Federal Character Research Articles

Assessing the Impact of Federal Character Principle on Recruitment and Promotion in the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, FCT, Nigeria

Assessing the Impact of Federal Character Principle on Recruitment and Promotion in the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, FCT, Nigeria

Federalism and National Integration in Nigeria: A Study of Selected States in South-South, Nigeria

Abstract : Nigeria as a multi ethnic nationalities country is faced with tremendous task of integrating a country that is deeply depleted by mirage of problems, including among others ethno-religious and cultural crises and the constitutional imperfection. Regrettably, the manner the country practices federalism has resulted to the country's inability to foster or promote national integration, and unity in diversity. The main objective of the study was to investigate the role of federalism in promoting national integration in Nigeria. Four states comprising of AkwaIbom, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers in south south, Nigeria were selected for the study. To achieve this objective, survey correlation/research design was adopted for the study and a sample size of 384 was drawn from the population of 20,787,224, using purposive and systematic sampling techniques respectively. Data were selected using researchers developed questionnaire titled Federalism and National Integration Questionnaire (FNIQ) the instrument was administered and retrieved by the researchers with the help of two research assistants. Three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated for the study. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used in testing the hypotheses at 0.5 level of significance. Three null hypotheses of the study were rejected leading to the decision to accept the alternative hypotheses. It was concluded that there was significant relationship between ethnicity, supremacy of power of having, and the Federal Constitution and the national integration in south south Nigeria. It was recommended among others, that, to foster possible breakup by the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, government should device a federal principle through accommodation, consultation, negotiation and inclusion, instead of exclusion and denial of their rights. The sharing of political offices and opportunities should be equitable and based on the spirit of federal character principle and true federalism.

STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE POLICY IMPLEMENTATION IN NIGERIA: A CASE OF FEDERAL CHARACTER PRINCIPLE

The implementation of policies by the government appears to be ineffective in using the Federal Character Principle (FCP) as a case study. The FCP, which was enacted to guarantee the distribution of employment in Nigeria’s public service, appears to not be achieving its goal as the disparity in the distribution of employment remains inherent in the civil service. Disparity perfectly describes the distribution of employment in the Nigerian civil service, regardless of the enactment of the FCP. Subsequently, this paper endeavours to investigate techniques that would guarantee the viable implementation of the FCP in Nigeria’s civil service. The paper sourced its data from secondary sources and relevant documents. The paper revealed that strategies that can ensure the FCP can be effectively implemented include the application of a Tribunal, the inclusion of civil society in the implementation of the enabling laws and ensuring that officers of the commission are not appointed based on party affiliation. The paper recommends that sanctions should be used for defaulters of the policy.

Evaluation of the Financial Performance of Chikkamagaluru DCC Bank of Karnataka

The establishment of the cooperative banking system in India may be attributed to the enactment of the Cooperative Credit Societies Act in 1904. This legislation aimed to facilitate the provision of production credit to farmers. In 1912, amendments were made to the Act of 1904 to facilitate the establishment of central cooperative banks at the district level. The legislation was designed to give the act a federal character with three tiers in order to promote the growth of cooperative banks. The objectives are The objective is to analyse the Working Capital and Total Advances of DCC Bank in Chikkamagaluru District, as well as assess the Short-Term and Medium-Term Agricultural Loans offered by the same bank in the same district.

The Federal Character Principle and Political Exclusion of Southeast Nigeria, 2015–2019

The incidence of political exclusion in the world has continued to increase among different ethnic groups, and this has continued to generate tension. However, in Nigeria, the inception of the current democratic dispensation in 2015 led to the politics of exclusion in sheds of opinions of individuals whose contributions are required for the development of the country and in political appointments of people from particular religious and ethnic groups. Though the federal character principle of affirmative action has received reasonable scholarly attention, these studies have failed to examine how non-adherence to this policy initiative has increased the marginalization of the Southeast zone of Nigeria from 2015 to 2019. Based on the expository strength of the social exclusion theory and through a rigorous content analysis of data collected using the documentary method, it was argued that the non-implementation of this principle increased the marginalization of the southeast zone. Tables and figures validated these results in our analysis. Thus, emphasis is not only placed on affirmative action but rather on the manner in which it is performed. Our thought for policy implications considered the urgent need to review extant laws and policies enacted on inclusiveness, focusing on the yearly release of data by the commission across the country and effective sanctions for defaulters.

