FEDERAL CHARACTER PRINCIPLE AND CHALLENGES TO ADMINISTRATIVE EFFECTIVENESS IN AKWA IBOM STATE CIVIL SERVICE, 2007-2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page – – – – – – – – – – i
Declaration – – – – – – – – – – ii
Certification – – – – – – – – – – iii
Dedication – – – – – – – – – – iv
Acknowledgements – – – – – – – – – v
Table of contents – – – – – – – – – vi
List of tables – – – – – – – – – vii
Abstract – – – – – – – – – viii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study – – – – – – – 1
1.2 Statement of Problem – – – – – – – 2
1.3 Research Questions – – – – – – – 4
1.4 Objective of the Study – – – – – – 4
1.5 Research Hypotheses – – – – – – – 4
1.6 Significance of the Study – – – – – – – 5
1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study – – – – – – 5
1.8 Definition of Terms – – – – – – – 6
1.8.1 Federal Character Principle – – – – – – 6
1.8.2 Federal Character Commission – – – – – 6
1.8.3 Administration – – – – – – 6
1.8.4 Effectiveness – – – – – – 6
1.8.5 Civil Service – – – – – – 6
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.0 Introduction – – – – – – – – 8
2.1 Conceptual Framework – – – – – – – 8
2.1.1 Federal Character Principle – – – – – – – 8
2.1.2 Administrative Effectiveness – – – – – – – 10
2.1.3 History of Civil Service in Akwa Ibom State – – – – 13
2.2 Review of Related Literature – – – – – – – 17
2.3.0 Theoretical Framework – – – – – – – 27

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction – – – – – – – 30
3.2 Research Design – – – – – – – 30
3.3 Population of the Study – – – – – – – 30
3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique – – – – – – 31
3.5 Instrumentation – – – – – – – 31
3.6 Validity of Instrument – – – – – – – 31
3.7 Method of Data Collection – – – – – – – 32
3.8 Method of Data Analysis – – – – – – – 32
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
4.0 Introduction – – – – – – – 34
4.1 Data Presentation – – – – – – – 34
4.2 Demography of Respondents – – – – – – 34
4.3 Test of Hypotheses – – – – – – – 37
4.3.1 Testing of Research Hypothesis 1 – – – – – 39
4.3.2 Testing of Hypotheses 2 – – – – – – 42
4.3.3 Testing of Hypothesis 3 – – – – – – 45
4.4 Discussion of Findings – – – – – – – 48
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary – – – – – – – 51
5.2 Conclusion – – – – – – – 51
5.3 Recommendations – – – – – – – 53
References – – – – – – – 54

LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1 Gender of Respondents – – – – – – 35
Table 4.2: Age Bracket of Respondents – – – – – – 35
Table 4.3: Educational Qualification of Respondents – – – – 35
Table 4.5: Occupation of Respondents – – – – – – 36
Table 4.6: Religion of Respondents – – – – – – 36
Table 4.7: Senatorial District of Respondents – – – – – 37
Table 4.6: Summary of Questionnaire Questions 1-4 – – – – 39
Table 4.7: Calculation of chi-square (ϰ2) for hypothesis 1 – – – 41
Table 4.8 Summary of Questionnaire Questions 11-14 – – – – 43
Table 4.9 Calculation of chi-square (ϰ2) for Hypothesis 2 – – – 44
Table 4.10 Summary of Questionnaire Questions 15-18 – – – – 46
Table 4.11 Calculation of Chi-square (ϰ2) for Hypothesis 3 – – – 47

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Multi-ethnic and sharply divided societies all over the world attempt to manage their diversities and divisive tendencies through one or combination of policy alternatives in the organization and management of their public services for performance; and Nigeria is not an exception. Often times, these policy alternatives turn out to be delicate arrangements; but when carefully conceived, crafted and practiced, it provides opportunity for centre-seeking and centre-fleeing forces to interact peacefully and co-habit on agreed terms. One of such policy alternatives adopted for the management of the civil service in Nigeria, specifically in Akwa Ibom state for even representation is the federal character principle, which “was borne out of the need to ensure even spread of government appointments in all the regions, states and local government councils in the country” (Nzeshi, 2012:97).
However, after a series of debate in 1975 the constitutional drafting committee was set up which established federal character commission as a body charge with the responsibility of implementing the federal character principle in order to ensured equitable sharing of posts in the civil services. This was also enshrined in the 1999 federal constitution of federal republic of Nigeria. The federal character enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria is to ensure equitable distributions of bureaucratic and political roles in the civil service at federal, states and local government levels. The objectives of the policy are to foster national unity and give every Nigerian a sense of belonging in the country.
The federal character principle which is implemented under the federal character commission is therefore designed and initiated to correct adverse impact resulting from opportunities and resources provided by the federal government to the citizens of the country that appears neutral but have a discriminatory effect on a protected group. The federal character principle is therefore structured to ensure strong and indivisible nation based on justice and fairness, while also ensuring that a sense of belonging of all Nigerians is still maintained. As laudable as the above policy maybe, and the empowerment of the concept in the nation’s constitution, its application has remain a debatable topic to which some critics have claimed that the policy comprise the merit system which will create an enabling environment for those that are only qualified to be employed into the Nigerian civil service, thereby fostering quality service rendering for the development of the country. According To Ekeh (1989) Federal character principle has become a problem instead of solution to problems it was expected to tackle.
Akwa Ibom state, being one of the 36states in Nigeria recognizes the federal character principle in its recruitment into the state civil service as it is believed will enhance administrative effectiveness. It is on this note that the study seeks to determine the extent to which the federal character principle enhances administrative effectiveness in Akwa Ibom state civil service from 2007-2015.

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem
The fundamental strategy to ensure equal representation in Nigeria is through the Federal character principles. The main objective of this principle is to ensure a fair representation that will take care of the heterogeneous nature of Nigeria populace politically, socially and economically. The federal character principles are also aimed at achieving distributive justice, and a state of equality (Osifeso, 2013). However, it seems the implementation of these principles has been mired by conflicts and controversies, which most times threaten the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria as a federating nation.
There are many cases going on in Nigeria that the federal character principle has been unjustly implemented. Also the annual reports from the publications of the federal character commission shows that a lot of complaint arise as a result of breach of federal character principles by some establishments for example in the federal character monitor, a quarterly publication of the commission (2008:5) accused and summoned the Nigeria communication commission over breach of federal character principles. More so, the inefficiency of the policy in recruiting manpower potentials into the organization and the selection of employees which is not based on merit but the federal character principles are some of the problems that affect the efficient performance of the Nigerian public service.
Furthermore, the poor performance of employee’s discovered by the president Olusegun Obasanjo led administration was traced to poor manpower utilization and poor quality of civil servants, also testify to this weakness. Thus, in view of the above problems, the introduction of the federal character principle and its implementation has failed to bring into the Nigerian civil service competent and motivated workforce that could support administrative effectiveness for enhanced performance in the implementation of government policies for sustainable development. It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to examine federal character principle and challenges to administrative effectiveness in Akwa Ibom state civil service (2007-2015).