Main Props and Obstacles to the Implementation of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan (NDRDMP by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)

Abstract

This study investigated the main props and obstacles to the implementation of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan (NDRDMP) by Niger Delta Development Commission. Based on a pragmatist philosophy, it used a well-structured questionnaire to collect quantitative and qualitative data from respondents chosen by stratified random sampling. The quantitative data were subjected to statistical analysis using frequency counts, percentages and measures of central tendency. The qualitative data were subjected to content analysis using existing frameworks synthesised from the literature on factors influencing strategy implementation. The findings showed that seven of the 20 props and 26 of the 29 obstacles to strategy implementation, sifted from contemporary thinking in this area, had major or extremely great influences on the NDRDMP implementation. The results also revealed that the success level of the NDRDMP implementation was below-average. It can be concluded that the small number of the main factors that support and abundance of the main factors that hinder the NDRDMP implementation by NDDC, have affected its execution such that overall its success was less than optimal. The study provided a new insight on how props and obstacles affect the effectiveness of strategy implementation. It has shown that where the obstacles outweigh the props, strategy implementation does not attain the optimum level of success and thereby opened up an avenue for further research.