editor@adonis-abbey.com UK: 0207 795 8187 / Nigeria:+234 705 807 8841
Table of Contents :
Revolutionising Public Service Delivery through Digital Governance: Assessing the Government to Citizen (G2C) Scenario in Nigeria DOI.org/10.31920/2075-6534/2019/9n1a1
Ehiane, Stanley O, Adejuwon, Kehinde David and Goyayi, Maria Lauda J 5
The main objective of the paper is to assess the nature of governance in
Nigeria in the digital era. The paper adopts a qualitatitive approach in analysing the problem under investigation. It notes that despite an
increased level of government spending on ICT, which is higher than
that of some of the biggest private enterprises, the overall benefits of
ICT on effectiveness and efficiency in public service delivery in Nigeria is
yet to produce the intended results. It observes that the challenge in
Nigeria is not how to introduce digital technologies into public sector,
but rather how to introduce digital technologies into public
administrations. The paper concludes that meeting the needs and
expectations of the citizens as customers regarding satisfactory service
delivery may be impossible without leveraging on emerging technologies
in the public sector. It recommends, among others, the need to focus on
digitalisation of service delivery to the people. This will entail a
revolution in the design and operation of public services that can
capitalise upon developments in technology and the emergence of digital
organisations to create services that better meet citizen‘s needs.
While the use of non-violent activism in faith-based organisations (FBOs) is a
much-researched topic, a systematic analysis of how such elements are
influenced by the interactions of different internal dynamics within such FBOs
remains under-explored. This article investigates this less-researched element in
relation to the development of non-violent activism in FBOs. It does this
through an analysis of both the socio-political realities surrounding the
evolution of a South African FBO, the South African Council of Churches and
the internal group dynamics during the early years of the organisation in South
Africa (1968-1980). Relying heavily on data from semi-structured interviews of
key actors within the FBO and on archival documents about activities of the
organisation, the article explains how these dynamics influenced the decision
for the development of the different forms of non-violent activism that
evolved in the organisation. The paper applies the social movement theory,
drawing on its political process model to demonstrate that such kinds of
activism do not evolve in a vacuum, nor as a result of only religious ideological
imperatives as a large number previous studies have posited. They are rather a
result of the interaction of elements around the FBO. Once developed, such
strategies become contested and escalate in accordance with the resources and
opportunities available to the group.
This paper seeks to investigate the impact of child labour on the agricultural
sector in Limpopo Province. Poverty around the province appears to play a
significant role in the practice of child labour. The South African government
has enacted legislation that is directed at banning child labour. The government
has addressed the challenge of child labour through increased access to education and child grant support. However, despite all government efforts and
initiatives put in place, the serious problem of child labour is still prevalent.
This paper views economic development in Africa as a transition from
traditional African civilization to Judeo-Christian civilization. Africa lags behind
most of the other regions of the world in economic development as defined.
The paper aims to contribute to the extensive attempts to explain why Africa is
economically underdeveloped. After analyses of some elements of cosmology
that are common to most Africans like kinship system, deference to elders,
belief in destiny and mystical powers, the paper concludes that the root cause of
Africa‘s economic underdevelopment is to be found in the cosmology of the
people.
Public participation has been viewed as a method for strengthening local
governance at the grassroots level of administration through an inclusive
democracy and as an imperative portion of unprejudiced administration.
Information sharing in administration is the foundation of continuous
participatory procedures seen as the facilitators of aggregate insight and
comprehensiveness, which are formed by the longing for the participation of the
entire group or society. Using documentary method of analysis with empirical
observations in the selected local municipalities in South Africa, this paper
provides an insight into community and public participation in South Africa‘s
local municipality. It further looks at the significance of public participation in
governance and decision-making at the local level, the relevance of South Africa‘s
decentralization of municipalities for local development and the effect. This paper
concludes that public cooperation and participation in local government administration is a two-way imperative embracing and setting obligations for both
local government authorities and the general public with persuasive
communication, and a community critical thinking system, with the objective of
accomplishing better governance for effective service delivery at the grassroots
level. Using a content data analysis, it therefore recommended that, IDP as a
process must democratically engage the public, in the assessment of current
social, economic and environmental reality with the municipality..
Post-2000 Zimbabwe has been criticised for the excessive use of repression
subsequent to the opposition groups‘ failed attempts to gain political power. This
paper uses secondary sources such as existing literature, parliamentary debates,
speeches, and newspaper articles to argue that international non-governmental
organisations (INGOs) have a record of toppling legitimate governments and
installing ones partial to the West. The paper draws evidence from the international arena and argues that post-2000 Zimbabwe was justified, underthose circumstances, in applying repressive strategies against international nongovernmental
organisations.
The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of household poverty trap on
the academic performances of learners in rural based secondary schools. The
descriptive survey design combines qualitative and quantitative research
approaches. Random and convenient sampling procedures are respectively
adopted to select a sample of 105 participants in the study who comprised 100
learners, and 5 teachers from 5 purposively selected secondary schools.
Questionnaires and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) are used for data collection.
The findings of the study indicate that household poverty trap causes absenteeism for learners, affect their health, hamper their learning abilities cum academic
performances, and eventually cause some learners to drop-out. Amongst others,
the study recommends collaborative efforts amongst stakeholders to combat
socioeconomic instability, political unrest, unequal income and unequal
distribution of resources in the region. Also, creation of more employment
opportunities by the government should be promoted.
