Promoting Good Governance In Public Institution of Nigeria: A Proposed framework

Introduction

In recent years, many developed and developing countries have embarked on a thorough re-evaluation of the
role of government in their societies. Flowing from this, a redefinition of the political administrative
relationship has evolved, designed to ensure greater accountability and a greater devolution of power to
managers.

“Good Governance” seems to be a growing concern among academics, practitioners, law-makers, and
organization’s stakeholders. This is not to be surprised because good governance, as the time being, has to do
with ownership and control, incentives and accountability, direction and performance design, incomplete
contracts and agency problems. A comprehensive survey of these efforts can be found in Shleifer and Vishny
(1986). A truly encompassing work in comparative analysis of governance structures from advanced
economies can be found in Demirag (1998). Like, in the words of the former Secretary General of the United
Nations, Kofi Annan reflects a growing consensus when he states that “good governance is perhaps the single
most important factor in eradicating poverty and promoting development”

In a narrow sense, Governance is defined as the process of decision making and implementation. It is the
process whereby public institutions conduct affairs, manage public resources and guarantee the realization of
human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse, corruption and with due regard to the rule of law.

This governance encompasses; the processes, by which governments are selected, monitored and replaced:
The capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement sound policies: The respect of citizens
and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them:

Good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality. However, to ensure sustainable human
development efforts must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of making it a reality. Good
governance promotes accountability and strengthens confidence and trust in government/ management
administration.

Good governance however remains elusive with no limitation of scope that commands universal acceptance.
The true test of good governance is the degree to which it delivers on the promise of human, civil, cultural,
economic, political and social rights. It ensures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken
into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also
responsive to the present and future needs of society and the nation at large.

The principles outlined in this study apply to all public sector entities, including federal governments, state
governments (e.g. provincial, territorial), local governments (e.g. city, town) related governmental entities
(e.g. agencies, boards, commissions).

These principles are relevant to public sector entities as they are to private sector entities. They are equal
irrespective of whether governing bodies are elected or appointed, and whether or not they comprise a group
of people or an individual. Each of these principles is defined in terms of the responsibilities of ‘holders of
public office’.

For the purposes of this framework, which is concerned with governance and, as such, with the collective as
well as individual responsibilities of members of governing bodies of public sector entities, the three principles
identified in this study out of the eight foremost features are;
  Participatory
 Consensus oriented
 Accountable
 Transparent
 Responsive
 Effective and Efficient
 Equitable
 Inclusive and;
 Rule of law.

Effective Participation

Participation requires information and organization by both men and women which is one of the instruments
to good governance. Participation could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or
representatives. It is important to point out that representative democracy does not necessarily mean that the
concerns of the most vulnerable in society would be taken into consideration in decision making.

Rule of L aw

The term human right becomes sensitive at this stage due to fair legal frameworks that are enforced
impartially which is the basis of any rule of law and also an independent judiciary and an impartial and
incorruptible police force.

Transparency

This principle is essential to ensure confidence in the decision-making processes and actions of public sector
entities, the management of their activities, and in the individual within them. This can also be referred to as
‘Openness’ meaning that that information which is easily understandable is freely available and directly
accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement is timely.

Responsiveness

Good governance requires that institutions and processes try to serve stakeholders within a reasonable time
frame.

Consensus oriented

This requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and
how to achieve the goals of such development. This can only result from an understanding of the historical,
cultural and social contexts of a given society or community.

Equity and Inclusiveness

A society’s well-being depends on ensuring that all its members feel that they have a stake in it and do not feel
excluded from the mainstream of society. This requires all groups, but particularly the most vulnerable, have
opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being.

Effectiveness and Efficiency

This comprises both straightforward dealing and completeness. It is based upon honesty and objectivity, and a
high standard of propriety and probity in the stewardship of public funds and all aspects of performance, and
submits them to appropriate external scrutiny.

Project Summary

LeadField Africa is seeking funding and partnership this project to develop and implement nationwide that cuts
across private and public sector system of our nation In all the various facet of the sector that includes
Parastatals, Agencies, Ministries etc. It will develop an Organizational Diagnosis Analysis Program that will be
essential for this framework through an orientation conference to promote accountability and good
governance in public institutional system. LeadField Africa has a partnership with the New Economy
Partnership for African Development to implement this work

Problem Statement

Good Governance is viewed as a basic requirement for development yet, corruption within our system has
undermines good governance. In fact corruption is one of the causes of bad governance as we have in our
public institution today while bad governance provides a good fertile ground for corruption to flourish as its
applicable to both the private sector and the generality of our economy.

