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INFLUENCE OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS READINESS AND KEEPING
PRACTICES ON GOOD GOVERNANCE IN THE FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE,
NIGERIA

BY
BASIL ENEMUTE IWHIWHU
MATRIC NO: 86354

BEING A Ph.D. RESEARCH PROPOSAL (PRE-FIELD) PRESENTED TO THE

DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY, ARCHIVAL AND INFORMATION STUDIES
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, IBADAN

SUPERVISOR: PROF. G. O. ALEGBELEYE
December 16, 2009

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1

Background to the Study

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have improved – and will continue to improve –
efficiency, effectiveness, and competitiveness in organizations. Hence, ICT applications have transformed
records creation, use, maintenance, storage and dissemination of information. ICT have been heralded for
their intrinsic capabilities to promote social integration. It provides the opportunity for governments
everywhere to improve the delivery of information and services to citizens. However, Thurston (2000)
observed that ‘there is a fundamental tension between information technology, which makes it possible to
process, manipulate, reformat, and change information easily, and the lawyers' and auditors' need for
evidence that cannot be changed.’ These are real challenges for accountability, the rule of law, and the
maintenance of organizational memory. Thurston concluded that electronic systems must support
evidentiary record keeping practices as citizens expect that their rights are as well protected and
documented in an electronic environment as in a paper-based one. Until there is a well developed capacity
to manage electronic records as legally verifiable evidence of entitlements, contractual obligations,
policies, or transactions for as long as they are legally required, mixed media (paper/electronic systems),
will be essential (Thurston, 2000).
Electronic records are information generated electronically and stored by means of computer technology.
Electronic records are fragile in nature due to change in hardware and software used for their creation,
storage, processing and use, making them prone to high risks. If damaged or deteriorated, restoration is a
difficult task, if not impossible. Electronic records have short life expectancy dependent on the average
service life of the hardware and software required to read and process them. As a result, using records in
electronic governance (e-governance) is a challenging venture that must be well thought-out, planned and
implemented. More so, this is hinged on the e-readiness of the nation. E-readiness measures how well a
society is positioned to utilize the opportunities provided by ICT. ICT infrastructure, human capital,
regulations, policies and internet penetration are all crucial components of e-readiness. E-readiness
assessment can be an effective tool to carry out planning, monitoring and evaluation of the initiatives
towards information society in general and e-government in particular (Ojo, Janowski and Estevez, 2007).
Electronic governance (E-Governance) is the use of ICTs in the public sector with the aim of improving
information and services delivery, encouraging citizen’s participation in the decision making process and
making government more transparent, accountable, efficient and effective. Providing an effective egovernment readiness assessment framework is a necessary condition for advancing e-government. The
development of e-governance system therefore, plays a vital role in service provision from the government
to the people, especially for people living in the rural areas. Therefore, e-governance is not simply
digitization, or automation. Shakya and Shailendra (2007) noted that e-governance does not mean putting
computers on the desks of government officials or just a government website on the Internet. It is much
more than that; digital governance has to be seen as a 'tool' for good governance and human development.
For the attainment of good governance, records must be available for use by government officials and such
records should be accurate and complete, reliable and relevant to government transactions, authoritative
and authentic in a secured manner bringing about probity, transparency and accountability in governance.
Government officials operate with and make decisions from previous and present knowledge based on
records created/captured, maintained and stored for use, thereby providing evidence of their transactions.
This is possible if the infrastructures, ICT skilled personnel, regulations, policies and internet penetration
(e-readiness) capabilities enhanced by ICT are in place. There have been instances in which citizens suffer
when records are not kept; a piece of land could be sold to five people because there are no clear records to
show who owns it legitimately. Kpundeh (2000) explored the relationship between records, accountability,
and anti-corruption. He related records management to political accountability, administrative
accountability, and financial accountability. Kpundeh noted that records management and records keeping
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have to be seen as part of the broader public sector reform agenda.
Governance has become an issue in international development debate and policy discourse. It has to do
with the manner in which responsibilities are discharged. Where such responsibility is done in an effective,
transparent, and accountable manner is termed good governance while bad governance is associated with
maladministration in the discharge of responsibility. According to Amoako (2003), good governance
entails the existence of efficient and accountable institutions – political, judicial, administrative, economic,
corporate – and entrenched rules that promote development, protect human rights, respect the rule of law,
and ensure that people are free to participate in, and be heard on, decisions that affect their lives. OkotUma (2004) defined good governance as comprising the processes and structures that guide political and
socio-economic relationships, with particular reference to commitment to democratic values, norms and
practices, trusted services, and to just and honest business. Governance is about people and their welfare.
The way government functions and works together with others to make decisions and take action to deal
with the needs of the citizens is governance. Lipchak (2002b) posits that citizens in all countries want good
governance, effective programmes and services as well as better living conditions, just laws and respect
for human rights, honest, open and accountable government, meaningful participation and a voice in
government decisions. This is a challenge to developing countries in general and the Nigerian government
in particular. Hence, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 2004) asserted that the
challenges of democratic governance include delivery of democratic dividends evident by quality of public
service in all sectors, infrastructures and utilities.
Good governance is broadly synonymous with ‘sound development management’ (World Bank, 2004). It
encompasses a wide range of elements involving political legitimacy, accountability and official
competence. It is closely allied to public sector accountability, which in turn requires measurement and
verification of government performance (Cain and Thurston, 1997). The World Bank argued that good
governance is epitomized by predictable, open and enlightened policy-making, a bureaucracy imbued with
a professional ethics acting in furtherance of the public good, the rule of law, transparent processes, and a
strong civil society participating in public affairs. Poor governance (on the other hand) is characterized by
arbitrary policy making, unaccountable bureaucracies, un-enforced or unjust legal systems, the abuse of
executive power, a civil society unengaged in public life, and widespread corruption (World Bank, 2004).
Since effective information management is an essential practice in the Information Age, just as the
information environment is rapidly changing, government needs to step up effort in maintaining high
levels of integrity and accountability through efficient record keeping, particularly in an electronic
environment. Good governance would be fostered by good records keeping, enhanced by ICT availability,
which is an indication of the e-readiness of that country. These ICTs have revolutionized record keeping
practices in public and private organizations, which make most nations to imbibe good record keeping
practices in governance. The role of ICT in governance sphere is four fold. They are to improve the quality
of governance products and services, provide new governance services and products, enhance participation
of people in choice and provision of governance products and services, and bring new sections of society
under the governance sphere (including those who are most likely to remain excluded - namely the poor,
the illiterate, the differently abled, indigenous people, the migrants and displaced people).
The new technologies offer a vastly enhanced means of collecting information/record for and about
citizens, communicating within state government and agencies, parastatals and the public, and
documenting the business of government. For instance, the governments of Canada, Australia, the United
Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA), India, among others operate online transactions,
which give citizens room to participate in governance. Citizens visit official government websites for
transactions, ask questions and post comments, which may contribute to/improve service delivery.
Therefore, governments now apply ICT to core areas of their operations, from the management of state
resources (principally finance and personnel) to the management of service delivery (including health care,
land usage, and legal and judicial matters). Before the advent of ICT (making e-records predominant),
there was high cost of transaction (in terms of time, efforts and opportunities lost) to access timely and
relevant government information, which governments turning online can “potentially” reduce. However,
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the lack of ICT infrastructure, including the capacity to introduce and operate technology systems and
mass connectivity to the Internet, will not yet permit a complete transition to the electronic environment in
Nigeria. The needed infrastructures and capacity to manage electronically generated records in a
constantly changing software and hardware environment have not been developed. This is a fall-out from
the fact that the nation is not e-ready to facilitate ICT enabled transactions. The e-readiness index of
Nigeria for 2008 was 4.25 (EIU, 2008) as against 3.19 that was rated very low by Ojo, Janowski and
Estevez (2007). Unless there is adequate infrastructure for managing e-records, the intended benefits of egovernment (and invariably good governance) will be compromised.
Records are documentary evidence of transactions made or received in pursuance of legal obligations
regardless of the physical form or characteristics of the media. They are category of information identified
by the particular functions they perform in the support of business, accountability and cultural heritage.
They substantiate who did what, where, and when. Therefore, record keeping is making and maintaining
complete, accurate and reliable evidence of official business in the form of recorded information. It is an
essential business function with responsibilities cascading to every level of decision-making. Many
recordkeeping functions can be automated or streamlined so they are not as labour intensive (and therefore
costly) as they were in the traditional recordkeeping environment.
Information as a valuable asset is a public trust that the government must manage on behalf of its people.
Effective information management has the potential for making government programmes and services
delivery more efficient and transparent. It could also engender collaboration across organizations and
informed decision-making by the government and all dynamic organizations. However, the mode in which
private and public organizations record their transactions in the recent past, particularly those in electronic
format calls for concern. There is a shift from the traditional paper records to electronic records, the less
attention on the proper management of e-records as required by international standards and the
preservation of the nation’s corporate memory is a major concern. Some of the standards that are
internationally acceptable are of paramount importance. ISO 9000, AS 4390 and AS 15489 are some
standards on which records management has been based. The shift has brought about a transition into a
new environment of records keeping bringing about accountability, transparency and sustenance of the rule
of law. However, the reliability and authenticity of records (being fragile or volatile and vulnerable to
alterations), has brought worries to citizens, leading to lack of confidence on e-records. Hence, the US
Government’s document on Implementation of Government Paperwork Elimination Act (1998) noted that
public confidence in the security of the government’s electronic information processes is essential as
agencies make the transition from paper records to electronic records environment. Against this backdrop,
the Australian Government through the National Archives set up a standard (AS ISO 15489-2002) for a
best practice approach to recordkeeping within the Commonwealth nations of which Nigeria is one. Also,
researchers have at one time or the other echoed the lack of, proper management of records, particularly in
the developing countries and the need to adopt best practice in records management (Alegbeleye, 1985;
Alegbeleye, 1990; 1993; Barry, 1993; 1996; 1997; 2002; Akussah & Tiamiyu, 1998; Heslop, Davis &
Wilson, 2002; National Archives of Australia, 2002; World Bank, 2005; Iwhiwhu, 2005; Abioye, 2006,
etc). Adopting best practices as applicable in the developed nations will make for proper electronic records
management and good governance in Nigeria.
Nigeria operates a federal system based largely on three layers of government: the federal, state and local
governments. It is a highly heterogeneous country with 140 million people, about 250-ethnic groups, 6
geo-political zones, 36 State governments with a Federal Capital Territory at Abuja, 774 Local
Government Areas, and a very critical, vocal civil society that all want to be represented in the affairs of
the State. The Nigerian public service in general and civil service in particular has been undergoing gradual
and systematic reforms and restructuring since May 29, 1999 after decades of military rule. The military
governed Nigeria, between 1966 and 1979; and between 1984 and 1999. The reforms are meant to meet the
challenges of civil rule, democracy, good governance, and globalization (Babura, 2003). Needless to say that
information management is a key aspect of public sector reform. But too often officials forget that reliable,
authentic, legally verifiable records constitute the primary form of information that governments require to
4

