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African Studies
African Studies Series
Representative Bureaucracy, Meritocracy, and Nation Building in Nigeria Bola Dauda and Toyin Falola

Representative Bureaucracy, Meritocracy, and Nation Building in Nigeria by Bola Dauda and Toyin Falola

"Drawing from rich historical and archival sources, the authors provide a concise but excellent synthesis of the historical development of the Nigerian public service from the colonial period to the present ... The book should benefit experts, practitioners, students, and general readers." —Africa Today

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  • Formats Hardcover, Paperback, Digital
  • Hardcover ISBN 9781604979121
  • Paperback ISBN 9781638570981
  • Pages 308
  • Date January 2016
  • Size 6 x 9 in or 229 x 152 mm

This book is a comprehensive theoretical and empirical investigation of the practical application of representative bureaucracy in Nigeria. Part I consists of four chapters, beginning with a theoretical and an historical overview of representative bureaucracy and policy making in Nigeria. This includes a discussion of the myths, contradictions, and the resultant dilemmas of administration. It highlights the complexities and intricacies of public policy-making, and examines the concept of representative bureaucracy including its meaning, forms, criticisms, prospects, limitations, and history. It also examines the need for administrative reforms, what reforms have taken place, and the country’s search for appropriate bureaucracy for nation building.

Part II details the objective and empirical facts regarding the representativeness of bureaucracy in Nigeria and its implications. Unlike past approaches, this book provides solid evidence of what difference representative bureaucracy actually makes on the ground. Using a novel and rigorous methodological approach, the actual impact of the civil service on policy-making is assessed and insights are provided into how a more representative bureaucracy affects policy. The approach is enhanced by the authors’ advantage as Nigerian scholars who had both worked in the Nigerian political system as civil servant and university professors. This landmark study will be of value to scholars and students of Nigerian and African political, economic, and social development .

"Drawing from rich historical and archival sources, the authors provide a concise but excellent synthesis of the historical development of the Nigerian public service from the colonial period to the present, and they highlight its regional composition of the federal public service, key reforms, disjuncture, major challenges, and prospects. ... The book offers rich historical data evidencing a huge gap in educational attainment between the North and South ... Wide gaps in educational attainment meant that the South dominated the Nigerian public service since the 1940s. ... the book discusses well and engages with one of the biggest challenges hindering Nigeria's economic development and social cohesion: ethnicity ... The book should benefit experts, practitioners, students, and general readers." —Africa Today

Bola Dauda holds a master's and doctorate in Public Policy from the University of Liverpool. He is an honorary fellow of the University of Leicester. As a scholar he contributed chapters to books and published in academic journals in Europe, United States, Africa and Asia. His writings had been translated into Spanish, Chinese and French, and he is author of several books.

About Toyin Falola

Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair Professor in the Humanities and a Distinguished Teaching Professor at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria and A Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. He has received various awards and honors, including the Jean Holloway Award for Teaching Excellence, the Texas Exes Teaching Award, and seven honorary doctorates. Dr. Falola has published numerous books, most recently, Slavery, Migrations, and Transformations: Connecting Old and New Diasporas to the Homeland. He is the coeditor of Yoruba Studies Review and the general editor of the Cambria African Studies Series.

List of Tables

List of Maps

Preface and Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Bureaucracy and the Nigerian Nation-State

Chapter 2: A History of Nigerian Administocracy

Chapter 3: Meritocracy and Administrative Reforms

Chapter 4: New Style Public Services

Chapter 5: The Principle and Practice of Representative Bureaucracy

Chapter 6: The Role of Education in Public Service Representation

Chapter 7: Profile Analysis of Representativeness of the Nigerian Public Services

Chapter 8: Quota System, Nigerian Citizenship, and Nationhood

Appendix

Bibliography

Index

  • 2026 Cambria Press

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