Gberevbie, D.E. and Iyoha, F. O. and Ayo, C. K. and Abasilim, U. D. and Ojeka, Stephen (2016) E-Government: A Possible Catalyst for Good Governance in Nigeria? In: European Conference on e-Government, 16-17 June 2016, University of Ljubljana Slovenia.
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Abstract
Most governments all over the world exist mainly to formulate and implement policies to improve upon the living standard of citizens. Research has shown that citizens are more likely to support the policies implemented by government when their inputs are taken into consideration at the formulation stage. However, one of the reasons most public policies fail and hence manifest in bad governance in developing societies like Nigeria is the fact that citizens lack access to the policy formulating center of government; either by reason of ignorance due to high illiteracy rate or the avenue for citizens to contribute meaningfully to the policies of government is non-existing. And since good governance is premised among others on ensuring that citizens participate in decision-making process of a given country either directly where possible or through their representatives; it is therefore necessary that citizens should be encouraged to be part of the facilitating team for the promotion of good governance. This is more likely to be achieved through the deliberate creation of avenues or platforms such as e-government as a strategy to enable citizens’ inputs into the policies of government. Therefore, this study explores the current state of affairs on the extent to which the Federal Government of Nigeria has been able to harness the avenue or platform of e-government as a possible catalyst for the promotion of good governance in the country. This was accomplished by the examination of the websites of the Federal Government of Nigeria and some of its key institutions such as, the Legislature: National Assembly (the House of Senate and the Federal House of Representatives), the Judiciary (Federal High Court and the Nigerian Supreme Court) and Federal Ministry of Information and Culture. The websites of these public institutions in Nigeria were examined and analyzed based on their practical effect on the day-to-day governance of the nation. This was carried out through the adoption of descriptive approach with a view to observing the avenues or platforms created, if any, by the Federal Government of Nigeria and some of its key institutions to give citizens the opportunity to be involved in the policy and decision-making process in the nation’s quest for good governance. The outcome of the study revealed that the Federal Government of Nigeria and its key institutions are yet to create the platform of e-government to enable citizens to be involved in the policy and decision-making process for good governance as evident in the advanced contemporary societies. If the country must experience and benefit from the opportunities made available globally through the adoption of e-government platform, the paper recommends that leadership at all levels must take practical steps to popularize on a large-scale, the adoption and implementation of e-government in the management of government processes, through the involvement of citizens in the policy and decision-making process, thereby serving as a catalyst for good governance in Nigeria.
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5601 Accounting |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Mrs Hannah Akinwumi |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Jun 2017 15:58 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Jun 2017 15:58 |
| URI: | http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/8490 |
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