serve their citizens. When record-keeping systems fail to cope with the growing mass of records that
governments create - paper and electronic, public sector reform is undermined. The consequences for good
governance, the rule of law, the delivery of services to targeted groups, and indeed, all the pillars of the
comprehensive development framework, are serious indeed. "Without access to information there is no
transparency; without transparency there is no accountability; and without transparency and accountability
there is no democracy" (Mwakyembe, 2000). It is expected that in the civil service, government officials
would promote the keeping of accurate and reliable records that will promote transparency and
accountability in achieving good governance in the Nigerian civil service.
A Commissioner is assigned to oversee a number of States and Federal ministries/extra-ministerial
departments. There are 20 ministries in Nigeria with branches in the states and the federal capital territory,
Abuja (NITDA, n.d). These ministries create and use records for their daily business and the following
(among others) constitute “serious misconduct” on which disciplinary measures could be taken against any
staff, namely: suppression of records; unauthorized disclosure of official information, falsification of
records; failure to keep records, etc (Babura, 2003). This shows the importance attached to records in
doing government business. However, each ministry/extra-ministerial department is given the free hand to
carry out their functions independently and report back to the commission within two weeks of concluding
an action.
In Nigeria, there is also the Head of Service who is in charge of the federal civil service and records
generated nationwide. The Records Office houses the records of serving and retired staff (pension records)
nationwide, with the personnel records in the electronic format. The civil service operation in a modern
system of government is based on recorded information, used for planning, decision-making and control.
The civil service plays a very important role in the modern system of government. The civil service carries
out the day-to-day activities of the government policies, programmes and projects as well as their
formulation, analysis, monitoring, evaluation and sustainability, translates government policies into action
(Popoola, 2000). It brings government into daily contact with the citizens. Therefore, a well organized
civil service in this Information Age will enhance citizen’s participation in governance. Popoola (2000)
further stated that the government and civil service decisions, procedures, operations, policies,
programmes and projects are found in public records such as reports, book of estimates, gazettes,
correspondences, constitutions, general orders, diaries, cartographic records, and machine-readable
records, etc. If records are well managed, the effectiveness of government is enhanced, government
pogrammes become more responsive, and economies are realized.
The adoption of an Integrated Records Management Programme (IRMP) in the civil service can assist in
good policy formulation, analysis, execution and evaluation programme, auditing and investigation,
financial management, personnel management, the provision of reliable, sufficient, complete and timely
information for planning and decision-making, assessment of staff’s job performance, thus reducing the
administrative costs (Popoola, 2000). Concisely, functional records management programme can bring
about good governance, which is the major goal of any responsible government. The Government of
Nigeria has instituted various programmes to drive home the issue of transparency and accountability and
services delivery in recent times. Presently, most government ministries, parastatals/agencies, radio/TV
stations, etc. have their presence on the web, and corporate affairs commission (CAC), immigration
department, are engaged in e-registration of business names and e-passport respectively. All these account
for electronic transactions in governance.
The IT unit controls electronic records in the Federal Civil Service and the Human Manager Software
embedded in the Integrated Information System is employed in the management of electronic records in
the office of the Head of Service, Nigeria. The operation started with the payroll system since November,
2005. The civil service is presently engaged in online services in the form of staff appraisal, training, leave
application and other routine circulars and correspondences. There are two database servers and other
servers linked to the Internet operations and government’s website for the Head of Service. Records are
created by issuing data form to staff for completion. This form comes to the Information Technology unit
5

of the Department where the technical staff imputes the data into the Information System and the
personnel concerned is given opportunity to create their own password to enable them access their
personal records electronically. The staff corrects the imputed data before it is finally stored in the
database. After the correction, access is only given to information related to bank, name, education,
training, etc. for up-dating by staff and no access is given to date of first appointment, birth, etc. The
information contained in the form include; personal data, nationality/state/local government area of origin,
religion, contact details, benefits, dependants, next-of-kin, job history, posting, educational history,
promotion history, training history, etc. What then is the status of electronic records readiness and keeping
practices in the federal civil service and how does it assist in good governance in Nigeria?
1.2
Statement of the Problem
Records are fundamental tools in the business of government and their absence can lead to inefficiency or
failure in operational procedures. They have been used to promote good governance as well. The absence
of records can open government employees to accusations of fraud and impropriety, political
embarrassment and an inability to defend the state in cases of legal actions or claims against the
government. Availability of the right type of records will remove ambiguity and firmly establish who did
what, when, why, and how, which are powerful means of constraining individuals from engaging in fraud
and corruption - critical elements of good governance. The fact that e-records, whether born digital or
digitized, are rapidly replacing the paper records is yet to dawn on the Nigeria government; indeed the
management of e-records is much more critical than paper records, therefore, needing more urgent
attention, which is lacking in the Nigerian civil service. The criticality of managing e-records, unlike paper
records is no doubt, due mainly to the fact that they may be subject to loss because of their reliance on
changing technologies, their storage on fragile media, and their dependence on documentation that may be
inadequate or missing, which may make certain information unavailable when needed. For instance, paper
records could be managed at any stage of their life cycle but e-records systems must capture records of
evidential value and be managed at the early stage of the record’s life cycle.
The value of records especially e-records in governance is increasingly now being appreciated. It is
essential that the right information, in the right format is used in decision making. Though, the government
through the National Archives is creating awareness by assigning staff trained in records management to
each ministry, the changing information environment in which e-records now predominate is yet to be
adequately addressed and its implication for good governance fully understood. This study will therefore
investigate the electronic records readiness and records keeping practices and their influence on good
governance in the federal civil service, Nigeria.
1.3
Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to investigate the electronic records readiness and keeping practices in the federal
civil service and its influence on good governance in Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study are to:
i)
identify the types of electronic records generated in the federal civil service, Nigeria;
ii)
find out how electronic records are stored for permanent preservation;
iii)
investigate the regulation governing electronic records management in the federal civil service,
Nigeria;
iv)
ascertain the security of the federal civil service electronic records;
v)
find out the extent to which policy makers in the federal civil service make use of available
records in their decision making process;
vi)
find out how readily available are the federal civil service records for government business
transactions;
vii)
find out the e-readiness capabilities of the nation in facilitating e-records keeping practices in
the federal civil service, Nigeria;
viii) find out how electronic records keeping practices in the federal civil service influence good
governance in Nigeria.
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1.4
Research Questions
The researcher hereby asks the following research questions, which are to be answered in the course of the
study;
i)
What types of electronic records exist in the federal civil service, Nigeria?
ii)
What storage facilities exist for the preservation of vital and permanent electronic records?
iii)
What regulations govern the management of electronic records in the federal civil service,
Nigeria?
iv)
What security measures are in place for the federal civil service records?
v)
To what extent are policy makers in the federal civil service use available records in their
decision making process?
vi)
How readily available are the federal civil service records for government business
transactions?
vii)
What is the e-readiness capabilities of the nation in facilitating e-records keeping practices in
the federal civil service, Nigeria?
viii) How would records keeping practices in the federal civil service promote good governance in
Nigeria?
1.5
Research Hypotheses
In thus study, the independent variables are electronic records readiness and electronic records keeping
practices and the dependent variable is good governance. Therefore, the following null hypotheses to be
tested are hereby formulated based on the variables and the research questions and objectives stated above;
i)
There will be no significant relationship between the availability of electronic records in the
federal civil service and good governance in Nigeria.
ii)
There will be no significant relationship between the extent of use of electronic records by
government officials and good governance in Nigeria.
iii)
There will be no significant relationship between the security of electronic records in the
federal civil service and good governance in Nigeria.
iv)
The electronic records keeping indices will not have significant, relative influence on good
governance in Nigeria.
v)
The e-records readiness capabilities in Nigeria will not have significant influence on electronic
records keeping in the federal civil service.
1.6
Scope of the Study
The study is on the electronic records readiness, e-records keeping practices and good governance in the
federal civil service, Nigeria. The research is limited to electronic records management, electronic records,
electronic records policy, eReadiness and good governance. It will also focus on those characteristics of erecords that are most relevant to this study, which are availability, security and usability of electronic
records. The study will be on specific ministries with key activities that are critical to national
development. These are the ministries of information and communication, finance, works and housing,
justice and foreign affairs. It shall cover the western and southern part of the country and the federal
capital territory, Abuja. The states covered are Delta, Edo, and Oyo state levels.
1.7
Significance of the Study
There is a dearth of literature on government records keeping practices in Nigeria. Conducting research in
this field will therefore add to the existing limited knowledge. The study is likely to ascertain the ereadiness of and encourage good records keeping practices in Nigeria and citizen’s participation in
governance. It may foster citizens’ trust for the government, with transparent and accountable operations.
It may encourage the preservation of national, cultural/historical records of posterity. It may also be a
spring board for other researchers who are interested in government records and good governance
research.

