Nigeria's bureaucratized ombudsman system: An insight into the problem of bureaucratization in a developing country
| Author | Victor Ayeni |
| Date | 01 July 1987 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230070306 |
| Published date | 01 July 1987 |
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT,
Vol.
7,
309-324
(1987)
Nigeria’s bureaucratized ombudsman system: an
insight into the problem
of
bureaucratization in
a
developing country
VICTOR
AYENI
University
of
Ife
SUMMARY
This paper is
a
case study of the bureaucratization process in Nigeria’s ombudsman
institution, otherwise known as the Public Complaints Commission. Proceeding from the
premise that the efficacy of modern bureaucratic organizations is predicated on the ability
to control bureau-pathologies, an attempt is made to determine success in keeping the
bureaucracy in the Public Complaints Commission at an optimum level and thereby mitigat-
ing possible negative consequences. The paper argues that, contrary to the situation in
most other places, Nigeria’s ombudsman institution has developed into an enormous.
wasteful and inefficient bureaucracy. The reasons
for
this situation are largely sociocultural.
The Public Complaints Commission has a long history
of
close, intimate association with
the civil service. This has transformed the Commission, more
or
less, into an arm
of
the
civil service and virtually eliminated its unique ombudsman features. The situation
of
the
Public Complaints Commission is,
of
course, not peculiar. It is true
of
most other non-civil
service institutions, such as public enterprises and educational institutions, in Nigeria and
most other developing countries. The paper concludes with a number of policy suggestions.
INTRODUCTION
Modern societies need bureaucratic organizations in order
to
function effectively.
This point has been well demonstrated by Max Weber in his well-known thesis
on
the ‘inevitability of bureaucracy’ (Weber, 1947; Jacoby, 1973). According
to Weber, bureaucratic organizations, because
of
features such as formality,
permanence and rationality, provide the ideal arrangement for accomplishing
social objectives through collective efforts. Since Weber’s work was popularized,
critics have also pointed out that these features, which represent the strong
points of bureaucratic organizations, can also become pathological
if
not properly
institutionalized.
In
effect, therefore, modern society has to monitor its process of bureaucratic
development and organization to ensure a reasonable balance between the positive
and negative consequences
of
bureaucracy. A crucial dimension
to
this is the
adoption
of
various bureaucratic control instruments to check and redress incidents
of
maladministration and malfeasance (Greer
et
al.
1978). In actualizing these,
Dr. Ayeni is
in
the Department
of
Public Administration, University
of
Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
027 1-2075/87/0303O!l-16$08
.oO
0
1987
by John Wiley
&
Sons, Ltd.
310
Victor
Ayeni
the modern administrative system has to come to grips not only with essentially
administrative factors but also with various ecological problems.
The issue
of
bureaucratization assumes an intractable dimension in Third World
societies
in
view
of
their level of sociopolitical and economic development. Third
World societies do not, understandably, exhibit in sufficient degree the essential
prerequisites of successful bureaucratization (Okoli,1980). Yet they have a pressing
demand for bureaucratic organizations in order to accomplish the enormous
challenges
of
national development that they are faced with. How do they deal
with this dilemma?
As a first step towards answering this question, there is need for case studies
on different aspects
of
the problem. The amount
of
neglect in this area appears
so
serious that systematic generalizations need to be deferred until much later
(Okoli, 1980). Accordingly, this paper attempts to throw more light on the problem
of bureaucratic development in Nigeria by using her ombudsman institution,
known as the Public Complaints Commission (PCC), as an illustration. The choice
of the Public Complaints Commission as a point
of
reference is quite deliberate.
As will be shown, the PCC provides a suitable crystallization point for the different
theoretical issues raised about the modern bureaucratic experience. Besides,
it
is
an institution about which little is known
in
Nigeria. This paper, then, will provide
some insight into the working of the Commission.
As Nigeria’s version of the ombudsman idea, the Public Complaints Commission
is
in
essence averse to the negative and pathological features of bureaucracy. It
is created to check these features through an arrangement which is free of them,
as much as possible. This raises a number of obvious issues about the process of
establishing the institution, its method
of
work and its level
of
performance. What
I
intend to do in this paper is to assess and explain the extent of success
of
the
Nigerian administrative system
in
keeping the level
of
bureaucracy in the PCC at
an optimum level.
To
this end, the remainder of the paper is divided into four. The next section
shall examine in detail the relationship between ombudsman institutions and
bureaucracy. Primarily,
I
shall try to identify some precise measures for determin-
ing the optimum size for a typical ombudsman institution. The section which
follows will involve empirical work on the Public Complaints Commission, applying
the measures identified in the preceding part. The third section takes the empirical
analysis further by trying to explain findings from the PCC experience. The last
and concluding part
of
the paper will hazard some-generalizations and identify
important consideration for ensuring effective bureaucratization in the process of
national development.
ON THE OMBUDSMAN AND BUREAUCRACY
Some few comments about concepts are pertinent at this point. The word bureau-
cratization, as indicated, has both neutral and pejorative meanings. In the former
sense it refers to the process by which an organization grows, enlarges and acquires
the bureaucratic features
of
impersonality, heirarchical structure, clarity
of
func-
tions, specialization, and meritocracy (Albrow, 1970; Weber, 1947). It
is
a process
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