E-GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS: A CASE STUDY OF DUTSE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, JIGAWA STATE, NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

     INTRODUCTION

      1.1          BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The attempt made to write this research work on the “Implementation of E-governance in Nigeria, the Implication and Challenges” gives an opportunity to write when The Nigerian public service is characterized as the traditional public administration, characterised by “paper based long procedures that makes the citizen dissatisfied with the services because of several problems such as delay in the service, corruption and offices are centrally located” (Karim, 2015). This development has led to so much clamour for reform due to the time-consuming nature and quality in public service delivery, which has to do with too many procedures and lack of transparency (Arkes, 2015; Amukugo & Peters, 2016). These among other challenges facing public institutions have rendered it incapable of producing good governance and democratic dividends to the people.

However, this study is trying particularly to examine critically the challenges of implementing E-Governance in Nigerian public institution, particularly in Dutse Local Government of Jigawa State  as a study area. Nigeria like many other emerging economies has been making efforts to implement e-governance processes Out of necessity and importance, there are lots of challenges that hamper the effective implementation of e-governance in Nigeria, such as digital divide, infrastructural faclitities, skills manpower etc. the introduction of electronic system in Nigerian public service reduced cost of governance, enhanced transparency and accountability in public service, the study recommends that the search for effective and efficient service delivery in the public sector, there is urgent need for the fully implementation of e-governance in Nigeria.

Given that traditional governance mechanism for administering transparency and accountability in the public sector has failed consistently, an opportunity and open door for governance digita-lization is being appreciated across the global spaces (Obike 2022). This was a shift from the human dominated operating system to technology dominated one, where the problem of in ordinate behavior as well as optimization needs are met.One characteristic of several governments of the world including Nigeria is the desire to use limited resources to satisfy unlimited needs and enhance public servants’ accountability and transparency in the process (Abasilim et al. 2017).

The primary function of Government anywhere in the world is to provide welfare services and protect the lives of the citizens. Unfortunately, these have remained a far cry. For this reason, many governments have introduced some public sector reforms which are yet to bring the expected changes in government business. Today in Nigeria, there is practically no public sector organization that has not undergone one form of reform or the other.

Similarly, following the introduction of modern technology worldwide, there is practically no sector or segment of the society where the influence of Information and Communications technology (ICT) has not penetrated. In this new age the Information Age, where multitude of transactions are completed with utmost efficiency brought through by the use of the internet or the world wide web, no organization can afford to be behind in upgrading its mode of conducting business to incorporate the use of ICTs. Any organization that intends to continue keeping afloat and progress in its operations must join the bandwagon in the New Age of ICT. Businesses and Organizations that fail to continuously apply the latest ICTs may not be able to contend with the ever competitive business world.

Most of the reforms that have swept through the public sector in Nigeria include liberalization, deregulation, downsizing, right sizing, commercialization, monetization, privatization, etc. These reforms are geared towards blurring the line of differences between the public and private sectors, thereby making public service delivery look more business–like. Despite this, public service delivery and accountability are still a far cry In making the public service efficient, flexible, profitable and competitive, many countries have embraced egovernance in their activities. The application of the internet, web and telecommunications services in the administration of public services is referred to as e-Governance or Electronic-governance.

The objective of this paper therefore is to examine the challenges and prospects of implementing e-governance in Nigeria for service delivery. After the introduction, the paper makes some conceptual clarifications and delves into some models of e-governance, and there-after took a cursory look at the challenges of implementing e-governance in Nigeria before making some recommendations.

      1.2  STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Despite the popularity, potency, and precision of e-governance, it is yet to be judiciously adopted and explored in the Nigerian public sector. A visit to the government departments in Nigeria is a nightmare; it is characterized by a lot of paper work, long queues, bureaucracy, cramped spaces and a lot of frustrations. With the growing demands of citizens and changing global rules and regulations, the Nigerian government as a matter of necessity must explore a transparent and accountable medium to deliver its statutory mandate to its citizens at the right time and quality.

Bureaucratic institutions are used as veritable tools in the administration to establish and implement public policies and programs aimed at serving the demands of the people. It’s on this note the study will examines the challenges and problems that hindered the implementation of e-governance in Nigeria. Due to large dependence on secondary sources of data acquired from papers published in respected academic journals, official publications, Conference papers, internet sources and relevant books, the study adopted the use of content analysis techniques. 

The study discovered, among other issues, that low knowledge of ICT, insufficient legal framework, and inadequate infrastructure are among the problems that obstruct the efficient adoption of egovernance in Nigeria. The research, on the other hand suggested that e-governance has a lot of potential for the country, including giving information on job openings, e-police system, a medium for information transmission, and economic development, among other features. From the stated problems the study recommended that government should provide ICT infrastructure, ICT legislation should be enacted in the nation, and the government should demonstrate commitment to making e-governance a success in the country, among other issues. Conclusively, e-governance is critical to the country’s realization of accountable, responsive, and transparent government in Nigeria.

