- ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS)
- ORGANIZATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES (OPEC)
- MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS)
Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS)
Government SS 3, Second Term
Week 1&2
Topic: Economic Community Of West African States(ECOWAS)
Formation
ECOWAS was formed on the 28th of May, 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria. It has 16 Independent nations of West Africa. Nigeria, under the leadership of General Yakubu Gowon and Togo under President Eyadema, initiated the formation of the sub-regional economic group. The community is made up of 5 Anglophone countries and 11 Francophone countries.
Anglophone – Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra-leone, Gambia and Liberia
Francophone – Guinea, Togo, Mali, Senegal, Niger Republic, Cape Verde, Burkina faso, Benin Republic, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau and Mauritania.
Aims and Objectives of ECOWAS
- To promote cooperation and development
- To raise the standard of living of the people
- To enhance the maintenance of economic stability
- To foster closer relations
- Establishment of common custom tariff
- Elimination of custom duties
- Establishment of funds for co-operation
- To implement infrastructural and economic policies
- To remove obstacles for free movement
Achievements of ECOWAS
- Removal of custom duties
- Elimination of obstacles to movement of persons
- No trade restrictions
- Establishment of Fund
- Formation of ECOMOG (Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group)
- Co-operation in culture and sports
- Mediation in disputes between states
- Activities against Apartheid in South Africa
- Growth and expansion of Markets
- Promotion of Unity
- Co-operation in the fields of Agriculture, Energy, Transportation etc
- The establishment of ECOBANK
- Co-operation in harmonising industrial policies
- Movements and availability of cheap labour
Problems or Weaknesses of ECOWAS
- Language barrier
- The influence of colonial masters
- Ideological differences
- No common currency
- Different levels of economic development
- Political instability
- Global recession
- Transportation and communication problems
- Similarity of products among states
- Problems of smuggling
- Problems of fund
- No more automatic free movement
Solutions to the problem
- There should be need for the diversification of production leconomy so that different countries produce different goods
- There should be trade liberalization among member states
- Members should be committed in all their activities
- Member countries should ensure political stability by good governance
- Members should detach themselves from their colonial masters
- Common currency should be adopted to facilitate trade within the region
- There should be free movement of people within sub-region through joint construction of international roads and railway lines
Exercises
1. Briefly trace the history of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS).
2. List five (5) objectives of ECOWAS.
3. Describe four (4) benefits members of ECOWAS
4. What are the problems with ECOWAS.
5. Mention the countries that are members of ECOWAS.
Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Government SS 3, Second Term
Week 3&4
Topic: Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Origin
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
The five Founding Members were later joined by nine other Members: Qatar (1961); Indonesia (1962) – suspended its membership in January 2009, reactivated it in January 2016, but decided to suspend it again in November 2016; Libya (1962); United Arab Emirates (1967); Algeria (1969); Nigeria (1971); Ecuador (1973) – suspended its membership in December 1992, but reactivated it in October 2007; Angola (2007); and Gabon (1975) – terminated its membership in January 1995 but rejoined in July 2016. OPEC had its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in the first five years of its existence. This was moved to Vienna, Austria, on September 1, 1965.
Aims and Objectives of OPEC
1- Coordination and unification policies of Member States on oil;
2- Determining the most effective means of individual and collective protection of interests of the parties;
3- Explore means of ensuring price stability on the world markets and preventing sudden and adverse fluctuations;
4- Providing sustainable income-producing countries oil, effective supply countries consumers;
5- Equitable distribution of income from investments in the oil industry;
6- Environmental protection
Organs of OPEC
The decision of OPEC implemented using special apparatus and structure. its structure was determined by the Charter adopted at the II Conference of OPEC in 1961 and consists of organs such as:
– Conference;
– Board of Governors;
– Secretariat.
Conference – the supreme body, meets twice a year in Vienna. It brings together the delegations of participating countries (Chairman, minister of oil or energy, advisers and observers). The Conference determines the main policies of OPEC, ways and means of their practical implementation and decide upon the reports and recommendations submitted by the Governing Council, and on budget. OPEC Secretary General chairs the conference, which typically attracts not only the press but also leading figures in the global oil market. All decisions and resolutions of the Conference unanimously adopted, each country has one vote. The decision of OPEC are binding after ratification by the respective member states.
Governing Council – the executive body that takes decisions conferences, prepares the annual budget, approve the report of the Secretary determines the agenda of the Conference shall appoint the Deputy Secretary-General approves the proposed secretariat of heads of departments.
Secretariat headed by Secretary General performs ongoing work under the guidance of the Governing Council. The Secretariat shall comprise a research department, department information, OPEC News Agency, Economic Commission.
OPEC’s Economic Commission is developing measures to ensure the stability of oil markets on fair terms to oil retained in the future the most important feature of global energy. The Commission meets twice a year and consists of the Deputy Secretary-General, representatives of Member States and the coordinator, who is also the head of the Research Department.
