Suchergebnisse

Acknowledged as a policy target for the government of Nigeria, healthcare provision represents an important preoccupation for the government. As with other public policies, the achievement of policy goals in Nigeria is usually encumbered by numerous factors of implementation across various sectors. In the health sector, factors such as inadequate physical infrastructure, shortage of healthcare personnel, limited medical supplies etc. have hindered the implementation of several health policies. National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is one of such policies and this study examined the effects of shortage of healthcare personnel on the implementation of NHIS policy in FCT, Abuja. Specifically, the study evaluated the opinions of health workers as well as enrollees of NHIS in four purposively chosen Area Councils of the six Area Councils in FCT. This study adopted a survey research design with Rensis Likert's five-point scale questionnaire instrument administered to both categories of respondents. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 25) and the T-tested statistical tool was used to test the hypothesis. The study found out that shortage of health personnel is a major barrier to the effective implementation of NHIS in the FCT, Abuja. Consequently, the study recommends that there should be massive recruitment of qualified healthcare personnel; training and retraining of healthcare workers; and timely and adequate remuneration for the healthcare workers in FCT, Abuja.

The inextricable relationship between environment and development is unarguable, and the literature is replete with scientific evidence of the interdependence between the two phenomena. However, as the interaction between man and nature proceeded from the condition of conviviality to that of belligerence, there has been a marked decline in the resilience of nature to accommodate human avarice. It is nature's reactions to this unfair transaction that is today called climate change. In Sub-Saharan Africa, climate change remains an intractable problem, or to borrow the words of Pollitt (2016), "a very wicked issue" that challenges state capacity to contain its scourge. Finding a way around this wicked issue has been the preoccupation of public policy scholars and practitioners. Incidentally, combating climate change is a cross cutting issue in the 2030 global agenda for sustainable development which inevitably touches on access to affordable and sustainable energy, protection of the ecosystem to halt biodiversity loss. Consistent with this global agenda is the Africa agenda 2063 with the overarching aspiration of "a prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development". These multinational initiatives suggest a growing consensus on environmental sustainability as the desideratum of development. In Nigeria, the energy crisis and its attendant consequences on the environment has made the country one of the most vulnerable to climate change in the region. This paper seeks to offer a perspective on public governance for climate action. It argues that lack of state capacity to address the energy requirement of the economy has had grave consequences on environmental resourcefulness. While consensus on multinational agenda is given, the point at issues is for national governments to domesticate this agenda and mobilize the requisite resources to translate them into measurable achievements. The paper observes that apart from the huge deficit in furnishing the energy need of the real sector, the energy crisis poses existential threats such as food insecurity, environmental pollution/degradation through deforestation, flooding and pollution. The paper recommends, among others, that the Nigeria-Germany bilateral cooperation on the power sector should be implemented to its logical conclusion, and that a program of public enlightenment is urgently required to arrest traditional practices that are harmful to environmental sustainability.

In the general discourse on the local government system in Nigeria, two major influences are notable: the intervention of the military in politics, and the 1976 reform of local government. However, the 1979 constitution, which provided the legal framework for the 1976 reforms, plunged the local government system into a crisis of identity, and ever since local government in Nigeria has remained an idea in search of relevance. This paper examines both the inherent weakness of the constitutional foundation and the contradictions created by the 1976 reforms. Using a theoretical analysis, the paper finds that the combined effects of constitutional gaps and reform contradictions have rendered Nigeria's system of local government an unfortunate 'orphan', and that, lacking a strong constitutional foundation, local government in Nigeria has been subject to the whims of both state and federal governments. The paper argues that, despite numerous constitutional developments, current constitutional provisions for local government in Nigeria leave much to be desired. The recommendations to improve the system include that: local government should be given the status of a federating unit in the constitution, with its powers and functions clearly spelt out; the constitutionally mandated State Joint Local Government Account (SJLGA) should be abolished; and the constitution should be amended to create a chapter which guarantees the identity and autonomy of local government as a third tier of government.

In the general discourse on the local government system in Nigeria, two major influences are notable: the intervention of the military in politics, and the 1976 reform of local government. However, the 1979 constitution, which provided the legal framework for the 1976 reforms, plunged the local government system into a crisis of identity, and ever since local government in Nigeria has remained an idea in search of relevance. This paper examines both the inherent weakness of the constitutional foundation and the contradictions created by the 1976 reforms. Using a theoretical analysis, the paper finds that the combined effects of constitutional gaps and reform contradictions have rendered Nigeria's system of local government an unfortunate 'orphan', and that, lacking a strong constitutional foundation, local government in Nigeria has been subject to the whims of both state and federal governments. The paper argues that, despite numerous constitutional developments, current constitutional provisions for local government in Nigeria leave much to be desired. The recommendations to improve the system include that: local government should be given the status of a federating unit in the constitution, with its powers and functions clearly spelt out; the constitutionally mandated State Joint Local Government Account (SJLGA) should be abolished; and the constitution should be amended to create a chapter which guarantees the identity and autonomy of local government as a third tier of government.