New Paradigm in Public Enterprise Management in Nigeria: Evidence from Local Government Councils Transport Corporations

Abstract

This study examined the critical factors that facilitate the successful management of public transport corporations by local government councils in Nigeria, against the backdrop of the contrary experience of subnational and national counterparts; and the position of Classical Theory that government has no place in business, except in the inevitable provision of public goods. Literature and studies have directed much focus on lamenting the quagmire of the economic consequences of the albatross levied on Nigeria’s economy by the mismanagement of humongous investments in public enterprises, without examining the opportunities presented by the phenomenal success of local government corporations, ascribable to a shift in management paradigm. This deficit is the central focus of this study. In the survey research design, primary data on major managerial variables were collected from a sample of 200 respondents drawn from a population of 550 selected local government councils and transport management. Employing a simple percentage tool, data analysis provided answers to the research questions post. Among the salient findings, the factors critical in successful management included corporate autonomy, sound financial management and good governance, encapsulated in the adopted New Public Management model. In conclusion, the study posited that the appropriate management option, the government is strategically placed to manage public enterprises, with enormous success, as is evident in the case of the local government council’s management of transport enterprises in Nigeria. It was therefore recommended, among others, that public authorities desirous of establishing new enterprises or resuscitating ailing or failed ones, should prioritize efficient management, hinged on New Public Management typology, in line with the position of Liberal Theory.