New Public Management and Developmental State: Revisiting the Institutional Imperatives in Nigeria

The main objective of this paper is to highlight that the effective application of the New Public Management (NPM) reform initiatives can galvanise the actualisation of the developmental state aspiration of the Nigerian state. The dysfunctions of the traditional paradigm of public administration/bureaucracy which made it grossly inadequate in realising the developmental drives in Nigeria were identified. The utilisation of secondary data which were textually analysed and logically validated, together with the adoption of public choice theory as framework of analysis informed the position of the paper that pragmatic reform initiatives and effective institutions are required to bifurcate the routine public service reform exercises which Nigeria has been grappling with since 1934. A radical departure from bureau-pathologies must be purposely contemplated and the reform orientation of the New Public Management has the potency of redressing this challenge. The combination of this with the appropriate institutional imperatives can catalyse and capacitate the Nigerian Public Service as effective agent of development in Nigeria. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s2p5