An Appraisal of Public Enterprise and National Development in Nigeria

Abstract

Public enterprises are government-owned commercial establishments tasked with rendering services of general interest. Public enterprises are primarily created worldwide to hasten economic and social development. Yet, increasing evidence indicates that most public enterprises do not contribute strongly to national development or do not perform their public service functions effectively and efficiently, leading to policymaker engaging in continuing debates over whether or not state-owned corporations are viable for economic and social development, why so many of them have failed to deliver the services for which they are created, and how their management can be improved to achieve efficient service delivery and engender national development. Documentary research method was adopted in this study. Content analysis and logical inference was the tool for the statistical analysis of this work. The findings of the study are that public enterprises in Nigeria could not achieve needed development because of so many factors among them are lack of proper feasibility studies, lack of good management policies, corruption, nepotism and political interference. Therefore, the study recommends the followings, the government should ensure that public enterprises are depoliticized, as this will ensure efficiency and better performance and there is the need for government to reorient the populace toward the significance of work devotion and competence.