7

1.8
Operational Definition of Terms
Access is the availability of, or permission to consult records.
Accountability means the principles whereby individuals and government or its agent are required to
account to others for their actions.
Archival Value is the value(s) - administrative, fiscal, legal, evidential and/or informational, which justify
the indefinite or permanent retention of government records.
Authenticity means a record that can be proven to be what it purports to be.
Electronic Document (e-document) is a document that exists in an electronic form.
Electronic Records are records generated electronically and stored by means of computer technology.
Electronic Records Keeping Indices indicates the characteristics of records, which makes them
acceptable as evidence. They include accuracy, authenticity, availability, completeness, integrity,
relevance, reliability, security and usability.
Electronic Records Keeping Practices is the act of creating and maintaining complete, accurate and
reliable records as evidence of business transactions.
Good Governance is the use of records in governance to ensure that responsibilities are discharged in an
effective, transparent, and accountable manner.
Good Governance Indices indicate those elements – accountability, equity, participation, predictability,
probity, responsiveness, rule of law and transparency - that makes good governance real.
Integrated Document and Records Management is a set of methods and technologies consisting of
messaging and calendaring, imaging and scanning, file/document tracking, workflow and search
and retrieval functionality’s used to manage the classification, location, movement, security,
auditing, retention, and disposal of civil service’s records regardless of format.
Integrity is an indication that government records are complete and are not tampered with or altered.
Maintenance is the range of processes and tasks for protecting records from unauthorized access, loss/use
or destruction, theft or disaster and retaining their integrity over time.
Migration: The process of moving records from one system to another, while maintaining the records’
authenticity, integrity, reliability and usability.
Retention Period is the length of time that a record must be kept before it can be destroyed.
Vital Records These are records considered critical to the ongoing operations of an organization or the
reestablishment of operations after an emergency or disaster.

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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Introduction
This chapter is on the review of related literature, which borders on records management and electronic
records, more particularly and good governance. The literature review critically examines the conceptual
and empirical developments in the following areas;
 Historical Development of Records Management in Nigeria
2.3 Relationship Between Paper records and Electronic Records
2.4 Challenges of Electronic Records Management in Nigeria
Characteristics of Good Records Keeping Practices
Assessing e- Readiness in Facilitating Electronic Records Keeping Practices in Nigeria
Records and Electronic Records (E-Record) Management
Records Management for Good Governance
Electronic Records and Their Preservation
Theoretical Framework
Appraisal of Literature Review
2.2
Historical Development of Records Management in Nigeria
Records management originated from the United States of America in 1948 when the Hoover commission
set up a task force headed by Emmett Leahy in response to the problem of managing the ever increasing
volume of records in the world and USA in particular. The report of the task force was submitted to the
commission on October 14, 1948 and was presented to congress in 1949. In the same vein, the committee
set up in the United Kingdom led by Rt. Hon. Sir James Grigg, presented her report to Parliament in 1952.
These among others played a significant role in establishing the concept of records management (Abioye,
2007). In Nigeria, the management of records started in 1914 when circulars were issued by the colonial
administration in Britain to her officials in Nigeria. As a determination of its “concern” for the perilous
state of Nigeria’s records, five dispatches were sent from the colonial office, London between 1914 and
1948 (Alegbeleye, 1998). However, records management did not find its feet until 1950 when the Public
Records Office was formally established in Ibadan. This was as a result of the mandate given to Kenneth
Dike who carried out a study on the historical / cultural records in the country, which were at that time fast
deteriorating. The name was later changed from Public Records Office to National Archives in 1954.
Between 1954 and July 1855, Mr. Detrek Charman, an English county archivist, provided “bibliographic
instruments” in the form of inventories, hand list, etc. and was concerned about the elimination of pests
and cellolytic organisms found in records storage areas (Alegbeleye, 1998). In the early 1970s a records
management division was created in the national archives and today it is charged with the power to
coordinate the records management programme in Nigeria (Abioye, 2007).
The National Archives is a Federal Department under the Ministry of Information and National
Orientation. Its main regional centers are at Ibadan, Enugu and Kaduna. These are functional archives with
processing, binding, searching, photography and library facilities. There are many smaller archives offices
that are not fully ‘functional’ (World Bank, 2002). The National Archives Decree (1992) is a policy
document on the establishment of the National Archives and setting out its functions concerning the
preservation and management of records of public and private bodies, individuals and companies. The
national archive therefore, carries out supervisory duties as a regulatory body for all records in Nigeria.
Before this time, there was a constraint in the archival laws. In addition to organizing and managing the
National Archives, the NA Director’s other responsibilities include:
 giving advice on all matters relating to records and archives to all public offices and staff
examining public records
 establishing as an integral part of the national archives, records centres primarily charged
with the management of non-current public records
 issuing general schedules regarding the retention and disposal of records common to
9









several or all public offices
assessing the adequacy of record making and record keeping practices of the public offices
through periodic reviews
conducting research and studies, developing and establishing standards and procedures for
creating and keeping records
applying selective retention of records
scheduling of records for disposal, storage and security
preserving of records and their retirement to records centre or the NA
organising training programmes for the staff in public offices concerned with records
management
providing technical advice and assistance in records management to all public offices.