Achievements of OPEC
Since OPEC was formed in September 1960, much has changed in the oil
industry and the world at large. It has been a challenging time for an evolving
organization like OPEC, but one also of significant achievement.
1. Secure and steady supply of oil
2. Fifty years old – a success in itself
3. Sustainable development
4. OPEC and the environment
5. Encouraging dialogue and cooperation
6. Strengthening of National Oil Companies
Problems of OPEC
- The increase in the production of Non-Opec members
- The Drive for energy conservation; it is obvious that if the drive for energy conservation strengthens, opec members will start to loose money.
Exercises
1. Describe the objectives of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
2. Briefly trace the history Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
3. Mention three (3) organs of OPEC.
4. Described the problems militating against OPEC.
5. List four (4) benefits member countries of OPEC derive from the organisation.
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Government SS 3, Second Term
Week 5&6
Topic: Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
Meaning
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are 8 international goals that were officially established following the millennium summit of the United Nations in 2000, as well as the adoption of the United Nation Millennium Declaration.
The MDGs caught the world’s imagination from the very day they were agreed by a record of 189 countries and 23 international organization at the UN General Assembly in September 2000, agreed to achieving those target.
Nigeria was an enthusiastic signatory to the MDGs and has claimed to pursue them vigorously since then, though with varying degrees of success.
While MDGs are for all mankind, they are primarily about children, in part because children are the most vulnerable when essentials like food, water, and healthcare are scarce. Children are always the first victims, six of the eight goals relates directly to children.
The aim of MDGs is to encourage development by improving social and economic conditions in the world’s poorest countries.
Achievements By 2015
MDG 1: The number of people living on less than $1.25 a day has been reduced from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015, although the target of halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger was narrowly missed.
MDG 2: Primary school enrolment figures have shown an impressive rise, but the goal of achieving universal primary education has just been missed, with the net enrolment rate increasing from 83% in 2000 to 91% this year.
MDG 3: About two-thirds of developing countries have achieved gender parity in primary education.
MDG 4: The child mortality rate has reduced by more than half over the past 25 years – falling from 90 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births – but it has failed to meet the MDG target of a drop of two-thirds.
MDG 5: The global maternal mortality ratio has fallen by nearly half – short of the two-thirds reduction the MDGs aimed for.
MDG 6: The target of halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/Aids by 2015 has not been met, although the number of new HIV infections fell by around 40% between 2000 and 2013.
MDG 7: Some 2.6 billion people have gained access to improved drinking water since 1990, so the target of halving the proportion of people without access to improved sources of water was achieved in 2010 – five years ahead of schedule. However, 663 million people across the world still do not have access to improved drinking water.
MDG 8: Between 2000 and 2014, overseas development assistance from rich nations to developing countries increased by 66% in real terms, and in 2013 reached the record figure of $134.8bn (£80.3bn).
New Economic Partnership For Economic Development(NEPAD)
Meaning
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is a VISION and STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR AFRICA’s RENEWAL.
Aims and Objectives
- Support the new partnership for Africa’s Development
- Support African leaders’ efforts to encourage public engagement in NEPAD strategies and projects
- Assist the Steering Committee and NEPAD
- Secretariat in the implementation of NEPAD projects
- Collaborate with NEPAD to undertake mutually reinforcing actions to help accelerate growth and make long-lasting gains against poverty
- Encourage Africans in the Diaspora to actively participate in all efforts aimed at developing Africa
E-Government
Meaning:
E-governance is a democratic practice that is gradually gaining universal acceptance and applicability. It refers to a governmental type aimed at achieving effective service delivery from government to citizens, moving governance from traditionalist bureaucratization to modernist participatory administration.
Merits
Democratization
One goal of e-government will be greater citizen participation. Through the internet, people from all over the country can interact with politicians or public servants and make their voices heard. Blogging and interactive surveys will allow politicians or public servants to see the views of the people they represent on any given issue. Chat rooms can place citizens in real-time contact with elected officials, their offices or provide them with the means to replace them by interacting directly with public servants, allowing voters to have a direct impact and influence in their government. These technologies can create a more transparent government, allowing voters to immediately see how and why their representation in the capital is voting the way they are. This helps voters better decide who to vote for in the future or how to help the public servants become more productive. A government could theoretically move more towards a truedemocracy with the proper application of e-government. Government transparency will give insight to the public on how decisions are made and hold elected officials or public servants accountable for their actions. The public could become a direct and prominent influence in government legislature to some degree.
Environmental bonuses
Proponents of e-government argue that online government services would lessen the need for hard copy forms. Due to recent pressures from environmentalist groups, the media, and the public, some governments and organizations have turned to the Internet to reduce this paper use. The United States government utilizes the website http://www.forms.gov to provide “internal government forms for federal employees” and thus “produce significant savings in paper.
Speed, efficiency, and convenience
E-government allows citizens to interact with computers to achieve objectives at any time and any location, and eliminates the necessity for physical travel to government agents sitting behind desks and windows. Improved accounting and record keeping can be noted through computerization, and information and forms can be easily accessed, equaling quicker processing time. On the administrative side, access to help find or retrieve files and linked information can now be stored in databases versus hardcopies stored in various locations. Individuals with disabilities or conditions no longer have to be mobile to be active in government and can be in the comfort of their own homes.