The patterns of political career movements of Nigerian cabinet ministers, 1999–2017

ABSTRACT This article examines the patterns of political career movements in the Nigerian federal system using the sample of federal cabinet ministers from 1999 to 2017. The result shows that most Nigerian ministers are politically inexperienced, with a large proportion of party-affiliated technocrats among them. For politically experienced ministers, the dominant pattern of career movements is a unidirectional one leading from the state to the federal level, while any movement back is rare. We argue that, among other things, this pattern is an outcome of the federal character principle stated in the Nigerian constitution, according to which the cabinet has to include a minister from each of the current 36 states. This requirement leads to disruption of political careers and hinders politicians from moving across territorial levels.

Marginlization of Recruitment And Selection of Employee in The Nigerian Federal Civil Service : An Assessement Of Federal Character Policy

Marginlization of Recruitment And Selection of Employee in The Nigerian Federal Civil Service : An Assessement Of Federal Character Policy

ОЦЕНКА ВЛИЯНИЯ НА УПРАВЛЕНИЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЙ БЮРОКРАТИЕЙ НИГЕРИИ ЕЕ ПЛЕМЕННОГО И ЭТНИЧЕСКОГО СОСТАВА: КАДРОВЫЙ И ГОСУДАРСТВЕННО-ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИЙ ПОДХОД

This paper uses empirical studies and case studies to examine the role of ethnicity and tribalism in the Nigerian public bureaucracy. The paper is anchored on social dominance theory and bureaucratic theory. The paper, based on a triangulation approach (content analysis combined with a survey), reveals that tribal affiliation, followed by religion, is the topmost factor influencing the composition and management of the Nigerian federal bureaucracy. The study reveals that ethnic and tribal ties between different ethnic groups have a significant impact on bureaucratic processes and administrative functions such as recruitment and appointments. The study reveals that bureaucrats in Nigeria use administrative discretion to alter public policies and influence public values in favor of their kinship. This causes public bureaucracy to become irrational, unethical, divisive, parochial, and unmeritorious as ethnic and racial prejudices and biases take precedence in the composition and management of the public sector. The paper recommends inclusive governance and must redesign the institutional structure by creating an overarching level of board management to oversee the affairs of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) to reduce its apparent politicization or skewness that contradicts the original tenets upon which it was founded.

ETHNO-RELIGIOUS CRISIS AND NIGERIA’S FEDERALISM: A STUDY OF JOS NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, PLATEAU STATE

Ethnic, political and religious crises are challenging Nigeria’s existence and its democracy. The issues at stake question Nigeria’s ethno-religious crisis and federalism: a study of the Jos North Municipality in Plateau State. The study adopts the survey design and the questionnaire was used as a tool to collect data. The analysis was performed using the simple percentage data analysis method. After careful analysis and interpretation of the data collected, it was found that issues such as the federal character, the quota system, and “indigenousness” that have entered the vocabulary and practice of federalism in Nigeria tend to generate ethnic, religious, and ultimately political tensions and instability. This calls into question the rationality of introducing the federal character principle in the first place. The research also shows that the federal character principle has had a negative impact on political, social and economic development in the Jos North Local Government Area. In the final presentation, the study recommends, among other things, strict compliance with the constitutional provisions on citizenship rights in relation to indigenous colonisation issues.

Political Violence and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria: A focus on the 2019 and 2023 General Elections

Overtime, election has been the most controversial aspect of Nigeria’s democracy as it includes activities for choosing amongst individuals for the leadership and representative role in the country. Leadership seats have always been a contest and a battle that most individuals pursue. The political space of Nigeria therefore has always been characterized by violence which is usually being employed for political gains, ethno-religious vices and destabilization of the democratic processes. The research studies the various reasons for the continuous violence in Nigeria’s electoral processes, its impacts on the electoral processes and largely on the democratic consolidation of the country. The paper employed the descriptive analysis method in analyzing the causes and impact level of political violence. The paper asserted that the ethnic and religious volatility plays a great role in the ensuing of violence in the last election, as the election was viewed as an election amongst individuals of ethnic groups. The researchers therefore, suggest that principle of federal character can reduce political violence and make for democratic consolidation in Nigeria.