The Director is required to prepare an annual report on the activities of the public offices in the field of
records management. The National Archives Decree places responsibility for records management within
public offices on the head of the office concerned. Each public office must appoint a departmental records
management officer to plan, develop and organize the records management programme for the office. The
volume of records in public offices has built up over the past several years and the National Archives is
actively assisting ministries to set up proper records systems and advise on the disposal of non-active
records. The construction of regional records centers will assist in the storage of semi-current records,
which is lacking in the mean time in Nigeria. The National Archives has wide ranging investigative,
corrective and advisory powers for public records that should enable records to be managed effectively.
Nigeria is giving a great deal of emphasis to computerizing key functions, and it will be important to
ensure that there is adequate capacity to manage the records that will be generated by the new systems as
evidence for accountability. It is important that e-records management issues should be addressed as part
of the government ICT strategy. The national/state archives should have or develop guidelines to help
them manage electronic records efficiently and effectively. They are to help identify appropriate
maintenance procedures and determine the length of time different types of electronic records should be
kept.
According to the Kansas Electronic Records Management Guidelines (2006), the archives can help
agencies to:
 identify the electronic records in agency custody that are of enduring value,
 identify and obtain authorization to dispose of the electronic records in agency custody
that are not of enduring value,
 identify the metadata that needs to be captured and maintained with electronic records of
enduring value if they are to remain identifiable and accessible over time,
 determine the length of time electronic records should be maintained and made accessible
in order to meet administrative or archival requirements, and
 develop a means of ensuring the public’s right to access to archival electronic records so
that you can meet the access provisions of the open records while protecting the
confidentiality of records exempted from the open records acts and other legislation
restricting access to records.
The fundamental reason for setting up archives is that they serve as a memory. Just as individuals cannot
function without memory so do organizations and the nation. Without archival recall, they would have no
perspective on which to base planning, nothing to prevent them from repeating mistakes, no expertise or
knowledge except what people remembered, perhaps inaccurately. The extra research and energy required
to reconstruct missing information can be very expensive, if it can ever be done. Other reasons include,
historical or cultural, financial or fiscal, legal and administrative. The poor recovery and haphazard
arrangement of records in the offices can be improved upon with the archives and records management
principles in place, more so, to create better records for the 21 st century generation (Iwhiwhu, 2005). The
10

archives also serve the present by relieving busy officers of inactive files and by providing a central source
of information about the government, its people, events and the nation. The major aim of the archives is to
identify, acquire, organize and preserve all valuable non-current public records that is deem fit for
preservation and those of private organizations. The objectives include to:
i.
Formulate policies for the establishment and continuity of the records center and
archives.
ii.
Source, appraise, organize and manage and supervise the records in the national
archives.
iii.
Analyze
the
records
management
problems
and
offer
possible
solutions/recommendations.
iv.
Create awareness on the importance and benefits of efficient records management in
the nation.
v.
Introduce registry staff to practical issues related to the management of records,
which would equip them with problem solving skills through workshops/seminars.
The National Archives established at the federal and state levels in Nigeria, seem not to have the capacity
to deal with all public records let alone private organization’s records. Though the Archives Decree 30 of
1992 permits private organizations and institutions to operate private archives, implementation framework
for the public records is still inadequate and has no capacity to compulsorily acquire the non-current
records of organizations or private business houses that refuse to establish organizational/institutional
archives after twenty-five years of existence (Iwhiwhu, 2005). It is therefore hoped that with the advent of
electronic records keeping practices and the global trends in digitization or virtual world, the decree will
be modified to address the present realities in records management. The National Archives should work
to promote the use of archives, particularly those in its own custody. It should engage in developmental
works designed to help government offices improve their records keeping practices. The Director-General
of the Australian National Archives, George Nichols noted that the Archives anticipated the changing
requirements of modern recordkeeping and has sought to be ready to provide the services and products
suitable for agency needs in the environment in which they are now operating. The Archives should
contribute to the maintenance and understanding of political, social and cultural values in Nigeria
particularly by;
 promoting the role of records as evidence in supporting the rule of law;
 supporting the effectiveness and accountability of government administration; and
 preserving and providing access to documentation of the interaction between the Nigerian
people and their governments.
Dr Robert Dodoo, Head of Civil Service in Ghana presented a case study on the comprehensive national
framework for records management introduced in Ghana. This includes a new law on records
management; the creation of a records cadre and a Public Records and Archives Administration
Department (an expanded National Archives); the introduction of new policies, systems, and procedures;
and a major capacity building program. Dr Dodoo noted, "We have had strong support. We made records
management a key element of our comprehensive civil service reform activities, and we were able to take
this case from the ministries to Cabinet and from Cabinet to Parliament. We realized that if our new
democratic process were to become a reality it must have a strong information, documentation, and
statistical base." Therefore, the national archives have a prominent role to play in enthroning good records
management programme in Nigeria.
2.3

Relationship between Paper Records and Electronic Records
Change is the only constant thing that has existed since the creation of man. Civilization has
brought with it innovations that have benefited man much. Records are associated with civilization when
man decided to formally document its activities in form of writing. This is the intellectual product of
man’s reporting of phenomena that interact with his/her senses. Man has always communicated orally but
other more permanent forms of communication evolved as life became more settled and complex. As
11

civilization became more complex and knowledge increased, a more effective method of reproducing
records through printing evolved (Ogunsheye, 1976). The shortfall of oral communication, gesturing, and
signalling, visual communication by use of object, carving, drawings or paintings, etc., which later
developed into full alphabetic writing, led to other form of documentation due to restriction of space and
time. These means of communication in form of writing were made in one form of materials or the other.
Clay tablets, stones, metal or wood incised with sharp tools, were the first media; later, drawings, paintings
were made on soft materials like leather, papyrus and much later papers, with pen, pencil or brush and
paint or ink.
Ogunsheye (1976) averred that the records of history of writing and its emergence have occurred among
groups that have settled and evolved a culture associated with development of arts, some scientific and
technological achievement, commerce, industry and mobility of people. Thus, it has led to the spread of
alphabet or writing proper from Mesopotamia and Egypt to the East and West and in fact the entire world
as it is today. The dominance of human recorded knowledge and activities has now advanced to a new
phenomenon of virtual, paperless society, being digitized and globalize world. The advent of ICTs as a
high leverage-enabling tool for delivery of services in the public and the private sector has been
universally recognized. And the current digital revolution, the fourth information revolution in history after
the invention of writing, the book and printing, has serious potential to exacerbate the gulf between the
North and the South. In other words, since the existence of man, records have been and advanced
technology has brought about the prominence of records.
No single medium contains all information relating to government’s business activities. Therefore, all
sources of information must be managed in a coordinated way, in a manner appropriate to the
environment, to preserve and provide appropriate access to records that document the government’s
business activities. The volume of records in various formats - from paper to electronic transactions in
form of electronic commerce, electronic mail, and electronic business transfer/exchange of sensitive
information within government abound. Before now, only records on paper were considered as records
worthy of preservation, other formats were hardly preserved. Records managers and archivists manage
records through the life cycle concept with distinct demarcation in the stages and more emphasis on the
last stage (non-current records or archives). However, where the first stage (current or active) is not
properly handled and managed, there might be no accurate and complete archival records. More so,
records were seen by administrators and senior managers as papers that are kept by their secretaries and
clerks or in some central registry and then sent off to some distant place, never to be used again. Storage
and maintenance was through the acquisition of file cabinets, open shelves, file folders, and other
equipment and supplies; paper records had to be organized and sequenced for efficient retrieval; and the
physical security, retention, and disposition of records had to be considered. Access and retrieval of
records have been difficult. The Association of Information and Image Management (1991) stated that in
the US:
 office staff spent almost 2.5 hours per day retrieving and putting away paper files;
 50 minutes a day was spent searching for missing or misfiled papers;
 17 per cent of files needed were not readily accessible; and
 one to six information searches were impeded.
In the same vein, the 2003 Electronic Records Management survey conducted by Cohasset Associates
(2005) on the management of electronic records reveals that:
 41% of records managers responded that electronic records were not included in the
organization’s records management program.
 More than two-thirds (71%) reported that IS/IT had primary responsibility for the day-today management of their organization’s electronic records.
 An overwhelming majority (93%) believe the process by which electronic records will be
managed will be important in future litigation, but by a ratio of nearly 2:1, a majority
(62%) were less than confident that the organization could demonstrate its electronic
12

