CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY:

The purpose of a bureaucracy is to successfully implement the actions of an organization of any size (but often associated with large entities such as government, corporations, and non-governmental organizations), in achieving its purpose and mission, the bureaucracy is tasked to determine how it can achieve its purpose and mission with the greatest possible efficiency and at the least cost of any resources.

The principle of social organization which characterize the twentieth-century industrial societies is “rational coordination” otherwise known as ‘Bureaucracy’. Under this form of organization, people are brought together in formal and complex settings run by professionals and experts. The professionals are called ‘Bureaucrats’ while the organizations they run are known as ‘Bureaucracies’. The nineteenth century produced a number of brilliantly descriptive and literary accounts of modern bureaucracies. Many writers call attention to the increasing bureaucratization of human activity but Max Weber a German Sociologist, historian and economist, is credited with having made the most thorough analysis of bureaucracy (Mullins, 1999). The main contention in the writings of these scholars is that more and more spheres of life are being dominated by large organizations and increasing numbers of people are becoming employees of complex organizations. As a matter of fact, quite a few aspects of modern society can be studied without reference to bureaucracy.

Most obviously in the business world and in modern establishments, the coordination of specialists, in accordance with impersonal rules is highly developed and adopted. The same trend has also been observed to be the pattern in every other areas of the society. Wilmot (1985) and Applebaum and Chamblis (1995) argued that bureaucracy starts from birth (health bureaucracy) to family upbringing (social welfare), to school (educational) to work (civil service, military, commercial, industrial) to worship and death (religion): man is increasingly dominated by bureaucracy. Every sphere of modern life has thus become very bureaucratic as people are born into bureaucracies; grow in it, live with it, and even die in it. It is bureaucracy all the way and all the time. Right from the unset of this world, man has co-operatively organized as a group to work towards a directed goal in a directive manner indeed the prevalence of complex bureaucracies is believed to be the structural frame work in our recent organizations.  Against this bed the emergencies of these bureaucracy

Organization is so unprecedented and epitomizing of the contemporary era that it is often believed that we are living in the organizational society where people are manned by organization (PROCTITIS 1962)

No less important to mention is the fact these complex organizations are established not only to find solution to given human problems but to do efficiently it is not surprising therefore that in the new turn era, the central concern of several classical social analysis was the issue of how man is going to organize human society in general and more specifically his productive activities in the most efficient way to achieve maximum benefits.  Adam Smith (1723-1790) advocated that Economic on industrial matters should be left in the hands of economics or industrial elites and agents i.e. (those waste in economic affairs) He was concerned with the problem of organizational productivity.  Above all, for Max Webber (1864-1920) the essence of bureaucratic organization is efficiency.  In other words, the peculiar characteristics of bureaucracy enables men to effectively and efficiently deal with and transform the socio-physical environment.  It is at this basic that bureaucratic organizations are guided and pirated in man’s bid to perfect and actualize himself through socio-economic development that any impediment to their efficient operations should be incised seriously.  Indeed, the fact that Nigerians fought a civil war six years after independence, followed immediately by another six years of unprecedented oil boom in which extreme materialism took over control of Nigeria’s mind and total soul, led to the enthronement of indiscipline, corruption and a lot contempt for order honours and excellence within the whole society including the bureaucrat public.

1.2    STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS

Bureaucratic efficiency has now posed serious concern for all. It distorts the smooth operation of system of PHCN Business unit Onitsha and adversely affects the efficient delivery of public goods and services.

The main problem of this research therefore revolves the following question.

What is Bureaucracy?

Is the country’s socio-political climate conducive for revise, sound and efficient public bureaucracy?

Has the government of Nigeria made any serious efforts towards facing and eradication of Bureaucratic inefficiency in her public administration?

To what extent does the reform  exercise yielded positive result?

Could it be possible for Nigerian’s public administration or public enterprise to service without bureaucratic inefficiency?

1.3   PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

This research is aimed at finding out the extent to which bureaucratic efficiency have undermined the smooth effective and efficient operation of Nigeria Public Administration. To identify, examine and analyzing these valuables vis-a-vis their remote causes in the country’s public services administration.  It is equally the purpose of this research work to make a well articulated recommendation that will go a long way in helping to ensure sanity in our public service with a view to achieving efficiency and increase productivity. At this research the Eric bureaucratic inefficiency have inflicted in public enterprise basis and the quest to establish a solid, dependable, sound and efficient public administration/bureaucracy that several alternative system of public administration were imported ranging from British model to American models, but it has been discovered that both cannot even relatively and effectively solve the Nigeria problems of bureaucratic inefficiency, collapse in her public corporations etc.

Besides, various regimes of government in Nigeria have at one time or the other evoked and evolved radical measures to carping and transforming PHCN administrative bureaucracy.  First was in early sixty’s military bureaucracy however plunged the country into about 30 months of civil war and aggravated much more problems rather than proffering any solution.  The after effect of the civil war, after six years of independence was preceded by civil boom, which brought a lot of misname to the public corporation (PHCN) and the public policy. The Udoji public service review commission which awarded salary to public servants was counter productive.  No wonder the result of this exercise militated the 1995 General Murtala Mohamed’s great purge in the public service of Nigeria.  This president General Babangida described at the memorial lecture held in honour of the late Murtala as a man with the vision of an ordered society.  But these noble reforms led to the ethnic bias and squandameneir of Obasanjo and Shangri regime.