Implementing Health Policy in Nigeria: The Basic Health Care Provision Fund as a Catalyst for Achieving Universal Health Coverage?

ABSTRACTIn 2014, Nigeria adopted a new law for its healthcare system, which mandated the establishment of a novel health‐financing mechanism, the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF). The BHCPF was created to provide sustainable funding with a view to fast‐tracking Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and improving health outcomes in Nigeria. This article places Nigeria's UHC reform process in the broader context of social policy implementation in Africa to illustrate the extent to which interactions between different agents, contextual factors such as Nigeria's federal character, as well as changing conceptualizations of social policy at a global level, shape views on how best to implement UHC. The article is based on the careful examination of three different versions of implementation guidelines for the BHCPF combined with qualitative data collected during fieldwork. It argues that there is a discrepancy between the Nigerian government rhetoric of putting into place a system that improves access to healthcare and the actual practice of implementing UHC via the BHCPF. In reality, a range of controversies surround the ongoing operationalization of the BHCPF, contributing to the perpetuation of a social policy environment that allows poor health outcomes and significant health inequities in Nigeria to persist.

Effects of IPOB Sit-At-Home on the Economy of Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State, South-Eastern Nigeria

The study examined the effects of IPOB sit-at-home order on the economy of Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State, the South-Eastern region of Nigeria. The study employed both primary and secondary sources of data with the use of the system theory by Talcott Parsons which states that every system is made up of sub-system that has component parts, and each component has a vital role to play for the overall performance of the system as a whole. Questionnaires were administered to respondents and data gathered were analyzed with the use of in-depth summary and coding as well as Chi-square at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that IPOB sit-at-home order has negatively affected the economy of Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State, south-eastern region of Nigeria. Based on the findings, the study recommends that there is need for IPOB to suspend its sit-at-home order and embrace dialogue with the Federal Government to press down their demand for the release of their leader because this sit-at-home has not yielded any positive results, rather it has deeply eaten up the economy and affected the livelihood of the people which had led to more crimes and even loss of lives and properties. Also, the distribution of resources among the six (6) geo-political zones of Nigeria should be done through proper Federal character principle as this will go a long way to reducing what the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) perceived as gross marginalization to the south-eastern regions. Keywords: Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), National Economy, National Integration

The Effectiveness of the Federal Character Principle in Enugu, Kogi State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Public Service

Purpose: The study seeks to understand the extent to which the Federal Character Principle ensured even representation of Federal Public Servants in Enugu State, Kogi State and the Federal Capital Territory. Also, to know if the federal character principle is faced with some challenges in Enugu State, Kogi State and the Federal Capital Territory and understand the advantages and prospects of the federal character principle to the Federal Public Service in Enugu State, Kogi State and the Federal Capital Territory. Theoretical Framework: This study is situated within the Theory of Representative Bureaucracy propounded by Bola Dauda (2000). This theory was propounded to solve crisis in the Public Service Recruitment in order to ensure administrative and political harmony especially for the third world countries. Design/Methodology/Approach: The design of the study is descriptive and survey research design. Primary method of data collection was employed. One hundred and fifty - five (164) questionnaires were administered to one hundred and fifty – five (155) respondents and questionnaires were responded to, and recovered. For the purpose of this study, Federal Character Commission in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi and Enugu states were sampled. Findings: The findings of this study shows that the extent to which the federal character principle has ensured even representation of every region of Nigeria in the federal civil service is low. It was revealed by the findings of this study that the problems of regional domination and fear of minorities of marginalization in the federal public service have not been largely tackled by the federal character principle in Nigeria. Also, the Federal Character Principle is characterized by some obvious problems which include sacrificing competence and merit on the altar of fair regional representation; the federal character principle being an opportunity for those in power to favour people from their regions and the emphasis the Federal Character Principle places on difference rather than integration. Conclusion: The federal character principle is one those principles which Nigeria has adopted in her attempt to balance the national life of her diverse heritage. There seem to be nothing wrong with the federal character principle and its adoption into the Nigerian state but so much seem to be wrong in the application of this principle in Nigeria due to administrative lapses on the part of the Federal Character Commission and selfish interests on the part of those in power.