records are accurate, reliable and trustworthy – many years after they were created.
The above is associated with the poor management of paper records; and the situation can better be
imagined in developing countries like Nigeria. Meeting the unique challenges associated with electronic
records management requires new ways of thinking and a renewed spirit of collaboration to work across
domains and disciplines. Paper records were further at risk because of their vulnerability to fire, water, and
weather damage; though, restoration of paper records is frequently possible, except in cases where they
have been totally destroyed by fire. Paper records, if properly stored and managed, can last for several
hundreds of years. They can also be preserved by accident, when abandoned or forgotten in government or
organization records’ room, and discovered by someone decades later, perhaps deteriorated but still in
useable condition.
In recent times, the records continuum model has modernized the records life cycle concept. In the
continuum model, records are seen as a continued process, from creation to disposition, without a clear cut
demarcation in transition from one record phase to the other. McKemmish (1997) asserts that there has
been another tradition in Australia, where records managers and archivists have developed over the years a
different sense of place, linked to the concept of records continuum. The Digital Age, with focus on
electronic transaction and records has engendered the records continuum model. A current recordkeeping
perspective involves looking at record keeping processes from the viewpoint of what needs to be done to
capture a record and fix it in its context of creation so that it can be recalled, re-presented and distributed
for as long as it is of continuing value. Most governments today have their records in the electronic form.
Moore (2000) stated that as much as two-thirds of the world’s information was at that time ‘born digital,’
meaning that its original occurrence was in a digital format generated from computers. While this is true
for most developed countries, developing countries are still behind with attendant problems of
infrastructures, policy, technical-know-how, electricity generation and sustenance, and hardware and
software availability among others. As a result, most developing nations like Nigeria adopt the hybrid
nature, where records are created and managed both in the paper and electronic formats. This will
therefore affect the management of e-records as records will be shared on both media. As such, using
readily available records and achieving e-governance will be far from being realized.
2.4
Challenges of Electronic Records Management in Nigeria
The countries of Africa face a diverse range of challenges and obstacles as they strive to develop their
economies, decrease their dependence on the developed world, and ready themselves for participation in
the global economy and Nigeria have their fare share in these challenges. In the records management
scene, the story is not different. Alegbeleye (1998) noted the poor foundation on which the profession is
laid from the colonial time, in spite of the Colonial Office interest in records management and the
preservation of historical records in Nigeria. The challenges range from inadequacy of the policy
document, inadequacy of modern conservation facilities, lack of awareness of the importance of the
National Archives to national development, limited training opportunities for staff, and absence of a
comprehensive and integrated records management programme, etc. Though, the situation has fairly
changed much still needed to be done. For instance, the present Archives Decree does not adequately cater
for the management of electronic records, which has become the present means of communication and
information transfer/dissemination today. The need to urgently review the decree to meet the present
realities cannot be overemphasized. Government should recognize that its records are a vital business
resource and are keys to the effective functioning and accountability of the government. Efficient
management of records is essential obligations, and to provide a high quality service to citizens. Records
management policy applies to all records created, received and maintained by government officials, or
those acting as its agents, in the course of their business. The World Bank (2005) outlined outdated skills,
laws, and institutional arrangement; lack of policies, standards, and practices for creating, organizing,
using, and disposing of records as problems affecting the integration of records management programme
in developing countries. Lack of awareness of the significance of records for governance and lack of
political will to protect evidence are other problems.
13

The required infrastructures for management of electronic records are still inadequate. More so, the rapid
hardware and software technology obsolescence makes it more difficult for developing countries to cope
with the frequency of change in technology at the availability of limited resources. The Electronic Records
Policy Working Group (2004) posit that the rapid pace of technological evolution is an issue for electronic
records and information that need to be available for long periods of time (e.g. for more than 10 years). In
many cases, ministries and institutions/organizations may need electronic records and information for 30
years or more to conduct ongoing business or to preserve rights, and in other cases, they may be needed
indefinitely to document the national experience (ERPWG, 2004). To ensure that these records are
available for as long as needed, organizations must implement special measures to ensure that changes in
technology do not make these records obsolete. Electronic records may require several migrations of
hardware and software.
Also, the issue of personnel to handle and manage electronic records constitutes another challenge. The
World Bank (2002) reported that the national archives in Nigeria does not appear to have much
involvement in certain records like financial records management as there are no specialists or expertise in
managing financial records. An area of concern is whether records that have accumulated over time are
destroyed in a timely manner in accordance with defined retention periods. There are financial regulations
provided for financial records management, which stated that records are to be maintained for seven years
after audit. Whether this is adhered to is another mater. It appears that financial records are retained in
ministries for longer periods. In a study conducted by World Bank/IRMT in Nigeria, it was reported that
“the National Archives does not have sufficient resources to monitor all aspects of record management on
a regular basis at each ministry/department. Records management is not taught to finance staff, although
the National Archives provides training courses in general records management. There seem to be no
administrative links between the staff of the National Archives and the ministries. The LAN link between
the Ministry of Finance and other ministries will intensify this trend. However, there are no standards and
practices covering electronic records management issues such as their storage, preservation, security and
accessibility overtime. Nor is there local capacity to manage and maintain electronic records management
systems or any evidence of training in this area” (World Bank, 2002).
Yahaya (2002) observed that government computers were generating enormous volumes of e-mail, word
processing documents and databases. The challenge is to preserve the mounting plethora of these digital
records. Preservation practices in the past require the physical transfer of records to the state or national
archives, preservation of electronic records will depend on closer cooperation with government offices and
the private sector. Assuring the authenticity, reliability and integrity of electronic records is of great
importance. Records must serve as evidence, where the above characteristics are reflected. The ERPWG
(2004) assert that the unique features of electronic records complicate agency’s efforts to create and
maintain authentic and reliable records that support agency business processes. It is easier to duplicate and
disseminate electronic information hence agencies typically create more of it, in multiple copies, and sent
to multiple users who maintain it in various locations, making it difficult to identify the essential records,
or versions of those records, that document the activities of the Government. Related to this challenge is
the timely production of guidance for organizations and users on how to manage government and
organizational information assets created using new technologies, which has made it much easier for users
to create and broadly disseminate information. These advances have brought new problems in controlling
record identification, versioning, and preservation. The critical problem is that ministries are not managing
their records from the moment of creation in accordance with appropriate policies and procedures. As a
result, the authenticity, reliability, and integrity of the records cannot be guaranteed unless provisions
controlling their creation and use are made to guard against tampering, and to ensure a full and accurate
representation of the transactions, activities, and facts to which the records attest.
Records and information management processes and procedures are not integrated into agency business
processes and, as a result, their implementation fails. In some cases, records and information management
responsibilities are not defined for users, and in other cases, these responsibilities may be defined, but
users are simply unaware of them (ERPWG, 2004). There simply is no single standard way to implement
14

policies and procedures and no one-size-fits-all solution. Additionally, because these differences in
mission, technology, and culture also exist, it is difficult to implement an enterprise-wide approach to
records and information management. For example, until recently, the evaluation of software needs was
not consolidated, creating a situation where ministries had redundant stovepipe systems that could not
share data across the enterprise. At the desktop, users do not have a standard set of metadata or indexing
scheme for managing electronic records and information at the point of creation. As a result, there is no
consistency in how records and information are identified and maintained, which leads to difficulties in
sharing and retrieving this information, not only within the creating unit, but also across the organization.
Therefore, it is important that records and information management responsibilities and standards are
integrated into work processes in order to capitalize on the combined available knowledge of the
enterprise.
The National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council identified six fundamental challenges in
maintaining confidence and trustworthiness in electronic records (NECCC, 2004). They advised that
organizations should adopt practices and policies to address all of these challenges. These include;
Classification: Develop and adopt data classification standards to protect information from unauthorized
or accidental disclosure, modification, or loss. Data classification categories may be as simple as
“Open” or “Confidential,” or the classification categories may be more elaborate. Classification
standards should be based on applicable laws, legal, and regulatory requirements, not individual
desires.
Authenticity: Provide assurances that every record truly originates from its attributed author.
Integrity: Detect and track unintentional or malicious record alteration.
Non-Repudiation: Prevent authors from refuting any record that they created.
Security Persistence: Maintain a document’s security throughout its lifecycle, from first draft to archived
record, per the classification assigned.
Usability: Finally, the practices and policies to address the five preceding challenges should be easy to
understand and easy to use so that everyone in an organization who creates and accesses electronic
documents protects document confidentiality, authenticity, integrity, etc.
Akussah and Tiamiyu (1998) asserted that associated with electronic records are peculiar policy and
technological issues and problems that must be addressed in order to ensure a viable electronic records
management system. The major objectives of electronic recordkeeping systems shall be to manage the
content, context and structure of records as a whole and to ensure that records are reliable and authentic
(National Archives of Australia, 1997). These systems when designed to comply with relevant national and
international standards and best practices, shall facilitate the reuse of information contained within records,
while securely maintaining reliable and authentic records and shall provide one corporate interface to all
records relating to a particular business activity, regardless of the media in which the records are created
and stored. Since effective management of electronic records depends so heavily on the information
systems involved, there is need to identify recordkeeping systems requirements. This is to help identify
problems, which could be alleviated through new workflow procedures and or information systems. If
recordkeeping requirements are identified during process analysis, effective procedures and automated
routines can be built into the processes to handle records more effectively. In managing electronic records,
the creation/generation, capture or receipt must be seriously considered. The ‘how’ and ‘why’ electronic
records are being created must be determined (Kansas State Historical Society, 2006). Electronic records
management procedures are most effective when carried out proactively (at the point of creation or very
shortly thereafter). Managing electronic records poses some challenges; to maintain records in a way,
which will enable retrieval of all documents relevant to a transaction when they are needed and to ensure
that the records are not retained for any longer than necessary, in order to avoid overloading the systems
and indiscriminate dumping. Therefore, applying records management procedures at the time of creation,
use and maintenance will reduce the challenges faced in the management of electronic records.
The Kansas State Historical Society (2006) noted a special problem with electronic records being that they
lack familiar physical and visual clues about their origins such as official letterhead, or their authenticity,
15