      1.3  AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The overall aim of this study is to critically examine and understand the challenges/problems of implementing egovernance in relation to Nigerian public servive. In the light of this, the study seeks to;

i.                        Identify e-Governance implementation challenges in Nigeria and and develop a prospect for change.

ii.                     To Discusses implications and develop recommendations to the Government of Nigeria on the importance of e-govrnance.

iii.                   To Analyze the primary issues and challenges of e-governance towards administrative efficiency.

iv.                   To Identify the challenges and barriers to e-governance, such as those related to Information Communication and Technology (ICT) and social obstacles.

v.                     To Examine the roles, prospects, and challenges of technology inspired government and develop a strategic framework for the effective  implementation of e-governance.

vi.                   To analyze whether limited communication infrastructure and capacity can be a barrier to adoption of E-governance.

From the aims and objectives above, the essence of E-governance is to provide services using Information Communication Technology (ICT) to facilitate development with effective and efficient public service delivery.

      1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

With the attempt to identify and establish connections between e-government and public service delivery, the study is primarily concerned with e-government implementation to provide public services delivery. Therefore, the research study can be conducted with the following research questions:

a.                      Can e-governance initiative and implementation lead to change management process in public sector?

b.                     What are the risk and barrier to E-governance implementation?

c.                      How can E-governance Improve tranparency, work efficiency, Accountability and public participation?

d.                     What are the major factors influencing e-government implementation in public sector in the context of Nigeria for sustainable and generally acceptable public service Delivery?

e.                      How do these factors (ICT infrastructure, Human Capital, online communication services, barriers and risks etc.) influence e-government implementation process?

f.                       What is the status of e-government services implementation in public service delivery?

g.                      How much responsive is the existing e-Government services in Nigerian public service?

       1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

It is remembered that a research problem cannot be solved unless it is reduce to the hypothesis form, because a problem is just a question or statement usually as a broad nature and it is not directly testable, what is not testable is the hypothesis implied by the question or statement.

Specifying the research hypotheses is one of the most important steps in planning a scientific quantitative research study.

Therefore, the working hypothesis for this research is as follows:-

i.         Does E-governance enable the public service to execute its functions without Challenges in Nigeria?

ii.       To what extent does E-governance influence the effective function of public service delivery in Nigeria?

iii.    Ineffectiveness and inefficiency are due to lack of E-governance implementation in public service.

iv.    E-governance will have an impact on the function as well as relieving the challenges of public service delivery.

v.       Lack of qualified personnel and professionals are among the problems limiting the effectiveness and digitization of the public service.

vi.    Corruption and embezzlement of public funds are among the challenges and factors undermining the implementing E-governance.

      1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

    A study of this nature is significant in a number of ways. Firstly, the paper is timely and in accordance with national priority. Implementation of E-Governance the impact and challenges, has been a subject of national debate and concern, both at the national and local level. Government’s commitment at improving the performance of public institutions and service delivery in Nigeria should be listed as priority because Nigerians have for too long been feeling short-changed by the quality of services delivered by Government institutions despite government bureaucratic reforms.

More importantly, it will expand the frontier of knowledge by identifying factors influencing the problems and challenges of implementing E-governance to improve service delivery in Nigerian public institutions. These factors when clearly identified (inadequate ICT infrastructure, especially Internet connectivity issues in public sector organizations, lack of qualified personnel to manage systems, bureaucratic resistance to change, etc.) will go a long way in providing answers to questions like why Government face those challenges to E-governance implementation., This was necessitated by the urgent need to improve public service delivery, ensure transparency, make government accessible, and ensure that information dissemination to the public is in real time.

Furthermore, the research is justified on the grounds that its recommendations will enhance policy decisions of government agencies like the review of  framework about integrating IT projects in Ministries, Departments and Agencies, knowing that IT projects cannot be executed in silos. There is need to come up with a framework. Many nations have their own framework, but in Nigeria we are yet to have one. It is better late than never.  In addition, members of the public will find the research work educative and resourceful, Future researchers on Implementation of E-Governance the impact and challenges with regard to service delivery in Nigerian public institutions will find the study a rich resource material for their research.

      1.7  SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

      It is very important to set out a scope of the research, because of the broad nature of the study. This research is restricted and conducted Within Dutse Local Government of Jigawa State on the Implementation of E-Governance the impact and challenges and the extent to which the aforementioned problems and challenges effect the adoption of E-governance in public institutions in nigeria.

It would have been better to conduct this study in a wider scale covering large number of governmental and other similar non-governmental offices. Nevertheless, due to constraints (time and resource) the coverage of this study will be confined to a limited to some selected government ministry offices. Moreover, this study is confined to the evaluation of e- governance implementations in public service delivery. A reasonable number of IT managers and e-government experts or information communication technology officers will be participated.

In this regard, events from other localities may not be exermined, except where they are similar the case of Dutse Local Governments in Jigawa State, such will be treated as an example. For a research of this nature, time is of paramount importance and time constraint is a great limitation, pressing daily activities with lack of or inadequacy of fund will be another factor to consider.

