Poverty in Nigeria Essay
Added on 2020-09-09
14 Pages3632 Words106 Views
Leadership ManagementProfessional DevelopmentPolitical Science
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Table of ContentsExecutive Summary.............................................................................................................2Introduction..........................................................................................................................2Poverty in Nigeria.....................................................................................................................3Poverty in Nigeria as a wicked problem and its justification..........................................4Application of Competing Values Framework to Poverty...............................................5Implication and interplay of competing values in poverty...............................................6Potential Leadership Implications......................................................................................7Conclusion.............................................................................................................................8Bibliography.........................................................................................................................8
Executive SummaryThe objective of this essay is to identify a social issue and blend it with wick problem. Theessay emphasizes on poverty in the context of Nigeria and justifies it as a wicked problem.Subsequently competing values framework is applied to the wicked problem of poverty andfurther discusses the implications of competing values. The essay also elaborates on theapplication of leadership (praxis) theory to determine the potential leadership implications tomitigate poverty. IntroductionEver since the coining of word ‘wicked problem’ by the theorist Rittel and Webber in 1973,the concept of wicked problem has increasingly gained popularity and use in the field ofpublic planning and policy (Thompson & Whyte, 2011). A wicked problem can be definedas a social or cultural problem which are complicated in nature and apparently difficult oralmost impossible to solve by virtue of: incomplete or contradictory knowledge inunderstanding the problem, involvement of numerous stakeholders with different opinionsand values, huge economic burden and interdependence of the problem with other problems(Head,2008). Most of the wicked problems occur in social context and in turn it is the socialcomplexity of wicked problem that make them extremely tedious to manage (Navarro,Hayward & Voros, 2008). Due to its complexity and wickedness, use of traditional methodsfor problem solving to tackle wicked problem is futile and it indeed has become obsolete. To vividly understand the nature of wicked problem, Rittel and Webber (1973) cited thefollowing characteristics: 1. The problem has no definitive formulation.2. The problem has no stopping rule.3. The solution can neither be completely correct nor completely wrong. It can only beeither good or bad.4. There is no test to check whether the solution is right or wrong.5. Every solution is a one shot operation. It can only be approached onceand cannot be undone.6. There is no clear, single distinctive solution to the problem.7. The problem is unique from other problems.
8. The problem can be considered a symptom of another problem.9. The problem can be looked upon and explained in multiple perspectives.10. Policy makers who try to tackle the problem cannot make mistakes. They don’t have‘right to be wrong’.Competing Values Framework (CVF) is one of the instrumental tool used in business and ithas been validated by a host of researches (Thompson, 1993; (Tong & Arvey, 2015). CVF ofQuinn and Rohrbaugh is primarily applied to assess the effectiveness of organisation takinginto consideration the organisational culture and the criterion to measure effectiveness of anorganisation was formed by the dimensions of internal-external and flexibility-stability(Quinn & Rohrbaugh, 1983). CVF comprises of four competing values of internal andexternal focus and, flexibility and stability which are opposite to each competing values, thusthe name Competing Values Framework (Yu & Wu, 2009). These four competing valuesgive rise to four quadrants depicting four organisation culture. Poverty in NigeriaIn this era, poverty is has become a malignant war against the humanity, it is a global issuethat is attracting the attention of every government and civil society organisations spreadacross the world (Madina Dankumo, Ishak, Bani & Zurina Hamza, 2019). United Nations in1995 defined poverty as a circumstance characterised by inadequacy of basic needs of lifesuch as food, safe drinking water, clothing, shelter and education. But as per World Bank, itis defined as one’s inability to sustain live on or above USD 1.90 a day. According to thestatistics of United States purchasing power parity, 2005, globally, approximately 1.374billion people sustain their livelihood on less than USD 1.25 per day (Eigbiremolen, 2018).Around 600,884,000 people worldwide live in extreme poverty and in Nigeria alone95,903,776 people which amounts to 48% of the total population live in extreme poverty("World Poverty Clock", 2020). Poverty is a multi-faceted phenomenon, although economic dimension remains as itsmainstay, poverty also cuts through other fundamental resources to ensure a sustainablelivelihood, food insecurity and malnutrition, ill health, either no or limited access toeducation and healthcare services, homelessness and social discrimination. It also includes
deficiency of participation in decision making processes, civil and social life (Eigbiremolen,2018). Notwithstanding the fact that Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and seventh in theentire world, it is constantly challenged by the chronic disease of poverty that now it isdeclared by the World Bank as one of the country which is most affected by the effects ofpoverty ("Year in Review: 2019 in 14 Charts", 2020). Poverty in Nigeria is constantly on risedespite upsurge in economic growth. Especially the poverty in Nigeria has its root extendedin the manifestation of income inequality, historical ethnic conflict and civil unrest, politicalinstability and corruption. It also account for lack of economic infrastructure followed bypoor access to education and healthcare facilities (Eigbiremolen, 2018). Despite, significantefforts from all tiers of government to mitigate poverty, the rate of poverty continues to risein Nigeria and this is primarily attributed to trends of corruption in the country(Dauda, 2016).Poverty in Nigeria as a wicked problem and its justificationPoverty is an emerging issue in Nigeria and considering its rate of 19.7 % relative to theglobal poverty rate it is a serious issue and in fact it merits to be acknowledged as a wickedproblem (McGahan, 2012). More so, it completely adapts to the ten distinct features ofwicked problem which was defined by Rittel and Webber. According to Rittel and Webber, wicked problem is devoid of definitive formulation (Ritteland Webber, 1973). Similarly, poverty is defined in scores of ways, each differing from theother and apparently there is no consensus on a standard definition of poverty in spite ofenormous researches on it (Laderchi, Saith & Stewart, 2003). In addition, there exist diverseperception on its dynamics and criterion to qualify as poverty stricken. And the emergence ofpoverty in Nigeria is indeed complicated considering its vastness of resources and steadyeconomic growth. Poverty itself is complex owing to its multifaceted phenomenon that cuts through varioussector of the society (Eigbiremolen, 2018) and to make it worse, it has both tangible andintangible indicators. Thereby, arriving at a clear solution to mitigate poverty is awfullytedious, almost near to impossible. The wickedness of poverty in Nigeria has triumphed tocatch the attention of successive administrators and perhaps, various attempts were made by
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