CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF STUDY      

Non-governmental organizations are largely staffed by altruistic employees and volunteers working towards ideological, rather than financial, ends. Their founders are often intense, creative individuals who sometimes come up with a new product to deliver or a better way to deliver existing goods and services. They are funded by donors, many of them poor or anonymous. Yet these attributes should not be unfamiliar to economists. Development NGOs, like domestic nonprofits, can be understood in the framework of not-for-profit contracting.

Hansmann’s (2000) seminal work on the nonprofit sector argues that the key characteristic separating nonprofits from for-profits is the “non-distribution constraint” that prevents or limits officers or directors from distributing the net earnings amongst themselves. Of course, nonprofits do have the ability to distribute their “profits” to employees in the form of perquisites such as higher wages, shorter hours, or better offices. Nonetheless, because not-for-profit entrepreneurs have weaker incentives to maximize their profits, they may be able to obtain a competitive advantage in a number of areas (Glaeser and Shleifer, 2001).

In particular, nonprofits should be advantaged in providing goods and services where quality is difficult to verify, and where the temptation for a for-profit provider to shirk on quality may be especially high. Identity can matter here as well: ideologically-driven entrepreneurs face higher private costs to delivering low-quality products. In addition, people may prefer to donate to nonprofits in order to improve the quality of their product, an outcome that would be unlikely to occur with a similar donation to a for-profit.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are now recognized as key third sector actors on the landscapes of development, human rights, humanitarian action, environment, and many other areas of public action, from the post-2004 tsunami reconstruction efforts in Indonesia, India, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, to the 2005 Make Poverty History campaign for aid and trade reform and developing country debt cancellation. As these two examples illustrate, NGOs are best-known for two different, but often interrelated, types of activity – the delivery of services to people in need, and the organization of policy advocacy, and public campaigns in pursuit of social transformation. NGOs are also active in a wide range of other specialized roles such as democracy building, conflict resolution, human rights work, cultural preservation, environmental activism, policy analysis, research, and information provision.

NGOs have existed in various forms for centuries, but they rose to high prominence in international development and increased their numbers dramatically in the 2000s and 2000s. It is difficult to know precisely how many NGOs there are, because few comprehensive or reliable statistics are kept. Some estimates put the figure at a million organizations, if both formal and informal organizations are included, while the number of registered NGOs receiving international aid is probably closer to ‘‘a few hundred thousand.’’ The United Nations estimates that there were about 35,000 large established NGOs in 2000. Nor are there accurate figures available for the amount of resources that NGOs receive from aid, contracts and private donations.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The NGOs have their long-standing familiarity with social sector, rural development and poverty alleviation. They have experience with small-scale development projects as well as with those requiring a high degree of involvement by, and familiarity with, the concerned target groups terminating their contracts while others are reluctant to renew their contracts might just be a problem the NGOs might be facing. Another could be lack of supporters, sponsors and volunteers that might be willing to give out their all just to save lives. Finally, several researches has been carried out on the Non-governmental organisation but not even a single research has been done on government organized non-governmental organizations (GONGO) and social welfare issues in Nigeria: an assessment of performance of “first ladies” NGOS’ in South west, Nigeria.

1.3   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.          What are the rationales for establishing “first lady” NGOs or pet-project in Ogun State during Ibikunle Amosun administration?

2.          How effective is the governor “first lady” pet-project in addressing social welfare issues in Ogun State?

3.          What are the challenges facing the “first lady” NGO in the bid to provide long standing solution to social welfare issues in Ogun State?

1.4   AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The main aim of the study is to examine government organized non-governmental organizations and social welfare in Nigeria. The objectives of the study are to:

1.  identify the rationale for establishing “first lady” NGOs otherwise called pet-project in Ogun State

2.  assess the effectiveness of the NGO established by the Ogun State “ first lady” in the area of addressing problems of social welfare in the State

3.  Highlight the challenges confronting the first lady NGOs project in Ogun State

1.5   STATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H0: there is no significant relationship between the “first lady” pet-project and the social welfare in Ogun State.

H1:      there is significant relationship between the “first lady” pet-project and the social welfare in Ogun State.

1.6   SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

         The study on government organized non-governmental organizations and social welfare issues will be of immense benefit to the entire NGOs in Ogun state in the sense that it will enable them to in assessing the extent to which they have contributed to the development of the country and to seek ways of addressing the challenges faced by them in their operations. Finally, it will contribute to the body of existing literature and knowledge to this field of studies and basis for further research.

1.7   SCOPE OF STUDY

         The study on government organized non-governmental organisations (GONGO) and social welfare issues in Nigeria will focus on the activities of GONGO in order to assess the performance of “first ladies” NGOS’ in South west, Nigeria.

1.8   LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.9   DEFINITION OF TERMS

Welfare: In accordance to the study statutory procedure or social effort designed by GONGO to promote the basic physical and material well-being of people in Ogun State

NGO: a non-profit organization that operates independently of any government, typically one whose purpose is to address a social or political issue.

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