      1.8 HISTORICAL BACKGROUNG OF THE STUDY AREA (DUTSE LG).

          Dutse is a city located in northern Nigeria. It is the capital city of Jigawa State. It is home to Federal University, Dutse established in November 2011. In addition to the Federal University Dutse, there is also a Research Institute for Date Palm (Sub-Station) and State Polytechnic in Dutse. The Jigawa State Polytechnic has its College of Business and Management Studies at Dutse. With an estimated population of 246,143 (NPC, 2017) Dutse is currently the largest city in Jigawa State followed by Hadejia (111,000), Gumel (43,000), and Birnin Kudu (27,000). Dutse is the capital of Jigawa state of Nigeria. The state was created in 1991 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Dutse (Dutsi, in earlier notes) got its name from the rocky topography peculiar to the area. Different forms of rocks can be seen widely spread across the town. Mostly igneous in nature, the rocky town got its name from these naturally endowed resources, Dutse (Hausa term for rock). Dutse and its environ are well known for Date Trees (Dabino) of different variety. The area is characterised with undulating topography and hilly walls. The name Jigawa (from Jigayi) is attributed to such topology. Peculiar to the North-Western states, the populations of Dutse are predominantly Hausa and Fulani. With availability of agrarian land, the inhabitants of Dutse are predominantly farmers; other occupations typical to rural area are also available among the populace.

      The agitation for the creation of Jigawa state was chaired by Malam Inuwa-Dutse, former commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the old Kano State (comprising present Kano and Jigawa states) during late Alhaji Audu Bako governorship. It started in the late-1970s but it was curtailed as result of military coup. There was renewed interest at different times since the first call. When the call for states creation resurfaced in the late-1980s, Jigawa people were not hesitant to lend their voices. The victorious moment came in the early-1990s (August, 1991, precisely) during the military regime of President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Although the call for state creation was won, majority of the constituting local governments submitted in the original report for the creation of the state were phased out and new ones were introduced. Some of the areas left out include Albasu, Ajingi, Wudil, Sumaila, Kachako and Takai. Only few among those that agitated for such state creation were actually in the New World (Jigawa state, Tarin Allah as a common slang).

It is significant to highlight that the ascendancy of Fulani in C1807 marks a turning point in the history of Dutse as it lost its independence and became submerged into Kano, as the clan leaders opted to recognize Sarkin Kano Sulaiman as their spiritual leader. In return however, Kano conceded a certain degree of autonomy to Dutse particularly in the sphere of Local administration. For instance the two ruling clans of Jalligawa and Yalligawa were reserved the exclusive right of producing successive Dutse rulers, while Kano’s role remained limited to confirmation and installation of nominated candidates for ruler ship. Such was the nature of the relationship between the two until the British conquest of Kano in 1903 and the subsequent administrative reforms introduced by the imperial power. The reforms fundamentally eroded the autonomy of Dutse and placed it under the introduced district head system as the new system of local administration all over Northern Region (including Kano Emirate). Territories all across the emirate were re-grouped in to consolidated district areas. The then Sarkin Dutse (Haladu) was reverted to a salaried district head charged primarily with the responsibility of tax collection under the new dispensation. He later became the first victim of the new system as he was removed in 1910 for failing to collect adequate taxes. However, the exclusive hereditary right of the two ruling houses in Dutse was preserved after some attempts to change the arrangement.

       1.9 DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS

          A research work of this nature cannot successfully be dealt with, without an adequate definition of the key concepts adopted.

Because of this, we shall operationalize the following concepts:

v  Government: Government, as a concept, refers to the system or group of people that holds authority and exercises control over a specific territory or community. It is the structure and process through which societies organize themselves to create order, enforce laws, provide public services, and promote the common good. (Hague, R. 2016).

v  Executive: The executive is the branch of government that is responsible for the day-to-day management of the state. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, The executive is led by the head of Government. The Head of Government is assisted by a number of ministers, who usually have responsibilities for particular areas (e.g. health, education, foreign affairs), and by a large number of government employees or civil servants.

v  Implementation: Implementation is the execution or practice of a plan, a method or any design, idea, model, specification, standard or policy for doing something. As such, implementation is the action that must follow any preliminary thinking for something to actually happen. (Farrar, E. 1978).

v  ICT: Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications[1] and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage and audiovisual, that enable users to access, store, transmit, understand and manipulate information.

v  E-governance: Obasanjo (2004) defines e-governance as the use of information and communication technologies to improve efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of governance through implementing data ware housing and integrated decision support system to manage modern economy for the benefit of the governed.

v  E-government: Ojo (2014) points out that e-government centre on “constituencies and stakeholders” which can include government or public sector organizations at all levels, be it, local, state, federal or international. E-government refers to government establishments (local, state or federal) as they provide services utilizing, web-based formats or ICTs in general.

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