Public Sector Innovation and Service Delivery in Nigeria: A Paradigm Shift from Traditional Public Administration to New Public Management

Abstract

Innovation in the public sector refers to the significant improvement in public administration and organisational services. It is also the implementation of new improved processes, methods and services by a public sector organisation, which is aimed at improving public sector operations and service delivery. The goal of this paper is to examine the role of New Public Management (NPM) as a framework or paradigm through which government can modernise and re-engineer the public sector. The paper examined the role of innovation in service delivery and how public service delivery can be improved through NPM reforms in Nigeria. The paper stated the importance of public sectors in Nigeria developing sound bureaucratic principles that would be the foundation upon which the NPM principles can be progressively embraced and nurtured. The methodology adopted for this work, in terms of data collection, was secondary source of data collection. The data collected were analysed using qualitative method of descriptive analysis. In the findings, it was concluded that in providing and improving technical, managerial, administrative, and service delivery, as well as leadership skills, it is important to foster quality assurance, efficiency, effectiveness, accessibility and sustainability of services in various sectors and contexts of the public service, as these are core aspects of NPM.