Therefore, fighting corruption is essential for promoting good governance. For good governance to be
achieved there should be political will to curb corruption at all levels of government as corruption thrives in
environments characterized by weak checks and balance mechanisms. Good governance is achieved through
establishment of good and strong institutions, laws, procedures and mechanisms to enforce accountability and
transparency.

Project Description

Over the last decade or so, “good governance” has brought about much debate and change both in the public
and private sector. Broadly speaking there is no single and exhaustive definition of “good governance”, nor is
there a delimitation of its scope, that commands universal acceptance. The term is used with great flexibility;
this is an advantage, but also a source of some difficulty at the operational level. Depending on the context and
the overriding objective sought, good governance has been said at various times to encompass: full respect of
human right, rule of law, effective participation, multi-actor partnerships, political pluralism, transparent and
accountable processes and institutions, an efficient and effective public sector, legitimacy, access to
knowledge, information and education, political empowerment of people, equity, sustainability, and attitudes
and values that foster responsibility, solidarity and tolerance.

However, there is a significant degree of consensus that good governance relates to political and institutional
processes and outcomes that are deemed necessary to achieve the goals of development. Governance is
concerned with structures and processes for decision-making, accountability, control and behavior at the top
of organizations. In some jurisdictions “corporate” may be interpreted as a private sector term. To avoid any
possible confusion regarding the application of this study, the term “governance’ is used to describe what is
also commonly referred to in the private sector as “corporate governance”. In other jurisdictions “government
governance” is used to describe governance in the public sector and what places both corporate governance
and government governance on a balanced sheet within the spheres of any economy is “Good Governance”.

While the focus of governance in the private sector is on board of directors in the public sector context, it’s a
different tune because boards are sometimes difficult to identify and define, as they operate in different
statutory and managerial frameworks. It is not possible to develop one framework and one set of
recommendations of governance that would be applicable to all public sector entities, but similar principles
nevertheless apply, whether the controlling body is elected or appointed. In particular, public sector entities
have to satisfy a complex range of political, economic and social objectives, which subject them to a different
set of external constraints.

They are also subject to forms of accountability to various stakeholders, which are different to those that a
company in the private sector has to its shareholders, customers etc. The stakeholders in the public sector may
include the Minister, other government officials, the electorate, customers and clients, and the general public,
each with a legitimate interest in public sector entities, but not necessarily with any ‘ownership rights’.

In a country like Nigeria, public sector includes a large number of entities that have been separately established
by government agencies to undertake new activities or activities previously performed by core government.
One reason for the establishment of separate entities may have been an expectation that greater efficiency
would be achieved through a separate structure. Thus, while governing bodies of such public sector entities
require sufficient freedom to manage operations in a vigorous and enterprising manner, they need to exercise
that freedom within a framework of effective governance and accountability.

Project Goal, Objectives & Results

One of the major setbacks we have in our system in the practice of good governance is the implementation of
the privatization program as well as the analyzed standard of good governance which are some of the tracking
ties of good governance and the ones that are attached to our system; i.e. Trust, Laws, Politics and
Entrenchment.

Project Goal

The overall project goal is to understand the nature of governance i.e. the means and its ends, that’s when it
makes sense to elaborate the principles in order to create meaningful analytical tool and how to integrate it
into our system.

Project Objectives

The objectives of this study are;

i. To examine the factors responsible for the low support for good governance campaign within the
system.
ii. To identify specific actions required to secure support of system and all the parties involves in this
policy to be stable and dependable.
iii. To establish the relationship between qualities of service and support for all sector to integrate
confidence through effective implementation.
On this note, the overall objective of the project is to contribute to an effective governance environment for
both public and private sector development by enhancing the extent to which a well-structured and
functioning system is built to birth confidence that is free and fair.

Project Results

At the end of this study the result pattern is to improve public understanding of the roles and responsibility of
good governance which will reduce corruption to the barest minimum and to create a fulfilling environment
with the basic needs of life.

Project Methodology

Specifically, the principles in this study are applicable to all public sector entities because of its complexity as
they do not operate within a common legislative framework or have a standard organizational shape or size. It
is important, therefore, to recognize the diversity of the public sector and the different models of governance
which has unique features that require special attention and impose different sets of accountabilities.

This study will adopt the following components while implementing the methodology to achieve the expected
results as its been practiced severally around the world with a benchmark of countries like United States of
America, Canada, japan, China, Austria and even in some countries in Africa.

