DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Elections are integral in any democratic process. It is the process by which leaders are chosen to superintend the affairs of a particular geographic location politically for a defined period of time. In Nigeria however. This all important democratic culture is being threatened by a persistent culture of violence and wide ranging irregularities orchestrated to mastermind a less than whole some. The Nigerian electoral system has been rigged in favour of the rich, the powerful, the ruling party and those with access to state resources. The culture of violence and irregularities is affecting public confidence in the system with many announcing publicly, their aversion to politics and anything that has to do with governance. The people's apathy to politics and anything that has to do with governance. The people's apathy to politics and governance is the reason there are too many mediocre in politics with the attendant lack of vision and productivity. This study took a holistic study of the menace of electoral violence and how it affect voter's turnout. Issues plaguing voter participation in the country were trashed out and examined. Possible remedies were look into with a view to improving

This research work sought to examine the nexus of urbanization, traffic congestion and transportation infrastructure development in Nigeria; a case study of selected cities in Edo State. The study made use of questionnaire to obtain data from respondent. Four objectives were raised for the study. The study found The country’s socio-economic ambitions are directly based on its transport infrastructure. However, the country’s current network transport infrastructure is in dismal state. Although the country has taken up ambitious plans to enhance its transport infrastructure by constructing new rail line and concession of the airports. It also found that critical factors that could contribute to the development of transport infrastructure in Nigeria, such as good planning, coordination between federal and state governments on transport policies, availability of technical expertise, assets management and eradication of corruption in awarding contracts and project execution. The study concluded that Traffic congestion has become a critical issue in many cities in Edo State, despite being sometimes touted as an inevitable symptom of strong economic growth. It is greatly affecting people’s quality of life. Therefore a suitable policies and frameworks are needed to improve transportation infrastructure in Nigeria.

The study seeks to examine the naira redesign policy and public perception of government in Esan Central Local Government Area in 2023. The study objectives were to ascertain public perceptions towards the reasons for naira redesign in Esan Central Local Government Area, to investigate the impact of naira redesign in 2023 on the perception of the public in Esan Central Local Government Area and to examine the challenges faced by the public in Esan Central Local Government Area as a result of the naira redesign policy in 2023. The research design employed for this research is survey research method. This methodology enables the researcher to elicit responses from the respondents through the administration of questionnaires. Consequently, the data collected was collated and quantitatively analyzed. The population of this study comprises the total number of both adult male and female in Esan Central Local Government Area which is projected at 339,899 according to the National Population Commission (2023). Based on the Taro Yamane formula the sample size for the study is 399.5 which is approximated 400. The field survey employed the use of simple random sampling technique. The study observed amongst others that; there was large circulation of fake Naira note which led to the redesigning of Naira notes, the study also noticed that, money laundering was the major factor that led to the redesigning of Naira. Also, the study observed that, Jobs were lost during the period of change in the Naira note. Furthermore, the study recommended amongst others that Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should ensure an adequate supply of the redesigned currency to avoid shortages and facilitate a smooth transition.

Generally, Nigerian civil service has been politicized to the extent that most top of icials openly support the government of the day and this had grossly af ected various strategic intents of policy formulation and implementation in the service. The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of socio-political conflict on ef ectiveness of civil service in Edo State civil service. The study relies on secondary sources of data collection, such as public service reforms, textbooks, journal articles, newspapers and the internet based materials. Data analysis techniques are content, thematic, historical and secondary data analyses. The finding of the paper shows that the Edo State civil service has been politicized to the extent that most top of icials openly use the public bureaucracy to consolidate their position and reputation. The paper concludes that the influence of politics in the Edo State civil service cannot bring about any change or improve ef iciency, rather it will generate a conflicting and non-cooperativerelationship between the public bureaucrats and the political of iceholders. The paper recommends ‘blind to dif erences’ approach in theState civil service employment process, which hinges on merit in a competitive employment process

This study examines the effect of staff training on workers performance: a case study of Ifo local government secretariat. To carryout the study ,five objectives and four research questions were derived from the statement of the problems. The simple random sampling method was used to select sample size of 300 (three hundred) respondents. To test the research questions, data were collected with the aid of questionnaires and other relevant documents and literature. The data generated through the instrument were analyzed using the chi-square. The study revealed that the study revealed that staff training and development in organisation leads to increase in workers’ productivity and performance and also that staff development in an organisation enhances employee’s effectiveness and efficiency. The study also revealed that the acquisition of new skills by workers help in boosting their moral. Furthermore, the study also shows that staff training and development in organisation helps to motivate workers to put in their best at work. The study recommends that Ifo Local government should adopt modern practices toenhance their productivity. A permanent autonomous body should be established or contracted by the authority of the Ifo L. G. A. to induct and update knowledge of new and old staff on their job and to co-ordinate the activities of training and development on continuous basis

Access to higher education is universally acknowledged as a critical driver of individual empowerment and national development. In Nigeria, however, the pathway to tertiary education is often obstructed by financial barriers that prevent many deserving students from pursuing their academic aspirations. This financial exclusion not only hampers human capital development but also reinforces the cycle of poverty and inequality (Odia & Omofonmwan, 2007). Over the years, the demand for university education in Nigeria has risen significantly due to population growth, increased awareness of the importance of education, and a youthful demographic. However, this surge in demand has not been matched by a corresponding increase in public funding. Government subventions to public universities have remained relatively stagnant, leading to overcrowded classrooms, decaying infrastructure, and underfunded student support systems. Consequently, many students find themselves unable to afford tuition and associated costs, resulting in either non-enrollment or premature dropout. 8 Recognizing these systemic challenges, the Federal Government of Nigeria introduced the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) in 2023, as a bold and transformative step toward democratizing access to higher education. Enacted under the Nigeria Student Loan Act and signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, NELFUND aims to provide interest-free loans to undergraduates in public tertiary institutions, thus removing financial hardship as a barrier to educational attainment (Edugist, 2023; Premium Times, 2023)

