Policy Formulation and the Prioritization of Public Opinion in Nigeria An Assessment of the Ruga Policy of President Muhammadu Buhari Administration

This paper generally appraised the degree of impact of the prioritization of public opinion on public policy formulation in Nigeria. The Ruga Settlement Policy of the Muhammadu Buhari Administration which this study selected as its specific study focus was used as a mirror through which this research work examined the extent to which the relative interplay between public opinion priorization and public policy formulation has over time, contributed in determining the stability of the Nigerian polity. The study relied on secondary sources of data for reviewed literature and analysis. It adopted Elite Theory as its theoretical framework. Through the instrumentality of relevant literatures reviewed, this study revealed that the formulation of public policies in Nigerian has always been characterized by less attention given to the prioritization of public opinion, imposition, seclusiveness and preference to elite, ethnic and nepotistic interests. The Ruga Settlement Policy which is the primary focus of this study reflected the above mentioned symptomic variables. With reference to the Ruga Settlement Policy, this study also revealed that the efficacy of public opinion in Nigeria has the capacity to halt the implementation of unpopular public policies. The study recommended that the Nigerian government should holistically promote the exclusive restriction of problem identification to the target beneficiaries, prior to embarking on public policy formulation. The study further recommended that civil society groups, as well as other well meaning Nigerians and socio cultural groups, should always provide a viable check against the implementation of unpopular public policies. Kenneth Nwoko "Policy Formulation and the Prioritization of Public Opinion in Nigeria: An Assessment of the Ruga Policy of President Muhammadu Buhari Administration" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-2 , February 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd38648.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/humanities-and-the-arts/political-science/38648/policy-formulation-and-the-prioritization-of-public-opinion-in-nigeria-an-assessment-of-the-ruga-policy-of-president-muhammadu-buhari-administration/kenneth-nwoko