such as written signatures. Hence special measures must be taken to ensure that they are also reliable and
authentic. ‘Virtual’ records exist independently of their physical format. Systems must link the content of a
record to its administrative or business context, since in electronic environments the essential
characteristics mentioned earlier rarely sit neatly together in a single, format-based package.
2.5
Characteristics of Good Records Keeping Practices
There is need to consider the records keeping practices that could make or mar the civil service in their bid
to achieving good governance in Nigeria. Unlike other electronic documents and information objects,
electronic records must bear characteristics. Records are known to posses certain characteristics which
makes them distinctive, admissible as evidence in law courts and perfecting desired transactions. Records
have content, context and structure. The National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council (NECCC,
2004) explained these as follows;
i.
Record Content: Content is the text, data, metadata, symbols, numerals, images, and sound that
make up the substance of the record. A record’s ability to fix information so that it can be repeated,
recited, or recalled at a later date functions as an extension of memory and is at the heart of the
concept of record. A record may be created specifically to preserve information over time or to
prevent future misinterpretation of that information, although a record cannot be presumed to be
reliable without authentication. However, any item – no matter how ephemeral it was intended to
be – may serve as a record if it is later used as evidence of the thing to which it refers.
ii.
Record Structure: The concept of structure is related to how the record is recorded, which
includes the use of symbols, layout, format, medium, etc. For electronic records, the ICA guide
distinguished between physical and logical structure: whereas the physical structure of a traditional
record is apparent to the user, it is not in the case of electronic records. The physical structure of an
electronic record is varied and dependent on the hardware and software; its logical structure (i.e.
the relationship between its component parts) renders it intelligible (International Council on
Archives, 2005). Structure refers to a record's physical characteristics and internal organization of
the contents. A record’s structure is the form that makes the content tangible and intelligible.
Physical characteristics include components and methods of assembly, such as paper, ink, seals,
and font families, or character sets, encoding, and formats. Structure also includes the intellectual
organization of a document.
iii.
Record Context: Context is the organizational, functional, and operational circumstances
surrounding a record’s creation, receipt, storage, or use. Context includes a record’s date and place
of creation, compilation, or issue, and its relationship to other records. Context explains the “why”
of the record and may be contained within the record’s metadata. A single record derives its
trustworthiness and usefulness from its association with other records that collectively tell the story
of an event or activity. A letter from a constituent, for example, may be filed with the letter of
response so that anyone viewing the response in the future can see it in the context of the request.
Without the request, the response may be taken out of context and misconstrued. The ICA guide
mentioned three aspects of the context of a record, noting that these are not necessarily complete:
First, there is the contextual information, contained in the record (for instance, the signature of
the executive officer). Second, there is the relationship between a record and other records in the
fond. And third, there is the activity in which the record was created (ICA, 2005).
Contextual information links records to the administrative and functional environment (activities,
processes) from which they were created, and to other records. The purpose of this is to provide:
information which is necessary for a complete and adequate understanding of the records;
information which is necessary for a complete and adequate understanding of the activities and
transactions to which the records relate (e.g. responsibilities, accountability); information of
processes associated with records (e.g. appraisal, migration, transfer of records etc.); information
for the efficient management and preservation of records through time; and information for
efficient retrieval of, and access to, records. The contextual information also allows for the
authenticity, reliability and integrity of the records to be proved. This is of particular importance for
16

electronic records. The business processes and functions and the recordkeeping system of a recordcreating organization are part of the context of its records. Context can be preserved by internal
elements of records (e.g. attached documents, annexed information, links, numbers and reference
codes) or by external elements (e.g. metadata).
Records management and records keeping have some special requirements driven by their status as
evidence of the organization’s activity (Lambe and Keenan, 2006). Recordkeeping requirements are in
place to ensure that records are created and registered in an authorized recordkeeping system; access to,
and tracking of, records is done in a controlled manner; regardless of format, records are usable, reliable
and accurate; records are preserved and protected for as long as they are required in appropriate storage
facilities; and records are disposed of according to their value, with approval from the regulating office. A
record should correctly reflect what was communicated or decided and what action was taken. It should be
able to support the needs of the business to which it relates and be used for accountability purposes (ISO
15489-1). It stated further that as well as content, the record should contain or be persistently linked to or
associated with the metadata necessary to document a transaction as follows:
a.
The structure of a record, that is, its format and the relationship between the elements
comprising the records should remain intact.
b.
The business context in which the record was created, received and used should be apparent
in the record (including the business process of which the transaction is part, the date and
time of the transaction and the participants in the transaction);
c.
The links between documents, held separately but combining to make up a record should be
present
According to Lambe and Keenan (2006), the ISO 15489 standard on records management reveal that
records (whether digital or physical) only retain evidentiary status so long as four key characteristics are
preserved by conscious and consistent management processes. These are: Authenticity, Reliability,
Integrity, and Usability. For a record to remain reliable, authentic, with its integrity maintained, and
useable for as long as the record is needed, it is necessary to preserve its content, context, and sometimes
its structure. A trustworthy record preserves the actual content of the record itself and information about
the record that relates to the context in which it was created and used. Specific contextual information will
vary depending upon the business, legal, and regulatory requirements of the business activity (e.g., issuing
land use permits). It also may be necessary to preserve the structure or arrangement of its parts. Failure to
preserve the structure of the record will impair its structural integrity. That, in turn, may undermine the
record's reliability and authenticity (New Jersey Circular Letter 01-01-ST).
Records management policies, procedures and practices should lead to authoritative records which have
the necessary records characteristics listed below;
i.

Authenticity: This refers to the degree of confidence that the record user can have access to, is the
original authentic record (National Archives and Records Service of South Africa, 2006).
Authenticity is claimed to have a particular identity; determining who is authorised to receive or
modify information; and to enforce accountability. The Australian Standard for Records
Management (2002) stated that an authentic record is one that can be proven
a. to be what it purports to be
b. to have been created or sent by the person purported to have created or sent it, and
c. to have been created or sent at the time purported.
To ensure the authenticity of records, organizations should implement and document policies and
procedures which control the creation, receipt, transmission, maintenance and disposition of
records to ensure that records’ creators are authorized and identified and that records are protected
against unauthorized addition, deletion, alteration, use and concealment. The ability to capture
records so that modification, or editing, of the records is no longer possible is a key facet of
authenticity and must be supported by credible metadata, audit trails and reports. The authenticity
of electronic records is threatened whenever the records are transmitted across space or time. It can

17

also be threatened by the act of access as well as transmission where access environment permits
unauthorised and undocumented modifications of the record.
ii.

Reliability: A reliable record is one whose contents can be trusted as a full and accurate
representation of the transactions, activities or facts to which they attest and can be depended upon
in the course of subsequent transactions or activities (Australian Standard for Records
Management, 2002). Records should be created at the time of the transaction or incident to which
they relate, or soon afterwards, by individuals who have direct knowledge of the facts or by
instruments used with the business to conduct the transaction. The UK audit briefing on electronic
records management noted that reliable information-for which records are a valuable source- not
only forms an essential part of high quality, evidence-based decision making, but the recording of
certain types of business information is often a legal requirement. Reliability will be apparent if
there is evidence that the records were created and captured as part of a legitimate business
process and assigned to a logical and appropriate location within the businesses own classification
schema or file-plan where the records will then be subject to corporate management of its disposal.
The characteristics of reliability itself can be broken down into three sub-elements (National
Archives of Australia, 2002). These are trust, relationship/context, and longevity.

iii.

Integrity: The integrity of a record refers to it being complete and unaltered (Australian Standard
for Records Management, 2002). It refers to its wholeness and soundness. A record could be said to
have integrity if it remains complete and uncorrupted in all its essential respects throughout the
course of its existence. It is necessary that a record be protected against unauthorised alteration.
Records management policies and procedures should specify what additions or annotations may be
made to a record after it is created, under what circumstances additions or annotations may be
authorized and who is authorized to make them. Any authorized annotation, addition or deletion to
a record should be explicitly indicated and traceable. The characteristic of integrity can be broken
down into four sub-elements. These are traceability, retention periods, applicable rules, standards
and regulation and risk. In order to confirm the record is unchanged or that only authorised and
appropriate changes have been made, the status of the records and the presence or absence of
change has to be auditable or traceable.

iv.

