2.372862 8.612246 -1.625886 6.158283 7.542510 Schwarz SC 2.768583 9.007966 -1.230165 6.554004 7.938230 Mean dependent 13.33701 6.989444 13.66265 13.39075 -0.466667 1.838889 S.D. dependent 1.833991 16.56043 1.330196 1.317726 4.854804 12.72400

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Determinant resid covariance (dof adj.) 1.37E-50 Determinant resid covariance 2.24E-52 Log likelihood 891.5591 Akaike information criterion -92.83990 Schwarz criterion -90.06986

Table 4: Parsimonious model

Error Correction: D(EXR,2) D(LOGMS2) D(INTR,2) D(LR(-1),2) CointEq1 -0.392787 0.001141 0.125649 0.644742 (0.21385) (0.00093) (0.05707) (0.08501) [-0.90149] [ 1.22772] [ 2.20170] [ 7.58459]

D(EXR(-1),2) -0.466763 0.000813 -0.104628 -0.135325 (0.23097) (0.00100) (0.06164) (0.09181) [-2.02089] [ 0.81029] [-1.69750] [-1.47397]

D(LOGMS2(-1)) -32.75372 0.712793 -2.501782 1.132431 (54.5452) (0.23700) (14.5559) (21.6817) [-0.60049] [ 3.00756] [-0.17187] [ 0.05223]

D(INTR(-1),2) 0.720626 0.002333 -0.222070 2.548894 (0.87950) (0.00382) (0.23470) (0.34960) [ 0.81936] [ 0.61040] [-0.94617] [ 7.29085]

D(LR(-2),2) -0.540669 0.002403 0.082626 0.115943 (0.36234) (0.00157) (0.09669) (0.14403) [-1.49216] [ 1.52662] [ 0.85451] [ 0.80499]

C -0.562491 0.085796 0.997889 1.012934 (1.81246) (0.06572) (4.03615) (6.01203) [ -2.63225] [ 1.30554] [ 0.24724] [ 0.16848] R-squared 0.788364 0.518739 0.733158 0.932755

Adj. R-squared 0.655801 0.299984 0.611867 0.902189 Sum sq. resids 4672.590 0.088215 332.7559 738.3006 S.E. equation 20.61021 0.089552 5.500049 8.192572 F-statistic 22.09992 2.371322 6.044589 30.51601 Log likelihood 71.86013 20.59813 -49.40262 -56.17663 Akaike AIC 9.160015 -1.717427 6.517955 7.314897 Schwarz SC 2.454090 -1.423352 6.812031 7.608972 Mean dependent 0.619412 0.273632 0.358824 1.482353 S.D. dependent 23.89121 0.107034 8.828279 26.19543

Determinant resid covariance (dof adj.) 1302.726

Determinant resid covariance 228.3642 Log likelihood -142.6508 Akaike information criterion 20.07657 Schwarz criterion 21.44892

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Government Expenditure and the Development Of The Education Sector In Nigeria:

An Evaluation.

By 1D. E. Oriakhi, (Ph.D.)

And 2Grace Ameh

Abstract Overtime, budgetary allocation to the education sector in Nigeria has been inadequate to meet the demands of the education sector. The objective of the paper is to evaluate the influence of government expenditure on the education sector in Nigeria. Hence, it is also intended to examine the effect of education expenditure on the level of literacy in Nigeria. Using a time series Linear forecasting model, this paper evaluates the effects of the allocation to the education sector by the government and its development. The use of co-integration in this work shows there is a long-run relationship between the variables and they are statistically significant. The Granger Causality test shows that the various variables granger causes literacy rate in Nigeria. It is imperative to note that if certain policy measures such as increased funding reduced corruption, teacher’s motivation and strategic planning among others are fully implemented, the sector will be appreciably developed. It is recommended that government should enhance the allocation of funds to the education sector, and that the private sector should also contribute towards meeting UNESCO’s recommendation of 26% of total budget allocation to the sector. Keywords: Government Expenditure, Literacy rate, Human capital development, Nigeria. Introduction Human capital development is recognized as a major factor of national development in all countries of the world and providing quality education is a major way of improving the quality of human resources. One of the challenges that face any modern economy is the achievement and the sustenance of economic growth and development with the ultimate objective of improving the welfare of its citizens. The society’s future depends largely on the quality of its citizen’s education because education is the main instrument used by the society to preserve, maintain and upgrade its social equilibrium. The education system is undeniably the major backbone of the development of any country as it inculcates in the individual, the ability to be a vital part in nation building.

Education enriches peoples understanding of themselves and the world; it improves quality of lives and leads to broad social benefits to individuals and society. Education raises people’s productivity, creativity and promotes entrepreneurship and technological advancement as demonstrated in several countries such as Malaysia, Bolivia, China (World Bank 1999). Schumpeter (1954) has similarly stressed the role of innovation which is a byproduct of education in the process of economic growth. Many developing countries have made significant progress in ensuring better access to education as evidenced by improvement in literacy and enrolment rates, higher quality and more equitable distribution of education services.

Public spending on education and training is not an end in itself. The goal of investment in public education is to create the skills and attitudes needed for higher levels of productivity and growth. Whether or not such growth will be achieved will depend not only on the amount of resources invested but also on the efficacy with which the inputs

1,2 University of Benin, Benin City

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are managed. The body invested with the power of the allocation of resources in Nigeria is the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). Resource allocation to the education sector in Nigeria is achieved through annual budgets. Budgetary allocation to the education sector is channeled through appropriate organs of government and such funds are in turn disbursed to all the levels of education.

Over the past decade, Nigeria has been plagued by frequent political unrest. This

political instability has generated negative effects on the education system. Although education has been in crisis for many years, the situation has recently been made worse by frequent strikes by teachers. Much of the difficulty lies in the fact that the sector is poorly funded. These results in shortages of materials and human resources for education: lack of qualified teachers, a brain drain for the public sector; few institutional inputs, shortage of classrooms and a host of other problems. Several of the issues in the financing of education in Nigeria are embedded in virtually endemic problems of fiscal federalism – in particular, the so called vertical and horizontal fiscal imbalances.

The first of these deals with the imbalance between financial responsibilities and financial resources at each level of government, federal, state and local. The second deals with equity across the subunits of each specific level of government such as state, or local government.

Following theenhanced contribution of petroleum to total federally collected revenue in the early 1970s, budgetary allocation to education sector took a rising trend. Education sector allocation as a proportion of total budgetary allocation rose from 0.69% in 1970 to 10.83% in 1976 dropped temporarily to 5.6% the following year as a result of some vagaries in the international price of crude oil. Since then, it has been fluctuating between 1.9% and 9% of total federal government expenditure which is far below the United Nations recommended minimum standard of 26% (UNESCO, 1998). As budgetary allocations to the education sector declined particularly since the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP, 1986), school enrolment at all levels recorded an increasing trend and the number of educational institutions increased tremendously. These developments created severe infrastructural gaps in schools, per capita school infrastructures have declined as no new structures are built and old ones are not renovated. These features in the education sector has manifested in several problems. First, the classrooms are overcrowded, teaching aids are generally lacking. The scenario is not different in secondary and tertiary institutions where in addition to rusty and cranky classroom facilities, science laboratories are either non-existent or dilapidated. Nwaogwu, (1997), Sambo (2002).

The poor funding of the education sector in Nigeria is not limited to inadequate infrastructure alone but also on the incentive structure of staff in the school system. Teachers are the least paid in the entire public service in Nigeria; an indication of the nonchalant attitude of government with regards to the education sector.

One of the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to eradicate illiteracy; the fourth item on the seven point agenda of the Late Yar’Adua’s government was Human Capital Development (Education and Health). Strengthening human capital development according to the plan can be achieved by embarking on a comprehensive reform of tertiary institutions, sustain increased funding of primary and secondary levels of education, sustain increased funding for provision of basic health services and resolve dysfunctional education system.

It is said that the seven point agenda is a document aimed at bringing to reality the goals of the MDGs. If adequate attention is not given to education expenditure by the

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federal government, the goal of eradicating illiteracy as stipulated in the MDGs will not become a reality by 2015. Statement Of The Research Problem The rapid expansion of the education sector over the last three decadeswas compounded by the more recent global economic crisis and fiscal stringency due to over dependence on oil.This has left both the lower and higher-education institutions in Nigeria short of funds for their operations with respect to the demand imposed on them.

The idea that education is a form of investment in human capital is one of the most important developments in economics and it has had considerable impact on educational planning both in developed and developing countries. For both government and individuals, the choice between different ways of investing resources rest, to a large extent, on an evaluation of the costs and benefits associated with the investments.In Nigeria, the decline in the standard of education at all levels has become a fact of national life. Indeed the most significant event in the sector in the recent past has been the continuing crisis besetting the sector. This crisis is rooted in the degenerating conditions within the citadels of learning, with respect to teaching facilities and other infrastructural facilities, the welfare of those engaged in the teaching profession and the ever increasing cost of education. This has culminated in student unrest and industrial actions by lecturers and teachers through their respective umbrella associations such as Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) and so on at their different levels of the educational system.

The study seeks to evaluate the adequacy of government expenditure on the education sector and the impact in terms of development in the education sector which could be reflected on human capital development and the level of literacy in the Nigerian economy. Objectives of the Study The broad objective of this study is to evaluate the influence of government expenditure on the education sector in terms of how it has helped in the development of the sector. This study also intends to identify various alternative policy options available with a view to offer the best policy recommendation. Specifically the study intends to:

Determine if government expenditure has impact on the development of the education sector.

Assess the various education policies in Nigeria and its effect on the development of the education sectorh.

The effect of education expenditure on the level of literacy in Nigeria. Literature Review Conceptual Clarifications For the records, let us take a look at the concepts of the literacy rate and human capital. The literacy rate can be defined as the percentage of the total population who are able to read, write and with understanding a short and simple statement on their everyday life (UNESCO). According to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA, 2013), the adult literacy rate of the Nigerian economy is 61.3% of the total population meaning that almost 40% of the population cannot read, write or understand simple, short statements. On the other hand, the concept of human capital can be interpreted in many ways. One of them could be looking at the person as an asset, as a resource that belongs to an organization and from which we can demand all its capacity and commitment. Human capital represents the value each employee brings to the table, according to his or her studies, knowledge,

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capabilities and skills. The development of the human capital can only be acquired through education. It should be noted that nothing substitutes the value of human capital in an organization or economy.

Education in the general sense is a form of learning in which knowledge, skills and habits of a group of people are being transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training or simply by auto dictation. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels or acts. Philip(2013) defined it as a profound philosophical exploration of how we transmit knowledge in human society and how we think about accomplishing that vital task. It is the power of reasoning and judgment, and generally preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life. We have two types of education, these are formal and informal.

It is important to note that educational expenditure is an aspect of educational finance that deals with how the amount allocated to the education sector is spent. It may be used not only as an instrument for analyzing financial aspects of education, but also as a parameter for projecting the trends of an educational system (Hallak, 1969). Expenditure on education is determined by budgetary allocation. The educational expenditure is categorized or classified by the government under the capital and recurrent expenditure where the capital expenditure on education refers to the investment on real assets such as building of schools, institutions and other facilities that have the life span of more than a year, while recurrent expenditure on education refers to the amount allocated to the education sector for salaries of teachers, maintenance of facilities and so on.

The Significance of Education in an Economy The significance of education in nation building cannot be overstated since its economic contribution benefits both the individual directly and the society indirectly. A common structural pattern has been given on the basis of monumental definitions of education by various scholars, Farrant (1985), Fafunwa, (1974) and Anyanwu (199). The determination is, improving the individual to be useful and desirable in his society.

In explaining some significant roles of education in nation building, Enueme (1999) opined that formal education has a position to play in developing countries in the appreciation and acceptance of boosters of agricultural production through mechanized farming and the use of fertilizers, crop rotation and so on rather than belief in the gods of harvest. According to her, education also attracts direct financial returns in form of earnings differential among graduates and relatively minimal in comparison to others with lesser educational qualifications. This is mostly found in the organized private and public institutions.

Education also contributes immensely to technological development both in terms of acquisition, adaptation, and capital widening and deepening. An educated man is more efficient with a high degree of efficiency, capacity and least waste. Educations’ significance can also be perceived in the socio-political stability of a nation.

The Asian Tigers (Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea), who are the most rapidly developing nations in the world today, and Japan the only country to join the ranks of this century’s most economically and politically powerful nations knows the significance of education, which do not only benefit the people directly but also the economy at large. The effect of education in these economies brought them economic development with unprecedented speed not minding relatively poor endowment of natural resources. The attendant effect of this is overall economic growth and development because they were able to transform their agrarian society into an industrialized one. As noted by Galbrouth (1964), ‘No improvement is possible with

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unimproved people’ which supports the saying ‘knowledge is power’ and that power can only be transmitted through education. It is called ‘mental power’. The Theory of Expenditure Limitation This theory was propounded by Aaron Wildavsky in 2003. This theory is not about why government should choose to limit spending, the problem of expenditure limitation exists only when there is a public will but not yet a public way to hold down spending. The desire to limit spending, of course does not necessarily mean that citizen or government dislike all or most or even any individual items of expenditure. They may well like each and every one considers separately and yet dislike the totals to which their desires adds up. The people preferences on total may well be at variance with their preferences on individual programs. Most expenditure is approved but total spending is disapproved. Reconciling these incompatible demands constitutes the contemporary political problem of public spending.

The theory of expenditure limitation talks about the doctrine of opportunity costs, which state that the value of an act is measured in terms of opportunities forgone. This means that the spending of government should be based on hierarchy of importance because when you spend more on an item; it will mean spending less on other items. The theory supports the fact that more resources should be spent on productive sectors of the economy and less on unproductive sectors since the long run effect will be positive on the economy generally. Once there is a limit in government expenditure, it will increase cooperation in the society and also an increase in the common interest. Organizations interested in income redistribution will come to understand that the greater the increase in real national product, the more these will be for government to spend on productive purposes. Government regulations that impose financial burdens would not be viewed as desirable, but would be balanced against the loss to the economy on which the size of the social services depends. The Theory of Increasing State Activity Adolph Wagner, a German economist, formulated the law of expanding state activities in 1863, the laws of expanding state activities; it is stated as follows “As the economy develops overtime, the activities and functions of the government increases”. The law is now popularly called Wagner’s law, named after the economist. Although the law was first observed in his country, it was based on an industrial economy. He argued that for any country, the public expenditure rises constantly; it shows an upward sloping trend. The law predicts that the development of an economy is accompanied by an increased share of public expenditure in Gross National Product, and that the increase in state expenditure is needed because of three main reasons, viz:

Social activities of the state Administrative functions and protective actions Welfare functions of the state

Wagner cited education and culture as areas in which collective producers are more efficient than private producers because some economic activities require a large scale capital that the only way these capital projects could be financed was if the state participates in the activity.

Education Policies In Nigeria The education sector is guided by the national policy on education and several coordinating mechanism have been put in place to ensure that the highest standards are maintained in curriculum, infrastructure and manpower development.

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In Nigeria education policy at independence was aimed at using the available schools to develop manpower for economic growth and development. The policy was narrow and did not meet the aspiration of Nigerians. The criticism of the policy include, high rate of repetition and drop out, irrelevant curricula, obsolete methods of teaching and the fact that graduates were dependent with low creativities.

The above element led to the lunch of National Policy on Education (NPE) in Nigeria in 1977. The orientation of the policy was geared towards self-realization, individual and national social, cultural, economic and political, scientific and technological development. The policy was revised in 1981 and 1998. The objectives of the policy were broadened to include free primary education among others. Before this period, the structure of education system in Nigeria was six years of primary school; five to seven years post primary school (secondary teachers training and sixth form) and four to six years of tertiary education (colleges of education, polytechnics, colleges of technology and university). During this period, the pattern changed into a 6 – 3 – 3 – 4 system. The system consists of six years of primary education, three years of Junior Secondary School, three years of Senior Secondary School and four years of tertiary education (Anyanwu et, al., 1999).

At the inception of the Obasanjo led administration, a Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme was launched in 1999. The specific targets of the scheme are a total eradication of illiteracy by 2010 and increase in adult literacy rate from 57% to 70% by 2003. (FRN, 2000, 53). The goal of these program were founding functional universal and quality education for all Nigerians irrespective of age, sex, race, religion, occupation and location. The Universal Basic Education policy program is broader than the Universal Primary Education policy which focused on only providing educational opportunities to primary school age only. The structure of the Universal Basic Education policy is nine years of primary education, three years of secondary education and four years of tertiary education.The guideline for the implementation of U.B.E. outlined the targets of the policy as follows:

Ensuring that school-age children are in school. 100% transition to JSS at the end of six years of primary education. Completers of Basic Education to possess literacy, numeracy and basic life skills,

as moral and civic values. All teachers in Basic Education institutions to possess the Nigerian certificate of

education. Review of basic education curriculum to conform to the reform agenda. Achievement of 100% awareness on HIV/AIDS in schools. Establishment of an effective institutional framework for monitoring learning and

teaching. Active involvement in and participation and eventual ownership of schools by

local communities(www.ubec.gov.ng) It should be noted that as good as a policy may be, without adequate implementation through necessary funding, such policy will amount to nothing even if same policy worked in other countries (where it was well implemented), and the education policy is not an exception. Government Expenditure and Development of the Education Sector Research has shown that there is a positive relationship between the development of the education sector and government expenditure. For the education sector to be developed, it means that the human capital is well equipped with knowledge that will drive the economy from a given state to a preferred state. Contemporary discussions on education

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and the funding of education in particular have continued to receive more attention and this is because education is seen as a powerful vehicle for the equalization of economic opportunity, distribution of income and eradication of poverty.

Adenuga (2002) point to the fact that Nigeria’s government spending has been totally inadequate or that the amount purported to have been expended on education was not actually spent, while Olaniyi and Adam (2002) observed that government expenditure on education and the share of total spending to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have been declining. For instance, the share of education in Nigeria’s total government expenditure between 1980 and 2010 was less than 26 percent of the GDP, which was below the minimum standard recommended by the UNESCO. The poor funding of education in Nigeria is said to be the major reason for the poor performance of the sector and its contribution to GDP, per capita GDP and other human development indicators. Despite the importance of education in an economy, and the benefits a country stands to derive by investing in the education sector, Nigeria has still not been able to invest adequately in the sector. The Asian tigers invested in their education sector and the development of their education sector led to the development of the economy as a whole. Adenuga (2002) posits that education development in Nigeria is constrained by enrolment ratio, funding, policy environment and quality.

Most schools in Nigeria suffer from overcrowding, poor sanitation, poor management and poor intra-sectorial allocation. The attendant and composite effects of theses inconsistencies are production of half-baked graduates, low development in the economy leading from low economic growth. The percentage given to education as a total of public expenditure revealed that Nigeria has no first-rate for education. The poor state of education in Nigeria started from the severe decline in the prices of oil in the market in the early 1980s, combined with the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), and these led to the reduction in government spending on education. The result was unpaid teachers, degradation of education at all levels and industrial actions in universities and schools. The end result is the declining literacy rates in the country. The National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) document recognized that the delivery of education in Nigeria has suffered neglect through the poor state of funding. The national literacy rate as at 2006 was 57%, there were acute shortages of infrastructure and facilities at all level of education. Literacy level gradually deteriorated and by 1999 the overall literacy rate had declined to 64.1% from 71.9% in 1991. Presently, according to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA, 2013), the literacy rate in Nigeria is 61.3%. This is due, mainly, to the decline continuously encountered in the allocation of education expenditure by the government.

Over the years, the recurrent expenditure on the education sector is more than the capital expenditure, it is time for the government to realize that with the growing rate of population increase, more investment should be, not on the recurrent expenditure alone, but to increase the capital expenditure by provision of more educational facilities, building of more schools and universities in other to avoid overcrowding the available schools and educational facilities. The recurrent expenditure is not enough to go round for what it is meant. The facilities are not well maintained; staff poorly motivated, poor physical infrastructure, and all these leads to decline in literacy rate. Developing countries such as Ghana and Kenya spend up to 20 – 25% of their total budget on education, and their literacy rates are quite appreciable. According to Human Development Index (2013) for developing countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Angola and the likes, Nigeria ranked 12th among the low human development with indices 0.471. Worldwide, Nigeria ranked 153 out of 186 countries of the world. Countries like Norway, Japan, Canada, Singapore, led the list of the very high Human

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Development Index ranging from 0.8 to 0.9. These countries invest more than 30% of total expenditure on education. The effect is seen on the development of human capital which is of great benefit not only to the individuals but also to the society. Since 1960, the average of the percentage of total expenditure spent on education is between 6 – 10%, this has a negative effect on the human capital development. There is a positive relationship between education and the development of human capital, if the sector (education) is well funded, the index of human capital development for Nigeria will definitely increase, the value 0.471 has shown that education in Nigeria is not given adequate attention, instead the funds meant to be used for this sector is being expended on irrelevant ceremonial functions of government.

