RELEVANCE OF TRADITIONAL RULERS IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA LOCAL GOVT. ADMINISTRATION; A CASE STUDY OF UMUMBO KINGDOM IN AYAMELUM LGA ANAMBRA,NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The coming into power of Major General Mohammed Buhari in 1983 marked the end of second republic civilian regime and the beginning of the march towards the third republic. The new head of administration enunciated a ten point agenda programme (Buhari, 1984), which unfortunately did not include the question of return to civil rule. He believed that the major problem that Nigeria had was how to revive the economy of the country, ensure discipline at home and respect abroad (Sunday Times, 1984: 11). This created an impression that the transition to democracy was not a priority issue to Buhari administration. This led to lack of popular support for the Buhari administration and consequent condemnation of the head of state who was overthrown in August 1985 (Olagunju et. al 1993).

The August 27, 1985 coup which was premised on economic and political reforms brought Major Gen. Ibrahim Babangida to power. There was from the beginning, a disguised commitment to military disengagement and to the required economic, political and socio-cultural reforms which are vital to the creation of a viable environment for re-democratization on Nigeria. However, the military disengagement or transition timetable as well as content and trajectories of the reforms were vague, which made them subject of robust debate within the Gen. Babangida administration. Within the first 100 days, Gen. Babangida embarked on what looked like a meaningful political and economic consolidation. The period between September 1985 and January 1986 was significant in the foundation of the third republic as at starkly and poignantly showed (Olagunju, etal, 1993: 88). To further strengthen the march to democratic governance, the administration established some socio-political infrastructures, such as Center for Democratic studies (CDC) and Mass Mobilization for Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER), as the administration viewed public mobilization as a vital process in the actualization of democratic governance. The Constituent Assembly and Constitution Drafting Committee were also engaged in the process.

In the process of political transition under Gen. Babangida administration, lots of uncertainties were revealed. Prominent among this was the issue of terminal date of military rule, which was not explicitly clear in the transition calendar. The programme was staggered between 1987 and 1992, which attracted series of conflicts in its actualization. According to Olagunju, et al. (1993) the political Bureau contained two proposed conflicting time tables of major events and land marks in the transition. A major departure from the original time-table  irrespective of the various shifts and changes was the constitutions of the national assembly without an executive president for the country. This led to the apogee of political administration in Nigeria being diarchical, with a military Head of State presiding over a country with democratically constituted national and state assemblies. Even though some notable Nigerians such as Azikiwe (1984) proposed the diarchy Thesis as the panacea for a stable and  non-military incursion into the body polity of the nation, the transitional programme did not make any provision for such

 

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Major-General Muhammadu Buhari rose to become Nigeria‟s head of state and Commander-in- Chief from December 31, 1983, and his government ended August 27, 1985. He became head of state as a result of military coup d‟état which deposed civilian president Shehu Shagari. The military accused the civilian authorities of mismanaging the economy, corruption, civil disorder and uncertainty in which the nation found itself under the leadership of the former civilian government. General Buhari government focused on fighting corruption especially those committed by former government and businessmen with a link to government, as a result of the corruption drive over 500 officials of government, politicians, and people in business were thrown into prisons and tried to the military tribunal‟s setup. In his inaugural speech, General Buharistated:“to put an end to the serious economic predicament and the serious crisis of confidence now afflicting our nation”. Akinboye, S.O., (2005). With the start of its administration, the Buhari administration prided itself as an offshoot of Murtala/Obasanjo government, it hereafter built it foreign policy after that of the previous military regime. In one case, in following suits of Murtala/Obasanjo, which recognised MPLA in Angola, the Buhari regime recognised Polisario government in Western Sahara despite opposition from fellow African states. The regime also re-launched commitment to the liberation of South Africa from the apartheid regime Abegunrin, O. (2003. The key features of the General Muhammadu Buhari foreign policy wereits relations with Nigeria ECOWAS neighbours, Nigeria-Africa relations and a diplomaticface-off between Nigeria-Britain.

1.3 Aims and Objectives of the Study

 

Based on the pertinent questions set to be addressed in this paper, the main objective therefore is a comparative study of Major General  Muhammadu Buhari1983-1985 And General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida 1985-1993 Military regime.