1. Government Business Process Reengineering

2. New Public Management

3. Public Private Partnership

4. Reform of Public Administration

1) Government Business Processing Reengineering:

The project will adopt a Government Reengineering approach such as the transition from paper driven to
electronic based, from hierarchical to networked, from compliance oriented to performance oriented, from
control process to benchmark process procedures, from slow response to a prompt response, from the daily
business as usual to routinely improving, from delayed to instant access and from a limited environment of
information to an unlimited one. However, this concept will be developed in consultation with the Public
Institution after analyzing an organization diagnosis and will develop a participatory package with a well-
trained expert team to ensure optimum project performance. At this stage, the project will commit itself to
undertake research and development on a structured approach of the public sector practices in the
reengineering project area to evolve a risk coping strategy against lack of understanding/orientation within the
Institution.

2) New Public Management

This is an element of the philosophy and the politics of the’ lean state’, that is, the transforming of the welfare
state to a liberal state in order to harmonize the political, legal and administrative sector of the Public
Institution through the various elements of Management Systems, Products and Contracts, Benchmarking
Policies. The effort of this project is create a platform to integrate this modernized public management system
into the old traditional system through the introduction of management methods, improvement of
performance oriented management, introduction of quality management, benchmarking, citizen orientation or
deregulation of the management structure

3) Public Private Partnership

Public Private Partnership (PPPs) is a partnership platform where both partners that is, the public as well as the
private sector benefits from the co-operation and work together on an equal basis. There are two different
models of this partnership interest, i.e. Operator’s model which involves the private partners of a PPP being
responsible for the operating public premises on behalf of the public authority while, the other, which is, the
concessive model, which get the right to provide goods/services of public interest on their own behalf i.e.
concession. The study is to break down the rule of law and other laws guiding the PPP stating, the kind of PPP
which is intended, either as a private or public partner and the consideration either as an operator or a
concessionaire based on the legal framework of PPP guiding partnership interest.

4) Reform of Public Administration

In addition to the existing reform programmes on public administration, the project will organize a roundtable
forum with the key players in the various Public Institution sector on reforms that are in compliance with
political nationality and efficiency. Also, to reform the administrative structures, public task and services to
institutions by decentralizations and privatizations, professional civil services and harmonization measure in
order to improve efficiency as well as performance and citizen orientation.

Plan of Action

The project will promote good governance in Public Institution in Nigeria. It will ensure greater participation of
key players in the private sector in all aspect of the intervention such as reengineering government businesses,
with a reformed public administration and management structure. It will enable private and public sector to
partner on strategies to improve the overall standard of living situation. The project will focus on building good
governance with the following plan of action;

Standard of Behavior:

Under the principles enumerated in the Introduction three keys principles stands vital they are: openness,
integrity and accountability of individuals which is the cornerstone of effective governance within a public
sector entity and their standard of behavior. Therefore, effective Standard of Behavior procedures to
safeguard and ensure good governance are;

 commitment to high standards of personal behavior and;

 maintaining open and honest relationships with the public, with people from other organizations,
countries, agencies and with other employees and members of the governing body.

Other basic values of the standard of behavior includes; Good Leadership, Code of Conduct and Objectivity,
Integrity and Honestly.

Organizational Structure and Processes:

Public Institutions needs to establish effective organizational structures and processes to ensure:

 their statutory accountability, which has the sole responsibility of electing or appointing public office
holder and appraising its performance from all the resources provided.
 accountability and clear communication with stakeholders

Control:

In any system there is need for control in under to put policies and implementations in check. In the Public
sector there are needs for an effective establishment of control within the framework of the institution with
some factors duly considered;

 Risk Management
 Internal Audit and Committees
 Internal Control and;
 Budgeting, Financial Management and Staff Trainings

External Reporting:

In most of the private sectors there’s a medium that reaches out to stakeholders and customers known as an
annual report. This can also be injected into the Public Institutions whereby a timely basis annual report that
includes financial statements (i.e. objectives, balanced and understandable account) be assessed through the
various activities and achievement of the sector’s financial position, performance and performance prospects
done. Also considering the following parameters to access the external reports;

 Annual Reporting
 Use of Appropriate Accounting Standards and Formats
 Performance Measures
 External Audits.

Conclusion

Governance opens new intellectual space. It provides a concept that allows us to discuss the role of government in
copying with public issues and the contribution that other players may make. It opens one’s mind to the possibility
that groups in society other than government (e.g. communities or the voluntary sector) may have to play a
stronger role in addressing problems.

The central conclusion is that a universal set of principles for defining good governance can be fashioned and that
the strength of their universality rests to a large extent on the body of international human rights and laws. In
addition, these principles can be usefully applied to help deal with current governance challenges. When they are
applied it becomes apparent that there are no absolutes; that principles often conflict; that the ‘devil is in the
detail’; that context matters.