The role of government expenditure on the education sector is necessary for the development of the sector. A developed education sector will be a long term activity and will also attract long term benefit to the society. This therefore is necessary for effective and efficient capital investment in the sector. With the prevailing trend of investment in the sector, one can say that the education sector of Nigeria is underdeveloped. The evidence is everywhere, the available schools are not enough for the population, and they are not well equipped. The equipment available are not functioning properly, and the teachers are underpaid and not motivated to work considering the fact that there are no teaching aids, the environment and buildings are dilapidated due strictly to inadequate funding of the sector.

Shifting resources from low productive sectors such as general administration to education will go a long way in the development of this sector in Nigeria. Also, the vision of eradicating illiteracy and poverty will be achieved. But,with the current status occasioned by the decreasing allocation, the rate of development in the education sector will still be classified as underdeveloped. Methodology/Estimation Technique This research work makes use of econometric approach in estimating the relationship between government expenditure on education (the independent variable) and the development of the education sector (dependent variable).The empirical analysis is being restricted to the period between 1980 and 2011 due to non-availability of needed data. Most of the information and data needed for the study will be gathered from existing literature and from relevant government agencies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), National Universities Commission (NUC) as well as International Organizations such as World Bank, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

This study utilized the Unit Root Test to examine the stationarity or non-stationarity of the individual variable; also, the Johansen Co-integration test is employed to examine the Long run relationship between the respective variables. The E-views 7.0 econometric software was also used in the estimation of the econometric model. Presentation and Analysis of Unit Root Test Results Econometric studies have shown that most financial and macro-economic time series variables are non-stationary and using non-stationary variables leads to spurious regression (Engel and Granger, 1987). Unit Root Tests in this study is used to investigate whether or not GRGDP, LRN, TGREE and TGCEE are stationary. The result of the test reveals that the GRDGP is stationary both at thelevels and at first difference; while the LRN, TGREE and TGCEE are stationary at their first difference. Hence, the result indicates that all the series are stationary.

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The null hypothesis of non-stationarity is therefore rejected. Given the findings that the series considered appeared to be stationary at a conventional level of statistical significance as shown in the table below, we are therefore justified to conduct the co-integration and the Granger Causality between LRN, TGREE, TGCEE and GRGDP in determining the long-run and causality relationship between government expenditure and the development of the education sector in Nigeria LEVELS

VARIABLES ADF TEST STATISTIC

90% CRITICAL VALUE OF ADF

ORDER OF INTEGRATION REMARKS

LRN -1.941918 -2.619160 I(o) NON STATIONARY TGREE 2.225205 -2.625121 I(o) NON STATIONARY TGCEE 0.06672 -2.619160 I(o) NON STATIONARY GDPGR -4.709045 -2.622989 I(o) STATIONARY Source: Authors Computation using E-views 7.0 FIRST DIFFERENCE

VARIABLES ADF TEST STATISTIC

90% CRITICAL VALUE OF ADF

ORDER OF INTEGRATION REMARKS

LRN -5.440114 -2.625121 I(1) STATIONARY TGREE -8.620075 -2.621007 I(1) STATIONARY TGCEE -6.513394 -2.621007 I(1) STATIONARY GDPGR -7.060674 -2.622989 I(1) STATIONARY Source: Authors Computation using E-Views 7.0 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF JOHANSEN COINTEGRATION TEST RESULTS The result of the multi-variate co-integration test based on Johansen Co-integration technique reveals that the trace statistics and Maximum Eigen Value Statistics confirms the existence of co-integrating equations among the variable of interest. Since the variables are co-integrated, this satisfies the convergence property. The result also shows the evidence of a stable and long-run relationship between the Literacy Rate in Nigeria (LRN), Total Government Recurrent Expenditure on Education (TGREE), Total Government Capital Expenditure on Education (TGCEE) and the Growth rate of the GDP (GRGDP) in Nigeria. This is shown in the table below.

HYPOTHESIZED NO OF CO-INTEGRATION EQUATION

MAXIMUM EIGEN VALUE

0.05 CRITICAL VALUE PROBABILITIES TRACE STATISTIC 0.05 CRITICAL

VALUE PROBABILITIES

NONE 47.95057 27.58434 0.0000 107.4255 47.85613 0.0000 ATMOST 1 26. 21.13162 0.0068 59.47497 29.79707 0.000 ATMOST 2 23.61007 14.26460 0.0013 32.53302 15.49271 0.0001 ATMOST 3 8.922951 3.841466 0.0028 8.922951 3.841466 0.0028 Empirical Result of Pairwise Granger Causality Tests The result has shown that there is a unidirectional causality between Total Government Capital Expenditure on Education in Nigeria and Literacy Rate in Nigeria, bidirectional causality between Total Government Recurrent and Capital Expenditure on Education. This means there is a complete feedback, but for other variables there is no causality.

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Summary and Analysis of Pairwise Grenger Causality Test VARIABLES NATURE OF CAUSALTIY SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL REMARKS TGREE & LRN No causality 5% No feedback GDPGR & LRN No causality 5% No feedback TGCEE & LRN Unidirectional 10% Partial feedback GDPGR & TGREE No causality 5% No feedback TGCEE & TGREE Bidirectional 5% Complete feedback TGCEE & GDPGR Bidirectional 5% Complete feedback Policy Implications The following are the policy implications of the study.

1. Literacy Rate in Nigeria since 1980 to 2011 has a mean rate of 49.95 per cent which is relatively low. This shows that literacy rate in Nigeria over the years has being fluctuating, increasing and decreasing without a constant rate.

2. The co-integration analysis shows that there is a meaningful long-run relationship between the variables. The result was positive, implying that all the variables directly and indirectly affect the growth of the education sector. This means that:

3. The government should increase capital expenditure on education for increased development of the sector.

4. The recurrent expenditure on education also should be increased since it covers payment of teachers’ salaries and maintenance of already existing equipment and buildings.

5. The growth rate of the GDP also has implications on the development of the education sector because, if the GDP grows, it will enable government spend more on the education sector and if the education sector is developed, it will also lead to more manpower or labor and that will also cause an increase in the GDP.

6. The government should also know that the capital expenditure on education whenincreasedwill also trigger a corresponding increase in the recurrent expenditure on education, so that already existing infrastructures and equipment will not wear out due to lack of maintenance.

7. The percentage of total government expenditure allocated to the education sector should be increased so as to facilitate quick development in the education sector.

Recommendations Based on the analysis of the result obtained, the following recommendations are proffered: 1. The Federal government of Nigeria should increase the allocation of funds to the

education sector. This should be extended beyond the 12% which has been the highest over the years to between 18% and 22%. Though this recommendation is not in consonance with UNESCO 26% of total expenditure, it could trigger huge improvement in the sector.

2. Strategic planning should be a major component of policy initiatives for education and enacted policies should be feasible and well implemented within specific time frame. Moreover, there is the need to minimize policy inconsistencies in the sector.

3. Government should increase capital investment on the education sector such as new schools (building), provision of basic equipment (educational) needed for the students to learn, and maintenance of the ones already available. This will aid continuous development in the sector.

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4. The need to reduce corrupt practices in the education sector cannot be overemphasized.This will ensure that the expenditure on the sector yields significant effect in the development of the sector. This can be done through effective monitoring and supervision of earmarked projects. This will go a long way in the reduction of white elephant projects and increase rapid growth in the sector.

5. Considering that frequent strikes in educational institutions are caused by lack of motivation for teachers, who receive low salary, low benefits and lack basic support for the enhancement of their profession. The government should motivate the teachers through various schemes, for example, grant them vacation and training leaves, increase salary, and make more allowances available. Such perks will motivate them to put in more effort in their work.

Conclusion The status of the Nigerian education sector at the moment is unattractive, low in quality, limited in its reach and troubling in its future. Nigeria is a country that needs to get its priorities right. Investment in the education sector has a long run economic effect as it plays vital role in other sectors of the economy as well as protecting the environment and controlling population growth. Education is recognized as one of the best financial investments states can make as it helps increase productivity in the economy. It is pathetic that the song on everybody’s lips in the country nowadays is that of poor educational standard in Nigeria.

To avert the impending ruin on Nigeria’s future, the nation requires a conscious and fast groundbreaking rescue of her education system. The decay is so deep that nothing short of massive mobilization of funds through the public and private sectors and a large barrage of institutional policy and legislative reforms can be an adequate remedy.

If the recommended solutions are put in place, Nigeria will to a large extent control an education sector with high standards that is not only effective in teaching and learning but efficient as well. Since such development strides have been achieved by several developed countries of the world, there is a likelihood that it is also possible in Nigeria. References

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Adam P. A. (2002). The Impact of Human Capital on Economic growth in Nigeria in Human

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Adenuga, A. O (2002). Educational Expenditure and Performance in Nigeria (1970-2000) ‘In

Human resources Development in Africa, Proceedings of the Nigeria Economic Society Annual Conference, Ibadan Pp. 199-222

Anyanwu J. C, A. Oyefusi, H. Oaikhenan and F.A. Dimowo (1999). Structure of the Nigerian

Economy Onitsha Joanee Education publishers CBN, (2003).Annual Report and Statement of Account, Abuja, Nigeria. Central Bank of Nigeria (2002). Statistical Bulletin, Abuja.

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Central Bank of Nigeria (2000). Statistical Bulletin, Abuja. Central Intelligence Agency (2013).Historical Collections and Publications. Engel R.F. and C.W.I Granger (1987). “Co-integration and Error Correction: Representation,

Estimation and Testing”. Econometrica, 55(2): 251 Enueme, Chika (1999). Education and Technology: Implications for Economic; Delta state

University, Abraka E-views 7.0 Econometric software Fafunwa, A. B. (1974). History of Education in Nigeria, London .Allen and Unwin Publisher Farrant; I. S. (1985). Principles and Practice of Education, London; Longman Publishing limited. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2000). Federal Ministry of Education Bulletin Abuja: Federal

Ministry of Education. Galbrait. J. K. (1964). Economic Development, London O.U.P Granger, C.W.I, (1986).Developments in the Study of Co-integrated Economic Variables: Oxford Bulletin and Statistics, Vol48(3): 213 – 228 Hallak, J. (1969). The Analysis of Education Costs and Expenditure Fundamentals of Educational

Planning Paris:UNESCO/ International Institute for Education planning. IIEP, P 20 Nwaogwu C. C. (1997).The Environment of Crisis in the Nigerian Education System.

Comparative Education 33 (1): 87 – 95 Olaniyi, O. O. and Adam J.A (2002).Public Expenditure and Human Development in Nigeria

Economic Society Annual Conference, IbadanPp. 157-198 Philip G. Altbach, (2013). The International Imperative in Higher Education. Rotterdam, the

Netherlands: Sense Publishers. Sambo, A.A (2002). The Nigerian Education System : A Brief History. National Freedom, 1 (6): 8

– 9. UNDP 2009 Report Schumpeter .J. (1954).The History of Economic Analysis, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Structural Adjustment Program (1986), Abuja Tahir, G. (2006, January 3) Universal Basic Education: A Flagship Progamme of the Federal

Government of Nigeria. Vanguard Newspaper (p.24). www.ubec.gov.ng UNESCO. (1998-a) World Science Report, UNESCO, Paris Wagner, Adolph (1863). Grundlegung der PolitschenOkonomite World Bank (1997).The State in a Changing World, World Development Report, New York:

Oxford University Press. World Bank(1998). Viewing Development from the Perspective of knowledge. Bulletin vol 9 No 1

pp 1- 16

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Motivation: Panacea for Increased Employees’ Performance in Organization

By Ovaga, Okey H. (Ph.D)

Abstract The success or failure of an organization depends largely upon the performance of the organizations’ employees. These employees are endowed with various degrees of skills, knowledge and capabilities, which organizations should exploit to their own advantage. To do this, they (employees) should be motivated to enable them give out their best to the organizations. The focus of this paper is to find out the extent to which employees can be motivated to enhance their performance towards increasing organizations’ productivity. During the course of the paper, it was discovered that workers respond more positively to intrinsic motivation factors than extrinsic needs. In other words, workers’ performance increase more when organizations pay greater attention to their emotion and feelings through better supervision and increased workers’ participation in decision making. Introduction The term motivation has been generating a lot of concern among prominent scholars who are interested in studying organizations and the way they are managed. This is because more acquisition of skills, knowledge and ability, do not in most cases ensure best performance among employees of organizations. It is in this context that the following basic questions arise. Why do most of the employees not mobilize their potential skills, knowledge and capabilities to achieve optimum performance?, why do the employees of one organization work more efficiently than those of another that have the same potentials?, and what are the factors and conditions that can impel individuals to achieve excellence in their fields of endeavour? (Basu, 2006:165). These and other questions might have led to the wide notion that the ability of any organization to achieve its objectives will depend largely on the motivation of its workers. No wonder why Ezeani (2006:136), contended that no manager or administrator can succeed in achieving optimal productivity for his or her enterprise without knowing what motivates workers. It is on this premise that this paper sought to find out how and the extent to which employees can be motivated to bring increased productivity in organizations. Clarification of concepts: Motivation: There are various definitions of motivation. According to Naidu (2006:313), motivation means “will to do”. He said, “it is the direction, strength and persistence of an individual’s behaviour”. In the same way, Ivancevich et al (1994), understood motivation as a set of forces that initiate behaviour and determine its form, direction, intensity and duration. It equally means an act of directing an individual’s behaviour towards a particular end through the manipulation of incentives (Obiajulu and Obikeze, 2004:299). In his own view, Glueck (1979), saw motivation as a process that arouses, sustains and channels behaviour into specific course. Irune (2009:33) shares the same view with the above writer when he summed up the definition of motivation as inner state that energizes, channels and sustains human behaviour. But Morhead and Griffin (1989) quoted in Onah (2005:119), Department of Public Administration and Local Government, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

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had a different view about motivation. According to them, to attain high level of performance in an organization, an employee must want to do the job (motivation/willing), be able to do the job (ability), and have the materials to do the job (environment). But Onah (2005:119), contended that, of the three factors mentioned by the above writers, motivation takes the priority since even if a worker is able to perform a task and the environment is most conducive, the task can be performed only if he is willing. In other words, there will be no appreciable increase in production in any organization if workers are not properly motivated. That is to say that increase in productivity cannot be guaranteed in an organization without motivation. Emphasizing more on the indispensability of motivation in the performance of employees towards achieving the organizational goals, Sharma and Sadana (2007:665), argued that an employee may be skilled or very competent to do a work, but nothing can be achieved if he is not willing to work. Therefore, motivation in simple term, means creation of a will to work. Stressing more on the willingness to work, Robbins (1980:320), saw motivation as the willingness to do something, which is conditioned by this action’s ability to satisfy some internal state that makes certain outcomes appear attractive (need) for the individual. In more explicit form, motivation can be described as extrinsic and intrinsic. According to Mullins (1996:7), extrinsic motivation is related to tangible rewards such as salary, fringe benefits, security, promotion, contract of service, etc while intrinsic motivation is associated with psychological rewards which include the opportunity to use one’s ability, a sense of achievement, receiving appreciation, positive recognition, e t c. Mullins expressed his view further by providing basic motivational model as shown below: Basic Motivation Model: Source: Sharma, M.P. and Sadana, B.L (2009:666). In his own words, Onah (2003:16), described motivation as the forces that cause people to behave in certain ways. He supported his view with cases of: (i) A student who stays up all night to ensure that his or her term paper is the best it

can be, and (ii) A medical doctor who makes follow-up phone calls to his or her patient to check on their conditions, are all motivated. According to him, they are simply motivated to achieve different types of things. From the manager’s viewpoint, the objective is to

Needs or

Expectations

Driving force

(Behaviour or Action) Result in

To achieve

Desired Goals

Feedback Fulfillment

which provide

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motivate people to behave in ways that are in the organization’s best interest (Moorhead and Griffin, 1995), quoted in Onah (2003:16-17). From the foregoing, motivation can simply be termed as an inducement that makes one to behave in a special way in order to achieve a target proposed by an organization. Organization: Scholars of Human Resources management have defined organization in various forms. One of them includes Hall (1972:22), who in his own view, defined organization to mean a collective effort with relatively identifiable boundary, normative order, ranks of authority, communication systems and membership. This collectivity exists on a relatively continuous basis in an environment and engages in activities that are usually related to a goal. This definition is observed to be broad in all ramifications but has some flaws. An organization is understood to be a social system, which involves human effort before the organization goals are achieved. The writer concentrated more on how to adopt organization structures and process to the socio-psychological needs of human beings within each organization (Onah, 2006:241). Hall ignored the human side enterprises and emphasized on the work and work place technology. In his own contribution, Barnard (1938), defined organization as a system of consciously coordinated personal activities of two or more persons held together by a capacity to generate a common purpose. This will in addition to willingness on the part of its members contribute to its process, and by effective communications. He claimed that organizations function properly through an “equilibrium” of contributions and inducements. Barnard suggested that an organization, at each level, must provide satisfaction to its members through material incentives or inducements (money and opportunities for distinction), desirable conditions for work, ideal benefits, pride and workmanship, patriotism, and loyalty to organization. He said, to maintain equilibrium in an organization, these inducements must be provided in sufficient quantity. Barnard’s contribution has actually closed the gap created by some earlier writers, who unconsciously omitted human factor in their definitions. Performance:

According to Honrby (2001:865), performance is an act of doing something well or badly. But in contrast, Elekwa (1996:49), defined it as the relationship between inputs used to produce a service and the output or results of that service. He was of the view that performance can be increased through getting a job done with less resources or getting more or better work done with the same resources. That is why performance stresses efficiency in attaining a goal. Elekwa made himself clearer by citing an instance of two men and one truck that can pick up as much garbage at a point, and with the same result in sanitary or cleanliness standards, as four men and two trucks did previously. According to him, performance has increased since two men and one truck could complete the same work, which four men and two trucks were able to do. Technically, Elekwa summarized his work by stating that performance is the total of an organization’s outputs divided by inputs for a given year. In order to help employees improve their present performance and plan for their future careers, employees’ performance should be regularly evaluated or appraised. It is in the light of this thinking that Onah (2003:196), defined performance appraisal as the process of determining how well employees do their job compared with a set of standards and communicating the information to the employees concerned. Precisely, he saw it as:

(a) Setting work standards; (b) Assessing the employees’ standards; and

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(c) Providing feedback to the employees with the aim of motivating them to eliminate performance deficiencies or to continue to perform at about par. In the mind of the writer, the main thrust of the employees’ assessment was to find ways of motivating them so as to increase their performance for the attainment of the organizational goals. Therefore, efforts made by any organization to increase workers’ performance through motivational approach cannot be overemphasized, thus, motivation should be regarded as a driving force or inducement to an employee to increase his performance towards achieving organization’s desired objectives. Theories of Motivations: Motivation has been drawing attention from renowned scholars who study organization and their management. Their interests in motivation eventually resulted to the propounding of certain theories, which provided an insight into human behaviour, that can promote organizational efficiency if properly guided. Thus, theories of motivation have been classified into Prescriptive, Content and Process theories. Prescriptive Theories: The proponents of these theories, Taylor (1856-1915) and Mayor (1978), were concerned with how the workers’ performance in organizations could be raised to attain desired goals. In essence, the main objective of any good management should either be to increase productivity or reduce unit cost. One of the approaches to achieve this is to motivate the workers. According to Taylor (1856-1915), quoted in Basu, (2006;130), motivation can be either positive or negative. For instance, a worker should be rewarded appropriately if his or her output achieves an optimum level under desirable conditions. Conversely, if his or her output falls below expectation, penalty should be imposed on the defaulters. Therefore, Taylor and his co-traditionalists were concerned with the use of rewards and punishment to induce workers to accomplish desired behaviour. Taylor also believed that employees could be induced to work harder, if paid higher wages. He asserted that financial incentives, which can take the form of salary increases, bonuses, merit increases, can add a great deal to the efficiency of workers. It is a known fact that an average human being dislikes to work until he is coerced, directed or threatened with punishment to put forth adequate effort toward the achievement of organizational objectives (Ezeani, 2006:158-159). To achieve this, Basu (2006:130), suggested the payment of high wages by the management. In the same vein, Irune (2009:35), opined that financial reward can be a good source of motivation to workers, whom he believed were essentially lazy. It is pertinent to note that the underlying principle propagated by Taylor and other writers that money or financial reward was enough to motivate workers has been proved to be inadequate. In other words, money alone cannot motivate or induce workers to increase their performance. Therefore, the economic incentive system put forward by Taylor has not withstood subsequent tests of its adequacy (Naidu, 2006:78). The obvious deficiency in Taylor’s motivational approach led to the Hawthorne experiments and Human Relations approach. The researcher, Mayor (1927-1932) in Stoner (1978:47), discovered a gap in Taylor’s theory. The essence of his research was to find out the best motivators that could eventually lead to employees’ optimum performance. According to him, people do not necessarily work for high wages. He argued that economic means or material rewards alone would not raise workers’ performance rather the emotional attitudes of workers towards their organizations and co-workers were the major factors that ensured increase in the organization’s productivity. The outcome of his experiment revealed that production increased when work groups felt

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that they were important and their efforts meaningful. In other words, workers performed more efficiently because special attention was devoted to them. In response to Mayor’s submission, management of organizations began to pay greater attention to employee’s emotion, feelings, through better supervision, increased workers’ participation in decision making and attention given to informal work groups (Irune, 2009:35). The importance of Mayor’s research to organizations cannot be overemphasized since his work has developed a more complex and realistic model, which has recognized human being as an influential input into organization’s performance. Now, man is regarded as a key contributor to increased performance in the organizational goal attainment. Content Theories: The theories focus on particular needs that motivate individuals to act in certain ways (Obiajulu and Obikeze, 2004:299). In the same vein, Ezeani (2006:138), asserted that content approach is concerned with what motivates people to behave in certain ways. Sharing the same view with the above writers, Irune (2009;36), Understood content theories as work motivation that stresses the importance of understanding the factors within individuals that cause them to act in special ways. It is crystal clear from the above contributions that the approach emphasizes on special needs, which must induce workers to behave in particular ways. This shows that increase in workers’ performance will depend largely on the urge to satisfy certain basic needs of life. Therefore, motivation to some extent, is predetermined by certain needs. There are major content theories that have aroused the interest of most scholars in the Social Science world. They include Abraham H. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory; Frederick Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory; Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y; and David C. McClelland’s Achievement Motivation Theory. In this study, the theories would be highlighted as follows: 1. The Hierarchy of Needs: Abraham Maslow (1908-1970).