Albair, Buhari cumldiagbon Regina attempted drastic reforms exercise, but their result were aborted and stiffed civil servants hence this assertion by Buhari that this generation of Nigeria and in need future generations have no other place but Nigeria and there for must put  all hand on desk to salvage it.President Babangida is government with a credit of eight years in power battled with various reforms evident among this ranged from the enlargement of public bureaucracies by the creation of eleven additional state from already exist nineteen totaling thirty states and about six hundred and eight nine local government. In addition, the regime implemented reforms granted autonomy to the local government and decentralized the public bureaucracies.

However, this laudable and palatable achievement was clashed by the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) which drafted the economy of the country to it kneed and to the noel. The effect of this programme brought about piles of socio-cultural and political problem to the society including the public bureaucracy. The after math o f this programme accounted for more bureaucratic problems than the country had ever recorded. Consequent upon this, there were high rate of corruption, both in public and civil private lines, indiscipline, trained inefficiency ,who do you know syndrome (IM), mismanagement just to mention but a few.

The present Abubakar regime had not introduced any new measure rather it has been drying to put things in its proper position which the last regime count do (Abacha regimes) rather the last regime  had been consolidating on the fairs as loans of the previous programmes. Professor Ademolekun sumed it up when he remarked that from the time party government were established in 1954 to their disappearance in January 1966, corrupt practices assumed  proportions that were formately unknown supporting this assertion he quoted that,  “the absence of political parties under military rule did not bring about a permanent reduction in the level of corruption, the disappearance of  corrupt practices directly connected to political patronage and party finance were  replaced by dramatic increase in the incidence of individual corruption”. This quotation is from professor Ladipo Ademoleleun politics and Administration (Ibadan spectrum book Ltd 1986) p.p. 162.

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1 .Has bureaucracy any significant impact in Nigerian  public enterprise?

2. Has delegation of powers enhanced efficiency in Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)?

1.5    HYPOTHESIS

For the purpose of evaluating or in order to efficiently and objectively analyze to achieve the above objective, the hypothesis is formulated thus:

1a. Ho: Bureaucracy has no significant impact in Nigerian public enterprise.

B. Hi:  Bureaucracy has significant impact in Nigerian public enterprise.

2a Ho: Delegation of powers does not enhance efficiency in Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

B. Hi: Delegation of powers enhances efficiency in  Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

1.6       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is evident and an indisputable fact that a lot of work has been done by successive government in Nigeria towards eradicating bottlenecks in the country’s public administration. It is the desire of this review or research to find out the theme of those related studies which has been done on the various aspects at this study for fair research findings.

1.7      DELIMITATION/ SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study is designed to cover the Bureaucracy and Efficiency in Nigerian public enterprise; it will be restricted to Power Holding Company of Nigeria Onitsha Branch.

1.9     DEFINITION OF TERMS

For clarity sake most of the key concepts used in this research, need the definition.

BUREAUCRACY: Is the laid down rules and regulations upon which an organization   operates. It can also be said to consist of a form functions of the government, the bureaucratic organization concerned with administrative functions, the execution of policies, and recording of goods and services. Those who work in this organization are referred to as civil servants, expect in military bureaucratic organization where they are referred as to “Soldiers, or military personnel’’. (source from element of government by Dr. Mrs. Chinelo G.O Nzellbe

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION: The intern encyclopedia defined public administration as “ continuously active business part of government concerned with carrying out laws as made by legislative bodies ( or other authoritative agents and interpreted by counts through the process of organization and management ” Wooddow Wilson defined it as means of detailing and executing public laws systematically.

ADMINISTRATION: For Balogun (1983 –84) the term “ administration” covers almost every spare of acting as can be taken to mean anything ranging from the direction of affairs of an enterprise to the simple act of paying monthly pension or salaries.

INEFFICIENCY: It could be obstacles, anything that impedes or obstructs the proper functioning of bureaucracy. It also a narrow stretch of road which causes traffic to slow down or stop anything that progresses production in a manufacturing process (definition from oxford learning dictionary).

RED TAPISM: Excessive use of formalities in public business; to much attention to rules and regulations.

CORRUPTION: Demotes immoral, depriated dishonest ( of persons or their action) especially through taking of pre payments (bribes). It means impure or something debased by errors or alterations.

EFFICIENT: Capable, able to perform duties well, producing a desired or productive or satisfactory result.

EFFECTIVE: Having an effect: able to bring about the result intended, making a stinking impression.

PREVIEW OF THE STUDY: This research work is specially written as one of the repletion of my second diploma programme in the management studies unit of Institute Of Management And Technology Enugu (IMT). But it could also serve as a useful research material for other students of public administration in Nigeria or any part of the world.

This research work is divided into five chapters. However chapter one deals with the problem and its setting including an introduction. Then an overview of the historical background. Chapter two of this project deals with the review of related literature. In the chapter three, the research deals with the research methodology. while chapter four deals with the data presentation, analysis and interpretation of data. Chapter five is embodied with the summary of the findings which investigated into Raynaud causes of effects and identifications of variables that minister against smooth and efficient operation of bureaucracy in the public administration in Nigeria. Chapter five also contains the recommendation made by the research and conclusion drawn. The prominent postulation of the researcher on the study is that “bureaucratic decay is a hallmark of a developing economy .Buoyant economy is a pre–condition for a virile and an enduring bureaucracy and vice versa”.