AN EXAMINATION OF POLICY IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT: This study was carried out on the challenges of policy implementation in Nigeria. To achieve this 4 research questions were formulated. Respondents were obtained from civil servants resident in Abuja, FCT of Nigeria. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprise of the entire civil servants resident in Abuja, FCT of Nigeria. In determining the sample size, the researcher purposively selected 240 respondents while 200 respondents were validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using frequency tables and percentage. While the hypothesis were tested using Chi-square  Statistical Tool SPSS v23. The result of the findings reveals that the challenges militating against policy implementation in Nigeria include; lack of clear definition of goals, over ambitious policy goals, lack of appropriate technology for implementation and lack of clear definition of responsibility & coordination, the  factors influencing the aforementioned challenges include; high level of incompetence, lack of continuity commitment to policy, corruption and foul politics, there are applicable solution to those challenges and among them are targeting the right beneficiaries, provision for adequate monitoring of projects, adequate material and human resources, effective communication between the target beneficiaries and the implementers of policy programs and encouraging the culture of continuity and there is significant effect of those challenges on Nigeria economy. Based on the above findings, the researcher recommended that targeting beneficiaries should be involved at the formulation stage in order for them to have an input in what affects their lives. This will also give them a sense of belonging and, therefore, a sense of commitment; Attention should be paid to both the manpower and financial resources which will be needed to implement the policy; There must be effective communication between the target beneficiaries and the implementors of policy programmes; The culture of discontinuing a policy once there is a change in government should be discouraged because even though government comes and goes, administration is continuous. There should be continuity in policy except if the policy is found not to be useful to the people. And Provision should be put in place for adequate monitoring of projects, as poorly monitored projects will only yield undesired results.