Impact of Public Opinion on Public Policy in South West, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between public opinion and public policy in South West, Nigeria, find out whether public opinions have effect on public policy, and the extent to which Nigerians are aware of the importance of their views on public policy in the study area. Again, the study examined the roles of public opinions on public policies and discussed factors that inhibit the use of public opinions by Nigerians. The study administered a self-made questionnaire on one hundred and fifty respondents from three purposively selected states in the South West, Nigeria. Political parties’ governing the states was the basis for choosing them. Oyo and Lagos states were picked as the All Progressive Congress (APC) controlled states and Ekiti state; being under Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The study employed random sampling method to select respondents from the three states. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) v22 was used to analyze the primary data. Books, journal articles, internet-based material, media publications were sources of the secondary data and was content analyzed. The results showed that there is a relationship between public opinion and public policy, but the level of awareness of the people about the use of their views in policymaking process is minimal. Factors that affect the use and influence of people’s opinion on public policy are corruption, poor political culture, and education, poverty and unemployment. The study concluded that public opinion holds great prospect for the breakthrough of public policy.