Finally, the nature of governance – both the means and the ends – needs to be understood. Only then does it
make sense to elaborate the principles in order to create meaningful analytical tool.

Measurement
Appendix 1: A Governance Information Check-up

This governance information self-diagnostic check-up will help the governing bodies and their management to
determine what performance measure is important in their organization, and vice-versa in fulfilling their oath
of office to decision making and accountability responsibilities

Management Direction – Does everyone understand what they are meant to be doing?

whether our organization’s mission and priorities are clear, and are understood and shared throughout the
Organization.

whether there are shared values that bind out organization together and help the delivery of professional,
administrative and cultural backgrounds work together.

whether staffs have the authority and tools they need to make decisions and take action, consistent with the
r responsibilities assigned to them.

Relevance – Does appraisals of activities, needs/problems intended created a change?

Knowing the nature and extent of these conditions, needs or problems – now, and as they may have changed over
time time.

Knowing what other organizations/agencies/parastatals are doing in relation to these conditions, needs or problems.

Understanding the added-value that our products or services are intended to provide in this context.

Appropriateness – Are levels of effort and selected methods of pursuing objectives sensible & sufficient?

The degree to which each product or service is necessary to the accomplishment of stated objectives

Whether our products/services are designed and delivered in a manner that best responds to the nature and extent
of th the conditions, needs or problems identified.

Whether the overall level and distribution of effort represented by out products or services Is proportional to stated
o objectives, identified needs etc.

Achievement (Intended Results) – the score cards of our established goals, challenges and accomplishments?

extent to which our achievements in key result areas meet expectations in terms of (as applicable): the conditions,
n needs or problems concerned; established performance targets; past organizational performance; the performance
of comparable organizations or activities.
whether we are meeting our own prescribed standards of practice, i.e., we are doing the right things right

Acceptance – Is the organization’s product and services accepted with satisfaction from clients/stakeholders?

Knowing the expectations of our clients and other key stakeholders and understanding the basis for these
expectations

the extent to which our clients and stakeholders indicate acceptance or satisfaction with the organization and its
 products/services

whether the organization and its products/services are respected within its peer network.

Secondary Impacts – What are the unintended effects of our activities (Positive/Negative)

Understanding the secondary impacts (e.g. social, economic, financial, environmental etc.) that our activities,
products/ services could have on our clients/stakeholders, related organizations and program and/or the
community.

being able to explain secondary impacts that significantly imped or work at cross-purpose to our stated objectives or
where such information might call into questions the value attached to primary objectives.

Cost & Productivity – Are the relationships between costs, inputs/outputs favorable?

Whether defined products/services standards are being met at least cost.

The extent to which there is an appropriate balance between capital investments and operating expenses, overhead
and operations expenses, capacity-utilization of major resources etc.

how we compare to similar organizations with respect to the above matters.

Responsiveness – How well is response to change adaptive?

Whether the organization’s has effective networks and processes to identify and assess important events and trends
In its environment.

The degree of which the organization has a history of being able to adapt or respond successfully to changing needs,
circumstances, etc.

how the practices and track-record of the organization in this regards compare to similar organizations.

Financial Result – How good are the financial results in terms of matching costs with revenues and
appropriations, and financial assets with obligations?

whether our books of account, records and financial management control and information systems are in accordance
with sound financial policies and procedures

how our cost and revenue ratios compare to similar organizations

the extent to which our organization’s overall financial position is viable

Working Environment – Is it happy, healthy and constructive – where staff are motivated, adapt to change,
and develop through working together?

The degree to which our staff have the ability and opportunity to provide services to clients in a way that is valued by
clients.
whether our staff are performing to stated and agreed expectations, and are receiving appropriate recognition for
their efforts
 whether our human resources management plan is integrated into the organization’s culture and operating plans,
thus enabling the recruitment, retention, development and replenishment of well-qualified people.

Protection of Assets – How well is the security and protection of staff properties and lives in an event of loss?

Whether we have strategies that adequately respond to the nature and the level of risk of impairment or loss of our
organization’s key assets.

whether these strategies and the organization’s performance comply with applicable regulations

how these strategies and performance compare with the Institution in general

Monitoring & Reporting – Does management have the basic information required to support their decision –
making and is their accountability done appropriately ?

wthether management receive complete, credible and fair information that satisfies their decision-
making and accountability requirements

whether accountability reporting by management is done in a transparent manner; the right things are reported to
the governing body at the right time in the appropriate level of detail or aggregation.

The extent to which monitoring and reporting systems and processes are cost-effective.