Perspectives on the Impact of Evaluation: Approaches to Assessing Development Effectiveness and Good Governance in Nigeria
Apollos B. Goyol

Abstract
In growing number service providers, funders, and the public are calling for clearer evidence that the resources the government expend actually produce benefits for people. Consumers of services and volunteers want to know that government programs they really make a difference to the community development. That is, they want better accountability for the use of resources. This at the moment is seriously non- existant in Nigeria. Although improved accountability has been a major force behind the move to outcome measurement, there is an even more important reason: To help programs improve services. Outcome measurement provides a learning loop that feeds information back into programs on how well they are doing. The feedback loop in measurement technique continuously provides performance indicators to optimize the effectiveness of the programs in real time. Outcome measurement techniques are often used to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of government programs. Subsequently, such interventions lead to improved accountability and good governance. It offers findings, they can use to adapt, improve, and become more effective in service delivery. It focuses on outcomes and gives program managers and staff a clear picture about the purpose of their efforts. That clarification along frequently leads to more focused and productive service delivery. An estimated 11,886 federal government projects were abandoned in the past 40 years across the country,that will cost an estimated N7.78 trillion to complete. These frightening figures are from the report of the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee (PAC) that was constituted in March 2011 by President Jonathan to verify cases of abandoned federal government projects in Nigeria. In a nutshell, to understand why projects in Nigeria are abandoned, it is a known fact that, that government is notorious for lack of continuity with policies due to the frequent changes in government. Whether it is long term development plans or contracts for critical infrascture, the repeated practice in Nigeria is that once new officers are elected or appointed, policies or programs of the previous administrations are abandoned. This unfortunate trend of lack of continuity has resulted and has become the root cause of nepotism, corruption, and so officials re-ward such contracts to cronies and generous campaign donors at outrageous prices. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to help champion the reality of good governance today which calls for increased scrutiny and greater expectations for accountability and effectiveness of outcomes, outputs and necessary enables. This leads to creating a positive culture of learning and improvement. To accomplish these noble objectives, all resources must be deployed to achieve their deserved results and impacts, which leads to better performance. Therefore, all available oversight resources will be used in making government in Nigeria accountable to the electorate to help bring meaningful and sustainable development to the grass roots of Nigeria. The logic evaluation model is a must program design to assist government monitor and implement their programs and projects in a systematic and transparent way. The question might be asked why we need to measure the outcome of these programs and projects. Assessing and tracing our uninspiring entrenched corrupt institutions and bureaucracies with a political history since independence in 1960 of mismanagement of resources in government,one will come to realize the enormity of our shaky political foundation. To date it has been 14 years of uninterrupted, nothing to show of the fledgling democratic governance since 1999.

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