Public Administration And Community Development

Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

During the colonial period in Nigeria the government performed very limited functions such as the maintenance of law and order, defense and collection of revenue. But after attaining independence, the government has totally changed. The government has gone beyond the traditional function of maintaining law and order, defense and revenue collection. Their functions now include both development and national building activities. Investigations carried out proved that in community development in Nigeria, with particular reference to selected communities in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, the people especially the poor, expect many things from the set of public Administration or the government. The poor expect many things from government. The poor and weaker sections look up to government to improve their lot and alleviate their misery. Thus, in response to the rising expectations of the people, governments of these communities in Aguata Local Government have assumed enormous responsibilities in order to improve the social and economic conditions of the people, thus bringing community development through the instrumentality of Public Administration. Consequently, since developing societies are engaged in rapid socio-economic transformation under the leadership of government, public administration necessarily has a very crucial and fundamental impact in the society. The ability of administrative institutions and processes to develop policies and programmes in a participatory manner which anchor peace and reconciliation, and also enable themselves to act as resolvers and managers of conflict is critical to building long-term national capacity for sustainable peace and development. The brief of this paper is to explore how to best utilize various participatory governance mechanisms as instruments for conflict management in post-conflict situations. In particular, it explores participation, decentralization and local government capacity strengthening (with some reference to the South African experience) as strategies to prevent a resurgence of severe or violent conflict to constructively manage public policy issues and disputes, and to build long-term social cohesion and create a foundation for peaceful, sustainable development. Lastly, the paper attempts to forward a comprehensive strategy in developing a foundation for participatory, peace-sustaining governance. What is conflict? Conflict is relative to its own reality – its origin, intensity, duration, manifestation, and interpretation. Keeping the human development focus in mind, conflict can be perceived as a threat to human security. Conversely, the quest for human security can also manifest as a threat to elitist proponents of disorder in pursuit of self-interest and greed. Some conflicts can be interpreted as ‘a cold war’ or ‘a long peace.’ Conflict means peace for some and tragedy for others. Whichever way one looks at it, against the background of resource scarcity, conflict is in some or other way driven by greed and/or grievance.1 More concise – conflict is defined as a ‘social situation in which two parties are competing for the same scarce resources.’2 Of relevance here is that conflict refers to the social situation and not to conflict behaviour as such. ‘The conflict can be latent or manifest. The conflict is not necessarily eliminated just because conflict behaviour ends.’3 Therefore, of further relevance to this project (that looks at post-conflict mechanisms) is that the concept of ‘post-conflict’ is therefore somewhat inadequate. Relapses to violence are common, unless basic problems are addressed and solved. The focus here will be on conflicts that are relevant from the perspectives of poverty, development and external development assistance.4 Where do we find conflict? Conflict is universal and at the same time rather peculiar to the nation-state. Internationally, the breakdown of nation-states can be generalized to a lack of vertical and horizontal legitimacy within societies. When there is a collapse or lack of vertical legitimacy, the relationship between the state and the society is detached. Public administration is a strategic factor in economic and social development. It influences and determines the success of any development plan, and is at the same time susceptible to deliberate social control and change. The inadequacy of administration in many developing countries is now recognized as a major obstacle to development, perhaps more serious an obstacle than the lack of capital or foreign aid. Herbert Emmerich, a noted scholar and administrator, estimates that 80 per cent of the plans of the world are incapable of being fulfilled because of administration. (1) The term ‘development administration’ can be used in a broad sense, to em – brace the variety of approaches and points of view that mark the study of public administration in developing countries. Some writers have sought to assign a more restricted and precise meaning to the term, but their attempts have been arbitrary and conflicting. Some speak of ‘development administration’ in order to emphasize the inadequacy of the established discipline of ‘public administration’, others treat the field as merely an application of the traditional study; still others use the term with neither connotation. Some use the term in the sense of ‘the administration of development’; others are thinking of the development of administration; still others see these concepts as two sides of the same coin. Another important school of thought which studies the role and problems of administration in developing countries calls its field ‘comparative public administration’. The battle over meanings and labels is symptomatic of substantive differences in approach and outlook – which, we shall see, have important implications for planning. To some degree, all of the different approaches share a comparative point of view. Almost every writer who discusses a developing bureaucracy is at least implicitly holding up against it the Weberian image of the efficient, rational, functionally specialized, impersonal, non-political bureaucratic hierarchy, an image associated chiefly with the western industrialized nations. These developed bureaucracies probably look good only when being compared with their counterparts or imitators in developing countries. But the latter, although they certainly did not invent corruption, irrationality, and incompetence, are more afflicted with those ills, and much less able to afford them. Whatever their views of the appropriateness of the Weberian standard, students of development administration inevitably focus on the falling-short-of-the-ideal as their special problem. Thus, this work is designed and set to find out public administration and community development with particular reference to selected communities in Aguata Local government Area of Anambra State, as well as make recommendations.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Contemporarily, rural community development has become a national imperative in Nigeria and the following are the reason. Firstly, the proportion of the national population resident in the rural areas of Nigeria is higher hence the 1963 census, which place the figure at 80.7% of the national population. By 1985, this proportion went down to 70.13% and by 1990; it further dropped to 69%. It is therefore clear that despite our high level of urbanization, Nigeria remains largely rural. Secondly, is the realization that a dangerous gap exists in the development levels of both the urban and rural areas which threatens the political and social stability of the country. Hence the development of a country cannot be completed with the singular act of developing the urban areas at the detriment of the rural area which supplies the urban areas with food and labor. from the background of the study, it is evidenced that some problems actually necessitated the changing of government in these communities after independence, are as a result of lack of social amenities in these communities. It is against this backdrop that the researcher intends to investigate the efficacy of public administration and community development in Nigeria

1.3 Objective of the Study

The main objective of the study is to ascertain the efficacy of public administration and community development in Anambra state. But to aid the completion of the study, the researcher intend to achieve the following specific objective:

1. To ascertain the effect of public administration to the economic growth of Anambra state
2. To examine the role of public administration in community development in Anambra state
3. To examine the relationship between public administration and community development in Anambra state
4. To examine the impact of efficient public administration on the general well-being of the state

1.4 Research Hypotheses

The following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study:

1. H0: there is no relationship between public administration and community development in Anambra state
   H1: there is no relationship between public administration and community development in Anambra state
2. H0: efficient public administration does not have any impact on the general well-being of the state
   H2: efficient public administration does have an impact on the general well-being of the state

1.5 Significance of the Study

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of great importance to public office holders as the study seek to enumerate the benefit of public administration on community development in the state, the study will be of importance to the management of government business enterprises as the revenue generated will stimulate economic growth and development if properly managed by public office holders in the state, the study will also be of importance to researchers who intend to embark on a study in a similar topic as the study will serve as a reference point to further study

1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Study

The scope of the study covers public administration and community development, but in the cause of the study, there were some factors that limited the scope of the study;

a) Availability of Research Material:

The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study

b) Time:

The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

c) Finance:

Limited Access to the required finance was a major constrain to the scope of the study.

1.7 Operational Definition of Terms

Public Administration

Public Administration is the implementation of government policy and also an academic discipline that studies this implementation and prepares civil servants for working in the public service

Community

A community is a small or large social unit that has something in common, such as norms, religion, values, or identity.

Community Development

Community development is a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems. Community wellbeing (economic, social, environmental and cultural) often evolves from this type of collective action being taken at a grassroots level

1.8 Organization of the Study

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows:

1. Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study.
2. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature.
3. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study.
4. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.
5. Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study