1.4 Significant Of  The  Study

At the theoretical level therefore, this study promises to be a rich contribution to the existing pool of knowledge on the nexus between civilian and military regime. This effort is particularly relevant in that even though a number of theoretical and empirical studies on military regime exist, there is as yet a dearth of empirical studies on the comparative study of Major General  Muhammadu Buhari1983-1985 And General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida 1985-1993 Military regime.

The study will therefore be a useful resource for scholars, students and sundry researchers interested in further exploring this area.

At the practical level, the study will be of paramount importance to policy makers of developing countries, especially in Nigeria as it provides a practical guide for the understanding of the seeming contradiction between the variables: military regime

1.5 Scope of the Study

This study is centered on  the comparative study of Major General  Muhammadu Buhari 1983-1985 And General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida 1985-1993. The study were however restricted the Military juntas of Buhari and IBB.

1.6 Research Questions

• How does  Nigerian Foreign policy looks like during the military juntas of Major General  Muhammadu And General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida
• Does Mohammadu Buhari ‘s War against Indiscipline during the military regime a success or failure?

1.7 Operational Definition Of Terms

 

Juntas; a military group that rules a country after taking power by force.

Transition: this is the change of government, from civilian to military regime,viz-versa

 

Coup: a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government.

Foreign policy : a government’s strategy in dealing with other nations.

1.8 Theoretical  Framework

The work adopts  role theory as guide to the study. The role theory is derived from the concept of role as used by psychologists and anthropologists in distinguishing individual or group role perceptions and actual performance in any social gathering. This could be family, peer group, religious group, workplace, community, market and in this case, the political groups (Folarin, 2010:89).  According to Biddle (1986:68), role theory concerns one of the most important characteristics of social behavior – the fact that human beings behave in ways that are different and predictable depending on their respective social identities and the situation. He argued that role theory explains roles by presuming that persons are members of social positions and hold expectations for their own behaviours and those of other persons.

Again, Folarin (2010:93) argued that role theorists see role theory as one of the most compelling instruments bridging individual behaviour and social structure. According to him, roles, which are in part dictated by social structure and in part by social interactions, guide the behaviour of the group or individual. He concluded that, the group, in turn, influences the norms, expectations, and behaviours associated with roles. In other words, the understanding is reciprocal and didactic. It is in this sense that, the adoption of role theory to interpret the foreign policy behaviours of the Nigerian state, represented by different actors with different ideological and political orientations explain the role confusions and dissonance that have become the hallmark in the conception, formulation and implementation of the country’s foreign policy. A logical outcome of these behavioural patterns explain Nigeria’s national and international image dilemma.

1.9 Literature Review

The most populous country on the African continent, the Nigerian experience with democracy has been paradoxical and ambiguous (Diamond, 1995). Although the military controlled the government for twenty-four of the first thirty-four years of independence, Nigeria has never accepted indefinite authoritarian rule, and no military rule that has not committed itself to a transition to democracy has been able to survive. Through ten national government, ix successful military coups, a civil war, and a dizzying economic boom followed by a crushing depression – not to mention repeated assaults by military regimes on human rights and associational life Nigerians have maintained a passionate commitment to personal freedom and political participation.

The various military regimes, in Nigeria have embarked on lasting reforms that have transformed Nigeria polity, hence, their impacts are seen in political and economic spheres (Aliu, 2000). The impacts of military rule in Nigeria is seen in political and economic lives. These have both positive and negative effects, politically the military has contributed immensely to the development of Nigeria through state and local government creation exercise, constitutional engineering and enunciation of transitional programmes. The military regimes that came to power had in their various ways contributed to the realization of the unity in Nigeria, on the other hand, military regimes had contributed to democratic instability and human right abuse in the country.

On the economic scene, the contributions of military rule is also felt, whether positive or negative. The military economic contributions and policies formulation and implementation for instance, the Nigeria Enterprises promotion Decree of 1972/1977 or the indigenization policy was formulated by the military rule. Additionally, the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) by Babangida regime was aimed at revamping nation’s economy. Some other economy policies of successive military regimes in Nigeria are the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures (DFRRI). Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) and so on.

 

1.10METHODOLOGY

This paper utilises secondary sources of data for the research; this includes journals, relevant books, periodicals, newspapers reports, internet sources, government releases, and pronouncement.Download Full Material-N5000

CHAPTER ONE/INTRODUCTION

Treasury single account is a public accounting system under which all government revenue, receipts and income are collected into single account, usually maintained by the country’s Central Bank and all payments done through this account as well.