Public Institutions, Democratic Consolidation and Sustainable Development in Nigeria: An Exploratory Discourse of Challenges

This article undertakes an exploratory analysis of the impediments and optimal approaches to building strong public institutions in Africa, with specific reference to Nigeria, through extensive literature review. Beyond clarifying concepts such as institutions and institutionalisation, the article provides a brief examination of the history of institutions building in Nigeria in order to show that the colonialists deliberately undermined institution building. The main colonial focus was on the exploitation of Africa, extraction of raw materials for the metro-poles, even during the post-independence era. The article identifies challenges to strong public institutions building in Nigeria, which include juxtaposing “weak” (otherwise wrongly styled “strong”) individuals/leaders for strong institutions, primordial issues, godfather syndrome, federal character system and jumbo pay for some public office holders. Basic elements that promote strong public institution building including availability of appropriate rules, authority-based administration, operational transparency and accountability, promotion of security, peace and order, political community, and positive political will and responsible government. Policy recommendations are: the compelling need for deliberate efforts at building strong public institutions in Africa, particularly Nigeria, as the only route to sustainable peace, security and development. Also, weak individuals/leaders should no longer be styled as strong individuals because the latter only operate within, not above institutional rules. Finally, challenges to strong institution building need to be taken care of because they constitute clogs in the wheel of progress. Keywords: Democracy,Development, Government, Institutions and Nigeria

Fostering National Integration in Nigeria through Quality Education

Nigerians in recent times appear to be more disconnected from one another than ever before. This has led to various forms of agitations in the form of restructuring, devolution of powers, self-determination, resource control and even insurgency, all pointing to the fact that the country is badly in need of national integration. With analysis of various literatures; this paper argues that quality education can be the panacea to the problem of national disintegration in Nigeria. National integration presupposes a situation where the various cleavages that have held the people from national consciousness like ethnicity, tribalism, religion and culture are minimized. The findings show that such measures as introduction of NYSC, Federal character, Quota system, revenue sharing formula and others have done little to ameliorate the divides, thus impeding on a progressive development for the country. The paper posits the measure of quality education as a way out. It there submits that if quality education is attained, national integration would be achieved. Recommendations therefore include, increasing annual budget for education to at least 12 percent of GDP, improving teachers’ remuneration and government honouring its agreement with various academic unions to prevent the incessant industrial actions that have continuously plagued quality education in Nigeria.

Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Organizational decision making of Federal Parastatals in Nigeria

The study investigated information communication technology (ICT) and organizational decision making of Federal Parastatals in Nigeria. Specifically, the study sought to: investigate the relationship between mobile phone communication technology and organizational decision making; identify the relationship between e-mail communication technology and organizational decision making and ascertain the relationship between video and web conferencing communication and organizational decision making. Research design for this study was descriptive survey. Study area was Enugu. The sample size of 323 respondents was drawn from population 5690 employees from selected federal Parastatals namely Federal character commission, Federal fire service, Federal housing authority, National Bureau of statistics. The instrument of data collection was questionnaire. The data analytical techniques were arithmetic mean, standard deviation and correlation statistics. The empirical results show that mobile phone communication has significant relationship with organizational decision making of Federal Parastatals in Nigeria (r-statistic = 0.761; P-value < Sig-value (0.05); e-mail communication has significant relationship between e-mail communication with organizational decision making of Federal Parastatals in Nigeria (r-statistic = 0.750; P-value < Sig-value (0.05) and video and web conferencing communication has significant relationship with organizational decision making of Federal Parastatals in Nigeria (r-statistic = 0.890; P-value < Sig-value (0.05). The study concluded that information communication technology (ICT) has positive and significant relationship with organizational decision making of Federal Parastatals in Nigeria. The study recommended that management of federal parastatals should increase training of employees in ICT utilization should be adequately carried out hence operational efficiency, quality service delivery, sustainable competitive advantage and improved performance will be the outmost benefits to be derived.

