THE ROLE OF EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATION IN THE RAPID SOCIAL-ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF NIGERIA

THE ROLE OF EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATION IN THE RAPID SOCIAL-ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Administration in the general sense is usually described in terms of a cooperative human effort directed towards the achievements of agreed objectives. It is thus a social activity which can occur in a wide variety of institutional frame work. Administration in a political setting and, as distinct from other forms of administration, is concerned with the formulation and implementation of Government policies at the grassroots level, a branch of Public Administration. Herbert et al (1900) observed that when two men cooperate to roll a stone that neither could have moved, the rudiments of administration are taking place. He went further to explain that this simple act has the two basic characteristics of what has come to be called administration. There is a purpose-moving the
stone, and there is cooperative action-several persons using combined strength to accomplish something that could not have been done without such a combination. On the basis of the foregoing, Herbert et al defined administration as activities of groups cooperating to accomplish common goals. What to note about Simon et al’s definition is the emphasis on cooperation and purpose. For them, therefore, it is necessary to have groups cooperating and such cooperation must have a purpose. Stephen (1985) defined administration “as the universal process of efficiently getting activities completed with and through other people”. The process, according to him refers to the planning, organizing, leading and controlling that take place to accomplish objectives. There are features common to varying kinds of administrative organisation and much administrative theory is relevant to all organisation, be it government or private. The Kaduna State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (KASEEDS)as a set of activities which are carried out by the officers, and which can be classified as/or concerned with planning and development of the area. The SEEDS is to help state governments to draw up and implement realistic plans to make NEEDS and each individual state’s SEEDS come true. When SEEDS was launched, the National Planning Commission (NPC) issued a guidance manual entitled: The SEEDS Framework – “Government for Growth and Service”.This expanded version of that manual does not change the original guidance. It certainly does not mean that states which have completed their SEEDS documents need to revise them. Instead, the focus is on the SEEDS as a process: on how to take a strategy that has already been dared through to action.
It is against this background that the researcher intends to assess the effective administration in the rapid socio-economic transmission of Nigeria.

THE ROLE OF EFFECTIVE ADMINISTRATION IN THE RAPID SOCIAL-ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF NIGERIA