The Hierarchy of Human Needs Theory, otherwise known as “Satisfaction of Needs Theory” was developed by Maslow (1954), to account for the roots of human motivation in terms of need fulfillment. According to him, the theory rests on four principal assumptions. The first is that man is a satisfaction –seeking animal; second, human motivation arises from certain driving needs common to all persons; third, a satisfied need can no longer motivate behaviour; and fourth, it is only a need a person is striving to satisfy that motivates a behaviour pattern (Maslow,1954). But it is pertinent to note that man is motivated by constant unsatisfied and changing needs (Pratt and Bennett, 1979:27). Maslow (1954), in Sharman and Sadana (2007:667), identified five types of human needs, which were arranged in a hierarchy of importance. These needs are shown in the figure below and arranged in ascending order of importance.

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Fig. 1: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Source: Adapted from Craft, L.Z, (1996:48). (i.) Physiological Needs: They include food, water, clothing, shelter, sleep, and even sexual satisfaction. These needs, according to Sharma and Sadana (2007:667), are the basic survival needs related to the instinct for self-preservation. The writers saw them as physical comfort and basic working conditions in organizations. (ii) Security or Safety Needs: Once physiological needs are relatively met, there is need for people to seek for security and protection from danger, threats and deprivation. They include fear of loss of job, food, shelter, property or clothing (Koontz, Weihrich and O’ Donnell, 1983:636). In an organization, the security needs can be achieved through job security, insurance scheme, good retirement benefits and a safe working environment (Obiajulu and Obikeze, 2004:301) (iii) Social Needs: Since man is naturally a social being, there is need for him to belong to a group and interact with the people around him. In essence, these needs comprise belongingness, association, acceptance, love, friendship, group feeling and human contact (Irune, 2009: 40). In the workplace, they can be achieved through social interaction among the workers and between the workers and the management. (iv) Esteem or Ego Needs: According to Maslow (1954), in Ezeani (2006:139), and Basu (2006:169), these needs can be expressed in the form of self –esteem or achievement (confidence, independence and freedom) and reputation or prestige (recognition, attention and fame). They can be realized in an organization through attractive reward system, challenging job responsibilities assigned to workers and good job titles (iv) Self–Actualization Needs: One seeks self-actualization when the above four needs have been reasonably satisfied. There is need for individuals to realize their capacities and potentials. The needs are concerned with the development of an individuals’ full potentials and self –fulfillment (Chukwuemeka et al, 1998:173). In the same vein, Ezeani (2006:139), asserted that it is the desire to achieve one’s potentials (to become everything that one is capable of becoming). But, the specific form these needs take varies from person to person. For instance, one person may have desire to achieve a particular position in life, while another person may have a contrast desire to excel in his own profession (Basu, 2006:169).

Self-Actualization

Esteem (Ego)

Social

Security (Safety)

Physiological

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(2) Theory X and Theory Y: Douglas McGregor (1906 -1964). These Theories as propounded by Douglas McGregor represent the positive and negative views of human nature. According to McGregor (1960:33), Theory X which represents authoritarian management, has negative tendency while Theory Y that has the characteristic of positivism stands for participative management. Under Theory X, an administrator holds the following assumptions as depicted hereunder: an average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will possibly avoid it if he can; it is believed that since man dislikes work, he must be forced, directed, controlled and threatened with certain kind of punishment to get him to work towards achieving the organizational goals; an average human being prefers to be led and wishes to avoid responsibility wherever possible; most workers place security above all other factors associated with work and will display little ambition (Naidu, 2006:127). These assumptions, which were organized into Theory X have portrayed man as an insecure being, dislike and shirker of all forms of work. The implication of man’s position in this Theory is that his potentials cannot be x-rayed, let alone utilize them. This is because the central principle which derives from the theory is that of direction and control through the exercise of authority (Basu, 2006:173). Sequel to the flaws and criticisms leveled against Theory X, McGregor decided to improve on it and later came up with Theory Y with the following underlying basic assumptions: given the right conditions, the average human being enjoys and views work as natural as rest or play; most people therefore, prefer self-control and self-direction in accomplishing task work; most people can learn to accept and even seek responsibility; and people desire to exercise creativity in organizational problem solving (Naidu, 2006:128). In contrast to Theory X, this Theory Y presents a positive view of human nature, as was mentioned earlier on. It posits that workers can direct their own efforts towards attaining their own particular objectives and also the organizational goals, if properly motivated. Here, workers are given the opportunity to contribute and even participate effectively in the decision making processes of their organizations. That was why Sharma and Sadana (2007:670), believed that the ability to make good decision in organizations is widely dispersed throughout the population, and not necessary those in administrative functions. It is observed from the above discussion, the challenge thrown to the management of organizations, who would be mindful of the workers achieving the objectives of organizations. Therefore, these workers should be encouraged to perform more by motivating them as and when due. (3) Two-Factor Theory: Frederick Hertzberg (1966). This Theory which was propounded by Hertzberg was based on his findings drawn from the study conducted on the attitude of more than 200 accountants and engineers. During the course of his work, he discovered that there were two sets of factors that affected motivation and work. He stated that job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction came from two separate factors, which he termed as satisfiers and dissatisfiers. According to him, the satisfiers otherwise called motivators are intrinsic factors, which relate to the job content or nature of the job itself or describing the employee’s relationship to what he does (Ezeani, 2006:142). The presence of these motivating factors make workers to feel exceptionally good or satisfied, thereby inducing them to perform more creditably. These factors include work itself (challenging), added responsibility, opportunity for advancement, management recognition for good work and opportunity for personal growth (Sharma and Sadana, 2006:672). The factors, according

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to Hertzberg contribute strongly to the satisfaction of the employees and equally have some positive effects on their performance. On the other hand, there is work situation where workers feel exceptionally bad or dissatisfied. The events that usually lead to the situation are called dissatisfiers or hygiene or maintenance factors. These factors which are not motivators include money (salary), personal life, working conditions, working relationship, status, job security, company policy and quality of supervision (Sharma and Sadana, 2006, 672). Hertzberg (1966), reiterated that these factors help to maintain an employee but cannot motivate him or her. (4) Needs Theory: David McClelland David McClelland is the author of Needs Theory of Motivation. He succeeded in identifying three major relevant basic needs or motivates, that influence employees’ behaviour. According to McClelland (1961), the needs include. (i) The Need for Achievement or Achievement Motivation (n-Ach). It is believed that workers who aim at improving and performing better in their positions, are being influenced by achievement motivation. More often, they exhibit the following characteristics: quick and precise feedback on their performance; enjoy calculated risks and challenging opportunities; excited in solving complex problems; liked to be challenged; love initiatives; set moderately difficult goals for themselves; and have intense desire for success and fear of failure (McClelland, 1961). During the course of his research, McClelland found out that there was a significant relationship between high need for achievement and high levels of job performance. This is evident in the fact that most successful entrepreneurs in America have high motivation for achievement. Sequel to this assertion, Sharma and Sadana (2007:674), discovered that the need for achievement can be acquired through training. He claimed that countries and even organizations that have sizeable numbers of such individuals with the above qualities, are assured of rapid progress and increased performance. (ii) The Need for Power or Power Motivation (n-Pow): There are some people who feel alienated from other people in their environment. In this situation, it is the power motivation that will indeed relieve such people from their psychological boredom. To achieve this, they desire to go to any length to seek the attention of others. People in this group have the following qualities: desire to exercise influence and control; enjoy teaching and public speaking; exploitative; autocratic style; have good ideas; use of initiatives; and forceful, outspoken, hard headed and demanding (McClelland: 1961). Power motivation is strong in people who feel deficient in the above qualities. In most cases, managerial success is attributed to power motivation. That is why he believes that the best administrators are high in their need for power. (iii) Need for Affiliation or Affliction motivation (n-Aff): People who belong to this group seek ways of interacting with other individuals. They seek to establish friendly relationship with groups. They wish to be liked by others and belong to different groups. People in this group have the following features. They include sensitive to other’s feelings; like to develop warm and friendly personal relationships with others in an organization; always ready to console and help others in trouble; conform to group norms and values; like to share decisions; enjoy being members of teams; loyal to their departments or teams; and always desire to maintain pleasant social relationships (McClelland,1961). There are some employees who are strictly associated with the above characteristics. For instance, personnel employees,

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teachers, nurses, counselor and many government employees typically have high needs for affliction (Sharma and Sadana, 2007:675). Process Theories Process theories provide a special way of explaining how people are motivated in work places. There are many process theories that have attracted the attention of some scholars. Such theories include Vroom’s Valence Expectancy, Equity, Goal Setting, and Attribution. For the purpose of this study, discussion would be restricted to Vroom Valence Expectancy and Equity theories. (i) Valence Expectancy Theory: This theory, which was the brain-child of Victor H. Vroom was propounded in 1964. It was determined to establish relationship between effort (expectancy) and reward (valence) in terms of what motivate people. That is why the motivational forces of a job can be calculated if the expectancy and valence values are known. According to Sharma and Sadana, 2007: 675), the relationship can be expressed as Motivation = Valence x Expectancy where motivation is a set of forces that initiate people’s behaviour (Ivanceviech et al 1994), while valence is the strength of an individual’s desire for certain results or outcomes (Pratt and Bennett, 1979:32), and expectancy connotes an individual’s assessment of the probability that a particular act will or will not lead to certain outcome (Ezeani, 2006:148). Stressing further on their relationship, Ezeani stated that motivation occurs only when there exist positive valence and expectancy. This statement emphasized on the significant relationship existing between motivation as a dependent variable and valence and expectancy as independent variables. It is believed in this theory that the closer the actual outcomes to the employees’ expected outcomes, the more satisfied they will be. This is the more reason why employees, under normal circumstance evaluate the results or outcomes of their behaviour and the degree to which their expectations have been achieved (Irune,:2009:54). Here, Irune posited that satisfaction can be regarded as a feedback to the employee, which is likely to cause him to readjust his expectancies and valued outcomes. (2) Equity Theory

This theory as was propounded by J.S. Adams was concerned with the employees’ perception of how they would be treated along with their colleagues. According to him, the performance of workers in an organization will be adversely affected if equity, justice and fair treatment are lacking in its administrative system. In this circumstance, equity theory becomes relevant since the theory will help in understanding the causes and the likely consequences of feelings of inequitable treatment among the employees of organizations. Inequity exists when the ratio of a person’s total efforts and skills put into a job (inputs) to total outcomes (rewards he receives from the job), are less or greater than the perceived ratio of other people’s total inputs and total outcomes in similar situation. In his own words, Adams (1964: 422), stated that a worker will be more committed to the goals of the organization when he feels satisfied and motivated because he understands that what he is receiving from his organization is fair and commensurate with the effort and skills he is giving out. On the contrary, he feels hostile and frustrated, thus creating tension in his mind. It is pertinent to note in this theory that the feeling of equity and fairness plays an important part in the motivation of employees in organizations.

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Discussion The Hawthorne experiments of Elton Mayor have made appreciable contributions to increase in workers performance, thus increase in organization’s productivity. At the end of the experiments, the researchers concluded that the workers were not necessarily responding to the changes in the working conditions but to the improved style of supervision (Naidu, 2006:95). The implication of the conclusion was that workers felt satisfied because of the fact that they were more valued and appreciated. In addition, they claimed responsibility of their performance. That is to say that workers’ performance increase whenever they feel that they are important and their efforts are equally meaningful. Therefore, a sense of cohesiveness and self-esteem of workers are more important to performance than any number of improvements in the working environment. This submission is in consonant with Hertzberg’s (1966) and Maslow’s (1954) views. They were of the belief that motivation of workers in organizations can be assured through the higher level needs like esteem and self-actualization. The success or failure of an organization depends to a large extent upon the motivation of its employees. This is because a motivated worker without any expertise can achieve more for the organization than an expert with no motivation. For instance, mere possession of knowledge, skills and ability will not ensure best performance from employees (Basu, 2006:165). According to him (Basu), it is only when the employees are properly motivated that they will use their skill, knowledge and ability to ensure best result. This view is in line with the belief of Taylor (1856-1915), who opined that employees would work harder if paid more money. Here, money becomes a motivational factor, which he believed would induce workers to increase their performance towards achieving the organizational goals. The writers contended that employees’ performance are expected to rise should they be properly motivated. Taylor and his co-traditionalists equally believed in the power of motivation to increase workers performance. Irune (2009), in addition to Taylor (1856-1915), suggested the use of financial rewards to motivate workers, whom McGregor believed to be naturally lazy. In their own mind, motivation in this respect can be in the form of increases in wages, salaries, bonuses and other financial rewards. Hertzberg (1966), agreed with the above writers that money is a strong motivator but asserted that such motivation generated by it (money), is short lived and ceases to induce workers after the need is fulfilled. In his own words, Hertzberg stated that when a person gets one thing, then something else will motivate him and the need which has been fulfilled will have negative effect in determining his behaviour. That is to say that some motivators cease to influence people’s behaviours after the needs are fulfilled. The above theory and assertion are most prevalent and relevant to Nigeria’s situation. This is evident in the number of wage and salary agitations, which started from the colonial era in Nigeria. For instance, the first national wage review was in 1934(Eme, 2010: 197). The agitations for reviews continued from the date (1934) till the beginning of 2009 when the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) urged the Presidency to approve a national minimum wage of N52, 200 per month, which later culminated into the recently approved national minimum wage of N18,000 for all Nigerian workers. The table below depicts the issue of wage negotiations and increments in Nigeria between 1934 and 2011.

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Table 1 : Nigerian Minimum Wages (1934-2011)

Sources: (i) Adapted from Eme(2010: 196-197) (ii) Daily Sun, Wednesday July 6, 2011: 56. The table above has gone to large extent to confirm the relevance of Hertzberg’s (1966) and Maslow’s (1954) theories to Nigeria’s situation. The truth of the matter is that once the agitation for new wage was achieved, then it ceased to impact positively on the behaviours of the workers, thus agitations continued unabated. In Theory X, McGregor (1960), was of the conviction that man is inherently lazy and does not like to work. Therefore, to increase his performance in his organization, he, as a worker must be coerced, controlled and even threatened with punishment. This very theory is the best option for Nigeria. This is because motivation in the form of financial rewards hardly generate high productivity among Nigerian workers. It is observed that most Nigerians are not patriotic. In this respect, workers see government money as a national cake. Therefore, increase in their wages means their own rightful share of the cake and should not be seen as an incentive or motivation to workers. That is why the recent approved national minimum wage for Nigerian workers across board may not necessarily boost their performance in their workplaces. In addition, the above contention is equally based on the belief by Nigerian workers that the political office holders are sharing and carting away the national cake at the expense of the workers who are doing the actual work for the development of the country, hence wage increase cannot motivate workers to raise their performance. It was observed that in certain work environment, the existence of dissatisfying factors in reasonable quantity, will to a large extent prevent job dissatisfaction. These, according to Ezeani (2006:143) can never lead to motivation or job satisfaction. But in contrast, there was a widespread belief among some prominent scholars of motivation theories that the two groups of factor theory were not mutually exclusive as suggested by Hertzberg. For instance, motivators can act as sources of dissatisfaction, while dissatisfiers can also be motivators or satisfiers. In the same manner, motivators today can be tomorrow’s hygiene or dissatisfiers. This is possible because they (motivators)

Group Year Amount Government 1 Hints Committee 1934 Colonial Lords 2 The Harrgin Commission 1945 300 pla Colonial Lords 3 The Philliopson Adebo Commission

1948

4 The Gorsuch Commission 1954 Colonial Lords 5 The Mbanefo Commission 1959 15 to 20% Abubakar Tafawa Balewa 6 The Morgan Commission 1963 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa 7 The Eldwood Commission 1966 Yakubu Gowon 8 The Simeon Adebo Commission 1971 Bonus to

workers Yakubu Gowon

9 The Udoji Salary Award Commission 1972 N 312 pla to N700 pla

Shehu Shagari

10 Shehu Sahgari Wage Review Committee

1981to 1982

Wage Freeze

Muhammadu Buhari

11 Detwn Phillips Panel 1985 - Badamosi Babangida 12 National Minimum Wage

Decree No. 43 1991 N5, 500 Badamosi Babangida

13 National Minimum Wage Amendment Act No. 1

2000 N 5,500 p/m (states) N7,500 plm (federal)

Olusegu Obasanjo

14 Ernest Sonekan Committee 2005 Minimum Wage Review

Umar Yar Adua

15 Salary Review 2009 N52,200 Goodluck Jonathan. 16 Salary Review 2011 N 18,000 Goodluck Jonathan.

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have no further impact or influence on the behaviour of employees once they get what they needed. This statement is in consonant with Sharma and Sadana’s (2006:668) belief that once an individual satisfies a need at one level in the hierarchy, it ceases to motivate his behaviour, then he is motivated by the need at the next level up the hierarchy. A close look at the above contention shows that one’s hygiene or dissatisfier can possibly be the motivator of another person. Contrary to Hertzberg’s proposition that wages and salaries and fringe benefits do not motivate, experience has shown that these are strong motivators in Nigeria and most developing countries (Onah, 2005: 119). She argued that many employees are willingly to work for extra hours if they are adequately compensated. This is unlike in a well developed economy where these basic necessities of life are no longer motivational factors to employees. Recommendation The implication of using economic means (wage increase) as a motivator to workers is that performance may not increase more than the standard level of normal output for fear of losing jobs through downsizing of staff strength by the management of organizations. In such wage increase situation, performance of workers can be enhanced if they are assured of job security. For instance, the approved new national minimum wage in Nigeria can motivate workers to increase their performance if the fear of losing their job through possible reduction in workforce, is allayed. In other words, workers’ performance may eventually increase expectedly if they are assured of the safety of their jobs. Nigerian workers should be re-orientated towards disabusing their minds on the culture of seeing government money as national cake, that should be shared among strong hands in the country. They should be made to understand that Nigeria belongs to all of us and we should join hands together to strengthen the economy for the benefit of both the present and future generations. What is expected to be worrying the minds of Nigerians should be the purchasing capability of naira and not the quantity to grab. In this respect, Nigerian governments should ensure that the purchasing power of naira in Nigeria is raised to appreciable standard relative to other foreign currencies so that workers will be able to buy their needs at cheap prices. It is at this juncture, that wage increase will become effective and strong motivator to workers thus, increasing their performance.