Usability: A usable record is one that can be located, retrieved and interpreted (Australian
Standard for Records Management, 2002). It should be capable of subsequent presentation as
directly connected to the business activity or transaction that produced it. The contextual linkages
of records should carry the information needed for an understanding of the transactions that created
and used them. It should be possible to identify a record within the context of broader business
activities and functions. The links between records that document a sequence of activities should
be maintained. Usability comprises four key elements:
 The form or forms which government may wish to view or publish this information
 The ability to produce new renditions in other formats as additional instances of the record
whilst maintaining links to the original record
 The access permissions which allow access to the record or to redacted instances of the record
(e.g. where it is necessary to publish or release a limited subset of the information but where
some details such as address are retained).
 The ability of the user to know where this information was obtained and where it can still be
located and retrieved if a requirement for authenticity is established.
What make a record useable are locating, retrieval, presentation and interpretation. According to
ICA (2005), records are potentially reusable if it is possible to extract information from the record
or otherwise allow the record to interact with modern information processing systems.

v.
18

Accuracy: This is to ensure that records are accurate, not altered and reflects the true state of the
record.

vi.

Completeness: This is typically used as a characteristic of a set of records rather than an individual
item within the records, although it can apply to both. For a set of records to be complete we must
be confident that no item have been added or removed from the set other than in accordance with
the rules established for that set. Completeness is not simply a matter of saying everything is still
there because there may be very good reasons why some things are no longer there. It also involves
saying nothing is there which should not be there. If we consider e-mail, we may have a policy that
dictates how long different emails should be retained. At various times the recordkeeping system
will contain different messages, and over time the number of messages within it will reduce. As
long as we can demonstrate that the messages removed were removed in accordance with
organizational policy, and that no messages appear which were not originally present, then we have
demonstrated completeness.

vii.

Availability/Accessibility: Complete and authentic collections are of no use if they are not
available and cannot be accessed, or if we cannot make sense of their contents. Hence, the
requirement that the records are available, accessible and understandable. By accessible, it means
that there is still some technology, both hardware and software that allows the locating of records
and then translate them into a form which human senses can deal with, such as marks on paper or
words on a screen. By understandable we mean that we can make sense of the record and the
meaning it is intended to convey. This understanding may require assistance or support of other
information, which is also part of the record system; it is not an absolute requirement that each
record makes sense in isolation. Records can be accessible even if we no longer have the hardware
or software initially used to produce them. All that is required is that we have something, which
can still be used to make them readable by people, even if the record does not have all the
properties of the software that created them. A collection of thousands of files without any means
of identifying which is which, other than reading them, is not, in any meaningful sense, accessible.

viii.

Processable: For records to be considered processable, it means they can be manipulated, selected
and displayed using criteria appropriate to their preservation purpose. This may mean using
facilities similar or identical to those, which existed in the original record creating system. But in
many cases, the system in which the records were created may have functions which are not
required for the types of access which is needed in the long-term.

According to Lipchak (2002), good recordkeeping is essential for good governance. It provides the vital
information and essential evidence to:
 enable the government to identify and understand problems and issues, make decisions
and take actions;
 support programmes, policies and services;
 documents, protect legal rights, entitlements and obligation
 achieve oppeneness, accountability, earn public trust and involve citizens;
 enable the successful use of information technology; and
 preserve and use important information about the past.
He also noted that good recordkeeping means:
 determining information needs, creating and acquiring information;
 distributing and sharing records and information;
 evaluating and using information to identify and solve problems;
 documenting activities and decisions;
 maintaining records for as long as they have value;
 determining responsibility for managing and protecting records;
 identifying, organizing, storing and disposing of records;
 protecting confidential and personal information contained in records;
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providing sufficient staff training and other resources; and
evaluating records management performance and improving where needed.

From the above, it is imperative for government officials to adopt good records keeping practices, since
this will support effective, transparent and accountable government. For instance, accessible and reliable
records will show what decisions were made, actions taken, people who were involved and the rights and
responsibilities that exists. Also, it will enable citizens, government officials and others to determine if its
programmes and services are accessible and effective, transparent in the way it functions, and if it is
accountable for what it says and does.
2.6

Assessing e- Readiness in Facilitating Electronic Records Keeping Practices in Nigeria
The world has witnessed the birth of a new era - the Information Age. It is akin to a global wave
sweeping through all corners of the world; albeit, its impact in Africa is minimal at this point in time.
Many researchers have advanced a variety of reasons why African and other developing countries lag
behind in this revolution (Odedra, Lawrie, Bennert and Goodman, 1993; Molla 2000; WSIS 2004, Ifinedo,
2005); however, not many have focused on the e-readiness aspects. Further, it has to be noted that African
nations are beginning to make progress towards adopting reforms that could help them embrace this new
order (WEF 2002; Mbarika, Jensen and Meso, 2002; UNECA 2004; WSIS 2004; Hamilton, Jensen and
Southwood, 2004). Basically, African countries tend not to have the same infrastructural facilities and
support as the developed West, which are in fact prerequisites for the new order. As such, it is increasingly
becoming common to see more and more nations across the globe shift away from erstwhile agrarian and
industrial economies to one that is knowledge-based in which information resource utilization thrives.
Such economies go by various names: network economy (Hart, 2003), knowledge economy (Neff 1998),
E-economy (Turner 2001) and information economy (Castells 1999a), amongst others.

 

Essentially, e-readiness is used to capture how nations across the globe fare in terms of creating, diffusing,
adopting and using the various components of a networked economy. The e-readiness assessment of a
nation provides policy makers with a detailed scorecard of their economy’s competitiveness relative to
international counterparts in the digital era. According to the Bridge Organization (2001), “E-readiness
assessment tools and models can be divided into two main categories: those that focus on basic
infrastructure or a nation’s readiness for business or economic growth, and those that focus on the ability
of the overall society to benefit from ICT”. E-readiness is the extent to which a country’s business
environment is conducive to Internet-based opportunities. It is a concept that spans a wide range of factors,
from telephone penetration to online security to intellectual property protection. It is an idea that has
outlasted the Internet “bubble” that sparked such exuberance—and delivered such disappointment—in the
late 1990s (Economists Intelligence Unit, 2002). Despite the dotcom bust, the Internet is still reshaping the
way companies do business, and countries’ e-readiness will be a vital feature of the global competitive
landscape. The aim of e-readiness assessment is to investigate how the different spheres of society - health,
security, education, governance, etc. are able to utilize the opportunities created by ICT, particularly the
Internet. The notion of e-readiness broadly covers political, regulatory, organizational, cultural,
communication and technological factors (Ojo, Janowski and Estevez, 2007). There are at least three
factors to motivate countries to advance e-readiness. First, ICT promises enormous benefits towards
solving economic and social problems, for instance job creation through the ICT industry or productivity
enhancements for ICT-intensive sectors. Second, non e-ready states risk becoming digitally isolated and
non-competitive. Third, ICT development is now firmly on the international organizations’ and foreign
donors’ agendas, through the programmes like the UN’s Millennium Development Goals or the World’s
Bank infoDev programme.
Achieving e-readiness, and the effective use of ICTs as tools for social and economic development are key
elements in the process of a nation’s strive to develop their economies, decrease their dependence on the
developed world, and ready themselves for participation in the global economy. The result of e-readiness
policy programme in Africa is hinged on the World Economic Forum (WEF) in collaboration with NEPAD
and the e-Africa Commission that helped to address technology – related policy issues within the context
20