Public approval
Recent trials of e-government have been met with acceptance and eagerness from the public. Citizens participate in online discussions of political issues with increasing frequency, and young people, who traditionally display minimal interest in government affairs, are drawn to electronic voting procedures.
Demerits
Hyper-surveillance
Increased contact between government and its citizens goes both ways. Once e-government begins to develop and become more sophisticated, citizens will be forced to interact electronically with the government on a larger scale. This could potentially lead to a lack of privacy for civilians as their government obtains more and more information on them. In a worst-case scenario, with so much information being passed electronically between government and civilians, a totalitarian-like system could develop. When the government has easy access to countless information on its citizens, personal privacy is lost.
Cost
Although “a prodigious amount of money has been spent on the development and implementation of e-government, some say it has yielded only a mediocre product. The outcomes and effects of trial Internet-based governments are often difficult to gauge or unsatisfactory. According to Gartner, Worldwide IT spending is estimated to total $3.6 trillion in 2011 which is 5.1% increase from the year 2010 ($3.4 trillion).
Inaccessibility
An e-government site that provides web access and support often does not offer the “potential to reach many users including those who live in remote areas, are homebound, have low literacy levels, exist on poverty line incomes.
False sense of transparency and accountability
Opponents of e-government argue that online governmental transparency is dubious because it is maintained by the governments themselves. Information can be added or removed from the public eye. To this day, very few organizations monitor and provide accountability for these modifications. Those that do so, like the United States’ OMBWatch and Government Accountability Project, are often nonprofit volunteers. Even the governments themselves do not always keep track of the information they insert and delete.
Leadership and Followership Leadership
Followership;
This refers to a role held by certain individuals in an organization, team, or group. Specifically, it is the capacity of an individual to actively follow a leader. Followership is the reciprocal social process of leadership.
Qualities:
- Self-Management: This refers to the ability to think critically, to be in control of one’s actions, and work independently. It is important that followers manage themselves well as leaders are able to delegate tasks to these individuals.
- Commitment: This refers to an individual being committed to the goal, vision, or cause of a group, team, or organization. This is an important quality of followers as it help keep one’s (and other member’s) morale and energy levels high.
- Competence: It is essential that individuals possess the skills and aptitudes necessary to complete the goal or task for the group, team, or organization. Individuals high on this quality often hold skills higher than their average co-worker (or team member). Further, these individuals continue their pursuit of knowledge by upgrading their skills through classes and seminars.
- Courage: Effective followers hold true to their beliefs and maintain and uphold ethical standards, even in the face of dishonest or corrupt superiors (leaders). These individuals are loyal, honest, and importantly, candid with their superiors.
Roles in Politics and in Government
AWARENESS.
Today, leaders need to be aware of various audiences including colleagues, coworkers, customers, board members, and the public at large. As a leader, you need to be aware of what it takes to “bring them along.”
Being a follower teaches you how to be aware of the needs of other people as well as their potential to “make my life hell from one second to the next,” she says. Good followers learn to read people and understand what upsets and motivates them.
DIPLOMACY.
When good followers encounter a co-worker with rabid political beliefs or a disagreeable manager, they’re probably not going to fight every battle, Kellerman says. Playing the part of the follower is easier, simpler, and often less risky.
Good followers learn how to get along with those who have differences while not ignoring those differences. That’s an important leadership trait, too, because a leader or manager can’t afford to be oblivious to the attitudes of those around him or her, Kellerman says.
COURAGE.
Being a good follower means having the courage to dissent if you think your leader, manager, or superior, is doing something wrong-headed, Kellerman says. That’s not always easy, but it requires the guts and strength of conviction that are essential to good leadership, Kellerman says.
“Being a good follower is complicated in ways that are rather similar to being a good leader. It means being engaged. It means paying attention. It means having the courage to speak up when something’s wrong and it means having the energy and activism to support a leader or manager who’s doing things wisely and well,” she says.
COLLABORATION.
In many ways, followers can “make or break” the leader influencing if and how goals are accomplished, Riggio says. In many business sectors, followers are the ones who are doing much of the creative work, although the leader may get most of the credit. Leaders who have been good followers understand how to work with people to bring out the best in them.
“Did Steve Jobs really create the iPod and iPhone, or was it the creative collective of team members at Apple? Today, leaders may be evaluated not only by how much is produced or achieved, but by the quality of the team or organization and its members,” he says.
CRITICAL THINKING.
In order to be a good follower, you need to be able to think for yourself. Riggio says the best followers support and aid the leader when he or she is doing the right thing, and stand up to the leader when he or she is headed in the wrong direction.
Exercises
1. Define Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
2. List some of the achievements of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
3. Describe four (4) objectives of New Economic Partnership For Economic Development(NEPAD).
4. What is E-government?
5. Describe five (5) roles of citizens in government.