ABSTRACT
This study is on New public management and effective services delivery in nasarawa state, 2008-2018. The total population for the study is 200 staff of Nasarawa state secretariat. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made directors, administrative staff, senior staff and junior staff was used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Background of the study
The trajectory and vagaries that characterized post-colonial states in Africa necessitated the conception of an activist and developmental/welfarist paradigm of public administration rationalized on the premise of heavy state intervention to correct market failures, thus providing social or public goods that benefit the generality of the people (Musgrave and Musgrave, 1989). This was also underscored by the utilitarian theory of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill (cited in Ezeani, 2006: 395). The delivery of the above mentioned goods/services implies that there must be strong state bureaucracies and institutions to play crucial roles. The developmental state anchored on the old paradigm of public administration has been criticized for restricting people’s freedom to manage their individual affairs, thus creating dependency instead of self-reliance, it had too many responsibilities which it failed to discharge effectively; it created the dominance of elites/privileged groups that are exploitative and furthered selfish interests (Olaopa, 2008:57).
The New Public Management (NPM) as a global reform initiative or movement started around the 1980s and had extended to countries like Sweden, New Zealand and the United States of America (Olaopa, 2008:54). It seeks to apply market principles to public management and governance with the aim of achieving efficiency in the provision of public goods and service delivery. This arose from the notion that public bureaucracy had become unnecessarily bloated in size, unproductive and ineffective as an instrument of national development. It is this search for public service efficiency that explains the essence of one Civil Service reform after the other, and we have had several starting from the 1934 Hunt Committee, through Tudor Davies Commission (1945); Walter Harragin (1947); Hugh Foot (1948); Gorsuch (1954); Mbanefo (1959); Morgan (1964); Adebo (1971); Udoji (1974); Onosode (1982); Dotun Philips (1988); Ayida Panel (1994); and Obasanjo Service Delivery Reforms (2003) (Obi, 2007:23; Nnamani, 2009:27). These reforms did not only effect the Civil Service in isolation; but public enterprises as well. For instance, it is through the intervention of these commissions of enquiry that public enterprises experienced rapid growth in Nigeria between 1970 and 1980. Similarly, it is through their intervention that government began to think of divestment of public enterprises, and this (privatization and commercialization) reached its crescendo during the Obasanjo civilian administration between 1999 and 2007. Details of these are contained in Obikeze and Obi, 2004: 248 – 275). All these are efforts or attempts at organizational development which constitute one level of administrative development. Another platform of reform which is the second area that characterize the process of administrative development is attempts at developing managerial capacity (skills) within the public sector. It is however not very easy separating activities related to organizational and structural development from activities aimed at improving managerial capacity. This is so because all panels/commissions that have investigated the performance of the civil service and public enterprises have always included recommendations for improving managerial effectiveness. On this background the researcher wants to investigate new public management and effective service delivery in Nasarawa state 2008-2018
- STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
It is however not very easy separating activities related to organizational and structural development from activities aimed at improving managerial capacity. This is so because all panels/commissions that have investigated the performance of the civil service and public enterprises have always included recommendations for improving managerial effectiveness. Looking at the reports of various commissions, it is possible to identify certain broad areas of action which they recommended for improving efficiency in the civil/public Service.
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