Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Michael Knight

Abstract

A number of studies have been conducted about policy failures in Nigeria; however, little is known about the state of stakeholders' readiness to implement any government policy. Using the functionalist theory of Durkheim and the infrastructure theory of Frischmann, the purpose of this exploratory case study was to evaluate the level of preparedness of the education sector to implement the Nigerian policy on child labor, which was adopted on September 11, 2013, by the federal executive council of Nigeria. Preparedness in this study was conceptualized as the ability of the education sector to absorb children of school-going-age who quit all forms of child labor activities and return to formal education in schools. Open-ended interviews elicited narratives from 30 participants purposefully drawn from the Northern, Central, and Southern Uruan Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State. Interview data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for emergent themes. The findings revealed that schools were evenly dispersed within the Uruan Local Government Area. However, the state of infrastructure in the schools, particularly in the rural communities, was in a condition of neglect with a high teacher-pupil ratio. There was a low incidence of child labor but a weak government enforcement strategy, particularly in the interior/riverine areas of the research population. This study leads to positive social change by creating awareness among policy makers that the various stakeholders in any public policy need to be equipped with adequate resources to minimize the incidence of policy failure in Nigeria.

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