Mismanagement and reform failures in Nigeria: historical perspectives

John N N Ugoani

doi:10.14807/ijmp.v8i2.441

Abstract

The Nigerian economy started experiencing economic recession from 1981 which was characterized by low capacity utilization, incomes, and consumption patterns. Public enterprises were operating at the lowest ebb. Government discovered that, without any exception, such enterprises were infested with problems of confused and conflicting missions; political interference in operating decisions; abuse of monopoly powers; defective capital structures; bureaucratic redtapism in their relations with supervisory agencies; mismanagement; nepotism and corruption. Consequently, reform failures and entrenched bureaucratic corruption have created systemic poverty amidst robust economic growth in Nigeria; a situation that supports the phenomenon of poor people in a rich country. Nigeria at present is ranked among the poorest nations in the world and also has one of the highest unemployment rates. It is estimated that more than one in every five adults in Nigeria is either unemployed or underemployed with about 67 million youths unemployed which is not unrelated to the effects of mismanagement and reform failures. The exploratory research design was used in the study. Qualitative data provided empirical evidence that most past reform programmes in Nigeria did not achieve the objectives for which they were established. With a Negative – Positive Ratio of 7:2 based on the study, it was found that government reform policies have not made the desired positive impact on socio-economic development in Nigeria.

Highlights

According to The New Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language (2004) reform means to improve by removing faults and weaknesses, or by strengthening good quality, to put an end to evil, abuse, mismanagement, etc
In an effort to operationalize the concept of reform, Campos and Bhargava (2007) suggest that the general principles of reform involves to increase transparency, improve accountability, reduce discretion, dilute monopoly powers and to get a solid practical grip on combating corruption in all its ramifications
As catalogued in table 1, it would appear that the Nigerian sovereign state became a child of corruption and mismanagement

Summary

Introduction

According to The New Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language (2004) reform means to improve by removing faults and weaknesses, or by strengthening good quality, to put an end to evil, abuse, mismanagement, etc. In an effort to operationalize the concept of reform, Campos and Bhargava (2007) suggest that the general principles of reform involves to increase transparency, improve accountability, reduce discretion, dilute monopoly powers and to get a solid practical grip on combating corruption in all its ramifications. Girishanker, et al (2002) believes that reforms sustainability is important because they have longer gestation periods than policy changes. They posit that most important for reform sustainability is the link between the design of reforms and the environment in which they must take root if they are to be effective. Reforms in Nigeria have been virtually turned into chaos because of the major contributions of corruption, unethical behaviours and mismanagement (ENI, 2006)

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Discussion

Conclusion