%X Inclusive governance through public consultation is fundamental to
sustainable development as reiterated in the SDG16. Citizens’ consultation in the
policy planning and determination enhances the quality of policy outcomes and
help to build public trust in political institutions. Traditional institutions for public
consultation are however, often limited thus, policy decisions are in most cases, at
variance with public aspirations. The consequence is a growing public cynicism of
governmental institutions. To address this democratic decline, governments across
the world are now utilizing ICT tools to better consult with citizens in the public
policy process. This paper which adopts a mixture of descriptive and analytical
research designs engages a systematic literature review for collecting and analysing
data. The aim is to investigate the adoption of ICTs as tools for public consultation
to enhance inclusive governance in Nigeria. Findings reveal among others that the
increase in acceptance and usage of mobile technologies in the face of the challenges
of infrastructure, energy instability and low level of ICT literacy among others, provide veritable platform for e-consultation. E-consultation brings to bear
the equally important bottom-up approach in policy making by providing additional
channel for greater public voice in the policy-making process. E-consultation thus
poses to be cardinal to achieving sustainable development goal of just, peaceful
and inclusive societies in Nigeria.
%T E-consultation and the quest for inclusive
governance in Nigeria
%A Samuel Oni
%A Aderonke A Oni
%A Jide Ibietan
%A Oluwatimilehin Deinde-Adedeji
%K E-consultation; public policy; inclusive governance; SDGs; Nigeria
%J Cogent Social Sciences
%L eprints14979
%D 2020
%R https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2020.1823601