Digital Open Government and Transparency in Nigeria: The Constraints and Prospects

Openness and transparency are part of the key pillars of democracy. The emergence of digital technologies has fundamentally enhanced open government and transparency, thus making it easier for citizens to access government information. Digital open government provides an opportunity for states to modernize and transform their public service through the instrumentality of information and communication technology (ICT). The overall goal of digital open government is to improve public service delivery, ensure transparency, openness and accountability, and thus make government accessible to the public. This paper examines the state of digital open government in Nigeria in the context of the constraints to its adoption, as well as its prospects in engendering transparency in government business. This paper uses secondary data to interrogate the extent to which several   infrastructurally-rooted deficits could pose a challenge to the adoption of digital open government, which is necessary to facilitate transparency in Nigeria. This study finds that inadequate information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure constitutes a major threat to digital open government and recommends massive investment in digital infrastructure to ensure open and transparent government.