Let us fix governance the ‘Nudge’ way

By: Funmi Ojuroye  October 29th 2013

THE advanced countries recognise that change is inevitable. New ideas are tested and experimented on a daily basis, a constant jigging and re-jigging in the process of governance to keep up with the pace.There is a deliberate attempt to find cheap, shrewd and local solutions to problems associated with governance; the latest of which is the setting up of behavioural insight  teams.There is the belief that: ‘’Behavioural sciences can be used to help design public policies that will work better, cost less and help people to achieve their goal ‘’. Such policies which – encourage behaviour subtly rather than outright require it – have come to be known as nudges, after a book titled, Nudge by Cass Sustein and Richard Thaler. The goal is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government by using scientifically collected evidence to inform policy designs.The nudge squad of Great Britain had been in place for sometime now and has successfully carried out experiments that influenced positive government policies. The United States of America is already putting its own in place, while such countries as Sweden and Saudi -Arabia are toeing the line.It is interesting to note that in doing this, they have not relied on the core professionals; instead they have gone for behavioural scientists to help factor in the behavioural tendencies of the people in their responses to government expectations. Working in sub-groups, they have been able to reduce cost to a reasonable level.In localising it to our own country, Nigeria, we should be looking at the reasons why Nigerians love to waste resources, why there is no strong sense of patriotism towards our nation, why are public utilities not handled with care? Why should government properties – like PHCN cables – be vandalised and stolen?Why do Nigerians disobey laws with recklessness? Why should our representatives in the National Assembly appropriate a large chunk of the national budget to themselves? Why do civil servants divert government money to their private pockets? Why do Nigerians disregard tax issues? And so on.The totality of these negative behaviours is a big drain to our nation’s resources and until it is settled correctly, our country will remain in the doldrum.The nudge concept assumes that there are certain traits that fuel such behaviours. It is the responsibility of the team, therefore, to identify such traits where they exist, highlight the causes and put in place corrective measures. The logic is to place attitude as the drive to our behaviours, if we can fix attitude, then the rest is easy.The government has different agencies and sub-agencies to which nudge teams are to be assigned. Why, for example, is bribery so prevalent in our Customs Service? What are the factors that make it manifest and fester? Is there another way we can make the officers perform their duties effectively without recourse to bribery? Which are they? What reward system should be put in place? Does their training adequately cover good work ethics? How can they be re-trained? Is there a sub culture that encourages bribery and such behaviours? How can this be re-directed? This is our focus. Now take this down to small brackets: The presidency, ministerial team, different units in the ministries, government parastatals and such agencies, every unit of government.What is being proposed here is not a tea party as it borders on behaviours that have formed an integral part of our lifestyles for decades but as they say in management ‘’Attitude Is Everything ‘’. If we cannot fix our attitude to reflect in positive behavioural patterns, we will not be able to get out of the woods. To make it work,  therefore, we must set measurable standards for change, taking it from the unit levels for easy monitoring. For example, a unit in the ministry of works, what is the present level of performance? What is the present level of efficiency? In which area can waste be eliminated or reduced? Under what time frame can it be achieved? What is the performance target? It goes on and on like this for every unit or department or ministry, until it gets to the bigger structures where the over all is collated.In summary, this is what is proposed: A breakdown of the structure (federal or state) into small measurable units and departments. Set performance standards for each of them based on their current performance and what they feel they can attain. Measurement could be in the form of saving cost, avoiding wastages, increased efficiency in terms of duration of work and also the quality of work done; that is, in terms of finishing. Every department or unit must have their own standard of measurement. From the smaller units, we can then extend to a larger coverage like divisions or zones, right up to the top. At each level, performance standards will be measured, collated and then sent to a central processing unit, from where analysis will be done and observations made public. It is the responsibility of the nudge team to create the right atmosphere for positive behaviours to be exhibited, to make for the attainment of the set standards.In fixing behaviour, it must be noted that it is not all a matter of propaganda, we must identify factors that encourage positive behaviours and put them in place. Our leadership at all levels must begin to set examples of hard work and good work ethics. Positive behaviours and meritorious productivity at work should be properly noted and compensated. Discrimination and oppressions of any kind must be eliminated, while training and re-training must be a constant. Furthermore, negative behaviours must be properly sanctioned and everyone made to see that it is no more business as usual.Nigeria can be fixed. Fix the structure -mores, laws, customs, habits, etc -fix the system. I have written in a previous article that: “The structure is like the foundation of a building. It is relatively permanent, while you can keep shaping and re-shaping the building”.From what we saw of the Americans during the recent government shut-down, they are not different from our Nigerian politicians in their selfish and narrow interest approach to issues; the difference is that they have functioning institutions which serve as checks to the excesses of those in position of authority. Let those values that improve our self-worth as a nation be institutionalised and made permanent.