This study examined the challenges of revenue generation and rural development in Nigeria: A case study of Ovia North-East LGA, Edo State. The data collected were presented in a tabular form with focus on the major research questions which enabled the researcher determine the results. The findings from the study revealed that Ovia North-East LGA raises loans for incurring capital development programme that are within their statutory functions, lack of capacity of Ovia North-East LGA to fulfil the aspiration of their communities are caused by lack of adequate resources, the role of the state governors in the affairs of Ovia North-East LGA results in the ineffective implementation of its developmental programmes, bad local government politics affects the implementation of development programmes in Ovia North-East LGA, Ovia North- East LGA has facilitated rapid development at the grass-root. The study recommended that efforts should be enhanced by the local government towards generation of internal revenue so as to meet the yearnings and aspiration of the people at grassroot level; local government should encourage the collection of IGR through the application of modern equipment’s and electronics means; local government should also find a means of closing up the loopholes and discourage frauds among the revenue collectors and the tax payers; local government should embark on the establishment of some mini-sized industries that will provide employment opportunities to the people. The participation in agriculture will encourage the inhabitants of local governments to improve their standard of living on one hand, and to improve the revenue base of local governments on the other hand. The study concluded that local government which is mostly endowed with natural resources should be allowed to persuade foreign investors for the much desired development at the local level, and any restructuring of this tier of government must as a necessity be done in concert with the generality of the people, while every autonomous community in Nigeria should constitute a level of governance, as this will facilitate rapid development of Nigeria and bring about dividends of democracy nearer to the people. Therefore, the effective management of generated revenue is also a fundamental issue in the provision of services to the local populace, so revenue generation is not an end in itself in determining service provision, but proper utilisation is also a great determinant

This study investigates the merit-based recruitment process and its effect on job performance in the Edo State Civil Service Commission (ESCSC). The problem stems from political interference, favoritism, and poor recruitment practices that hinder efficiency and fairness. The study aims to assess the level of merit-based recruitment, identify challenges, and suggest improvement strategies. Anchored on the Attraction- Selection-Attrition (ASA) theory, a survey design was adopted. Data were collected from fifty-six (56) staff using questionnaires and analyzed with descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation. Findings revealed that merit-based recruitment is practiced and positively influences employee performance, though hindered by nepotism, political influence, inadequate ICT tools, and funding. The study concludes that strengthening meritocracy improves efficiency and transparency. It recommends enforcing anti-nepotism policies, training recruitment officers, adopting ICT tools, establishing independent oversight committees, and increasing budgetary support to enhance job performance in the Edo State Civil Service.

This research focused on the impact of the universal basic education policy on public junior secondary schools in Edo State. The aim was to investigate how the universal basic education has improved instructional and learning materials availability in public Junior Secondary Schools in Edo State to meet modern pedagogy. The survey research method was adopted. The researcher employed the use of both primary and secondary sources of data collection. The study has a population which comprises four different UBE schools in Egor Local Government Area. Which include the following; Egor Secondary School (1,706), Asoro Grammar School (1,812), Use Junior Secondary School (531) and Evbotubu Grammar School (1,669). To ensure adequate representativeness based on the size of the study population, the study opted to drawing the sample size that will be representative through the method of percentaging. Thus, twenty percent (20%) sampling was drawn from each of the four selected UBE schools in Egor Local Government Area, which upon calculation amount study sample size of 946. Furthermore, the sampling technique adopted for this study is the stratified random sampling technique in which respondents was selected using certain conditions such as gender, class, age and teacher’s qualifications etc. Furthermore, both descriptive and inferential statistics methods of analysis were adopted. The descriptive statistics include the use of frequency distribution tables and simple percentages to get the figures of different categories of the responses to the questionnaire. The inferential statistics on the other hand was meant to measure the type of relationship between variables. The type of inferential statistics that was deployed is the Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation (r) Coefficient analytical tool. These were done using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 22.0 version) software at 0.5 level of significance. It was found that the universal b sic education policy has made textbooks available in all subject areas in public junior secondary schools. The study also established that the universal basic education policy provides standard white or black boards with accompanying markers, chalks, and customized dusters among others. The study further show that the universal basic education policy also provides textbooks in the noncore subject areas of home economics, and fine art among others. On the issue of reduced number of out-of-school students, the study observed by reason of its retrieved field data and subsequent analysis that there exists a strong relationship between the UBE policy and reduced number of out-of-school students of public junior secondary schools in Edo State.

The study investigated the impact of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in public policy advocacy in Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of the study, four (4) research questions were raised and answered. To achieve the purpose of the study, four (4) research questions were raised and answered. . The sample size for the study was made up of 100 respondents. The data collected was analyzed using frequency count and simple percentage. The study revealed that NGOs have made significant contributions to public policy reforms, particularly in the health sector, where they have actively engaged in advocacy, awareness campaigns, and partnerships with government agencies to improve healthcare delivery and accountability. It was concluded that NGOs have demonstrated remarkable effectiveness in advocacy and policy influence in Nigeria. The study recommended among others that the government should strengthen partnerships with NGOs by creating formal frameworks for consultation and participation in policy formulation, particularly in the health, education, and gender sectors.