The Rule of Law Under the Constitution of Nepal

This article deals with the constitutional provisions of rule of law, its implementation status and challenges to implement it. Rule of law is the value of democratic institution that focuses on the legal justification of every action by the government officials and adjudication of disputes through the independent and competent court. The Constitution has guaranteed the rule of law through its preamble, fundamental rights with constitutional remedy, directive principle and state policies and various other provisions that have added hope for the people of limited government. The Constitution focuses on both horizontal and vertical separation of state power. Horizontal power is divided into three organs of government; legislative, executive and judiciary and vertical power is divided into central, provincial and local level government with the federal character of the nation. The judiciary is empowered to test the constitutionality of legislative and administrative actions which is the essence of rule of law of democratic nations. The Constitution guarantees the functional and institutional independence of judiciary. Thus, the article argues that the Constitution of Nepal, 2015 wants to establish, promote and protect the rule of law in Nepal but its implementation depends on the commitment and actions of the state authority. The finding of the study is there is the need of more laws and institutional arrangements to establish rule of law and to implement Constitution. The analysis is significant to as it helps to understand the constitutional provision of rule of law, its implementation status and challenges to implement.

Fostering National Integration in Nigeria: Exploring the Role of Political Science Education

Nigeria has been described by many scholars particularly, the demographers, sociologists and social studies educators as a country with more than three hundred and fifty (350) ethnic nationalities with diverse cultural, linguistic, religious orientations. This multiplicity or heterogeneous character of the Nigerian state tends to frustrate the various attempts at integrating these various entities that constitute the country. However, successive Nigerian regimes have strived to integrate their citizens through such schemes as National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), encouragement of inter-tribal marriages, institutionalization of lingua-franca, emplacement of Federal Character Commission, among others. Notwithstanding these giant strides, integration of various people of Nigeria has proven difficult and perhaps continues to remain a herculean task for the government. This paper, therefore, x-rays the probable nexus between political science education and national integration in Nigeria. It adopted a content-analysis as contained in the national dailies, textbooks, special reports and journal articles to review the extant but relevant literature and consequently, maintains that acquiring adequate knowledge of political science; a sub-field within the umbrella term of social sciences, can be used as a potent yet, veritable tool for national integration in Nigeria. It nevertheless recommends the need to make the subject matter of political science education a compulsion for all students of Nigerian schools, colleges, universities, among other recommendations.

CITIZENS-INDIGENES AND SETTLERS DICHOTOMY AS PROMOTED BY GOVERNMENT: CAUSES AND IMPLICATIONS ON PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS

The crises associated with Citizens-Indigenes and Settlers dichotomy (C-ISD) in Nigeria has been on the increase. Governments’ actions and or inactions often exacerbate the age-long social relationship amongst people that have lived together for years, a tendency that reflect in many aspects of the people’s lives, including Public Organizations (POs) established to provide basic services to the people. Recently, where superiority of the concepts is experimented, government’s meddlesomeness has led to the low performance of such organizations. The general causes and consequences of this ugly practice on POs need to be identified in other that the constitution will address them. By using an eclectic approach for data generation and analysis with field works in two states that were purposively/regionally selected within North and South regions in Nigeria, this paper identified the causes, consequences and how government promoted the dichotomy in Public Organizations in Nigeria. We further employed documentary method for data collation while content analysis and narrative analytical technique were adopted. Given that issues relating C-ISD is one of the key problems that work against output performance POs, we recommend that the 1999 Constitution be amended immediately, perpetrators of the dichotomy be punished and that the federal character principle be replaced with more robust ideas that would make POs productive.

Ethnic Diversity and Socio-Economic Development in Southwest, Nigeria

Diversity management shares an important link with Socio-economic development. The study investigated the effect of ethnic diversity on the socio-economic development of southwest, Nigeria. Multiple regression analytical method was used to measure the effect of ethnic diversity which is the independent variable on the dependent variable (socio-economic development) which was measured with indicators like foreign and local investments, employment opportunities, quality education, good social amenities, higher life expectancy and personal safety using SPSS version 20. The reliability coefficient of research instrument was obtained using Cronbach-alpha. Cross-sectional/descriptive research design was adopted. The primary data was collected from five (5) MDAs of 1,571 population using a structured questionnaire from which a sample size of 400 was determined using Taro Yamane 1967. Result shows that ethnic diversity has a significantly positive effect on the socio-economic development of southwest Nigeria. The study recommended the introduction of activities that could foster unity amongst Nigerians e.g. sports, bridging the social gap between the rich and the poor which has been identified as the major cause of crime, the study also recommends the total overhauling of the northern education system and strict adherence to the federal character rule.