CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Over the years, arguments have been made as to whether it is reasonable to control administration school of thought has it that if administration is not controlled by a superior authority within the polity, would over-stretch its powers to a point of dictatorship.
P.E Ollana (1975) argues that is necessary to control administration in order to compete it to more in the same state with the ruling party else, the ruling party would wake up and discover that its programmes and policies have been dis-oblige on the alter of bureaucratic sabotage. In this vein, the concept of using the higher bureaucrats as a confidential advisor to the political class, the minister as in the west minister, parliamentary model is quite as in the know in inter-developed democracy of the third world.
Mition Esman, et al (1969) said, when he contended that the control of bureaucracy in the context of most of the developing countries is a misplaced priority on that, might seriously retard the rate of progress. We ought to be more concerned with the increase in the capacity of bureaucracy to perform and this we see as a function of greatly enhanced professional capability and operational autonomy, rate the further controls.
Esman point of emphasis is vital as they under-score the rate or true intention of development of administration which is increase in state and bureaucratic control over individual human being.
Based on the above, it then means that a measure of control of administration is a sine qua-non in any given political system. It is a civil polity or military dispensation control of administration by a superior responsibility policy and programmes are made good, it is necessary for the political execution to carry out and implement the policies of the political executive.
Administration is an instrument for achieving public policy. It could sometimes be an impediment. The civil service is fashioned in a manner that will develop a procedure which sometimes makes the acceptance of new policy and programme difficult. This is much more fervent when a former political executive had stayed in office for long and had gathered a lot of loyalist and support, some cases in point abound.
The British labour government after (1945) met some resistance from the conservative administrative class in British civil service. The same was experienced in Germany during Wilmer republic. These resistances were associated with the policy thrust of the government support and loyalty to the regime. If system were not check-mated, it becomes obvious and its programmes and policies would suffer undue setback, it therefore becomes plausible to review and adopt a means for the control of bureaucracy.
In Nigeria, the collapse of the first republic and the attendant military bureaucratic relationship, posed a hurdle on the control of bureaucracy. When the military struck on the 5th of January 1966, all the political structures of the state were disbanded, the leadership vacuum this created was filled by the higher civil service bureaucrats.
First by incorporation and lately accretion as of right. General T.V Aguiyi-Ironsi enacted them. “the 1966, this act transferred the functions of individual member of the year 1966 federal executive council (F.E.C) to appropriate permanent secretaries and the heads of extra ministerial departments”. This led to an unjustified high level of political involvement of the part of higher administration with a great commissioner.
This action resulted into an undue grip of the service and made administration exist in an unparallel manner, in any attempt to control it consequently, they are of super-permanent secretaries emerged.
These permanent (super) secretaries held an undue siege on any government in power until 1945, when the late general Murtala Mohammed carried the first and foremost civil service, purged in an attempt to control administration. It was the conclusion of the 1975 purge that became explicit to the higher administration that it controls even a guest manner.
For the avoidance of doubt, a meaningful success of July, 1975 purge, was an affirmation that political neutrality of the civil service is a fundamental feature of a democratic government and too essential for its efficient operation. It must be maintained even at the cost of some loss of political liberty by certain, of those who elect to enter into services.
Most important to be observed is the truth already, so much and so fortunately insisted upon by our civil service reformers.
Namely that administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics.
Administrative questions are not political questions. Although politics sets the task for administration, it should not be suffered to manipulation of its offices, this is distinction of high authority.
In course of this discourse, a pertinent question that would be answered will revolve on the role of the executive politics in the control of administration with Imo state civil service as a case study.
The process or modus operandi for such a control and how efficacious they are answerable to these questions from the premise of the study.
- STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS
The need to control administration by a superior authority has been a tropical issue it has generated a great deal of controversy among scholars and commentators on national issues.
Much as it is argued that the control of administration would enhance speedy decision making, efficient information system, problem solving of administration is seen as a panacea for removing obstacles in decision making that requires immediate political action.
Administration is accused of convert and over delay in the ability to respond to issues. Since administration appears too centralized in its modus oprandi, its control would result on decentralization of division of course of events and quick implementation.
Consequently the main thrust or the critical issues of the project intends to investigate are:
- a) Is it necessary to control administration?
- b) What is the modus operandi or machinery in the control of administration?
The present work is fundamentally concerned with the issues raise above.
- OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.