Jide Ibietan

The focus of this study is to identify the link between democratic stability and regional economic integration with special emphasis on the realisation of Customs Union and Monetary Union as essential planks upon which economic integration rests in West Africa. Data for the study were gathered through secondary sources. The findings show that democracy in the ECOWAS sub-region can be described as generally unstable. The prevalence of electoral malpractice and intractable civil strife within member states underscore this point. Democratic instability within the sub-region therefore impacts negatively on the ECOWAS objectives that could lead to a borderless West Africa within record time. To this effect, the article recommends deliberate and conscious efforts by political leaders in the sub-region to cultivate and sustain democratic norms as well as show more commitment to the process. There is also the need for member states to be more committed to the process of economic integration.

Successive governments in Nigeria have been undertaking different administrative reforms and considerable efforts in order to make the Nigerian Public Service transparent and accountable to the citizens.This is in recognition of transparency as one of the key elements of good governance as it allows public insight in the activities of the government and its agencies and also enables them to monitor and control the decision-making process. In recognition of the importance of transparency to quality service delivery, many advanced countries have adoptedInformation Communication Technologies in their public services to strengthenthe relationships betweengovernment and the citizens and allow the later track the activities, and oversee the behaviours of public office holders. In this regards, e-government has been found to increase citizens’ access to governmental information and thus, able to track the decisions and actions of government.The aim of this study is to interrogate the adopt...

The main objective of this paper is to highlight the indispensability of ethics or sound ethical conduct as a basis for effective service delivery in the Nigerian public sector. If Nigeria must get development initiative/efforts right in the 21st century, then the transformation agenda of this present administration must be anchored on sound public service values and enduring ethical practices. This much has been demonstrated in the paper with heavy reliance on the utilitarian theory, secondary sources of data backed by the analytical method. The paper concluded that the march towards an ethical based public service must continue and be regarded as series of “work in progress”. The paper recommended among others that there is an urgent and continuous need to remould the thought and conduct of civil/public servants and officials of government through the development of ethics and value reorientation that is anchored on accountability and transparency in public service. It further rec...

The paper argues that local government autonomy in Nigeria is attainable on the platforms of democratic imperative (local self-governance); legal/administrative competence; financial innovativeness and responsibility. This paper interrogates and affirms the nexus between decentralisation and local government, zeroing-in on devolution as the taxonomy for guaranteeing autonomy, and ultimately leading to grassroots development. As a qualitative study with reliance on secondary sources of data, the utilisation of Development Theory (in Local Government Studies) as framework for textual analysis of issues/themes, illuminated the discussion, conclusion and recommendations. Findings reveal that constitutional ambivalence, defective federal practice, intergovernmental relations and institutional weaknesses have in several ways stymied local government autonomy and inhibited the developmental roles of local governments in Nigeria. The suggestions proffered are capable of addressing the gaps ...

Studies have shown that no nation can attain sustainable development for the enhancement of the living standard of the people without a properly organized public service to implement government policies. In this regard, the paper examines the application of the federal character principle in the Nigerian public service for sustainable development. With the adoption and analysis of secondary data, the paper observes that the implementation of the federal character principle in Nigerian public service tends to encourage unethical behaviour amongst public officials and circumscribe merit in the area of manpower procurement and promotion. It therefore concludes that for the Nigerian public service to achieve its mandate of facilitating sustainable development there is need for the government to reappraise the implementation of the federal character principle through the enforcement of merit anchored on public service reform initiatives that can galvanize human capacity and governmental ...

The paper is an enquiry into civil military relations and leadership crisis in 21 st century Africa with emphasis on Mauritania, Guinea, Niger and Mali .Results from data collected over a forty-seven year period revealed that the countries under review witnessed fifty-five coups. These alarming numbers of coups have continued unabated in the light of notable theorizations by scholars, that military organizations are primarily servants of the state. Contrarily, other researchers have argued that governments in developing nations lacked the administrative skills to govern their geopolitical entities thereby resulting in militarism. While adopting the critical and reconstructive methods of analysis in philosophy, the paper identified the quest for self-determination, weak socio-political culture resulting from leadership failure, statelessness among others as major consequences of poor CMR in Africa. The study submitted that good governance is the antidote to acts of militarism and rec...