This paper interrogates the legacy of apartheid as a socio-economic and political
system on the emerging democracy and citizenship in post-apartheid South
Africa. Following the arrival of Europeans in the 17
century, South Africa was
subjected to the Dutch and the British political administrations. The political
conquest of South Africa by these nations left the indigenous peoples stripped of
their dignity, land and political rights. As well as being deprived of their human right
to exist, the indigenous people experienced brutal wars, social exclusion and
economic marginalization. This paper argues that apartheid and the democratic
system of governance both created binaries based on inclusion and exclusion, race
and class, gender and ethnicity. The failure of the democratic government to
address the structural and institutional challenges not only reinforced these
binaries but also perpetuated democratic inequalities, pushing poverty and
unemployment to high levels. This paper traces the legacy of apartheid‘s social
implications on a nation branded on the concept of the rainbow nation.
Economically, the adoption of neo-liberal policies has failed to yield the economic
growth needed for South Africa to tackle poverty, unemployment, inequality and
other social issues. Although democracy has been institutionalized through the
Constitution of 1996 and other relevant legislation, the South African democracy
is unable to address the socio-economic and political challenges. The data for this
paper was elicited from discourse analysis.
This paper addresses the question of what informs the character and orientation
of South Africa‘s foreign policy particularly in the post-apartheid era. By
undertaking this enquiry, the study attempts to show the linkage between the
palpable sources of South Africa‘s foreign policy and its presumed hegemonic
interest in Africa. These multiple contexts serve a facilitating or constraining role
in masking South Africa‘s foreign policy interest in Africa. The author argues that
the product of South Africa‘s foreign policy is not the exclusivity of a specific
institution but rather a combination of overlapping interests among several
domestic actors. The multiple international agendas that South Africa pursues
necessitate a nuanced blend of actors that impact directly on its middle power
status and the Afrocentric orientation of its foreign policy which promotes a
hegemonic identity. In effect, Pretoria‘s hegemonic reference in Africa is
concealed beneath the veil of complex interplays and inter-linkages among several
key foreign policy actors.
In pursuit of the African Union Commission Agenda 2063's Africa of good
governance, democracy and the rule of law, there is need to develop and
strengthen democratic institutions of accountability, but there are questions about
the suitability of liberal democracy for African countries. This study is informed
by the qualitative methods employing secondary data analysis of democratic
governance in Africa in a bid to establish why there appears to be a perennial
democratic deficit. Findings reveal that, the solution may not lie in transplanting
institutions of Western democracy to Africa. African states have made
declarations purporting to promote democratic values to no avail. The study
recommends the establishment of vibrant democratic institutions as necessary but
not sufficient for democracy to thrive. Africa could come up with its own
conception(s) of democracy through a model in this study which responds to its
culture, economic and social needs to enable good governance.
Several scholarly efforts have previously investigated and contributed to student
entrepreneurship interest in developed countries, yet little has been achieved in
South Africa. The present study explored the influence of entrepreneurship risk
perceptions and aversion on entrepreneurial intention with a sample of 366 (205
(56%) male and 161 (46%) female) university students in South Africa, using
survey research design, and a structured validated questionnaire. Four hypotheses
were stated and tested using Pearson Correlation Analysis, and Multiple
Regression Analysis. The results confirmed the hypothesised significant
relationship between entrepreneurial intention and risk aversion; and the
relationship between entrepreneurship risk perceptions and aversion. No
significant relationship between entrepreneurial intention and risk perceptions.
The results further revealed that there is a significant joint influence of
entrepreneurship risk perceptions and aversion on entrepreneurial intention, F (2,
363) = 4.340; R
= 0.018; p<. 05; there is a significant independent influence of
entrepreneurship risk aversion on entrepreneurship intention, (β = 0.156; t=
2.915; p< .01); but no significant influence of entrepreneurship risk perceptions
on entrepreneurial intention. The findings are valuable to policy makers and
professionals in promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship among the youth.
2
The paper sought to examine economic growth and governance in South Africa
using GDP and selected governance indicators. The estimation techniques
employed to achieve the research aim are; Autoregressive Distributed
Lag (ARDL) and granger-causality approaches. The Augmented Dickey Fuller
(ADF) unit root tests reveal that all variables are co-integrated at I(1), except for
CC at I(2). The ARDL results ascertain the existence of a long run relationship
among the variables, hence, the F-statistic is greater than the lower and upper
critical bounds. The Granger-causality tests show a causal link between
government effectiveness (GE) and gross domestic product (GDP). Corruption
control (CC) was found to have a causal link with GE. In addition, the diagnostic
tests confirm that the findings are reliable and valid. Accordingly, these findings
are consistence with the widely shared notion that good governance is an impetus
for economic growth and development. In essence, where poor governance
thrives, it becomes difficult to practice good governance and to achieve prospects
of economic growth. Therefore, appropriate governance mechanisms must be
implemented in order to enhance sustainable good governance and economic growth. This calls for what this paper terms as a ‗growth-enhancing‘ governance
model.
Annual Subscription Rate |
Individual Subscriptions |