PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION IN PUBLIC POLICY

A public problem has been defined as social need, deprivation or dissatisfaction, which affects many persons, and requires collective action (see Ikelegbe, 1996:73). A good example is the oil spillage and the consequent environmental degradation resulting from oil exploration and exploitation by the multinational oil companies in the Niger delta areas.


The Niger delta people have been demanding for government policy to control or check oil spillage, and, for adequate compensation from the government through a policy of resource control.

It is important to note that the articulation of a problem and the search for relief need not necessarily come from the affected people, though some level of awareness and desire for respite is expected from them.
Both the identification of the problem and the search for respite could be done by outsiders. Even when the problem is identified by those affected, the assistance of outsiders may be needed during the search for respite.

For instance, the south-south geo-political zone has been wooing other zones in Nigeria to support their demand for resource control.

The task of articulating and aggregating public problem is accomplished through organized pressure groups, individuals, political parties, political elites which ensure that the problems are ultimately represented on the policy agenda of the government.

Policy agenda refers to public problems which the government intends to give serious attention in the present or in the future. 

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