McClelland Theory of Need for Achievement is a useful instrument for employees in most organizations. This is because workers who aim at improving and performing better in their positions, should be influenced by the achievement motivation. This is evident in the fact that most successful entrepreneurs in America and some other developed nations have high motivation for achievement. To ensure increase in the performance of workers in all organizations, they should be trained in this respect with a view to enjoying calculated risks and challenging opportunities, excited in solving complex problems, liked to be challenged, love initiatives, set moderately difficult goals for themselves, and equally have intense desire for success. Organizations should not hesitate to adopt this achievement motivation theory in their administrative system because any organization that have workers that are endowed with the above qualities are assured of rapid progress and increased performance. It is pertinent to note the Adams (1964:472) theory of Equity, which states that the performance of workers in an organization will be adversely affected if equity, justice and fair treatment are deficient in its administrative structure. In order to increase workers performance, the feeling of equity, justice and fairness should play an important part in the motivation of workers in organizations. This is in consonant with Adams (1964) belief that a worker will be more committed to the goals of organizations when he feels

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satisfied and motivated because he understands that what he receives from his organization is fair and commensurate with the efforts and skills he is giving out. During the course of the study, it was observed that emotional attitudes of workers towards their organizations and co-workers were the major factors that enhanced the organizations’ productivity. Therefore, to ensure increase in workers’ performance, management of organizations should appreciate their (workers) contributions and show to them that they are not only important but indispensable. In other words, management of organizations should pay greater attention to employees’ emotion and feelings through better supervision and increased workers participation in decision-making. This is in line with the submission by Mayor (1972-1932) that workers usually perform more efficiently when special attention is devoted to them. Conclusion Workers’ performance is as necessary as the organization itself. This is because the growth and level of productivity in any organization are dependent on the performance of its employees. In this respect, management of organizations should strive consistently to encourage workers to offer their best. To ensure increase in workers’ performance, the management of organizations should emphasize on motivating workers through improved style of supervision. That is to say that enabling environment should be created where workers are not alienated but special attention devoted to them. Consequently, workers will now gain enormously in work satisfaction with the feeling that they are teams of human beings that are recognized as an integral part of the organization and not cog in a machine. At this junction, increase in workers’ performance is assured most especially when they feel that they are now important and their efforts observed by the management as meaningful. References Adams, J.S. (1963). Towards an Understanding of Inequity”. Journal of Abnormal and

Social Psychology. Vol. 67. Basu R. (2006). Public Administration: Concepts and Theories. India: Sterling Publisher

Private Limited. Barnard, C.I. (1938). The Functions of Executives. Massachusetts: Harvard University

Press. Chukwuemeka, E.O. Eze, F.C. and Abah, N.C. (1998). Public Administration and

Development: The Nigerian Experience. Enugu: Marydan Publishers. Elekwa, N.N. (1996). “The concept of Performance in the Public Sector”. Nigerian

Journal of Public Administration and Local Government. Sub-Department of Public Administration and Local Government, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Vol. 7,No.I January,

Ezeani, E.O. (2006). Fundamentals of Public Administration. Enugu: Snaap Press Ltd. Eme, O.I. (2010). “The Union and Employee Welfare in Nigeria: Implications of

Minimum Wage Agitations on Industrial Relations, Work and Productivity.” In Onah and Oguonu (2010), Readings in Public Administration. Department of Public Administration and Local Government, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Press Ltd.

Glueck, F.W. (1979). Management Essentials. Hinsdale: The Dryden Press. Hall, R.H. (1972). Organizations: Structures and Process. New Jersey: Prentice Hall,

Inc. Englewood Cliffs. Hertzberg, F. (1966). Work and Nature of man. Cleveland: Work Publishing.

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Hornby, A.S. (2001). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 6th Edition.

Irune, S.O. (2009). ”The Administrator as a Motivator: How He can use Motivation Theories to Achieve Better Employee Performance in the Nigerian Civil Service. ”Nigerian Journal of Administrative Science. The Institute of Public Administration and Extension Services, University of Benin, Benin City, Vol. 8, Nos. 1 and 2, July.

Ivancevich, J.M. et al. (1994). Management Quality and Competitiveness. Illinois: Irwin Publishers.

Koontz H., O’ Donnell C. and Weihrich H. (1983). Management. London: McGraw-Hill International Book Company.

Maslow, A.H. (1954). Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper and Row. McClelland D. (1961). The Achieving Society. New York: Van Norstrand Reinhold Co. Mullins, L.J. (1996). Management and Organizational Behaviour. London: Pitman

Publishing, 4th Edition. McGregor D. (1960). The Human Side of Enterprise. New York: McGraw Hill. Naidu, S.P. (2006). Public Administration: Concepts and Theories. New Selhi: New Age

International Limited Publishers. Obiajulu S. and Obikeze, O.A. (2004). Public Administration in Nigeria: A

Developmental Approach. Onitsha: Bookpoint Limited. Onah, F.O. (2003). Human Resources Management. Nsukka: Fulladu Publishing

Company. Onah, R.C. (2005). Public Administration. Nigeria: Great Ap Express Publishers Limited. Onah, F.O. (2006). Managing Public Programmes and Projects. Nuskka: Great Ap

Express Publishers Limited. Pratt, K.J. and Bennett, D.G. (1979). Elements of Personnel Management. London: GEE

and Co. Publishers. Robbins, S.P. (1980). The Administrative Process. New Jersey, USA: Prentice Hall Inc,

2nd Edition. Sharma, M.P. and Sadana, B.L. (2007). Public Administration in Theory and Practice.

New Delhi: Kitab Mahal. Stoner, J.A.F. (1978). Management. London: Prentice-Hall International.

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An Overview of Democratic Rule and Democratization Process in Nigeria: 1999 – 2013.

By Mukhtar Abdullahi

Abstract

The democratization process in Nigeria is about the institutionalization of democracy for the attainment of political and economic development of the nation. The current experience originates in May 1999 under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who was elected President under the flat form of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This study focuses on the problems of transforming an authoritarian political system into a democratic system, particularly in the fourteen years of civilian administration. The objective of the study is to among other things, identify and explain the problems and prospects of democratization in Nigeria and suggest correct measures to be taken for positive results. Identified in this work is that lack of respect to the rule of law by elected officials, constitute a major problem for demoralization. Other specific problems include corruption of public officials, election rigging, lack of accountability and lack of security of life and property. The study suggests policy options that would reduce suspicion and fears among Nigerians and restore people’s confidence in government. These includes among others proper application of law in all matters of governance, proper implementation of budgets and free and fair election as well as provision of adequate security. Key words: Democracy, Governance, Democratization Process, Nigeria. Introduction What should be the best form of government has engaged the attention of men since time immemorial. The discovery of democracy as a form of government that guarantees liberty, freedom and equality, was seen as an achievement by man. Thus the current agitations for changes by African countries could be regarded as a quest for democratic rule.

At the onset of the Fourth Republic in Nigeria in May 1999, the people were full of expectations that the new democratic project will not only facilitate national integration, and economic development, but also political stability after several years of military rule that was characterized by political controversies. “The high expectations were borne out of several factors the most important being the fact that, Obasanjo was credited as the Head of State who implemented the policies initiated by late Murtala Muhammad (between 1976-1979), that altered the structural, economic, political and social foundations on the country” (Dunmoye 2003). It was therefore reasoned that he knew and understood the complex terrain of Nigerian political system. Thus Nigerians were awaiting eagerly the much-shouted dividends of democracy. According to Dunmoye, “the high expectations soon evaporated into gloomy smoke of despair” (Ibid).

Conceptual Clarification Two key concepts will have to be explained in clear terms here.

1. Democratic Rule Democratic rule here refers to representative and participatory governance which, according to Claire M.C. Quillan, quoted in (Abubakar, A. 2003) “is responsive and responsible exercise of Gen. Studies Directorate, School of Mangt. Technology Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi email: muktarabdullahi68@gmail.com, gsm: 08069673530

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power over matters of public concern (Vanguard News June 20). Democratic Governance she emphasized, must not only embrace ethics in order to maintain legitimacy but it is also a concept which comprises institutions and processes that determine how authority is exercised, how decisions are made and how citizens have their say. It is the principle of direct say for direct benefits for all citizens.

Eline Ostrum, quoted in (Mahmud T. 2002), maintains that: “democratic governance covers all sections of our societies in that it is the regularized way of ordering human societies”. Viable government is judged by its outcome. It celebrates itself in terms of happiness it brings to the people within its defined polity. It refers to a viable government. A viable government must manifest itself in the improved welfare of the people within its jurisdiction. It must provide the people with security and address their fears. It must also give them hope, realizable hope for their aspiration and assist them to achieve these aspirations. “A viable government must be able to assist the people and provide the appropriate and conducive environment to attain the highest of their ambitions“(New Nigerian May 30 ).

Mahmud Tukur (2005), describe a democratic system as “that which allows the people to choose and change their governments at prescribed regular intervals by means, which are free of coercion, cheating, corruption and undue interference”. It ensures electoral processes which are, and are seen to be equitable, fair, transparent, credible and devoid of manipulations (Leadership June 5).

The above clarification centers on democracy as the most acceptable system of rule the world over. Certain basic conditions are considered as necessary for democracy to thrive. These are, a functioning economy, a large body of reasonable educated, gainfully employed population, a patriotic middle class, a reasonable and responsible power elite and a transparent and competent political leadership {Ibid]. Nigeria and indeed most African countries are yet to muster these requirements. Without these basics, it is not possible for democratic institutions, including the political parties, associations and media to thrive. Mahmud further argued that: “democracy is the most perfect form of government that must always be accompanied by free election, universal free suffrage, individual liberty and periodic short terms of office, in any political system that claims to be practicing or evolving democracy”(Ibid). Though illusion and subjectivity surrounds democracy, indices may be identified as approximating aspects of democracy, though the aspects themselves are in turn subjective in nature. Liberty, freedom, equality, delegation, representation, control, limitation of government are very essential. Also central to democracy is the existence of political parties and associations and institutions of electoral process.

ii. Democratization Process Democratization in this article refers to the process of moving authoritarian system to democratic political system. In Africa, democratization evolves out of the process by which the military and authoritarian regime, gradually disengage from governance in order to make way for a popularly elected civilian government by means of a transition program (Esew, 2003 ). Broadly, speaking democratization process is a means of achieving the supposed desired ends, that is, good government or human happiness. The definition and interpretation of these ideals into reality has also led to the problem of institutionalizing democracy. Democratization is an exercise in putting conception into reality. In the light of this, democratization as an all-encompassing process must be seen in essence and substance, as how an authouchtonous and ethnocentric process of societal values, ethics, norms and

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nuances are organized. Muftwang ( 2003 ) and Esew (2003:17), concurred that, democratization connotes political liberalization of the avenues of decision – making. When applied to the politics of Africa, Diamond et al (1999 ) put it thus: “the concept of (democratic) transition is a specific generic references to the cycle to democratizing authoritarian or one party rule and of re-democratization that has characterized the politics of many countries (in Africa) since the 1960s”…… “Sometimes it is set in motion by military intervention to prevent the nation from deterioration into chaos or anarchy”. The Democratization Process in Nigeria (1999-2013) The current democratization process in Nigeria reflects the quest for the institutionalization of democracy. The desires for economic and political reforms remain inseparable as deduced from recent experiences in the (Former Soviet Union and Eastern Germany) and historical experiences of developed economies.

The process in the country originates during the period of military rule. Nigeria’s first attempt at democratization (democratic transition) in the post – Independence period was initiated by the Murtala/Obasanjo Administration in 1975 after the overthrow of General Yakubu Gowon ( Oyediran, et al (2005); Esew, (2003); and Abdullahi, ( 2013).

The second Republic lasted for a period of four years (1979-1983), because the civilian administration of President Shehu Shagari was bedeviled by serious economic crisis and the crisis of political legitimacy which followed the disputed 1983 general elections. These crises led to the collapse of the Shagari government in December 1983.

The regime of General Muhammad Buhari (1983-1985) had no plan for transition to civil rule. There was also an attempt at democratic transition between 1985-1993 under President Ibrahim Babangida, but it was ill-fated with the annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election, Esew (2001); Esew, (2003); Etannibi (2004) and Abdullahi (2013). The next in the series was the one by General Sani Abacha (1993-1998) which was also inconclusive with his sudden demise on June 8, 1998.

The second successful democratic transition which ushered in the 4th Republic in Nigeria (1998-1999) was by General Abdulsalami Abubakar. General Abubakar took over government after the sudden death of General Sani Abacha on June 8, 1998. His main agenda on assumption of office was the transfer of power to a civilian democratically elected government. To this end, he realized a transition program (Oyediran et al, 2005).

In accordance with the program, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was set up to register political parties and organizes elections. Three political parties were then registered namely, the Alliance for Democracy (AD); the All Peoples Party (APP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Elections were conducted in to the various levels of government. The Fourth Republic took off on 29th May 1999 under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. On assumption to office, President Obasanjo state that:

“One of the immediate acts of this administration will be to implement, quickly and decisively measures that would restore confidence in governance. These measures will help to create the auspicious atmosphere necessary for the reforms and the difficult decisions and the hard work required to put the country back on the path of development and growth” (Presidential Inaugural speech, New Nigerian May 29, 1999).

The agenda was hinged on over-hauling the economy and achieving macro-economic stability through Due process mechanism, war on corruption, privatization, fiscal and budgetary reforms, debt management and the political reform program. The above appeared to be laudable policies but when it comes to implementation, the action

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of the government appeared to be controversial. Most of the economic policies ( from the time of Obasanjo up to the current period) have not yielded positive results for Nigerians and are in fact shrouded in mystery and official corruption. Political Issues The experience of the Nigerian politics over the period of fourteen years of civilian administration, 1999 - 2013 is characterized by lack of accountability, coercion, naked violence, greed, brazen manipulation and wider scheming. Lack of respect to rule of law is a major setback to civilian governments particularly Obasanjo period. We can recall the series of political crisis which besets this country soon after the inauguration of his administration – Shagamu mayhem, the Lagos, Kaduna, Plateau, Port Harcourt. Anambra, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Bauchi disturbances among others. In all these crises, the government was unable to bring even one person to book. Police will conduct investigations and with all the intelligence outfits at the disposal of the government, it could not do anything. That attitude of the government encouraged Nigerians to take the law into their hands. They simply retaliate, because the government has failed in the discharge of its responsibility. This has raised again the issue about the national question. The metamorphosis of all these was the emergence of ethnic militias all over the country like the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), the Arewa Peoples Congress (APC), the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), the Bakassi Boys, the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), etc. Increasing friction among Nigerians along regional lines lead to the emergence of tribal and regional groups like Afenifere, Ohaneize-Ndigbo, Arewa Consultative Forum, and Niger Delta Youths movement etc. (i) Executive –Legislature Relations The relationship between the legislature and the Executive during the period under review was not so cordial. There had been some accusations between the presidency and the members of the National Assembly for recklessness and corruption. Some of the issues at conflict between the legislature and executive between 1999-2006 includes – the scrapping of the PTF by the Executive; Furniture allowance for members of the National Assembly; interference by the executive in the affairs of the National Assembly; credibility over the finance of the legislature; amendment of the electoral Act 2000; the aborted repealing of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission ( ICPC ) Act 2000, and the Third Term Agenda ( Dunmoye, 2003 ). All these put the relation between the Executive and legislature at deteriorating point, jeopardizing the interest of Nigerians. This culminated into the removal of three senate Presidents namely Evans Enwerem, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo and Adolpos Wabara and the first speaker of the House of Representatives Alhaji Salisu Buhari. These were followed by the impeachment Saga against the president by the National Assembly under speaker Ghali Umar Na’abba. The Assembly accused the president among other things for using the consolidated revenue fund without appropriations and spending money in excess of appropriations. The uneasy relations continued and by August 2002, the House of Representatives gave the president the ultimatum to resign or be impeached. A list of 36 impeachable offences against the president was drawn up. The senate later joined in the threat of impeachment. This development heated up the political system and threatened the nascent democratic experiment. The impeachment saga was averted through the intervention of some well meaning Nigerians including former leaders and traditional rulers. All these happened before the general election of 2003 (Ibid).

From 2003 to 2007, the second term of Obansajo’s government, Nigeria drifted into a pariah state with increased violence particularly in the Niger Delta region. Under

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late President Yar’Adua, the relationship between the Executive and Legislature improved significantly because of the President’s resolve to implement wide range political and economic reforms. The magnanimous decision of Yar’Adua to grant Amnesty to the militants in Niger Delta restores peace in the area and help in revamping the economy. But things began to change when the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan came to office in 2010. Some of the contentious issues in the relation between the two arms of government include budgetary allocation and allegations of corruption. The award of zero allocation to the Securities and Exchange Commission by the National Assembly in the 2013 budget was a case in point (Sadiq & Abdullahi, 2013). Again for the first time in the history of this country the President delegated his finance minister to present the 2014 budget to the National Assembly on his behalf. (ii) Tenure Elongation Saga In an attempt to perpetuate himself in power President Olusegun Obasanjo secretly initiated the political reform agenda that was set to add more time (third term) to elected officers including the president and governors. The third term agenda had again set the legislature and the executive at each other’s throat. As the president was bent to continue in office beyond the 2007 date prescribe by the constitution, he quickly organized a constitutional and political conference in 2005 and nominated about one third of its members single handedly. The confab was charged to revise the 1999 constitution and suggest possible changes to be considered by the National Assembly. It was alleged that the president’s representatives have sneaked into the Conference copies of a revised version of the 1999 Constitution proposing for a third term or a six year single tenure for elected public officials. Even though the President denied involvement in the issue, it became obvious that a hidden agenda was on course. The third term agenda was magnanimously rejected by the senate and the House Representative on Tuesday 25th May 2006. Although the third term agenda by former President Obasanjo was unanimously rejected by the National Assembly, the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan has advocated a six years single tenure for the President and state Governors. The move was not supported by majority of the Nigerian people. Yet many are apprehensive that the ongoing National Conference may be use to channel the idea of a single tenure under the Conference’s political reform proposal to be submitted to the people in a referendum. (iii) The General Elections: 2003; 2007; and 2011. A general look at the civilian rule reveals that election in Nigerian democracy is up to this time not yet a game of the electorate; it is a game of the government, and the federal government. Power resides with government and not the people. The Federal Government in collaboration with other agencies like INEC and the Police determine who wins, where and how. In fact the Leadership described the 2003 General election as the worst in the country and called it “the 419 election”(Leadership June 5, 2005).

Election rigging is notorious fact both in its incidence and in the form it takes and now to constitutes the most serious problem confronting democracy in Nigeria. By its very nature, election rigging, particularly of the massive kind alleged to have been perpetrated during the April 2003, 2007 and 2011 general elections, is subversion of the constitution and of the democratic form of government. It is a robbery of the right of the people to participate in their own government, or in Wole Soyinka’s more telling metaphor “the stealing, the thief of their voices” (Vanguard June 20, 2003). It is therefore the greatest offence that can be committed against the constitution and people of Nigeria. In the light of the above, it would be difficult to expect a sustainable democratic agenda of governance to emerge from a deeply fraudulent electoral process like the one

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we have witnessed in 2003, 2007 and 2011. A corrupt process will invariably impact negatively on performance. And where there is a wishful attempt to corrupt the process through acts of coercion and fraud or an equally damaging situation of gross administrative incompetence, or both, it is wishful thinking, at best to expect a sustainable democratic agenda to emerge. Socio-Economic Issues The supposed beneficiaries of democratization are typically peasant farmers who have no good food, no good road, no good education, and no good health. Paradoxically, the democratization process in Nigeria has focused on the political elite who unfortunately are busy subverting democracy in various ways. We never learn, we try to pursue democracy against our culture and social experience and turn it into an exercise in alienation. Democratization like development has to take us as we are and not as we ought to be.

On assumption of office the Obasanjo administration had embarked upon different government programs to jump-start the economy in the manner that is pro-poor and poverty reducing-hence the establishment of National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP), under a reform package called NEEDS. The result and sincerity of this claim is still contestable. Sadiq and Abdullahi (2013), observed that, fourteen years after the inception of NAPEP the level of poverty in the country is still very high and crimes and social vices are still prevalent. Looking at the other economic reform programs one may question the good intention of the PDP government. For instance, is the privatization Policy not a program for the Nigerian financial elite? Why are the majority of contracts awarded since the inception of the PDP administration not implemented in spite of the Due1 Process. Look at the poor handing of the Electricity project under Obasanjo, which forced the National Assembly to institute a probe which indicted many PDP stalwarts including late Chief Bola Ige and Senator Iyabo Obasanjo among others. Yet the government did not take any action on that.

The PDP’S anti-corruption crusade is believed to be targeted at those that fell out of government favor and has tenaciously ignored request to investigate alleged scams within the presidency. The fiscal reforms are guided by the World Bank and IMF, which are concerned about their interest first. Thus leading to devaluation of the naira and failure to repair the refineries. The privatization project is believed to be a portal for official thieving. The former head of the project and minister of the FCT under Obasanjo, Nasir El-Rufa’i, was in 2005 indicated by the Senate for corrupt dealing while handling the pet program and suggested that he should be banned from holding public office for forty years (Leadership June 5, 2005). Serious cases of scandals were recorded under the present administration of Goodluck Jonathan, like the Halliburton scandal, the fuel subsidy fund scandal, the Police Pension Fund scam, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) misappropriation of funds case.

The civilian administration has not done much in terms of revamping the educational sector. Year in year out, the crisis of the educational sector has deepened with teachers going on strike in many states of the federation. Very little effort is seen in terms of real investment in education except in few states. The 25% budgetary allocation to education earmarked for the developing countries was yet to be implemented in the country. Consequently, the existing universities, both federal and state, are underfunded and the staff are demoralized. The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU has just ended a prolonged strike action which lasted for six months, while their counterpart in the Polytechnics, ASUP is yet to end its eight months industrial action.