Also treasury single account come into existence in Nigeria on 15^th of September 2015 by the new elected government president Muhammed Buhari in other to utilize public fund and maximize corruption in the country. Although Treasury Single Account has been in existence in some countries before now, such as United Kingdom, France and some part of the United State of American (U.S.A.). The purpose is primarily to ensure accountability of government revenue, enhance transparency and avoid misapplication of public funds. The maintenance of Treasury Single Account will help to ensure proper cash management by eliminating the funds usually left with different deposit money banks and in a way of enhancing reconciliation of revenue collection and payment.

Section 80(1) of the 1999 constitution as amended states “ All revenue or other money raised or received by the federation (not being revenue or other money raised or payable under this constitution or any act of the National assembly into any other public fund of the federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one consolidated revenue fund of the federation”. Successive governments have continued to operate multiple accounts for the collection and spending of government revenue in flagrant disregard to the provision of the constitution which required that all government revenues should be remitted into a single account. It was not until 2012 that government ran a pilot scheme for a single account using 217 ministries, department and agencies as a test case.

The pilot scheme saved Nigeria about N500 billion in frivolous spending. The success of the pilot scheme motivated the government to fully implement Treasury Single Account (TSA), leading to the directives to banks to implement the technology platform that will help accommodate the Treasury Single Account (TSA) scheme. The recent directive by President Muhammed Buhari that all government revenues should be remitted to a treasury single account is in consonance with this programme and in compliance with the provisions of the 1999 constitution Central Bank of Nigerian, 2015 (CBN 2015).

The central bank has opened a Consolidated Revenue Account to receive all government revenue and effect payments through this account. This is the treasury single account. All Ministries, Departments and Agencies are expected to remit their revenue collections to this account through the individual Deposit Money Banks who act has collection agents. This means that the money deposit  banks will continue to maintain revenue collection accounts for Ministries, Department and Agencies but all money collected by these banks will have be remitted into the Consolidated Revenue Accounts with the (CBN) Central Banks of Nigeria at the end of each banking day.

Different types of accounts could be maintained under a Treasury Single Account main accounts, subsidiary or sub-accounts and Zero balance account. Other types of accounts that could be operated include imprest  accounts, transit  account and correspondence accounts. These accounts are maintained for transaction purposes for funds flowing in and out of the Treasury Single Account.

Before the adoption of Treasury Single Account by the Buhari Administration, Nigeria public accounting system was in fragmented accounts operated by government agencies for government revenues, inccomes and receipts, which in the recent past facilities leakages of legitimate income meant for the federation account. Treasury Single Account is an initiative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) / World Bank in June 2010. It is a key component of the economy reform programme. Treasury Single Account is an essential tool for emerging market and low income countries like Nigeria with fragmented systems for handling government receipts and payments.

The federal government Treasury Single Account (TSA) protect, which seeks to establish a unified structure of government bank accounts, could be the single most effective mechanism for dealing with corruption in cash management in Ministries and Agencies, business day has learnt.

The initiative is being championed by the federal Ministry of Finance with the office of the Accountant General of the federation serving as the implementing agency in active collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN). The project is inspired by global best practices long established by countries across the world and has a proven record of enhancing oversight and control of government cash resources.

According to a review document seen by business day, the new initiative should help to reverse the situation where idle cash balances in bank account for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) often fail to earn market related renumeration.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

• The implementation of the TSA has not being fully implemented by all the states in the country; this might be attributed to the state inability to understand the benefit of the scheme, by understanding the benefit of TSA which is one of the focal point this study is centered on; it is believed will allow states to implement the scheme.
• The conventional accounting system deployed by MDA’s is susceptible to leakages, having a consolidation account which is what TSA is all about will allow all these leakages to be blocked.
• The economy of the country (Nigeria) is in a very challenging and dire state. This might be attributed to exponencial drop in crude oil and the level corruption entrenched in MDA’s this corruption is encouraged by the conventional accounting system which makes it nearly impossible for government to trace their revenue. Implementation of the TSA will enable the government to fight corruption to a logical state and consequently improve the economy.

1.3     RESEARCH QUESTION

1. What are the challenges of Treasury Single Account ?
2. What are the benefits of Treasury Single Account?
3. Is joint account help in recovering stolen money?
4. Do employees given the responsibilities of maintaining Treasury Single Account happy or not?
5. How often do auditors manage to audit account in a year?
6. What are the constituents of Treasury Single Account?

