Impact of Capacity Building on Operational Capabilities of Public Sector Organizations: Case Study of Federal Road Safety Corps

Capacity  building  and  development  must  be  based  on  a  need  analysis  derived from  a  comparison  of  “actual  performance‟‟  and  behavior  with  “required performance‟‟  and  behavior.  Capacity  building  and  development  is  one  of  the major  ways  organization  invests  in  the  workforce  for  greater  return  today  and even in the foreseeable future (Williams, 2007)  

Organizational  effectiveness  rests  on  the  efficient  and  effective  performance  of workforce that makeup the organization. The efficient and effective performance of  the  workforce  in  turn,  rest  on  the  richness  of  the  knowledge,  skills  and abilities possessed by the workforce. 

Capacity building and development in most organizations  is  a  continuous  act/exercise.  The  inexorable  march  of  time  and the  ceaseless  glamour  for  social  change  combine  to  make  adaptability  and continuing preparation of the workforce as inevitable as the initial acquisition of knowledge  and  skills.  This  cannot  happen  if  employees‟  capacity  building  and development do not occur in an enterprise. In other to maximize the productivity and  efficiency  of  the  organization,  every  executive,  manager  or  supervisor  in  a public  or  private  organization  has  the  responsibility  and  indeed  the  bounding duty  to  ensure  the  development  of  their  employees  who  have  requisite knowledge and expertise (Dada, 2004)  

Capacity  building  is  like  sharpening  an  existing  skill  in  order  to  reflect  the trends  in  technology  and  other  social–cultural  environmental  changes  of  an organization. Productivity is the goal of today‟s competitive business world and capacity building can be  a spring board to enhance  productivity. The aim is to enable  them  contribute  their  full  measure  to  the  welfare,  health  and development  of  the  organization  (onah  2007).  The  main  objective  of  capacity building  and  development  in  FRSC  is  to  increase  efficiency  of  employees  with the  resulting  increase  in  corporate  productivity.  This  accounts  for  why  a  large number of fund and time is expected by organization at one period or the order in the improvement of the skills of their employees at various levels.

Statement of the Problems  

The challenge of human capital development for developing nations is daunting. This  is  in  consideration  of  how  far  ahead  the  rest  of  the  world  is  and  the enormous  efforts  and  resources  required  of  them  to  catch  up.  Nigeria's  high population, vast socio-cultural diversity, yet-to-mature political culture and the great  hope  repose  on  her  to  emancipate  the  black-race,  makes  the  challenge even more critical for us. 

The good news however, is that there is cause for great optimism because the nation has more than enough human capital potentials to surmount the challenge if harnessed, activated and effectively channeled.   This  research  as  it  deals  with  the  capacity  building  and  development  of employees  in  FRSC  is  intended  to  find  out  the  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of capacity  building  and  development  programme  in  FRSC.  

For  this  reason,  it encounters numerous problems which range from: 

1)  Lack of qualified instructors and consultants to undertake capacity building courses, 

2)  Lack of essential capacity building tools, to 

3)  Lack  of  effective  communication  within  the  organization  which  makes  it impossible  for  most  employees  to  know  about  capacity  building  opportunities available to them.

Objectives of the Study   

The Broad  objective of the study is  to examine the  impact of capacity building on  operational  capabilities  of  public  sector  organization,  case  study  of  Federal Road Safety Corps. The specific objectives are; 

i. To evaluate the impact of capacity building in FRSC Nigeria. 

ii.  To  highlight  the  challenges  facing  organizational  performance  and  capacity building in FRSC Nigeria 

iii. To examine the benefits and prospects of capacity building on organizational performance in FRSC Nigeria. 

iv. To proffer possible policy recommendations