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Evaluating the PDP government in May 2001 Chief Olu Falaye asserts that “if the government performances in dealing with political crisis is poor, its achievement in the economic domain is nothing short of a disaster” (Vanguard May, 2001). In addition the government has constantly since 1999, increased the prices of petroleum products which in turn affects the prices of goods and services. The insensitivity of the PDP government culminated into total withdrawal of fuel subsidy in January 2012. This ugly development generated crisis in the country as the Labor Union demanded for the immediate reversal of the decision. The protests turned into violence with scores killed and many injured across the country. The government later reversed its earlier decision to meet the demands of the labor. Senator Saidu Dan Sadau maintained that; “not much has been achieved by the PDP administration giving the high hopes raised by Obansanjo’s inaugural address in 1999 couple with the expectations of Nigerians at that time. Things have been very rough for the Nigerian farmer, very rough for the Nigerian manufacturer, and very rough for the Nigerian businessman. Increasing prices of goods have created untold hardship to the common man” (New Nigerian, May 30, 2003). During the 51st Independence Anniversary Lecture in Abuja, President Goodluck Jonathan admitted that, the system has collapsed because it encourages the culture of corruption, patronage and indiscipline. But he did not say specifically what steps he was taking to improve the situation (Daily Trust September, 2011) The Dividents of Democracy It has been pointed out by Muftwang (2003), that Democracy is founded on “full bellies and peaceful minds”. The maintenance of multiparty democracy also relies on government looking after the economic and social welfare of citizens. If the ruling party does not carter for its citizenry it could be voted out of power. Accountable governments have to meet the demands of health care, education, social provisioning and transportation – all the basic needs expected by the people. For example in Western Europe, multi-party democracy developed alongside the construction of the welfare state. But in Nigeria Fourteen years of uninterrupted civilian rule has failed to deliver the supposed dividends of democracy. Today the yearnings of the people is reflected in the clamor for the dividends of democracy which is not forthcoming, despite government’s claim for its realization.

The ruling PDP has during its 14th anniversary celebration in September, 2012 expressed its satisfaction at the roles it has played in turning around the economy and society in Nigeria.

Olisa Metuh, the PDP’s National publicity Secretary stated that, “after fourteen years of the formation of the PDP and thirteen years in leadership of our dear nation, we are happy to express our deep satisfaction at the roles we have so far played in the course of Nigerian’s development” (Daily Trust September 28, 2012).

But in a swift reaction, the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) reminded Nigerians of the cases of corruption, insecurity and inconsistent policies that the country has had to grapple with under the ‘leaking’ umbrella of the PDP. According to APC’s acting National Publicity Secretary Lai Mohammed, “are Nigerians celebrating that the PDP has turned Nigeria into a borderless land of unending misery, ethnic warfare, insecurity and torture?” (Ibid)

As mentioned above people oriented programs like the National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP) and the current SURE-P have not really impacted on the people. Similarly, the structural aspect of our democracy from federal to state and local levels is expensive such that at the end of Obasanjo two terms in office in 2007, 99% of all government revenues were devoted to recurrent expenditure, and only 8% was

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available for capital expenditure (Abdullahi, 2013). Today as Jonathan rounds up his first term in office, the situation has worsened. This means that jobs are not being created on the side of expenditure profile of government. Many state governments have now resorted to borrowing to pay for the up keep of our elected officials, while workers are not being paid salary regularly. All these indicate that only an improved economy can guarantee democracy. Nigeria is now ranked third on World Poverty Index. This has been revealed by the World Bank President Mr. Jim Yong King. He stated that “Nigeria is one of the top five countries that has the largest number of poor (Vanguard News April 11, 2014).

The exchange of letters between former President Obasanjo and President Jonathan in December, 2013 has exposed the vanity of the ruling party. The former President and President Jonathan cancelled each other over allegations of corruption, insecurity and misuse or abuse of power and the attempt to divide the country along ethnic lines. Conclusion Perhaps the most obvious of the democratic spirit in Nigeria is the total failure to adhere to rules and regulations of government. All the federal budgets from 1999 to 2013 were misapplied and, partly misappropriated. This malfeasance formed the basic rational for the original impeachment process initiated by the House of Representatives in August, 2002 against former president Obasanjo. Instances of violation of rules and regulations are legion but perhaps the outstanding example was the attempt by the presidency to alter the 2002 Electoral Law after it has been passed and signed.

Nor is the situation better with regards to separation of powers. At the federal level the presidency’s gross interference in the leadership and working of the National Assembly resulting in countless stand offs and the removal of three presidents of the senate and two speakers of the House of Representatives, is matched only by the National Assembly members’ dedication to involve themselves in executive functions, especially where contracts or spending money are concerned.

Judicial independence is only an imaginary. The batch of woeful judgments arising from the 2003 rigged elections has destroyed whatever sympathy the judiciary has with the public. The only exception was after the 2007 general elections under President Yar’Adua who vowed not to interfere with the Judiciary. The historic Judgments leading to cancellation of five governorship elections and several legislative seats were recorded during that time. However, the way the Judiciary handled election petitions in 2011, has dashed the hopes of the less privileged.

The PDP government was so callous and contemptible of public opinion that in spite of the massive protests by Nigerians against the constant and regular increases in the prices of petroleum products went ahead adamantly.

In 2012, the President sent shocking news to Nigerians during the New Year anniversary in which fuel subsidy was removed. The effect was massive protests which led to loss of lives before the decision was reversed.

While democracy encompasses a process with countless number of tenets in a given continuum, it may not be out of place for PDP’s government to claim being democratic government even if the given polity only satisfies one or two or more of these democratic tenets. But our politicians must know that, there is no amount of constitutional innovation that would guarantee sustainable democracy without first laying the groundwork that is receptive to such innovations. What we are witnessing today is the increasing tendency towards tyranny and one party rule. At the moment none of the existing political parties, not even the PDP functions as a party geared to acting

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democratically much less of ensuring the growth of democratic conduct of public affairs. The recent merger of the opposition parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013, and the mass exodus of politicians from the ruling PDP to the new APC including five state governors and thirty seven federal legislators in 2014 is a land mark in the political history of Nigeria. However this should not be over exaggerated. Recommendations It is obvious from this analytical review that the most decisive issue in Nigeria today is the myths, and prospects of democracy. Democracy is not only desirable, it is necessary. Though it will not solve all our problems, none of our fundamental problems can be solve without it, as it provides institutions for expression and the popular will of the people is taken.

There is an enormous task ahead of the Government, the most serious being the increasing wave of insecurity; poverty and unemployment; decaying infrastructures; corruption; and national integration. The legislature, the executive and the judiciary must perform their functions within constitutional provisions based on the need to protect the nascent democracy and national unity (Dunmoye, 2003). The following suggestions will be appropriate in order to improve democratic rule and contain the acrimony in our polity. Insecurity in the country must be contain, especially the type that is raging in the North eastern part.

I. The judiciary should be regarded as the final arbiter between the Legislature and Executive in case of constitutional disputes. And the two arms must respect the decisions of courts especially the executives.

II. There is need for increased party discipline and that elected officials should submit themselves to it and be conversant with the manifestoes of their respective parties.

III. To the citizenry, it must be understood that mass political protest is the engine of democracy and the hall-mark of a people’s capacity for it is attested by the fact that it was mass political protest which brought about democratization in Africa and many other parts of the world in the period 1990-onward. A nation lacking the capacity for such peaceful, non-violent protest in defense of its participatory right is not ripe for democratic government.

IV. Public officials must be committed to accountability, prudence and transparency in government.

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Challenges Ahead. International Journal of Advanced Legal Studies and Governance, Vol. 4 N0 1.

Abubakar A. (2003), Democratic governance in Nigeria, 1999- 2003. Vanguard News June 20. Adebayo T. (1994), Theorizing Democracy: A focus on Richard Joseph’s Prebendal

theory. In Omoruyi O (ed) Democratization in Africa: Nigerian perspective. Hima and Hima Ltd Benin.

Apodorai A. (1975), The Substance of Politics. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. Broune O. (1994), Transition and Democracy in Nigeria: A theoretical debate. In

Omoruyi O. (ed) Democratization in Africa: Nigerian perspective. Hima and Hima Ltd. Benin.

Dan Sadau S. (2003), ‘An Assessment of the PDP Administration’. New Nigerian, May

30. Diamond L. and Marc F. (1999), Democratization in Africa. The John Hopkins

University Press London.

Dunmoye A. (2003) Legislative powers and Executive-Legislature Relations in Nigeria

1999-2003: Nigerian Journal of Political Science Vol. 9 Nos 1 & 2 Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.

Esew N. (2003), Democratic Transition in Africa: A case study of the 2000 Presidential

Run- off in Ghana. Nigerian Journal of Political Science. Vol 9 Nos 1 & 2.

Etannibi O.A. (2004), Election as organized crime: Nigerian Experience. Paper presented

at the Centre for African studies Seminar, at the University of Cape Town on May 12.

Fowale W.A (1994), The military and the future of Democracy in Africa. In Omoruyi

(ed) Democratization in Africa: Nigerian perspective. Hima and Hima Ltd. Benin.

Mahmud T. (2002), ‘Democratic System: Nigeria’s Experience’. New Nigerian, May 30. Mahmud T. (2005), ‘Democratic Governance.’ Leadership, June 5. Muftwang P. (2003)The State, Crisis and the Challenges of Democratization in Africa.

Nigeria Journal of political Science Vol 9 Nos 1 & 2 Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

'Nigeria: Mocking Democracy'. Leadership June 5, 2005.

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'Nigeria ranked Third on World Poverty Index'. Vanguard News April 11, 2014. Olisa M. (2012), ‘The 14th Anniversary of the PDP’. Daily Trust, September 28. Olu F. (2001), ‘ ‘An Evaluation of the PDP Government’. Vanguard News May 15. Oyediran O. et al (2005), New Approach Government. Longman plc, Ibadan. Presidential Inaugural Speech. New Nigerian May 29, 1999. President Jonathan (2011), ‘ Our system has collapsed’. Daily Trust September, 28. Sadiq M & Abdulahi M (2013) Corruption as the Bane of Nigeria’s Development:

Causes and Remedies. International Journal of Economic Development Research and Investment Vol.4, No1.

Ujo A.A. (2000) Understanding Democracy and politics. Passmark International

Kaduna. Wole S. (2003) '2003 General Election in Nigeria'. Vanguard News June 20.

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Implementation Of Millennium Development Goal to Universal Basic Education Programme In Nigeria Public Schools: Issues And Challenges

By

Omeje Ngozi Prisicilla &

Ogbu Mark Obioma

Abstract The abridged execution of most policies in Nigeria necessitated this study which assessed the Implementation of Millennium Development Goal 2-adopted as Universal Basic Education Programme in Nigeria. The paper therefore wants to identify the obstacles standing against the actualization of the programme as the 2015 target set by the United Nation Organization for its member states is almost at hand and also proffer solutions. It however discovered that there are recorded cases of inadequate classroom blocks for the students and lack of other school equipment and facilities in the public schools. Also the teachers whose positions are crucial to the implementation of the programme have not been adequately motivated to enhance their productivity. The implications remains that the actualization of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme objectives will be thwarted as there would be increase in student's dropout from formal school system and decline of parents zeal to enroll their children into public schools. Recommendation was made that Nigerian government should commit adequate funds to the programme; improve on her supervisory roles and motivate the teachers.

Introduction

This programme which is a national policy on education was born out of some events. Since the introduction of Western education in 1842, regions, states and federal government in Nigeria have shown keen interest in education. This could be seen in the introduction of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) in the Western region on 17th January 1955, its introduction in the Eastern region in February 1957 and in Lagos (the then Federal Territory) in January 1957. Earlier in 1984 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserted that everyone has the right to education. Over forty (40) years, it is clear that many people are still being denied this basic human right. It was at that point that a world conference on education for all was held in Jomtien, Thailand, for the purpose of forging a global consensus and commitment to provide basic education for all. In 1996, the International Development Targets (lDTs) were set. This declaration commits United Nations member states to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015. It was during the United Nations Millennium summit in September 2000 that the Millennium Development Goals were adopted by 189 nations and was signed by 147 heads of states and governments to respond to the world’s development challenges. Department of Public Administration Ebonyi State University Abakaliki, Ebonyi State Nigeria. E-mail: ngoziomeje33@gmail.com Department of Public Administration Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State Nigeria email:makekeh2000@gmail.com

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Otoghagua (2007) stated that the Millennium Development Goals are also the main thrusts of National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDs). The Federal government of Nigeria through her National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy embraced the Goals 2 target. Therefore NEEDs in respect to Goals 2 seeks to:

a. Reduce the number of unqualified primary school teachers by 80 percent.

b. Mobilize community and private sector involvement in education and

c. Enhance completion of Universal Basic Education Programme.

The Universal Basic Education Programme in its goals aims at the provision of conducive learning environment for Nigerians and also the eradication of illiteracy in Nigeria within the shortest possible time.

Data from the Federal Ministry of Education, Education statistics (1996) showed that Nigeria's literacy rate was 52 percent. In 1998; only 40 percent of all heads of households in Nigeria had any education at all, 21 percent had only primary education, 14 percent had up to secondary education while only 5 percent had post-secondary education. Also that only 14.1 million out of 21 million school-age children are enrolled in primary school. The Universal Basic Education Programme was born from these startling statistics, to promote education among all citizens. It is so to say in this circumstance that Universal Basic Education simply builds upon the education polices of 1976-Universal Primary Education introduced by Obasanjos' military regime to eradicate illiteracy, develop and Enhance adequate needs of the Nigerian economy. It was later on 30th September 1999 that President Olusegun Obasanjo formally launched universal Basic Education that is broader than the earlier universal Primary Education. Universal Basic Education (UBE) is of nine (9) years duration comprising six (6) years of Primary Education and three (3) years of Junior Secondary Education. It shall be free and compulsory. It shall also include adult and non-formal education. Programmes at Primary and Junior Secondary Education levels for the adults and out of school youths. The schools feeding program was also introduced by the government to provide food to children while in school as a way of boosting the Universal Basic Education.

The programme also stresses the inclusion of girls and women and a number of underserved groups: the poor, street and working children, rural and remote population, nomads, migrant workers, indigenous peoples, minorities, refugees and the disabled. The formal ducation system is only one of six components included in basic education in the implementation guidelines of the federal government. Others relate to early childhood, literacy and life skills for adults, nomad population, and non-formal education or apprenticeship training for youth outside the formal education system.

Generally, in Nigeria, education is provided for by the Federal, State and Local Governments. This has resulted in education to be tailored to suit the socio-economic circumstances of individual federating units. For example, in certain regions, nomadic education operates as a variant for primary education. Islamic and Koranic school have also become integrated into the formal basic education system. The Universal Basic Education Act 2004 provides the legal framework for the programme.

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1.1 Statement of the problem The implementation of the laudable provisions and objectives of the UBE Programme seems not to be yielding positive result. Evident in most of the public schools in Nigeria are inadequate and decays of school equipment and facilities. There are pathetic cases in several public schools with partial roof on their buildings. Most parents are pulling their children out from public schools with the preference of schools that are privately managed. They have come to believe that education is not practically free as a result of the various fees collected from their children. It has been observed that many children of School age have been seen during school hours in various motor parks, road sides and markets, hawking various goods for their parents and relatives.

Also there have been reported cases of teacher's threats to strikes and actual strike in public schools as a result of teacher's agitations for good salary packages and accumulated unpaid salaries. It is also a problem that corruption is found in our educational institutions particularly secondary schools, primary and even in adult education centers. Bribes are freely given and freely taken before services are rendered, all which have constrained the smooth implementation of the Universal Basic Education Programme.

1.2 Theoretical Framework

The "Goal Setting theory propounded by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, in 1968 was considered suitable for this paper. Onah (2008) notes on the contribution of the Goal Setting Theory that "employees can be motivated by goals that are specific and challenging but achievable". Therefore, the best way to motivate performance is to set the right objectives in the right ways. Three elements that were identified in this theory are:

1) That goals should be specific which implies that it must not be too vague but be detailed.

2) That goals should be challenging, meaning that goals set for employees to attain must be career rewarding and motivational which would compel workers to focus their attention in the right place putting as well more efforts in their jobs to bring about higher performances.

3) Also that goals should be unattainable by making its provisions unrealistic. That employers should make sure that their workers have additional training if necessary to achieve difficult goals.

Its provisions of specific challenging and achievable goals and objective addresses the challenges facing the actualization of the goals and objectives of the Universal Basic Education Programme generally in Nigeria. Otoghagua (2007), identified the following to be the goals of UBE:

i) Provision of universal access of Nigerians to free basic education. ii) Provision of a conducive learning environment for Nigerians. iii) Eradication of illiteracy in Nigeria within the shortest ossible time.

Therefore, the theory applies as a guide for analyzing and predicating the issues under investigation. The implementation of the UBE Programme would be actualized in the event of well set goals which must be detailed, motivational and achievable under a time frame.

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Conceptual Review Programme Implementation

Egonwan (1991), defined Implementation as "the stage where the preparation made earlier, the plans, designs and analysis proposed are tested to see how real they are". The above definition suggests that it is mainly action to translate the proceeding thought process into concrete reality. The activities directed towards putting a programme into effect. It is also the process of carrying out an objective of a plan. For example, if a State Governor decides to build a school for a community in his state, its actual implementation will involve building classroom blocks, library, laboratories, office blocks and sports grounds; also, the posting of teachers, procurement of equipment; books and stationery and admittance of students to get the school going. Also, the implementation of a policy on free funding of primary education would involve paying salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff, procurement of textbooks, stationery as well as teaching materials for distribution to schools and students. Implementation confirms in reality an objective of a plan.

This is to say that policy implementation is the carrying out of the policy formulated in concrete terms. It is the progamme implementation stage. The policy implementation stage comes after a policy has been made operational through the passing of legislation. Implementation becomes possible when resources have been committed to it. In Onah (2006: 15), he stated that: This stage of the project (programme) cycle involves the performance of the core activities which lead directly to the realization of the project (programme activities. The major activities in this phase include the preparation of implementation schedules, inter-sectorial co- ordination, budgeting breakdown, procurement, supervision of operations and monitoring of methods and progress.

Policy is made by the presidents, legislators, judges, interest groups and special panels but executed by administrators, just like the educational policy of Universal Basic Education Programme (UBEP) made somewhere but executed by administrators in the system. Policy implementation stage depends on some factors, which according to Barret and Fudge (1981), include "knowing what you want to do and the availability of the required resources". This stage requires awareness of and sensitivity to political, social, economic and physical forces. The environment is complex and changing and it is impossible to predict all projects impacts due to environment.

All these suggest that at the policy implementation stage, because of the scarcity of resources, other priority needs can come up to compete and influence the implementation of a particular programme. Problems of Implementation and Management of Public Programmes in Nigeria Ogbonnaya (2003: 55), writes that: Over-ambitious policy goals, cultural consideration, political opposition during implementation, inadequate personnel in some areas, inadequate funds, bribery and corruption, lack of continuity in commitment to policy and poor supervision has been the problems facing the implementation of educational programmes in Nigeria. Each of the identified problems is hereby reviewed.

Firstly on the problem of over-ambitious policy goals, most public policies or programmes are over-ambitious and very sweeping in nature. A good example is the "free education at all levels"-a policy pursued by the Unity Party of Nigeria during the

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second republic. This policy could not be executed successfully largely because of inadequate resources. Just similar to the objectives of Operation Feed the nation (OFN) of 1976 and the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) of 1999 which were laudable, just like a light on the chessboard will face a different direction while it tracks on the other way. Their plans have unclear and multiple goal characteristics with many objectives and unspecific goals. They could not work out.

Ogbonnaya, (2003) similarly noted that "some educational policies in Nigeria are over-ambitious. The Universal Primary Education Scheme of 1976 could not be continued because of inadequate resources.

Secondly, on the problem of cultural consideration Ogbonnaya (2003) rightly observed that "in the implementation of educational policies in Nigeria, cultural consideration prevents the adoption of modern technology in many areas of programmes". Courses like family planning and nutrition education have failed because of cultural beliefs. Many parents discourage and in fact do warn their children about receiving lessons or lectures on family planning practices. It is on record that some parents either write letters to school authorities or withdraw their children from schools who teach subjects or topics on family planning. Parents advise their children against certain type of foods.

Thirdly, on the problem of political opposition during implementation Ogbonnaya (2003: 56), writes that: Many educational policies and programme in Nigeria face oppositions during implementation. This has been the case when Federal Government wants to site some Federal Public Schools because some states felt that these institutions should be established in their own states or areas.

The free education policy of the then Unity Part of Nigeria also faced a lot of opposition from some people who felt that their states could not carry it. So we find a lot of resistance of all sorts from different groups, individuals and organizations, and even from political elites.

Fourthly, on the identified problem of inadequate personnel, it widely impedes the implementation of educational policies and programmes. In November 1999 summit on how to successfully prosecute the UBE Scheme as, was reported in Implementation Guidelines for the Universal Basic Education Programme (2000), professor Olu Aina raised a question about how the government can provide yearly 300,000 teachers as required by the Universal Basic Education Programme. As at then, according to him, of the sixty-two (62) colleges of education students in the universities are of very low percentage. His fear was how to satisfy the demand considering the output ratio of education teachers available. There are presently, inadequate personnel in areas of computer engineering and operations research. So the implementation of policies in the area of computer Engineering is hampered.

