Originally published in 1968, this book is of unique value because it provides first-hand information on Nigerian government and administration in action during the 2nd half of the 20th Century. Themes discussed include the evolution, organisation and structure of the civil services; the impact of politics on administration; interest groups; the politics of modernisation and its effect on the Administration; inter-class and inter-departmental conflicts in the public services; the contribution of politicians and administrators to national economic planning and the politics and administration of public corporations. The Nigerian experience is also compared with that of francophone West African countries, and the last chapter examines the future of Nigerian administration against the background of past experience.
Adebayo Adedeji was Nigeria's Federal Commissioner for Economic Development & Reconstruction from 1971 to 1975. In June 1975, he was appointed Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and remained in this position until July 1991. He founded the African Centre for Development and Strategic Studies (ACDESS), a non-governmental independent continental non-profit, think-tank dedicated to multi-disciplinary and strategic studies on and for Africa. Adedeji was elected a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences in 1991.
'The virtues of Nigerian Administration and its Political Setting are that it is introspective and realistic.' E. P. Laberge, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol 6, Issue 1.