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Journal of Politics, Economics and Society Volume 3, Numbers 1 & 2, 2013

About This Edition

ISSN : ISSN: 1998-4936 (Print) ISSN: 2075-6534 (Online)

Table of Contents :

The Outsourcing of Thinking and Imagination in African Development: Lessons from South Korea
Kelechi A. Kalu 7

This paper responds to the following questions: (1) given the same international economic structure and, relatively, the same levels of economic conditions, why did states like South Korea and other Asian tigers effectively transform their countries from poverty to sufficient wealth while states like Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and others sub-Saharan African countries remain mired in poverty? (2) What characteristics of politics are conducive to frameworks that enable effective citizen participation, which in partnership with government officials can produce transformative change in economic and political development in sub-Saharan Africa? And (3) what lessons does the South Korean experience have for African states? I define and contextualize the concept of outsourcing and argue that outsourcing can be negative if the component outsourced to a firm in another country creates temporary employment for the citizens of the receiving state but does not link the manufacturing or services by contract to the ‘donor’ national economy. Such outcome draws skilled workers away from the originating national economy to work in such external enclave economies. Furthermore, the outsourcing firm/country has exogenous impact on the target firm/country’s taxation, employment and development policies – often without input from the target firm or state. Thus, negative outsourcing has far reaching consequences if what is outsourced include ideas and imagination that often result in dependency rather than independence. Based on the foregoing, I argue that serious thinking and innovative strategies for economic development in many industrialized countries, including South Korea, have come from uncompromising commitment by the policy elites on how best to deploy domestic resources to achieve desired national goals of economic advancement. In conclusion, emphasis on policy ownership and endogenous resources offer three lessons from South Korea for African states: a robust policy on science and technology education; government investment on infrastructure development and maintenance and the privileging of labour intensive industrialization over prevailing practices of importing everything. Overall, economic nationalism is at the centre of South Korea’s successful industrialization and economic growth.

If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.

Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow, 1973

Robert Obiyo39

The Sarafina 2 issue involved the mismanagement of over R14 million of public money in the Department of Health and the supervisory and oversight responsibility of the then-Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Sarafina 2 is examined in an attempt to clarify the convention of individual ministerial responsibility to Parliament in the South African parliamentary democracy. It explores the theory and practice of the convention as it evolved in Britain and as it has been adapted in the 1996 South African Constitution. The paper contends, in light of the revelations of the Public Protector’s report on the matter that the Minister of Health should have resigned in terms of the Constitution. It highlights certain serious departmental failures as well as incidences of private indiscretions of members of government post-1994 which have gone unaccompanied by ministerial resignations. It asks the question as to whether the political handling of Sarafina 2 laid a foundation for ministerial non-resignation – despite evidence of significant mismanagement and irregularities - in a fledgling democracy.

Dhikru Adewale Yagboyaju71

The responsibility of ensuring the safety of lives and property of the citizens and providing for their material well-being is a vital pre-requisite for the legitimacy of a state of government in the contemporary world. Apparently, as the most obvious part of government, public bureaucracy or public administration is saddled with the responsibility of implementing the policies and executing the projects that should assist government in attaining its objectives of securing the lives and property of the citizens as well as providing other basic needs of the people.

In view of these inevitable and unbiquitous responsibilities, this paper critically examines the role of the public bureaucracy in Nigeria, particularly since the reintroduction of civil rule in 1999, when successive administrations; in line with the great expectations that accompanied democratization, envisioned development, “re-branding” and transformation in the country. More specifically, the paper attempts to evaluate the role of the public bureaucracy in actualizing the objectives of such programmes as the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), the seven-point agenda and re-branding project as well as the transformational agenda, which the Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan administrations respectively introduced in the country. Similarly, these Development Agenda, which over the years, became reference points at the state and other lower levels of governance in the country will be analyzed with a view to bringing out their impacts at these other levels.

The research methodology is descriptive and analytical. The framework of analysis largely draws from the increasingly growing paradigm shift from administration to the public management approach. In this approach, greater emphasis is placed on the quality of leadership in the key areas of governance, management techniques and, above all, value-for-money. However, in line with the mutually-reinforcing relationship between the environment and any socio-economic and political policy, the paper does not de-emphasize the welfare responsibilities of the government in Nigeria and the implications for overall development, both in its analysis and recommendations.

What does the Africanisation of a University Entail? Lessons from East Africa
Bheki R Mngomezulu97

One of the most contentious issues in African politics which has since been debunked is the wrong but once popular Eurocentric view that Africa had no system of education before the advent of colonialism. As more evidence surfaced to prove that Africans were able to educate themselves the discussion shifted to how Western and African education systems could co-exist. This call became louder as African countries became independence in the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to political independence, Africans insisted on the development of higher education institutions with the understanding that these would produce the much needed manpower. Moreover, they argued that colonial and Westerndominated universities had to be Africanised –not only in terms of the infrastructure and staff but also in terms of the curriculum. Drawing from the experience of the federal University of East Africa (1963-1970), this article uses archival and other sources to demonstrate what it means to Africanise a university that is already in existence.

Re-regionalization and Fiscal Federalism: The Panacea for Accelerated National Development in Nigeria
Chukwudi S. Osondu & Ufo Okeke-Uzodike115

The current process of the review of the Nigerian 1999 constitution by the National Assembly is grappling with some critical issues of national significance. One of such issues is what to do with the current structure of the Nigerian state. Several positions are being canvassed by the various interest groups that are re-examining the Nigeria project. A proposal which seems to be gaining widespread support and momentum is the clamour for the need to go back to the regional structure which was jettisoned during the Nigeria-Biafra war with the creation of twelve states out of the then existing four regions. The memories of the developmental achievements of the then regional governments have made proponents of re-regionalization to argue that it was a mistake in the first instance to have disbanded the regional structure. This paper interrogates the proposal, examines the challenges that comes with it. It concludes that the restructuring of the Nigerian federation with the six geopolitical zones as the federating units, fiscal autonomy and a loose centre, will make the centre less attractive and spur development at the regional levels.

Achieving a Gender Balance at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: The Experience of Women in Senior Academic Positions
Fenela Mukangara133

This article discusses gender issues at the University of Dar es Salaam as experienced by women in senior academic positions. It focuses on factors that influenced the women to join academia, their research and publishing experience, perceptions of promotion criteria and their ability to influence university policies. The article shows that the decision to join the university was based on encouragement from Heads of Departments and other academic staff. A number of constraints hinder female academics from competing with their male counterparts to secure research opportunities and publish in order to achieve promotion. These include, among others, the time spent in child bearing, household chores and lack of networking. The article recommends the inclusion of the teaching component in promotion criteria, the consideration of gender in academic staff recruitment, facilitation of research opportunities and confidence building among female staff.

Book Reviews : Key concepts in body and society: ageing and childhood
Thembelihle P. Dlamini149

[abstract]


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