Fifthly, on the problem that arises as a result of lack of provision and allotment of funds, Ogbonnaya (2003) emphasized that "Inadequate funds hamper the implementation of educational programmes". The Universal Primary Education Scheme failed because of inadequate funds. Many projects like construction of hostels, and libraries in many public schools have not been completed because of inadequate funds. There are cases of dilapidated infrastructures in public schools in many states. We find broken roofs, broken floors, hanging windows and doors. These facilities are this way because of lack of funds.

The successful implementation of educational policies in Nigeria depends on adequate financial support. State governments fund secondary schools and the Primary Education Board is responsible for the management of primary schools through the local government education authorities for the payment teacher's salaries, rehabilitation of classrooms blocks and other miscellaneous expenses.

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In some states of the federation, teachers are owned arrears of salaries and allowances up to six months. In Nigeria, government grants constitute a major source of funding to education. Adesina in Mgbodile (2003: 199) stated that: Government grants fall under Capital and Recurrent grants. Capital and Recurrent grants represent a bulk payment to the authorities of an educational institution for the erection of new buildings, major repairs of old ones, the purchase of hardware, school equipment and payment of staff salaries and allowances. School fees constitute another major source of funds for the Nigerian educational system. School fees include tuition fees, dormitory or hostel fees, caution deposits, and insurance fees. These fees are paid into the account units or bursary departments of various educational institutions. The bursary of each school pays the money collected into the government accounts. Other identified sources of revenue to education are: Proceeds from school activities; Community efforts; Donations from individuals and Charity organization; Endowment funds and External aids. Ndu et al (1997: 167), writing on the above issue, states that: The financial resources allocated to the education sector in Nigeria depends on a number of factors namely: the rate of growth of the national economy, the condition of the world market, the competition of other sectors of the economy and the nature of the sources of revenue for education. His view suggests that the financial resources allocated to the education sector also depend on the condition of the world market. Nigeria depends mostly on oil revenue. Quite often, there are fluctuations in the price of oil in the world market which makes it difficult to decide what proportion of the national resources should go to education.

Therefore what is allocated to the education sector depends on the nature of the sources of revenue. A steady flow of buoyant income into the government's coffers is desirable if a substantial proportion of it is to go to education.

Sixthly, as Ogbonnaya (2003) identified, is the problem of bribery and corruption. He rightly observed that in Nigerian educational institutions, bribes are freely given and taken before services are rendered. Some parents give bribes to secondary school principals to have their children admitted in schools of their choice. Some teachers too give bribes to officials in the school board for preferential postings to school of their choice. Some teachers and even heads of schools have immoral dealings with female students. Some of them require money to give to WAEC invigilators so that they can be given the freedom to indulge in examination malpractices. He further stated that "it is on record that young female teachers corner some big boys in the schools they teach for sexual intercourse". Gratifications are paid before contracts are awarded in the public schools. When corruption penetrates into the implementation process, it becomes mutilated and its goals would not be achieved.

Seventhly, also is the problem of lack of continuity in commitment to policy. This occurs because regimes changes rapidly in Nigeria. These regimes have their priorities. Some of them are interested in infrastructures like building of roads and bridges. There are some others who are interested in the establishment of schools and hospitals. So priorities of government are changing rapidly. This fact tends to make implementation difficult because new government entirely switches over to new programmes. In the 1970s, there was the Modern Mathematics Programme. In 1976,

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there was the Universal Primary Education introduced by the Federal Government. Today, we now have the leading educational national policy Universal Basic Education Programme (UBEP). Recently in November 2010, the Federal Government of Nigeria announced of its intention to close down all her existing Federal Colleges of Education.

Lastly, is the problem of poor supervision? This has been a major problem affecting the implementation of educational programmes and policies in Nigeria. It is obvious that the success of any good educational policy or plan depends to a great extent on the efficiency of the supervision machinery. Unfortunately, there are schools that have not received supervisors and inspectors for up to two years. It is also obvious that some projects like the construction of classroom blocks are not supervised by heads of educational institutions where such programmes are under way. Some contractors have made away with government funds and properly because they are not supervised by the ministry or the relevant agency.

Implications of the Problems to the Implementation of Universal Basic Education Programme The governments inadequate provisions of classroom, libraries, laboratories, instructional materials and general school equipment and facilities for most of the public schools is not a good step in the right direction at implementing the objectives of the universal basic education programme.

Also, the poor conditions of the public schools have been the reason in recent times why most parents have refused to enrol their children into the public schools. A healthy conducive learning and at the same time promotes students pride in their school and their interest to study in school. Education facilities are needed for developing the cognitive area of knowledge abilities and skills which are pre-requisite for academic achievements.

The course of implementing the UBE programme - motivating the teachers of the public schools is another area the government have not taken seriously. This has manifested in delays in payment of teachers salaries, delays in their promotions, poor remunerations and exhibition of authoritarian attitude when dealing with the teachers. The implication would be that teachers would not give their best. When they are dissatisfied with their job, they tend to withdraw physically from teaching or remain there to constitute serious danger to the educational policy goals. Where there is poor supervision of the implementation of the programme, it would be hard to monitor the various financial activities going on in public schools with regards to the fees collected from the students hence would not guarantee the actualization of the objectives of the programme but would rather turn the students off from acquiring the Universal Basic Education which was spelt out in its provisions to be free.

Conclusion

Based on the deductions made from the concept of programme implementation in relation to the UBE programme objectives, the implementation cannot be guarantee without the government adequate financial support. Implementation can only become possible when resources have been committed. The recorded cases of dilapidated infrastructures inadequate and total lack of classroom in most public schools in Nigeria are because of lack of funds. There is a positive relationship between the academic performance of pupils in schools with the availability and the nature of the

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physical facilities and equipment.

Among the various approaches and strategies clearly spelt out by the USE scheme for the successful implementation, much and full attention has not been devoted to adequate teacher's motivation and regular supervision or monitoring of the scheme. It has been widely believed that the teacher's rewards are in heaven. The teachers are the critical factor in any effort aimed at boosting quality education. It is clear that when they are not adequately motivated, would become disinterested and dispirited to embark on self development but would rather engage in other economic ventures an illegal activity in schools that would yield immediate returns. The success of any good educational policy depends to a great extent on the efficiency of the supervision machinery. The illegal fees being collected from the students in the public secondary schools was as a result of governments poor monitoring of the programmes. Such corrupt activity from the school administrators and teachers mutilates the implementation process of Universal Basic Education Programme in Nigeria. Recommendations

1. The Federal Government should commit adequate financial resources to the UBE Programme in Nigeria.

2. There should be proper review by the government on the condition of service for the teachers with respect to their remuneration and other non-financial incentives so as to make for their greater performance and achievement of the USE programme in Nigeria.

3. The government should increase and improve greatly on its supervisory and inspectorate roles in the public schools in Nigeria to check the anomalies in area of illegal fees being collected from students.

4. The government should involve the school administrators (Principals), teachers and parents on the on-going UBE Projects in their various schools rather than solely relying on the politicians for the execution of such project. This is to ensure close monitoring and speedy completion of UBE projects.

5. Corruption practices should be discouraged in the course of UBE programme implementation in Nigeria. The peculiar cases of illegal fees collection from students and abandonment of UBE school projects that have received full financial commitment must be stopped with full disciplinary measures meted to the perpetrators.

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References Anukam, I.L.C. (1992), "Revising the National Policy on Primary Education". In Alice

Ndu (ed) "Education Policy and Implementation in Nigeria". Awka: Mekslink Publisher Limited.

Duro, A. and Ejiogu, A.M. (ed) (1987), Emergent Issues in Nigeria Education

Lagos: Joja Publisher Limited. Egonmwan, J.A. (1991), Public Policy Analysis: Concepts and Applications. Being

City: S.M.O. Aka and Brothers Press. Ezeocha, P.A. (1990), Modern School Supervision. Owerri: International Universities Press.

Federal Ministry of Education, (1999), The Comprehensive Education Analysis

Project (CEAP). Lagos. Federal Republic of Nigeria, (2004), National Policy on Education (4 th Edition).

Lagos: NERDC. Pp. 15-27. Mgbodile, T.O. (2004), Fundamentals in Educational

Administration and Planning. Enugu: Marnet Computer Services. Pp. 199-200.

National Commission for Colleges of Education, (2001), Strategies for

Professionalizing Teaching and Career-Long Professionalization Development of Teaching. Abuja: a Submission by NCCE to USE Tech. Committee.

Ndu, et al (1997), Dynamics of Educational Administration and Management: The

Nigerian Perspective. Awka: Meks Publishers Ltd. Pp. 167-168. Nduka, G.C. (1992), "Problems of Planning Educational Policies in Nigeria". In

Ndu, A. (ed) Educational Policy and Implementation in Nigeria. Awka: Mekslink Publishers (Nig).

Nigeria, (2000), Implementation Guidelines for the Universal Basic Education

CUBE) Programme. Ahuja: Federal Ministry of Education. Pp. 3-4. Odor, G.O. (1995), Administration of Schools in Nigeria. Being City: Monose Amalgamates. Ogbonnaya, N.r. (2003), Principles and Applications of Educational Policies in Nigeria.

Nsukka: University Trust publishers. Pp. 54-59. Okeke, M.L (2001), Theory and Practice of Public Policy Analysis: The

Nigerian Experience. Enugu: Bismark Publications. Onah, F.O, (2006), Managing Public Programmes and Projects. Nsukka: Great AP

Express Publishers Limited Pp. 15-152.

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Onah, F.O. (2008), Human Resources Management. Enugu: John Jacob's Classic Publisher Ltd. P. 295.

Otoghagua, E. (2007), Regimes of Nigerian Heads of States, Policies and Politics,

Achievements and Failures. Nigeria: Research Knowledge and Educational Services Publishers. Pp. 211, 335.

Ozigi, A.O. (1977), A Handbook on School Administration and Management. London:

Macmillan Education Ltd. Taiwo, C.O. (1981), The Nigerian Education System: Past, Present and Future. Lagos:

Thomas Nelson (Nig.) Ltd. United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP, 1998) Nigerian Human Development

Report. Lagos: UNDP. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 1992),

Education for All: An Expanded Vision. Paris: UNESCO Pp. 11 & 69.

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An Examination Of Information And Communication Technology Adoption Barriers By Small And Medium Enterprises In Nigeria

By

1James O. Abiola, Ph.D 2Sikiru O. Ashamu, Ph.D

Kemi C. Yekini, PhD

Abstract This paper examines the adoption and usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) among the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in Nigeria. An exploratory research design was adopted using a structured survey instrument administered to 40 SMEs that was conveniently selected from the database of SMEs in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States of Nigeria. Descriptive statistics was employed for the analysis through the use of statistical package for social sciences. The study found that the level of usage of ICT by SMEs in Nigeria is still in its infancy and that majority of SMEs use ICT mainly for Communication purposes. The prominent perceived barriers found included the high cost of acquiring and setting up ICT equipments and fear of losing personal touch with customers / clients. The study concludes that in order to improve the quality of information available to suppliers and customers and achieve the resultant positive impact on the economy, the government should provide incentives to motivate the SMEs to adopt sophisticated ICT equipments. Key word: Technology Effectiveness; Information and Communication Technology; Evaluation model; Teledencity; ICT adoption Introduction Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are noted to be in vantage position to respond more quickly to new opportunities and innovations because of their size and ability to take decisions more quickly. Despite the array of benefits and opportunities offered by ICT, the adoption by SMEs has been rather sluggish (MacGregor and Vrazalic, 2004 and Bolongkikit et al, 2006). Empirical evidence suggests that the adoption and utilization of ICT by SMEs contribute immensely to their stability and success and places them in a good position for competition. (Ramsey et al, 2003, Stansfield and Grant 2993, MacGregor and Vrazalic 2005.

Most prior studies were done in developed economies while research in this area in developing economies is scanty. This study therefore aims to fill the apparent gap by examining ICT adoption barriers in SMEs within the context of a developing country like Nigeria. Consequently, the following research objectives were formulated.

To examine the level of awareness and usage of ICT applications among SMEs. To examine the significant barriers for the adoption and use of ICT by SMEs.

Literature Review and Theoretical Background There is no universally agreed definition of SMEs. Researchers have used various definitions for SMEs over time (Cloete, 2002; Gamage, 2003; Ihistrum et al, 2003; MacGregor and Vrazalic, 2004; Gilmore et al 2007). 1,3 Lagos State University Ojo

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The common threads that cut across the various definitions are the qualitative and quantitative measures that can easily be identified such as turnover, number of employees; nature of business and size of capital invested. For the purpose of this research, SME is defined as a business not having more than 50 employees or/and annual turnover of not more than 50 million Naira. The positive role played by SMEs in the economy of most developing Nations has been acknowledged by some researchers (Al-Qirim and Corbitt, 2001; Pease and Rowe, 2003, Ihistrum et al. 2003; McAnley 2001; An dam, 2003; Mensah et al, 2005; Kaynak, et al,2005) In the same vein, barriers to the adoption and usage of ICT in SMEs have been documented by some authors (MacGregor and Vrazalic, 2005). Attempt to dismantle these barriers have remained a major challenge to various governments (Taylor and Murphy, 2004).

Some of the identified barriers to the adoption and usage of ICT by SMEs are complexity of operation (Queyle, 2002); Lack of technical skills and IT knowledge (Quayle, 2002; Van Akkeren and Cavaye, 1999; Walczuch et al, 2000; Ramsey et al, 2003; Andam, 2003; Stockdale and Standing, 2006). Deliberate resistance to change (Akkeren and Cavaye, 1999). High costs of ICT implementation (Walezuch et al, Quayle,2002; Van Akkeren and Cavaye, 1999; MacGregor and Vrazalic, 2005; Andam, 2003; Lawson et al, 2003. Compatibility of ICT to products and services offered by SMEs (Walczuch et al, 2000; Ramsey et al, 2003) Inability to raise financial resources (Andam, 2003; Stockdale and Standing, 2006; Ramsey et al, 2003). Lack of support from senior management (Ramsey et al; 2003) and Lack of trust / concerns about security issues (Queyle, 2002; Walczuch et al, 2003; Andam, 2003; Stockdale and Standing, 2006). The technology deemed two expensive and incompatible with the way SMEs / customers do business (Thulani et al, 2010). Theoretical Background Abiola (2013) posited that the adoption and use of ICT by SMEs is a function of many variables such as perceived benefits, organisational readiness, trust, external pressure, contiagent factors such as size of organisation, cost of staff training, infrastructure readiness and optinal mix of human and technological capabilities.

Abiola (2013) proposed Technology Effectiveness Planning and Evaluation Model (TEPEM) as a useful model in developing economies. The model is an extension of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Three-layered model (a meta-level theoretical model encompassing contingency theory, Socio-technical systems theory and structuration theory). The planning process in TEPEM is a unique one to developing economics like Nigeria. For instance, issues like electricity generation and stable regulatory environment are assumed to be constant in developed economies where TAM and TLM have been individually applied but call for careful planning in developing economies. External factors are of utmost importance as a contingent factor as it concerns the macro environmental variables like effective maintenance capability, availability of steady electricity power and government regulations. Lack of constant electricity supply is a major contingency variable in developing countries like Nigeria. Adoption of ICT by the SMEs has been noted to be sluggish as each phase of adoption needs planning. The customers / clients and the operators of SMEs need access to online facilities to be able to transact their businesses. The massive adoption of mobile telephone technology in Nigeria (Nigeria teledensity as at January 2013 according to the Nigerian Communication Commission, 2013 is 81.78 percent) and the introduction of internet enabled iphone and ipad, provided a cheaper alternative to computers as they can easily be powered by

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battery and solar energy. Accordingly, the following hypotheses are formulated in order to bring out significant perceived barriers to adoption and use of ICT by SMEs. H1: SMEs have high level of awareness and usage of ICT applications. H2: SMEs have positive / favourable attitude for adoption and use of ICT. Research Methodology An exploratory research design is considered appropriate for this research in view of paucity of prior-work in this area in developing countries like Nigeria. Furthermore, the exploratory approach provided a friendlier platform for SMEs to be open and let out information about their operations with regards to ICT usage.

40 SMEs organisations were conveniently selected from database provided by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). Our target population was SMEs located in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States irrespective of level of their ICT adoption. The choice of these states as targeted population is informed by the fact that they have highest number of SMEs in Nigeria because of their nearness to the seaport. 40 survey questionnaires were administered to all the selected SMEs. The identity of selected SMEs is not disclosed for commercial confidentiality.

In order to benefit from already validated instrument, a structured questionnaire was adapted and modified from previous instruments used by Ramsey et al (2003); McGregor and Vrazalic (2004) and Abiola (2013) in similar studies on ICT adoption was used to gather data from respondents. The instrument was piloted on 10 MBA students of Lagos State University and was consequently modified to increase its clarity and provide more relevant demographic information. Empirical Results Descriptive statistics was employed through the use of Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) version 18 to analyze the data collected. The demographical data is presented in Table 1 below: Table 1: Profile of respondents Survey Question Response Frequency(N) % Cumulative % Business size 1-10 employees 1 15 38 38 11-20 employees 2 11 28 66

21-30 employees 3 6 15 81

31-40 employees 4 5 13 94

41-50 employees 5 3 06 100 TOTAL 40 100

Business age Less than 1 year 1 4 10 10

1-2 years 2 5 12 22

3-5years 3 15 38 60 5 years and above 4 16 40 100

TOTAL 40 100

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Business sector Manufacturing 1 8 20 20

Retail/wholesale 2 10 25 45

Financial 3 12 35 80 Other services 4 8 20 100

TOTAL 40 100

Majority of the respondents (38%) had between one and ten employees while 40% indicated that they had been in business for more than 5 years. The financial sector represents the largest Business sector, (35%) followed by the Retail / Wholesale (25%) manufacturing (20%) and other services (20%). Table 2: Current use of ICT applications

ICT application / activity N Frequency (N) % Uses ICT to process my Accounting information (stock, payroll, ledger accounts e.t.c.)

40 22 55

Uses ICT for communication (letters e.t.c)

40 35 88

Allows customers to place or request orders online

40 8 20

Accept payments through POS / Internet 40 7 18 Uses ICT for e-mail and other internet activities

40 36 90

Other (Intra-net; LAN e.t.c) 40 2 05 In order to explore the extent of usage of ICT by SMEs key questions were asked about ICT applications/activities applicable to the respondents. Out of 40 respondents in SME organisations, 22 (55%) use ICT to process Accounting information such as stock, payroll, ledger accounts etc; 36 (90%) representing the highest group uses ICT for e-mail and other internet activities while 35 (88%) uses ICT for communication purposes. The lowest group, others 2 (05%) uses ICT for Local Area Network; Intra-net etc. central to the focus of the study was establishing the usage level of ICT applications among SMEs. The result shows that a high percentage (90%) of the respondents uses ICT applications for e-mail and other internet activities. Attitude Towards ICT For effective usage of ICT, users must have positive attitude towards technology. Respondents were asked questions relating to their attitudes and perceptions towards ICT on a five point likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Table 3 below shows the number of responses and their corresponding ratings and percentages. Table 3: Attitude and Perceptions towards ICT Strongly

Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Nor

Disagree Agree Strongly Agree

Attitude Statement Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq % ICT usage positively contribute to the existence of our business

1 3 1 3 3 8 15 38 20 50

Having ICT is important to compete well

1 3 1 3 4 10 14 35 20 50

ICT has become a viable business tool

2 5 1 3 3 8 15 38 19 48

Having immediate access to e-mail is important to our business

1 3 0 0 4 10 18 45 17 43

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The four attitude statements (in table 3) above shows that the total ratings at the agree/strongly agree level were very high (88%; 85%; 86% and 88% respectively). Hypothesis Testing Table 4 shows the hypothesis which the study sought to test. It brings out the summary of results obtained in tables 2 and 3. Table 4: Hypothesis Testing Results Hypothesis Number Hypothesis Result

H1 SMEs have high level of awareness and usage of ICT Applications

Accepted

H2 SMEs have positive/favourable attitude for adoption and use of ICT

Accepted

ICT Adoption Barriers The study probed further to find out significant barriers to adoption of ICT from non-adopters as well as from some adopters who merely use ICT for communication/information purposes. They were asked to rate their reasons based on a five point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important). The responses from the respondents are presented in table 5 below. Table 5: Rank order of ICT adoption barriers

Rank ICT adoption barriers N %* Mean SD Var 1 ICT is too costly 16 78 4.1 1.44 2.21 2 ICT is too complicate to implement 16 51 3.7 1.15 2.1 3 ICT does not fit with the way our

customers do business 16 52 3.8 1.46 2.16

4 ICT does not offer any advantages to our business

16 42 3.1 1.32 1.82

5 ICT does not fit with the way we do business

16 60 3.9 1.62 2.75

6 ICT does not fit with our products/services 16 41 3.1 1.51 2.43 7 Barriers associated with lack of know how

about ICT 16 26 2.6 1.43 2.09

8 Barriers associated with lack of time to implement ICT

16 16 2.4 1.27 1.71

Note: * % = those respondents who considered ICT adoption barriers very important in decision not to adopt ICT.

