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ADMINISTRATIE PROBLEMS OF PUBLIC CORPORATIONS: A CASE STUDY OF THE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMEMT CORPORATION (ADC) IN CROSS RIVER STATE.
ADMINISTRATIE PROBLEMS OF PUBLIC CORPORATIONS: A CASE STUDY OF THE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMEMT CORPORATION (ADC) IN CROSS RIVER STATE.
Modern Economists hold the view that there are two major approaches to the problem of economic development. One is the so-called “Marxist-Lenist” or the “Socialist1′ approach which calls for direct intervention of the state in the production and distribution processes. The other, Adam Smith and others or “Capitalist” approach which sees the role of the public sector as limited to the provision of a congenial economic and political atmosphere in which production can take place. This approach rests on the assumption that private entrepreneurs are capable of responding to economic incentives. There is also an ideological basis for the two approaches but this is not the subject of this study. Nigeria is a mixed economy, and our National Constitution is unmistaken about our economic objective. The concept of planned, development and increasing state participation in economic activities has been the corner stone of our National, policy ever since independence twenty-three years ago. The growth of public enterprises in diverse fields of our national endeavour is conceived as one of the major instruments for the transformation of our backward economy into self sustaining and progressive one, and for the preservation of social equilibrium and political stability. – v – A country or state benefits a great deal by the public sector enterprises only when they are managed efficiently. It also loses a great deal, on the other hand, if scarce financial resources and scarce managerial talent are wasted. If the continued growth of these enterprises in the key sectors of our economy is necessary for the future well-being, their failure in the present can therefore mean disaster to our country or state, and no segment, including the private sector of our economy, can avoid the terrible impact of such a failure. Hence the importance of achieving maximum efficiency in the management of these enterprises, and consequently of creating the necessary managerial framework and providing an adequate flow of competent managers for these enterprises, should be obvious. Huge sums of money have been invested in public sector projects in our country but unfortunately their performance is far from satisfacotry. The poor performance of some of these enterprises can be attributed to inadequate assessment of demand, but most of them could run efficiently and earn sizeable profits if a proper diagnosis of the problems of these organisations could, be carried out, the constraints identified and necessary remedy, applied to them. This study is our humble effort to inquire into – Vi – the administration of statutory corporations in the Cross River State and to identify the key variables that constitute their performance problems. The central piece of this study or inquiry is the Cross River State Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC). The author has chosen the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) among the other corporations in the Cross River State because that establishment happens to be the oldest corporation inherited by the Cross River State Government from the defunct Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation (ENDC), Enugu, through the States (Creation and Transitional)Decree of 1967 which the Cross River State, along with other Nigerian States, were created by the Gowon Administration As a pioneer Corporation in the Cross River State, it is only normal that the ADC should perform well to be able to generate enough profits for capital development in other fields of the State’s economic endeavor. Besides, the ADC is expected to be the pace-setter for other public corporations in the state to find their feet. But for obvious reasons, as this study will reveal, the Agricultural Development Corporation has not been able to achieve its objectives. Since after the civil war, the ADC has been an economic disaster. For months on end, it could hardly find enough money to pay salaries and wages to its eight thousand employees. Production was almost nill. Till this day the ADC is heavily indebted to commercial banks in the state to the tune of N24 million. For reasons sometimes beyond its control, the rubber in the Estates could not be properly tapped. The palm fruits were yielding but could not be harvested although the ADC had hundreds of people who were employed to harvest these fruits. This was the . bleak situation in the ADC when the present administration took office in 1979. Initially, the State Government, perhaps as a short term measure, advanced substantial amounts of money in a futile effort to revive the corporation. What happened instead was that the more money Government sub-vented to the ADC the more it sank into the administrative and economic abyss. As was to be expected, the tragedy of the ADC produced its own crop of critics who sought to lay the blame for the disastrous situation on the shoulders of the State Government. The Cross River State -Government was accused of everything from incompetence to being insensitive to the plight of the over eight thousand workers of the corporation. Most often, the critics did not mention the fact that Governor Isong’s administration was not responsible for the ADC disaster. When the present administration took office in 1979, it found that the problems of the ADC had been accumulating since 1969. While the critics were busy accusing the State Government of incompetence, the State Government was busy trying various programmes and policies aimed at revitalizing the ADC. The Cross River State Government set up a cabinet committee to take a hard look at the ADC and recommend ways of revitalizing the corporation. The Cross River State Government also decided to stop giving subvention to the Corporation mainly because the financial resources of the Government were dwindling and also because there had been no improvement in the conditions of the ADC despite previous Government subventions. The adoption of the panel report by the Cross River State Government involved a rethinking of the fundamental philosophy behind the establishment of the ADC. Rather than allow the corporation to continue to be a social charity organization offering employment to thousands of unproductive men and women, the State Government is still at a loss of what to do in order to transform the ADC into the profit making organization. This study, therefore,- is the author’s effort to critically analyze the administrative problems of the ADC and suggest possible lasting solution to them. In this study, the words, parastatals, parastatal organizations, public corporations, State-owned companies, public enterprises or statutory corporations.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page- – – – – – – – – i
Approval page – – – – – – – -ii
Dedication – – – – – – – – -iii
Acknowledgement – – – – – – – -iv
Abstract – – – – – – – – – -v
Table of content – – – – – – – -vi
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION – – – – – – – -1
1.0 Background of the study – – – – -1
1.1 Statement of the problem – – – – -5
1.2 Purpose of the study – – – – – -6
1.3 Significance of the study – – – – -8
1.4 Research questions – – – – – -9
1.5 Scope of the study – – – – – – -10
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW – – – – – – -11
CHAPTER THREE
Research methodology – – – – – – -39
Design of study – – – – – – – -40
CHAPTER FOUR
Presentation, analysis and interpretation of data – -48
CHAPTER FIVE
Summary of findings – – – – – – -60
Conclusion – – – – – – – – -61
Recommendations – – – – – – – -62
Suggestions for further research – – – – -64
References – – – – – – – – -65
Appendix I – – – – — – – – -68
Questionnaire. – – – – – – – -69
ADMINISTRATIE PROBLEMS OF PUBLIC CORPORATIONS: A CASE STUDY OF THE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMEMT CORPORATION (ADC) IN CROSS RIVER STATE.
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