IMPACT OF PUBLIC OPINION ON PUBLIC POLICY IN NIGERIA: AN APPRAISAL OF 2010-2012
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IMPACT OF PUBLIC OPINION ON PUBLIC POLICY IN NIGERIA: AN APPRAISAL OF 2010-2012
This research effort analyses the impact of public opinion on public policy in Nigeria from 2010 to 2012, focusing on the economic policy of deregulation or fuel subsidy elimination in 2012. The essay, which is organised into five chapters, examines how public opinion influences governmental decisions in Nigeria’s democracy.
Historically, agriculture provided over 70% of Nigeria’s income prior to the discovery of oil; however, oil currently provides Nigeria with a higher level of foreign money. As a result, this study bridges the gap and provides age-appropriate responses to topics such as whether public policies are the result of public opinion,
the impact of public opinion on public policies, and whether deregulation is a solution to poverty and underdevelopment. The system theory evolved into a theoretical framework that addresses policy input and policy output.
A historical analysis of the topic was conducted, and the impact of public opinion on public policies was also identified. The paper broke down policies for dealing with poverty and underdevelopment. Finally, the paper provides insight into and analyses the causes for policymaking in Nigeria, as well as proposed remedies to the problem.
Introduction
Since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, many governments have embraced one or more programmes. The purpose of this research is to examine the actions of public opinion on public policy from 2010 to 2012, narrowing it down to an economic reform policy of deregulation of the downstream oil sector in Nigeria, often known as the removal of fuel subsidies in Nigeria.
Nigeria is a democratic country. One of the fundamentals of democracy is the operation of fundamental human rights, which allows for freedom of expression and, in the majority’s opinion, influences governmental decisions.
In politics, public policy is viewed as a statement of a principle with accompanying norms of behaviour that conditions and governs the attainment of its aims.
Because the government is the authoritative body backed up by the law, it frequently engages in various projects. The government has the capacity and authority to carry out its responsibilities while also ensuring compliance.
These projects are aimed at tackling certain problems or preempting them. As a result, programmes are not just created for the sake of creating them; they are created to address societal needs. They necessitate the use of public funding.
Agriculture was the foundation of the economies of the several kingdoms that now comprise the Nigeria political entity before to colonialization. Since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, agriculture has played a declining importance in the country’s economy in terms of GDP contribution. Its GDP contribution declined from 61.5% in 1963/1964 to 14.6% in 1983.
This is due in part to the rise of oil-based industries.Reynolds (1975) contended that agricultural growth can help developing countries’ economies in four ways:
1. By raising the supply of food available for domestic consumption and mobilising the labour force required for industrial employment.
2. By increasing the size of the domestic manufacturing market.
3. By expanding domestic savings supply
4. By supplying the foreign currency earned from agricultural exports.
Agriculture has been abandoned since the discovery of oil, which provides us with foreign exchange. Nigeria began exploring for crude petroleum oil in 1980. However, significant and sustained efforts did not begin until the Shell Darcy Petroleum Company began operations in 1935.
It took this business another twenty years to uncover commercial quantities of petroleum crude oil in Oloibiri in 1956. Nonetheless, the country’s oil price has never been satiable,
with successive governments raising the price beyond the reach of the average resident of the oil-producing country. The pricing of petroleum goods, for example, is a global phenomenon that has caused a problem in the international market.
Specifically, oil prices in Nigeria have been steadily rising since the beginning of 2004, despite an increase in oil output by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Earlier in 2004, the rise in oil prices was ascribed to increased demand for petroleum goods as a result of the global economy.
Then there came the uprising in Nigeria. In terms of oil security, supplies have recently increased. Nigeria is the world’s sixth largest oil producer.
The withdrawal of fuel subsidies has increased the price of oil. Historically, price increases were primarily caused by disruptions in oil supply. Now, the deregulation programme has increased the price of oil and caused a disturbance in the supply of oil.
There is some concern about the current step. A spike in the price of oil as a result of the withdrawal of fuel subsidies could have a negative impact on the Nigerian economy, which is now recovering and expanding.
People strive to use less oil when it is pricey. They may reduce the amount they derive from lowering the temperature at which they heat their homes, which will have little or no effect on consumption in their little economies. Higher income people have less money to spend on other things. T
his decreases because the majority of goods and services that the consumer would have purchased needed the use of oil for manufacturing and delivery. If increasing oil costs significantly diminish consumer demand
manufacturers and retailers will see their profits suffer and they will have excess capacity. As a result, their expansion plans will be thwarted. Because work consumes a lot of energy, this will result in significant energy savings.
The concept of public policy can be defined as simply governmental acts or proposed actions aimed at achieving specific goals (Ikelugbo 1999). Care According to Fredrick (1980), it is government or one of its divisions by government. The core concept of public policy is that it is concerned with the government. It is an activity or series of actions taken by public authority; it is the result or output of governmental processes and activities.
The public is involved in and impacts a wide range of areas and concerns that the government must deal with, including the economy, education, health, defence, social welfare, foreign affairs, and other areas such as culture.
To enforce and assure policy conformity, the government may use state coercive agents such as the police. In the process of securing compliance, these coercive agencies also end up losing their lives. In Ilorin, Kwara state, a police officer and a juvenile were presumed dead.
Their deaths occurred after a violent youth rally in which the teenagers and police engaged in a two-hour brawl, throwing missiles, which led to the police using live rounds.
The elimination of gasoline subsidies is an economic policy. Nigeria implemented a number of economic development initiatives. Following her independence in 1960, economic reform measures were implemented. During this time, Niger decided to start on a development programme, seeing the significance of achieving economic independence in particular.
Even so, Nigeria’s former colonial masters continue to dominate the country’s affairs. While the past-independent leaders sort development help from them. This was accomplished, among other things, through the iprotation of industrial technologies, while the assisting countries will disclose their terms.
And any developing country, such as Nigeria, that refuses to submit to the system of economic demands or conditions imposed by those assisting them, or refuses to accept their counsel and control, usually has little alternative but to develop.
The economic policy has been seen or has given the perception of being affected by western countries or foreign investors due to their interest in the country’s oil; another method the westerns want to re-domesticate Nigeria. The Nigerian people have responded with vehement opposition in the form of labour unrest and huge protests.
As a result, this study seeks to examine the impact of public opinion on public policy in Nigeria, using the deregulation of the downstream oil sector or the removal of oil subsidies as our analytical emphasis.
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