Table 5 shows that the first 6 barriers have means 3 and above and therefore considered strong inhibitors to ICT adoption and usage. However only 4 of these barriers may be considered conclusive i.e ICT is too costly (78%); ICT does not offer any advantages to our business (52%); ICT is too complicated (51%) and ICT does not fit with the way we do business (60%). Other relatively important barriers include ICT does not offer any advantages to our business (42%) and ICT does not fit with our products/services (41%). This findings support the view that non-adopters have little motivation to adopt and use ICT. Discussion The findings show that high percentages (90%) of respondents have adopted ICT. This is consisted with prior research in this area (Thulani et al. 2010, Abiola, 2013). However,

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ICT applications currently used by study respondent organisations are entry-level technologies/activities according to adoption ladders suggested by Akkeren and Cavaye (1999). The use of ICT by the study SMEs are therefore still very rudimentary however they provide the right platform upon which sophisticated ICT can be developed (Akkeren and Cavaye, 1999, Cloete et al; 2002).

Furthermore, Davis (1986) in his TAM model propounds that a user of ICT must have a positive attitude towards the technology. This was also supported by Technology Effectiveness planning and Evaluation Model (TEPEM) proposed by Abiola (2013). The survey respondents, as the findings indicated, have positive attitude towards ICT. This supports prior findings by Poon and Strom, (1997), Cloete et al (2002), Scupola (2003); Ramsey et al., (2003); Turban et al (2006); and Thulanu et al (2010). Furthermore the findings support the view that non-adopters also have positive attitudes towards ICT. This is also consistent with the findings of Ramsey et al (2003) and Walczuch et al., (2000). Other significant findings from the study include ICT barrier concerning incompability between ICT and the way SMEs transact business with their customers. This supports results from prior studies (Ramsey et al., 2003; Pracy and Cooper, 2000; and Bolongkikit et al., 2006) which also highlighted lack of suitability of ICT for business purposes.

The findings revealed that 42% of non-adopters contend that ICT does not offer any advantage to their organisations. The implication of this is that if the surveyed SMEs do not perceive ICT benefits to their organisations then they will not adopt ICT (Thulani et al., 2010). Conclusion This study has examined (i) the level of awareness and usage of ICT application among SMEs and (ii) the significant barriers for the adoption and use of ICT by SMEs. With regards to the first objective, SMEs have high level of awareness and usage of ICT applications even though the ICT equipments involved are still very rudimentary and mainly acquired for communication purposes.

As for the second objective, both adopters and non-adopters of ICT among the SMEs have positive attitude towards ICT. Furthermore, the findings highlighted the four most important barriers/inhibitors of ICT adoption in SMEs. These are (in order of importance), ICT is too costly; ICT does not fit with the way we do business; ICT does not fit with the way our customers do business; and ICT is too complicated to implement.

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References Abiola, J.O. (2013) “The Impact of Information and Communication Technology on

Internal Control’s Prevention and Detection of Fraud” Unpublished PhD Thesis Submitted to De Montfort University, Leicester UK

Andam, Z.R.B. (2003) “e-commerce and e-business” Available at: www. Addip.net/publications/iespprimers/eprimer_eCom.pdf (Accessed on 5 May 2014) Bolongkikit, J., Obit, J.H., Asing, J.G. and Tanakinjal, G.H. (2006) “An exploratory

research of the usage level of e-commerce among SMEs in the West Coast Sabah, Malaysia”

Available at : http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/JIBC/2006-08/Bolongkikit.asp (Accessed 26 February 2014)

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Number 4 pp 1-13 Davis, F. (1985) “A technology acceptance model for empirically testing new end-user

information systems: Theory and results” Being a thesis submitted to the sloan school of management, MIT in partial fulfilment of the Degree of Phd in management on-line

Lawson, R., Alcock, C., Cooper, J. and Burges, L. (2003) “Factors affecting adoption of

electronic technologies by SMEs: an Australian study” Journal of small business and enterprise development, Vol 10, Number 3 pp 265-276

MacGregor, R. and Vrazalic, L. (2004) “Electronic commerce adoption in small to

medium enterprises (SMEs): a comparative study of SMEs in Wollongong (Australia) and Karistad (Sweden)”, Available at: http://www.uow.edu.ac/commerce/econ/csbrr/pdf/E-commercestudy.pdf (Accessed on 14 January 2014)

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adoption barriers: a study of regional businesses in Sweden and Australia” Journal of small business and enterprise development. Vol 12 Number 4 pp 510-527

MacGregor, R. and Vrazalic, L. (2005b) “Role of small business strategic alliances in

the perception of benefits and disadvantages of e-commerce adoption in SMEs”. The Idea Group. Inc.

Poon, S. and Swatman, P.M.C. (1997) ”Small business use of the internet: findings from Australia case studies” Available at:

http://CollECTer.org.archives/1997_April/08.pdf (Accessed 5 May 2014)

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century” International Journal of operations and production management. Vol 22 Number 10 pp 1148-1161

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Understanding and Overcoming the Challenge of Youth Unemployment in Nigeria

1Haruna Ruth 2Attah Yusuf Emmanuel 3Purity Ndubuisi-Okolo

Abstract

Unemployment remains one of the greatest problems Nigeria is facing today. This paper thus looks into the unemployment situation in Nigeria, types of unemployment, causes of unemployment in Nigeria and the social effect of unemployment. The paper examines library materials, journal publications, internet materials and other documented materials relevant to the subject matter. It is recommended that the government should put in place massive youth development programmes in all the states of the federation; The general school curriculum should be remodeled to inculcate technical skill acquisition which will help even secondary school graduates to have employable skills; Youth creativeness and entrepreneurial skills need to be encouraged by private organizations and government institutions; Government should make agriculture more attractive by providing and making available modernized tools and also encouraging youths into this direction. The paper concludes that in order to reduce unemployment in the country, individuals concerned, the private sector and the government at all levels must put in place creative measures to stem the tide.

Introduction Unemployment remains one of the most critical problems facing Nigeria today. Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa and the second-largest economy in the continent with a population of over 160 million, is endowed with diverse and infinite human and material resources. Sadly, however, years of unbridled corruption, mismanagement and sheer waste have hindered economic growth in the country. Consequently, the nation’s resources have been left underutilised leading to unemployment and abject poverty. Bakare, (2013) points out that these are the twin evils which experts believe may scuttle the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in the country.

According to Chukwuemeka and Onodugo (2009), the most political and economic danger a country can face is if the rate of unemployment surpasses that of the employed especially as it relates to the youths who are the leaders of tomorrow. There will be no measures trough which the effects could be addressed. Nigerian society is facing social disorder as a result of many atrocities linked with the youth unemployment. Ekpo (2011) rightly opines that that Nigeria’s unemployment situation is unacceptable. It is pertinent to stress that if the current spate of unemployment continues unabated, many of the graduates churned out yearly may eventually be recruited into the rank of oil theft syndicates, armed robbers, kidnappers, militants and insurgents, while their female counterparts may end up as prostitutes. To reduce unemployment in the country, therefore, individuals concerned, the private sector and governments at all levels must put in place creative measures to stem the tide. 1Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja uncleemms@yahoo.com, 08036130713 2Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja dorcascare4dnedy@gmail.com, 08036085428 3Departent of business Admin Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka

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Conceptual Clarification The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2000) defines unemployment as a state of not having a job. According to Beggs (2012) unemployment is a situation in which an individual in an economy is looking for a job and can't find one. Pettinger (2010) sees unemployment as a situation where someone of working age is not able to get a job but would like to be in full time employment. He further explained that If a Mother left work to bring up a child or if someone went into higher education, they are not working but would not be classified as unemployed as they are not actively seeking employment.

In his view, Amadeo (2005) corroborated Pettinger (2010) by seeing unemployment as the situation where people who do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the past four weeks, and are currently available for work. Also, people who were temporarily laid off and are waiting to be called back to that job are included in the unemployment statistics. He further explained that those who have not looked for work within the past four weeks are no longer counted among the unemployed. Most people leave the labor force when they retire, go to school, have a disability that keeps them from working, or have family responsibilities. However, even people who would like to work are excluded if they aren't actively looking for work.

From the foregoing, we can say that unemployment occurs when a person wants and is able to work but can't find work. The key part being "wanting and being able to work." Types of Unemployment Economists divide unemployment into a number of different categories. Beggs (2012) explained the following types of unemployment. Structural Unemployment: There are two ways to think about structural unemployment. One way is that structural unemployment occurs because the labor market has more workers than there are jobs available, and for some reason wages don't decrease to bring the markets into equilibrium. Another way to think about structural unemployment is that structural unemployment results when workers possess skills that aren't in high demand in the marketplace and lack skills that are in high demand. Frictional Unemployment: Frictional unemployment is unemployment that occurs because it takes workers some time to move from one job to another. While it may be the case that some workers find new jobs before they leave their old ones, a lot of workers leave or lose their jobs before they have other work lined up. In these cases, a worker must look around for a job that it is a good fit for her, and this process takes some time. During this time, the individual is considered to be unemployed, but unemployment due to frictional unemployment is usually thought to last only short periods of time and not be specifically problematic from an economic standpoint.

Frictional unemployment can also occur when students move into the work force for the first time, when an individual moves to a new city and needs to find work, and when women re-enter the work force after having children. (Note in the last case, however, that maternity leave doesn't count as unemployment!) Cyclical Unemployment: Cyclical unemployment describes the unemployment associated with business cycles occurring in the economy. Cyclical unemployment occurs

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during recessions because, when demand for goods and services in an economy falls, some companies respond by cutting production and laying off workers rather than by reducing wages and prices. (Wages and prices of this sort are referred to as "sticky.") When this happens, there are more workers in an economy than there are available jobs, and unemployment must result. Seasonal Unemployment: This is the unemployment that occurs because the demand for some workers varies widely over the course of the year. (Pool lifeguards, for example, probably experience a decent amount of seasonal unemployment.) Seasonal unemployment can be thought of as a form of structural unemployment, mainly because the skills of the seasonal employees are not needed in certain labor markets for at least some part of the year. That said, seasonal unemployment is viewed as less problematic than regular structural unemployment, mainly because the demand for seasonal skills hasn't gone away forever and resurfaces in a fairly predictable pattern. Hidden Unemployment: Wikipedia (2013) added another type of unemployment known as hidden or covered unemployment. This refers to the unemployment of potential workers that is not reflected in official unemployment statistics, due to the way the statistics are collected. In many countries only those who have no work but are actively looking for work (and/or qualifying for social security benefits) are counted as unemployed. Those who have given up looking for work (and sometimes those who are on Government "retraining" programs) are not officially counted among the unemployed, even though they are not employees. Unemployment Situation in Nigeria Nigeria, since the attainment of political independence in 1960 has undergone various fundamental structural changes. These domestic structural shifts have however not resulted in any significant and sustainable economic growth and development. Available data show that the Nigerian economy grew relatively in the greater parts of the 1970s, with respect to the oil boom of the 1970s; the outrageous profits from the oil boom encouraged wasteful expenditures in the public sector dislocation of the employment factor and also distorted the revenue bases for policy planning. (Njoku and Ihugba, 2011)

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (2003) as reported by Akintoye (2003) in Njoku and Ihugba (2011), the national unemployment rate, rose from 4.3 percent in 1970 to 6.4 percent in 1980. The high rate of unemployment observed in 1980 was attributed largely to depression in the Nigerian economy during the late 1970s. Specifically, the economic downturn led to the implementation of stabilization measures which included restriction on exports, which caused import dependency of most Nigerian manufacturing enterprises, which in turn resulted in Operation of many companies below their installed capacity. This development led to the close down of many industries while the survived few were forced to retrench a large proportion of their workforce, furthermore, the Nigerian Government also placed an embargo on employment. This among many other crises resulted in the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986 and the current economic reforms. The core objective of the economic structural reform is a total restructuring of the Nigerian economy in the face of a massive population explosion. However, these economic and financial structural reforms put in place did not yield significant results. Specifically total disengagement from the Federal Civil Service rose from 2, 724 in 1980 to 6,294 in 1984 (Odusola, 2001). Owing to this, the

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national unemployment rate fluctuated around 6.0% until 1987 when it rose to 7.0 percent. It is important to state here, that SAP adopted in 1986, had serious implications on employment in Nigeria, as unemployment rate declined from 7.0 percent in 1987, to as low as 1.9 percent in 1995, after which it rose to 2.8 percent in 1996, and hovered between 2.8 and 13.1 percent between 1996 and 2000.

The analysis by educational status also suggests that people who have been majorly affected by unemployment are those without basic education. For instance, persons with and without primary school education accounted for 76.8/80.6 percent of the unemployment in 1974 and 1978 respectively. In recent times however, the situation has been compounded by the increasing unemployment of professionals such as accountants, engineers, among others. According to a 1974 survey, reported by Aigbokhan (2000) as reported by Akintoye (2003) graduate unemployment accounted for less than 1 percent of the unemployed, in 1974, by 1984, the proportion rose to 4 percent for urban areas and 2.2 percent in the rural areas.

It is impressive to note that, in 2005, Nigerian’s unemployment rate declined to 11.9 percent from 14.8 in 2003. This decline was attributed to the various government efforts aimed at addressing the problem through poverty alleviation programmes. This decline also pointed to an increased number of people who got engaged in the informal sector activities. Unemployment increased sharply from 14.9% in March 2008 to 19.7 in March 2009. When disaggregated by sector, gave 19.2% for Urban and 19.8% for the Rural (NBS, 2010). Some states in the country recorded high composite unemployment rates, i.e. above 19.7%, which is the overall unemployment rate were Bayelsa (38.4%), Katsina (37.3%), Bauchi (37.2%), Akwa-Ibom (34.1%), Gombe (32.1%), Adamawa (29.4%), Borno (27.7%), Kano (27.6%), Yobe (27.3%), Taraba (26.8%), Jigawa( 26.5%), FCT (21.5%) and Imo (20.8%) while Plateau state recorded the lowest figure of 7.1%. In 2005, Niger state recorded the lowest rate of 0.2 while Zamfara recorded the highest rate of 51.1 when the rate of unemployment in the country was 11.9 (Njoku and Ihugba, 2011).

Social Effects of Unemployment Odidi, 2012 rightly pointed out that no day passes by without seeing youths in various places searching for jobs through internet vacant jobs and others. Most job vacancies on the daily newspapers and magazines are mere fake which do not exist. They are sometimes with incorrect websites, emails and contact phone numbers. The job desperation by teeming youths in Nigeria transpired into high levels of crime such as pen robbery, cyber crime, prostitution, illegal oil wells and bunkerings, kidnapping, fraudulent activities and others. The population of Nigerian youth are growing astronomically and those graduating from various higher institutions of learning are innumerable. The system has not really provided for unskilled workers. In the developed and advanced countries, unskilled and semi-skilled workers have their stakes in government but in Nigeria only those with University or polytechnic certificate holders are mostly given opportunities to work

Connection to the high and mighty or what is popularly known as ‘long leg’ has become the prerequisite to gain employment into the public sector. Qualified people are not given opportunity to work as far as such people do not have prominent people in corridors of power in the system. Unemployment is soaring high because some people that are employed in the formal sector are not qualified to work. Some organizations employ people who do not have knowledge of the business. How many jobs can Nigerian politicians provide for the constituencies they represent within their tenure?. The issue of

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job contracts is quiet alarming to the extent that the Nigerian government is adamant of the unpalatable trend across the country coupled with the epileptic power supply and other social problems.

It is sad that a graduate that is given opportunity to work by these so-called registered job agencies are only interested in partnering with the organizations to deduct monthly salary of the client and also in charge to effect promotion. It is observed that most these job agencies are run by top employers of labour in this country. Some of these job agencies conduct aptitude test and unnecessary screening exercises and collect fees from these job seekers in order to secure jobs for them. Causes of Unemployment in Nigeria Njoku and Ihugba (2011), Nwaigwe (2011) and Emeh, (2012) identified the following as the major causes of unemployment in Nigeria. Poor economic growth rate: The overall situation in the part of eighties, nineties and even in this decade has been very hostile to economic growth and development. The high level of corruption, mismanagement of public funds, harsh economic policies and the insecurity of the Nigerian environment coupled with long – term despotic rule of the military among other factors have dampened the spirit of economic growth for a long time. The situation in the nineties was so terrible that analysts have described the period as a lost decade to Nigeria in terms of economic growth and development. Adoption of untimely economic measures: Another crucial factor that has elicited unemployment problem overtime is the demise of the small scale and cottage industries which operated in both formal and informal sectors. Following the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) in September 1986 that ushered in liberalization, deregulation and the devaluation program of the domestic currency, many of the teething domestic firms collapsed. This resulted in the loss of many jobs and thereby rendering many people unemployed. Although, these policies were designed to jump start the growth of the economy, but given the structure of the Nigerian economy, some of the policy packages became out rightly inimical to the system due to wrong timing. Growing urban labour force: The rapidly growing urban labour force arising from rural urban migration is another serious factor leading to rise in unemployment. Rural-urban migration is usually explained in terms of push-pull factors. The push factors include the pressure resulting from man-land ratio in the rural areas and the existence of serious underemployment arising from the seasonal cycle of climate. The factors are further exacerbated in Nigeria by the lack of infrastructural facilities, which makes the rural life unattractive. Youths move to urban areas with the probability of securing lucrative employment in the industries. In addition to this, there is the concentration of social amenities in the urban centers. This meant that the rural areas are neglected in the allocation of social and economic opportunities. Rapid population growth: Going by the 2006 census in Nigeria, the nation’s population was put at 140,431,790 and projections for the future indicate that the population could be over 180 million by the year 2020, given the annual growth rate of 3.2 percent (National Population Commission and ICF Macro, 2009). With this population, Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa. It is argued that the high population growth rate has

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resulted in the rapid growth of the labour force which is far outstripping the supply of jobs. The accelerated growth of population on Nigeria’s unemployment problem is multifaceted. It affects the supply side through a high and rapid increase in the labour force relative to the absorptive capacity of the economy. Wrong impression about technical and vocational studies: The wrong impression of students about the place of technical and vocational education also accounts for the deteriorating state of unemployment in Nigeria. There is an enduring societal bias attitude against technical and vocational education Damachi (2001). A large number of job seekers lack practical skills that could enhance self - employment. That is why rather than providing jobs for others, the graduate unemployed persons keep depending on the government and the non-vibrant private sector for job offers. Neglect of Agricultural Sector: The Agricultural sector has been the leading provider of employment in Nigeria especially in the sixties and in the seventies when the sector provided employment for more than 60 percent of the Nigerian population. However, unfortunately, in the wake of oil discovery, the attention on this anchor of the economy was gradually drawn away to the oil sector where employment capacity is very low. The resulting effect is the large number of job seekers who have no place in the oil industry. Even with the expansion of the industry, unemployment has continued to grow at an alarming rate. Poor enabling environment: The poor economic enabling environment that characterizes the economy over the years has continued to pose serious challenges to employment generation in Nigeria. This, coupled with poor security environment has continued to hamper investment drives and thereby reducing the prospects of employment generation. Many job seekers who would have embarked on self - employment programs are unable to do so because of the hostile production environment. Others who make attempt are forced to wind up due to absence of infrastructures and the overall heat of the investment environment. Power failure: Over the years, hundreds of factories that hitherto provided employment to multitude of graduates, artisans etc have collapsed in one year, many textile factories closed shop across the country and the trend continues. This is because energy supply which serves as the main engine of production has been comatose, thus forcing surviving industries to depend on power generators while the country becomes a dumping ground for all imported items. Many artisans such as welders, furniture makers, fashion designers, aluminum window fitters, etc who cannot afford power generators are today out of work. Outdated school curricula and lack of employable skills: Some scholars and commentators have argued that as far as the formal sector is concerned, the average Nigeria graduate is not employable and, therefore, does not possess the skills needed by the employers of labor for a formal employment. Afterall employers do not need people to pay or spend their money on but people that will help their organization grow and make more profit as the primary goal of every enterprise is to make profit. Often, this is attributed to the Nigeria’s education system,with its liberal bias. Until recently, the course contents of most tertiary education in Nigeria lack entrepreneurial contents that would have enabled graduates to become job creators rather than job seekers.

