THE ROLE OF BUREAUCRACY IN ACHIEVING GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES (A CASE STUDY OF MINISTRY OF EDUCATION IMO STATE)
Abstract
The Main thrust of this research is to ascertain the extent to which Bureaucracy has gone in achieving these government development objectives, using the ministry of education Imo state Nigeria as a case study. In the course of carrying out this study, survey method was used by the researcher to describe the functions of Bureaucracy in that ministry which has aided the achievement of these objectives. The instrument used in data collection was mainly questionnaire and Oral interview. Thus, the responses got were outlined by the researcher in a frequency table and simple percentage was used to analyze the data. The results of the analysis and interpretations reviewed that Bureaucracy constituted the major element of development in that ministry. The implication of the result is that Bureaucrats in the ministry of education Imo state are being used for the implementation of government development Objectives. At the end of the study some suggestions were made by the researcher to the government and its agencies; and that is; “that the ministry should work in accordance to the rules of bureaucracy in order to achieve the mapped-out objectives of the government as regards education”.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
One attribute of all government is to execute laws and commands of the ruler through an administrative staff or body of officials. However, the appointment of these officials and the way they carryout their tasks differentiate one type of political structure from another and this system that ensures the rational management of large scale organization is called Bureaucracy”. Thus, the term bureaucracy originated from a French word “Bureau” Meaning (“Desk”) and it refers to a cloth covering the desk of the 18th century French monarchs. With time it became necessary to identify it as a form of government. Hence, bureaucracy emerged out of the organization’s need for order and precision and workers demand for impartial treatment.
The concept of bureaucracy was developed by a German sociologist named Max Weber between 1864-1920 when Germany was undergoing its industrial revolution. This in his own opinion was to help Germany manage its growing industrial enterprises at a time when it was striving to become a world power, so he conceived an ideal type of bureaucracy exhibiting three major characteristics anchored firmly on a body of impersonal rules and regulations. The structure and functioning of the organization, the rewards of the incumbents and the protection of the officers. He also stated what leads people to obey authority; by saying that those who made the rules and those who obeyed them shared certain values and the key to understanding organization types was to understand the nature of the shared value.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Bureaucracy has been said to be an indispensable management device for operating a large-scale organizations, but it is pathetic to state that a lot of factors impinges the smooth running of this system in achieving government development objectives. This state of affairs has resulted to slow implementation of government development programmes in the ministry of education Imo State as a result of Red-Tapism or bottleneck, mismanagement of fund meant for educational programmes which sometimes leads to poor implementation of development policies; has been the order of the day. Furthermore, bribery and corruption had continued to hinder effective implementation of government laudable projects.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective of this study is to ascertain the role of bureaucracy in achieving government development objectives. Hence some other objectives include:
1. To ascertain the bureaucratic structure of the ministry of education, Imo State.
2. To identify the real actors of bureaucracy in the ministry of education, Imo State.
3. To ascertain how bureaucracy has aided in improving efficiency in the ministry of education Imo State.
4. To know how the bureaucratic structure of the ministry of education Imo State help in the achievement of educational objectives.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION
The researcher formulated some questions which according to her will be relevant in ascertaining the subject matter. However, the questions include:
1. What is the bureaucratic structure of Imo State ministry of education?
2. Who are the real actors of bureaucracy in the ministry of education Imo state?
3. How has bureaucracy helped to ensure that there is efficiency in Imo state ministry of education?
4. Has the bureaucratic structure of Imo State ministry of education really helped in achieving education objectives?.