1.4     OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY\

The main aim of this study is on Treasury Single Account and Corruption in Nigeria Civil Service from 2015-2019.

The following are the specific objectives of the study

1. To examine the benefits of Treasury Single Account in Nigeria.
2. To examine the implementation of Treasury Single Account in Nigeria.
3. To identify the roles of Deposit Money Banks (DMB’s) in the operation of (TSA) Treasury Single Account.
4. To identify the challenges of Treasury Single Account.

1.5     RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H_o – Treasury Single Account cannot be use to curb corruption in Nigeria.

H_i – Treasury Single Account can be use to curb corruption in Nigeria.

The statement of hypothesis listed above; thus:

H_o represent negative reply or answer while,WHILE                                                                 H_i represent positive reply or answer.

1.6     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

1. This work will serve as a knowledge base to other students and researchers’ interested in carrying out further research in this field. If this study is applied, it will consequently provide new explanation to the topic.
2. This study will shed light on the benefits of Treasury Single Account, thus, making MDA’s to be more interest in its adoption.
3. The study will expose the challenges faced by MDA’s in implementation TSA, this will make the initiation (IMF) of TSA to make necessary commandment to the scheme to make it more efficient.

1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

FINANCIAL CONSTRAINT: Insufficient fund trends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literatures or information and in the process of data collection (internet and questionnaire)

1. TIME CONSTRAINT: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will have adverse effect on the available time needed for this work.

Treasury Single Account is a national phenomenom, which is                 recently adopted and fully implemented by the Nigerian government for their Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s). In the course of this study of researcher only limit the study of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) staff of kwara state located in Ilorin. In other words, Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN) Ilorin staff will form the population for this study and other CBN branches in other states will not be included in this study.

1.8     DEFINITION OF THE KEY TERMS

1. TREASURY SINGLE ACCOUNT: TSA is a bank account or a set of linked bank accounts through which the government  transacts all its receipts and payments and get a consolidated view of its cash position at the end of each day. It is a strategy for consolidation of government cash resources in a single account or several accounts connected that is desirable for sound management of government cash resources (CBN 2015).
2. REVENUE: Revenue is an increase in net worth resulting from a transaction. For general government units, there are four main sources of revenue: taxes and other compulsory transfers imposed by government units, property income derived from the ownership of assets, sales of goods and services and voluntary transfers received from other units.
3. ACCOUNTING SYSTEM: Accounting system is the system of record of a business that keeps to maintain its accounting system. This includes the purchase, sales and other financial processes of the business or Accounting system is the frame work of storage and processing of management system.
4. PUBLIC SECTOR: Public sector is all about organizations which are not privately owned and operated, but which are established, run and financed by government on behalf of the public. This definition conveys the idea that the public sector consists of organizations where control lies in the hand of the public.
5. TREASURY: Treasury is defined as the funds of a group, institution or government or to the department or even corporation and institution.
6. BANK: A bank is financial institution that provides banking and other financial services to their customers. A bank is generally understood as an institution which provides fundamental banking services such as accepting deposits and providing loans.

1.9     PLAN AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

The research work is basically categorized into five chapters.

Chapter one contain the Introduction.

Chapter two deals with the Literature Review.

Chapter three present  the Research Methodology.

Chapter  four contains data Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation.

Chapter five present Summary, Conclusion and RecommendationsDownload Full Material-N5000

INTRA-PARTY CONFLICTS IN NIGERIA: THE CASE STUDY OF PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP)

ABSTRACT

Party system is one of the essential tools for democracy. In all democracies, conflict is inevitable. This is true because democracy seeks the effective ways through which a society should be governed, borne not out of contest either internally or externally. Conflict results whenever two or more persons seek to possess the same object or occupy the same position and play incompatible means of achieving their purposes. What has the situation been like in the internal contest of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? What are the factors responsible for intra-party conflict in the People Democratic Party? How do these factors affect Nigeria as it moves towards democratic consolidation and sustainable development? What is the way forward? These are the premises of this paper with an in-depth analysis of the concept by addressing the rate at which it occurs overtime. From all indications, it is observed that the parochial idea of the party stalwarts in the People Democratic Party is highly defective. The paper then maintains that there should be transparency in party financial administration and the imposition of candidates into any elective position should be abolished, among other ways forward. It then concludes that unless intra-party democracy is embraced solution to intra-party conflicts and total political violence in Nigeria will be a mirage.Download Full Material-N5000