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Conclusion and Recommendations To say the time is ripe for the Federal Government to look beyond oil by diversifying the economy is an understatement. We need to resuscitate the olden days groundnut pyramids in the North, cocoa plantations in the West and the oil palm plantations in the Eastern part of the country. This will provide the much-needed employment for our youth in addition to opening up more opportunities for growth in the nation’s economy. The government may not be able to create job enough for the teaming millions of Nigerian unemployed youths, and therefore should embark upon massive youth development programmes in all the states of the federation. Furthermore, it is necessary for the government to embark on rural development such as rural industrialization and electrification to curtail rural-urban drift. The general school curriculum should be remodeled to inculcate technical skill acquisition which which will help even secondary school graduates to have employable skills. Youth creativeness and entrepreneurial skills need to be encouraged by private organizations and government institutions. Government should make agriculture more attractive by providing and making available modernised tools and also encouraging youths into this direction. We are blessed with both natural and human resources in this country and the most prominent one is crude oil, government should resuscitate our four local refineries and create more, so that youths can get employed and also be trained on how to refine crude oil into usable items such as kerosene, petroleum, among others. This will generate revenue and also reduce unemployment. References

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Study of Nigeria. European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences ISSN 1450-2275 Issue 11

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Unemployment. Problems”. Bullion, 25(4), 6 -12

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Ekpo, A.H., 2011. Nigeria and the Paradox of Jobless Growth. BSJ August 1. Emeh, I.E.J.(2012) Tackling Youth Unemployment in Nigeria: The Lagos State

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University Press Njoku, A. and Ihugba, O. A. (2011) Unemployment and Nigerian Economic Growth

(1985-2009). Retrieved from http://www.mcser.org/images/stories/MJSS-Special-issues/MJSS-November2011/asoluka-njoku.pdf

Nwaigwe N. P. (2011) Youth Unemployment in Nigeria. Retrieved 2nd March, 2014 from

http://nwaigwe.tigblog.org/post/1901362?setlangcookie Odidi, G. (2012) Tackling Youth Unemployment. Retrieved 6th March, 2014 from

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Implication for Policy Directions in the 21st Century. NCEMA Policy Seminal Series. Ibadan, Nigeria.

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An Exploratory study of Relational Capabilities and Balanced Scorecard in the

Nigeria Manufacturing Firms. 1Lasisi, Jubril O.

2Olajide, Alade Raji 3Hasan banjo

4Shodiya, Olayinka, A. Abstract: This study investigates the relationship between relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms. A survey research method was used to generate data from employees working in various manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Simple and systematic sampling techniques were used to generate data from employees working in various Nigeria manufacturing firms. Responses from survey were statistically analysed using descriptive statistics, product moment correlation, and regression analysis with statistical package for social sciences (SPSS V.20). The results of the study confirms that a statistical significant relationship exist between relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms. Thus, we suggest that firms should develop a good business relationship with their customers, develop good motivational skills and generally increase firm’s performance. Keywords: Relational Capabilities, Balanced Scorecard, Cooperative Relationships. 1.0 Introduction

The portent of cooperative relationships has become one of the most important areas in strategic management research in recent decades. It is broadly accepted that in a networked economy, in which pressures from globalization and technological change are more and more evident, value creation processes take place not only at the level of individual firms but also at the level of networks. Gnyawali and Madhavan (2001) define networks as cooperative relationships in which firms are embedded and which influence the flow of resources among them. Several literatures on cooperative relationships demonstrates that they enable firms to acquire important resources (including. technology, knowledge, and financial resources), gain access to new markets, increase responsiveness and flexibility, achieve greater efficiency of operations and in turn improve performance (Yli-Renko et al., 2002). These resources enable firm to gain competitive advantage in the industry.

The balanced scorecard was devised by Kaplan and Norton (1992), the balanced scorecard approach comprises four perspectives: learning and growth perspective, internal process perspective, customer perspective, and financial perspective (Kaplan & Norton, 1992). BSC is a strategic approach and performance management system which organizations can use for vision and strategy implementation. The BSC model comprises four new management processes that, separately and in combination, help link long-term strategic objectives with short-term actions (Kaplan & Norton, 1996). Numerous companies and industries have adopted BSC, which meets several management needs.

The BSC model is more than a collection of financial and non-financial measurements, and represents a translation of business unit strategy into a linked set of measures that define both long-term strategic objectives and the mechanisms for achieving and obtaining feedback regarding those objectives (Kaplan & Norton, 1996). Furthermore, Kaplan and Norton (2004) created a powerful new tool, strategy map, which companies can use to describe the links between intangible assets and value creation with an unprecedented degree of clarity and precision.

1,2,4 Department of Business and Finance, Crescent University Abeokuta,

3 Department of Business Administration, Olabisi Onabanjo University Ogun State, Nigeria

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Strategy map can be used to link processes with desired outcomes; to evaluate, measure, and improve the processes most critical to success, and to target investments in human, informational, and organizational capital (Kaplan & Norton, 2004).

The BSC model identifies four related perspectives on activities that are likely to be critical to most organizations and to all levels within organizations: (a) investing in learning and growth capabilities, (b) improving internal process efficiencies, (c) providing customer value, and (d) increasing financial success (Kaplan & Norton, 1992).

This article focuses therefore, firstly, on the potentially mediating effect of the development of relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms which help companies build successful business relationships (Lorenzoni & Lipparini, 1999; Sivadas & Dwyer, 2000), and secondly, on the specific case of a transitional economy, i.e. Nigeria. Our objective is to investigate how different aspects of manufacturing firms contribute towards the systematic development of relational capabilities and balanced scorecard aimed at supporting and enhancing business interactions and relationships with various firms and improving performance (Hallén, Johanson, & Seyed-Mohamed, 1991; Ganesan, 1994; Araujo & Mouzas, 1997). These business relationships are based on inter-firm cooperation which has become an important means of competing nationally as well as globally (Achrol, 1997; Achrol & Kotler, 1999; Anderson, Håkansson, & Johanson, 1994; Håkansson & Ford, 2002; Uzzi, 1997). The advantages that a firm can gain from being embedded in business relationships and the wider business networks depends significantly on a firm's ability to manage within such complex relationships, i.e. a company's ‘relational capabilities’ (Ford, Gadde, Hakansson, & Snehota, 2003; Möller & Törrönen, 2003).

It is therefore against this background, that this paper investigates the relationship between relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms. This study started with the introduction of relational capabilities and balanced scorecard relying on the works of past researchers. This was then followed by the literature review, research methodology, analyses of data and consequently the discussion/conclusion.

2.0 Literature Review

2.1. Understanding Relational Capabilities

Relational capabilities have been discussed in many different contexts. However, no single accepted definition of the terms has been developed. There are a few common aspects in how existing research defines relational capabilities constructs. The first common element is a focus on accelerating knowledge access, supporting innovativeness and competitive advantage creation (Combe & Greenley, 2004).

Thus, higher relational capabilities imply that partners involved in business exchange can better acquire relationship-specific information and gain benefit through knowledge integration. Another common dimension of relational capabilities highlighted in the literature is improvement of firm's ability to communicate, coordinate and govern business interactions (Day & Van den Bulte, 2002). For example, Jacob (2006) has developed a relational capability construct containing three key dimensions – process configuration capability, customer communication capability, and control capability.

These dimensions measure a firm's ability is to provide customized solutions for industrial customers as an indicator or relational capability. This approach is supported by Rodríguez-Díaz and Espino-Rodríguez (2006) who state that the development of relational capabilities leads to “integration of processes by related companies in such a way that greater integration means greater cooperation, higher commitment and trust, greater transfer of knowledge, greater innovation capability and a simplification or elimination of activities” (p. 489). Finally, relational capabilities

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are commonly associated with facilitating development of trust and reliance (Baker, 1992), increasing trustworthiness within relationships and readiness for further collaboration. Relational capabilities provide a specific issue in the context of business interactions in transitional economies such as Nigeria.

Several studies have focused on understanding firm behavior and the role of business culture in forming relationship practices in Russia (Ayios, 2004; Salmi, 2004). These have reinforced the view that the role of interpersonal relationships remains as important now as it was in Soviet time. This creates a unique feature of the Russian economy: there often exists insufficient trust or reliance among the firms, while high levels of trust nevertheless exist on an interpersonal level (Butler & Purchase, 2008). Farley and Deshpandé (2005) point in this context to the fact that firms in business-to-business markets in the Soviet time had a “supplier orientation” with the “customer absorbing almost all risk as well as tolerating poor quality and irregular delivery” (p. 7). It has been argued that within a centrally planned economy, as long as a firm accepted the plan, there was no need for firms to pay attention to planning interactions with business partners in a systematic way (Johanson, 2008).

Following the logic of business relationships culture development in Nigeria, it is important to investigate not only the ability to interact effectively with business partners as part of a collaborative relationship due to knowledge and experience at the interpersonal level (Salmi, 2004), but rather to analyze the firms' organization-wide competences, in the case of our research the relational capabilities based on the adaptation of routines, process configuration, communication systems, and control mechanisms (Jacob, 2006). For the purpose of this study, we therefore adopt the approach developed by Jacob (2006) in conceptualizing relational capabilities as a three-component construct. As stated above, this conceptualization of relational capabilities has already been empirically tested, and it allows analyzing the structural approach to developing relational capabilities by incorporating key sub dimensions and their level of development in a firm. Hence the following hypotheses were proposed:

2.2. The Balanced Score Card

The BSC was introduced by Kaplan and Norton (1992). It is a management approach that enables an organization to clarify its vision, develop and communicate a strategy to achieve that vision and translate that strategy into action. The BSC typically identifies four critical business functions and advances both financial and nonfinancial measures to guide implementation and evaluation. A primary objective of the BSC approach is to prevent dysfunctional management behavior and decision making fixated primarily or exclusively on short-term financial performance. A primary impediment to successful implementation of the BSC approach is the potential confusion and ambiguity caused by multiple performance measures (financial and non-financial). Multiple performance goals can lead to goal ambiguity that in turn can undermine a primary objective of a BSC (that is, a clarified and embraced vision and implementation strategy; Kaplan & Norton, 1996: 53).

Thus, effective communication of corporate strategy throughout the organization via such means as a pictorial strategy map is crucial to the success of a BSC implementation (Tucker, Meyer, & Westerman, 1996; West & Meyer, 1997). However, it is imperative that the strategy map communicate the intended prioritization or relative equality of goals. (e.g., the stakeholder approach: Atkinson, Waterhouse and Wells, 1997), the typical BSC consists of four perspectives: financial, customer, internal/process, and learning and innovation. Each perspective provides a different view of the organization, the related business processes and how these business processes contribute to the successful implementation of the corporate strategy. The financial perspective emphasizes financial objectives; and financial perspective metrics measure economic performance

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in terms of financial outcomes. Typical financial goals deal with profitability, return on investment, and growth. A second perspective is a customer perspective.

The customer perspective translates an organization's customer service mission into specific objectives and consists of metrics that are customer focused. Examples are consumer satisfaction indices and market share. A third, internal perspective focuses on defining critical internal operations (and objectives) that enable a company to increase shareholder value over time. As in the customer perspective, the related metrics may be quantitative, qualitative, financial or non-financial. Examples are employee safety and satisfaction indices and measures of corporate responsibility. A fourth and final perspective deals with the infrastructure that supports the strategic goals in each of the other perspectives. The fourth perspective, therefore, deals with learning and innovation. That is, it deals with the development of a set of organizational capabilities that ensure continuous improvement of human resource capabilities, knowledge management and sharing of information.

Hence the following hypotheses were proposed:

Ho1: There is no significant relationship between relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms.

Ho2: relational capabilities and balanced scorecard has no significant impact on Nigeria manufacturing firms

Ho3: There is no significance difference between the mean of firms whose relational capabilities and balanced scorecard are high and those of firms whose relational capabilities and balanced scorecard are low.

(0.945**)

Source: Researcher’s Field Survey 2014

Relational Capabilities

Balanced Scorecard

Process Configuration

Capabilities

Customer Communication

Capabilities

Control Capabilities

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3 Methodology/Design

A cross sectional survey design was adopted to examine the relationships that exist between relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms This study also follows an anova research strategy and helps in predicting behavior, thus justifying the use of survey research (Bordens & Abbott 2002). It also examine whether or not a relationship exists between the variables of study (Kerlinger, 1973). Data was generated from manufacturing firms across Nigeria on a wide basis relating to relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firm.

The study population considered of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Since 55.2% of Nigeria’s 2,250 manufacturing firms are based in Lagos state (MAN, 1994, 2003). Lagos was considered a good representation of the manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Therefore the population sample was taken from Lagos state. With the help of field research assistants, the questionnaire was administered to the manufacturing firms.

The technique used in the selection of participating manufacturing firm was a simple and stratified random sampling technique. A total of 600 copies of the questionnaire were administered to the firms but 511 were completely filled and returned. This represent 85.2% response rate. Sampling is a part of the entire population carefully selected to represent that population. The justification for using simple random sampling technique is that it eliminates the likelihood that the sample is biased by the preference of the individual selecting the samples (Bordens and Abott, 2002). Another justification is that it is particularly essential when one wants to apply research findings directly to a population (Mook, 1983).

The participating manufacturing firms constituted the analysis. The administration of the questionnaire was done on one senior manager or CEO at each firm surveyed. The use of primary data method is justified since according to (Cowton, 1998). It is the quickest and simplest of the tools to use, if publication is the objective.

3.1 Analytical tools and Hypotheses Tests and Results

To derive useful meaning from the data, and examine the propositions of this study, data from the survey was analyzed using SPSS 17.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) focusing on the descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics such as mean, percentages and frequencies were employed in the study to measure demographic characteristics of respondents, to answer research questions relating to relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firm. They are not meant to test a formal research hypothesis, but rather the summaries from a sample that characterize that sample. Pearson Product-moment correlation was used to examine the existence of relationship between relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms. Regression Analysis was used to ascertain the amount of variations in the dependent variable which can be associated with changes in the value of an independent or predictor variable in the absence of other variables

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4.0 Results and Discussion

4.1 Socio-Economic Characteristics of the Survey

Table 1: Demographic Profile of Respondents

Frequency Percent

Sex

Age (in years)

Marital Status

Educational Qualification

Female

Male

Total

Less than 30

30 but less than 40

40 but less than 50

50 but less than 60

60 and above

Total

Single

Married

Divorced

Widower

Widow

Total

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Master Degree

Professional qualification

Total

201

310

511

198

110

98

70

35

511

358

118

10

15

10

511

315

110

86

511

39.3

60.7

100.0

38.7

21.5

19.2

13.7

6.8

100.0

70.0

23.09

1.9

2.9

1.9

100.0

61.6

21.5

16.8

100.0

Source: Survey 2013

The demographic profile of respondents in Table 1 reveals that majority of the respondents were male, constituting 60.7% of all the respondents. Respondents who were 30 but less than 60 years old make up 54.4% of the entire respondents. Those who were less than 30 years old constitute only 38.7%, while 60 years and above constitute an insignificant proportion (6.8%) of the entire respondents. Majority of the respondents sampled were single and they constitute 70.0%, while 23.09% were single. The divorced constituted a percentage of 1.9% of the entire population, while the widower and widow make up only 4.8% each. Also, in terms of educational qualification,

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majority (61.6%) of them were Bachelor’s degree or equivalent holders. Respondents who were holders of master’s degree constitute 21.5% while those who had professional qualifications make up 16.8%.

4 Emperical Results

4.1 Variables and Measures

4.1.1 Relational Capabilities

Concerning, relational capabilities a five-point Likert scale involving three items developed Jacob (2006) was adapted. The scale range from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” was applied to assess a firm’s emphasis on relational capabilities. Respondents rating on all items were summed up and averaged to obtain relational capabilities index. Relational capabilities index is classified high when the index is equal to or greater than 4.0 and low when it is lower than 4.0. A reliability score of 0.98 was obtained from the Cronbach;s alpha test using the adapted scale from Jacob (2006)

4.1.2 Balanced Scorecard

For balanced scorecard, a five-point Likert scale involving four items developed by Kaplan and Norton, (1992). The scale range from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. The scores of three items were summed up and average to determine the index of balanced scorecard relational. An index of less than 4.0 was considered as low balanced scorecard while an index of 4.0 and above was considered as high balanced scorecard. The scale has a reliability score of 0.85 generated from Cronbach’s alpha test.

4.2 Mean Indices, Correlation Coefficient, Regression Analysis And Independent Samples Test

4.2.1 Tests For The First Hypothesis

Table 3: Mean index of Relational Capabilities

Entrepreneurship Skills Indicator Frequency Average Weight

1. Process Configuration Capability 2. Customer Communication Capability

3.Control Capability

Mean of Means

511

511

511

511

4.04

3.70

4.12

4.10

4.12

Sources: Survey 2014

With respect to relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms, the mean index of participating firms were 4.12 and 4.03 respectively (see Table 3 and 4) H1 was tested through correlations coefficient test. Pearson’s product moment correlations coefficient (0.847**) indicates that relational capabilities and balanced scorecard are significantly and positively correlated with each other at 0.01 level of significance. Therefore, the null hypothesis of no significant relationship is rejected. Hence, there is a significant relationship between relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms.

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Table 4: Mean index of balanced scorecard

Firm performance indicator Frequency Average weight

Financial perspective Customer perspective Internal business process perspective Learning and growth perspective

Mean of means

511

511

511

4.19 4.24

3.97

4.03

Sources: Survey 2014

Hypothesis (Ho2) was tested by a means of a Regression Analysis. The results of the regression analysis of the relationship analysis of the relationship between relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms are shown in Table 3. Table 5 shows the analysis of variance of the fitted regression equation in significant with F value of 971.616. This is an indication that the model is a good one. It shows a statistically significant relationship between the variables at 95% confidence level. Therefore, the null hypothesis of no significant impact is rejected

The R2 statistics in Table 5(a) indicates that the model as fitted explains 89.3 of the total variability of manufacturing firms. In order words, 89.3% of the total variability of manufacturing firm can be explained by relational capabilities and balanced scorecard. The value of R2 = 0.893 shows that relational capabilities and balanced scorecard is a good predictor of manufacturing firms.

The standardised coefficients (Beta) value in Table 6(c) reveals that the independent variable is statistically significant at 0.05 significance level.

Table 5a: Model summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate

R/P .945a .893 .892 .50823

Table 5b: ANOVA

Model Sum of square Mean Square F Sig.

R/P Regression

Residual

250.962

29.962

280.924

1

133

17564.687

24.284

773.304 .000

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Table 5c: Coefficients

Model Unstandardized coefficients

Standardized Coefficients

Sig.

R/P B Std Error Beta T P

(Constant)

Relational Capabilities & Balanced scorecard

.033 .136 .847 .242 .000

.996 .032 31.171 .000

Dependent Variable: Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria

p< 0.05

Table 6: Independent samples test on manufacturing firm that have high entrepreneurship skills and relational capabilities and those that have low entrepreneurship skills and relational capabilities

6 a: Group statistics

Relational capabilities & Balanced scorecard

N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Manufacturing firm

Index

Low

High

511

511

4.2342

3.5674

.89442

.34401

0.05726

0.01667

6 b: Independent samples test

t-test for Equality of Means

T

Df

Sig.

(2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower Upper

-15.948 668 .000 -.77495 -0.87036 -0.67954

222

Hypothesis (Ho3) was tested using independent sample test. The results of the independent sample t-test as revealed in Table 6(a) show that manufacturing firm mean index (4.23) of firms with high relational capabilities and balanced scorecard is different from the manufacturing firm mean index (3.56) of firms with low relational capabilities and balanced scorecard. The difference between the two mean was found to be statistically significant at p < .05 [Table 6(b)]. Therefore, the null hypothesis of no significant difference is rejected. Thus, there is a significant difference between the mean of firms whose relational capabilities and balanced scorecard are high and the manufacturing firms whose relational capabilities and balanced scorecard are low.

5.0 Discussion and Managerial Implications

This study has revealed the importance of relational capabilities and balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms. Findings reveal that there is a significant relationship between relational capabilities, balanced scorecard in the Nigeria manufacturing firms.

This study investigated the relationship between different aspects of relational capabilities and balanced scorecard on one hand, and performance implications for firms on the other. Specifically, the question as to whether relational capabilities and balanced scorecard has direct or indirect effects on firms in the Nigeria manufacturing firms. Indirect or mediating effects were tested via including the construct of relational capabilities which represent a company's abilities to foster collaborative business relationships. Therefore, this study contributes to a better understanding of the link between the different components of relational capabilities and balanced scorecard by identifying that both direct as well as indirect positive influences (via the development of relational capabilities and balanced scorecard) exist in the Nigeria manufacturing firms.

The major implication of this study to business managers is that in a planned economy personal relationships played an important role. With a freer hand in deciding with whom to do business, managers within Nigeria companies need to develop their own abilities to interact with economic counterparts, not just learning to interact ‘better,’ but also learning to choose better, that is identifying those potential partners that can enhance business performance the most (Butler & Purchase, 2008).

We conclude that investments in the development of firms performance and routines, aimed at improving long term survival, and better relationships capabilities are indeed paying off for Nigeria firms. A commitment to implementing such performance and capabilities indicates a long-term orientation and supports evidence of the changing nature of inter firm relationships in the Nigeria industrial markets (Shodiya, 2014)

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