Olaopa Tasks Govt, Scholars on Policy Research in Governance

The Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has given insight into why government , researchers and scholars should collaborate to ensure the development of Africa.

Olaopa spoke at the “1st International Conference on Public Policy, Governance and Development” Organised by the Department of Public Administration, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, on Monday , May 26, 2025.

The professor of public administration spoke on the topic “Building a Promising Future in Africa through
Policy Re-Evaluation: The Defining
Issues in Perspective.”

Olaopa said that he brought into the discussion a public policy practitioner’s perspective to bear on the context, the structure and dynamics of the policy process in Africa, with a specific reference to Nigeria.

According to Olaopa, against the background of the new age, the post-Covid-19 new normal, climate change, desertification, terrorism and associated insecurities, cybercrime, migration, unemployment, the need for policy re-evaluation had become imperative.

To him, the point has been made variously, that a nation without a viable and vibrant research industry and think tanks support for the leadership will find it hard to contend with the imperatives of the knowledge, information, and VUCA -conditioned polycrisis age.

But he lamented a development whereby policies in Africa are imposed with donors conditionalities, “with indigenous research contributing insignificantly to policy formulation and design. A reality that explains why many past policies are somewhat disconnected from local realities and the challenges that Nigerians face.
Local researchers are therefore compelled to follow the agenda of foreign funding agencies since their grants emanate largely from them.There is also the factor of the different time-frames that separate political and research considerations. While researches are grounded on long-term implications of policy ideas, politicians derive political capital from quick turnaround time on policy implementation, one that enables them to consolidate their hold on, or the possibility of regaining in an extremely limiting 4-year tenure and a climate where the gestation period of a good policy and programme idea is confoundingly long.”

He listed inadequate funding, weak linkages between research and industry, poor extension services and technology transfer, bureaucratic bottlenecks, brain drain and low research motivation, poor research commercialisation and patent culture, as other constraining factors to policy-engaged research.

To boost policy research in governance , Olaopa urged the Federal Government to ensure participatory planning for a more stakeholders inclusiveness in the policy management process to strengthen bottom-up people-centred development process.

According to him, a policy management framework that is consciously organised around the collaborative relationship between policymakers, policy researchers, research institutes, think tanks and tertiary institutions is of utmost important for national development policy management.

He said: “This demands a blueprint that significantly situates research institutes and think tanks within an institutionalised policy-research ecosystem in ways that articulate what government specifically demands in terms of its research policy aspirations and expectations from researchers and think tanks.

“On the other hand, the researchers and research institutes cum think tanks need also to reframe their mandates and objectives around the significance of inter-disciplinary research that helps them balance between the traditional basic research focus and the urgent need of government for development designs, planning and short-term problem-solving.The extent that we go in strengthening research institutions and think tanks in Africa will however depend on their capacity to mobilise and source for funding from external donor sources, the private sector, foundations, civil society organisation, without losing their autonomy in determining their research agenda and formulating their research programmes . There is also the need for capacity development through investment in human resources, strengthening of institutions, professionalisation of the planning, research and statistics function in the public service, better alignment of budgetary allocation and releases to policy and programme timelines and needs,
performance incentives through challenge funds that are accessible to implementing agencies, deployment of digital tools for tracking policy implementation progress in measures that enhance transparency and that increase citizens engagement.
We need to do better in risk mitigation and management through scenario planning and the building of resilience into the policy process to accommodate volatilities, unexpected challenges and changing conditions.
We need to strengthen national monitoring and evaluation systems through implementation of real-time data collection, performance reporting and feedback that feed seamlessly into policy decision making to strengthen early warning systems and thereby build much more adaptive management mechanisms in the policy space in Nigeria and in Africa.”