of broader development activities. The goal of the programme is to help African countries develop ereadiness policies and ensure or reduce the policy obstacles that limit the use of ICT through out the
region. Bridging the digital divide was also highlighted as focus area. ICT is seen as a factor that will
affect development and crosscutting impact on all aspect of human life. The e-Africa’s commission was
launched on 14th July 2002, with focus on e-policies, e-strategies and global ICT governance, etc. How
best to harness the power of ICT for development is often framed in terms of “e-readiness”, or how ready a
country is to gain the benefits offered by ICT in terms of policy, infrastructures and ground level
initiatives. E-readiness strategies need to be tailor made to address the unique local needs, priorities and
grand level realities reflected within each state and the broader national goals. E-readiness can be
examined from the policy environment perspective, infrastructure perspective, ground-level projects
perspective and economic perspective.
Various e-readiness assessment models have been developed over the years by different international and
corporate organizations especially for the purpose of international benchmarking. Many less-developed
countries lag behind, and their e-readiness hindered by poor infrastructure, inadequate protection for
intellectual property, lack of finance and unfavourable business environments (EIU, 2002). In the overall
analysis, the mean e-readiness of Africa is poor in comparison to other economies (Ifinedo, 2005) and the
overall socio-economic development and progress is being hampered by poor governance and corruption
in the developing countries including the Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), which Nigeria belongs.
In the EIU survey covering the world’s 60 largest markets, the rankings provide a useful guide for
companies seeking to invest in technology-savvy countries, as well as governments looking to reap the
benefits of the digital age. In the Middle East and Africa, Israel alone ranks among the top 30 countries
and Nigeria ranked 56 of the 60 countries studied. Nigeria’s e-readiness index stood at 2.97 (EIU, 2005)
but rated 8 position in the Middle East and African Region. The World Economic Forum rating placed
Nigeria at the medium-level of progress towards e-readiness (Bridges Organization, 2001) and the 2003 ereadiness rankings, Nigeria scored 3.19 out of 10 to emerge the 55th country out of 60 countries globally.
This was an improvement of 0.22 over the last year’s 2.97”. Generally, in the African region, Southern
Africa sub-region had the highest e-readiness indices for the years 2004 and 2005 followed by the
Northern Africa, while the Western Africa had the least e-readiness indices (Olatokun and Opesade, 2008).
The most e-ready of all the sixteen countries of this sub-region was Cape Verde having an e-readiness
index of 0.3346 with a global position of 116th. Cape Verde was followed by Ghana and then Nigeria
while the least e-ready country in the sub-region was Liberia which happened to be the least e-ready
country in the African region. Nigeria was rated as the world’s 139th e-ready country, the 23rd. in the
African region and the 3rd in the Western African sub-region with e-readiness index of 0.2758 in 2005
(United Nations, 2006).
In Bridge organization (2001), a number of e-readiness assessment models were presented including
readiness for the networked world, readiness for e-commerce, readiness for participation in the global
digital economy, Internet diffusion, and ICT diffusion in general. Presently, there are an impressive
number of indices available for international benchmarking: International Telecommunication Union
Digital Access Index, World Economic Forum Networked Readiness Index (Dutta et al 2004), United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development ICT Development Index (UNCTAD 2003), the Economist
Intelligence Unit e-Readiness Index, Mosaic Group Index, Conference Board of Canada Connectedness
Index, and ORBICOM Infostate Index. These indices implicitly assume different definitions for ereadiness and consequently their component indicators or measures. As one would expect, their outcomes
differ (Ojo, Janowski and Estevez, 2007). E-readiness may be organized into two categories:
1. General indices measuring ICT capacity, Internet diffusion and other access-related issues without any
particular focus on specific aspects of Information Society.
2. Indices that target particular themes, for instance e-commerce or e-government.
With this state of affairs, Nigeria needs to improve the ICTs development in the country because the
government needs it in e-Governance, and many organizations / educational institutions at all levels
(primary, secondary, and tertiary) needs it for on-line activities or have facilities for internet based
21

transactions. Information on the status of economic and social benefits to their countries, and e-readiness
assessment can be a useful tool if wisely used. More so, it will facilitate electronic record keeping
practices.
2.7
Records and Electronic Records (E-Record) Management
As the world becomes more independent and populous, the need and potential uses of records increases. In
civil societies, competing claims and ambitions for limited living space trading advantages and resources
must be adjudicated, and records play the crucial role in achieving wise, fair and timely results. Records
are especially crucial to individuals seeking to establish their identities or ensure their entitlements to basic
human rights. Therefore, records are about individuals–employees, citizens, institutions/organizations,
government business or activities, etc. Records have a significant role in the democratic process. They
provide evidence to support the rule of law, support the accountability of government administration, are
evidence of the interactions between the people and their government, and have value in documenting the
history and culture of a state, country, organization or institution. Hence, all organizations, institutions, and
government should manage information to support effective decision-making, public accountability, costeffective delivery of programmes and services, and public access (Treasury Board of Canada, 1996).
Records could be presented or documented in various formats or medium. These include; paper records
and electronic records; microforms are other forms of records, though could also be in an electronic form
as Computer Aided Microform (CAM) for easy and more robust accessibility.
The Australian Standard (AS 4390) defined records as “recorded information in any form, including data
in computer systems, created or received and maintained by an organization or person in the transaction of
business or the conduct of affairs and kept as evidence of such activity.” The National Archives Decree
(1992) defined records as all papers, registers, printed matters, photograph, microfilms, cinematographic
films, sound recordings or other documentary materials regardless of physical form or characteristics made
or received by public or state officers, or by business houses or companies, private bodies or individuals in
pursuance of their legal obligations or in connections with the transactions of their proper business, but
does not include literacy or museum materials made or acquired solely for reference or exhibition
purposes, extra copies of records kept only for convenience of reference or stocks of publications (FGN,
1992). A record is recorded information regardless of form or medium, which serves as evidence of a
transaction, preserved for the evidential information it contains (The National Archives & Records Service
of South Africa Act, 1998).
Electronic records (E-records) are informational files or data files that are created and stored in digital
form through the use of computers and applications software. The International Records Management
Trust (2004) defined e-records as recoded information, documents or data that provides evidence of
policies, transactions and activities carried out in e-government and e-commerce environments. E-records
are always machine-dependent formats, thus electronic records are accessible and readable only with the
assistance of digital processors (Landis, 2000). E-records are strategic and operational assets, vital to the
operation of the state. They need to be protected and used for the benefit of citizens. E-records support the
day-to-day activities and services of government and interactions with citizens and private and public
sector partners, just like paper records. As government services moves online, e-records medium will be
the basis for confirming pension and other entitlements; registering births and deaths; verifying citizenship
and certifying voting rights; enabling the collection of taxes and census enumeration; supporting financial
management and enabling adults and evaluations; helping resolve land claims; supporting litigations;
documenting inter-governmental agreements; enabling economic planning; describing the government’s
accomplishments; documenting its transactions; monitoring the nation’s development and governance, and
enabling countless other information-intensive activities (IRMT, 2004).
The wisdom and intellectual ability or creativity of man has caused development on recorded information
or altered the nature and forms in which records exists, in terms of its creation/receipt/capture, storage and
maintenance, retrieval, dissemination and disposition–either for permanent preservation in the Archives or
total destruction. The electronic revolution is changing forever the way records are being created, stored
22

and managed. Therefore, records cannot be relegated to the background; they must be accorded their right
of place, particularly now that they exist more in the electronic form and in the context of electronic
governance. For many years, lack of attention to records keeping has mitigated the existence of longstanding, well known practices for the use of paper records. Records can be created and stored in different
media and formats, including paper-based files or computer systems, on a single medium or as multimedia.
Records can also be transferred from one medium to another and from one context to another through
copying, imaging or digital transfer (Kansas State Historical Society, 2006). Generally speaking, while
records may be on paper, electronic records can be ‘born digital’ or digitized. It must be noted that
electronic records however, are easily updated, altered and manipulated. Since e-records can be born
digital or transferred to the electronic format, if appropriate measures are not taken, the essential
characteristics of records – content, structure, context can be altered or lost in the process. Nonexistence or
poor quality records will prevent online business including e-government being conducted successfully
and may involve loss of revenue and losses in court. E-records are subject to loss because of their reliance
on changing technologies, their storage on fragile media, and their dependence on documentation that may
be inadequate or missing (Thurston, 2005).
Heslop et. al. (2002) who sees records as a ‘process’ being the interaction of data and technology resulting
into performance, reaffirm the source of digital records being data file, which has structure that varies
according to different format. The process, they assert, is the specific combination of computer hardware
and software and the configuration needed to understand the file format of a source. The performance is
what is rendered to the screen or to any other output device. The second edition of Managing Electronic
Records stated that in the process of conversion or transfer, the essential characteristics of the recordcontent, structure, and context–may be altered or lost (Commonwealth of Australia, 1997). In the
conversion or transfer process therefore, careful planning and system design are required to ensure that
records’ characteristics are both captured and maintained (Heslop et. al., 2002). Computer systems per se
do not create or maintain records; specific intervention and planning is required to ensure that the essential
characteristics of the records are built into electronic information systems and maintained (Commonwealth
of Australia, 1997). According to Thurston (2005), if e-records are to be valid in the future, governments
must address issues such as media instability and deterioration, obsolescence and incompatibility of
hardware, software, data formats, and storage media, lack of metadata or contextual information (which
makes it difficult to access information or use it meaningfully), and lack of clearly assigned
responsibilities and resources for long-term preservation. The various formats in which electronic records
exists–textual, database, e-mail, graphics, electronic publication, and voice mail–must be well managed
and preserved for posterity.
In the digital environment, not only is there a risk of reduced government programme effectiveness due to
poor records and information management, governments can face increased operating costs; gaps in
recorded memory; reduced public access to entitlements and the erosion of rights; inability to comply with
laws and policies; weakened capacity for decision-making; increased legal, financial and political risk; and
reduced transparency, accountability and trust (IRMT, 2004). Electronic records management principles
are relevant whenever computer systems are used not only to process information but also to provide
reliable and authentic evidence that given activities or transactions have occurred. Not all data in electronic
information systems constitute records. Records have a distinct legal and administrative status that not all
information and documents have. It is vital that government understands the role of records within their
activities and manages their records as important resource with special requirements that may be distinct
from other information resources.
Poor records and information management is a fundamental impediment to all aspects of public sector
reform, from improving pay and employment practices, to revamping government functions and
organizational structures, to strengthening financial management and the national legal and regulatory
framework. In the absence of a culture of records management, monitoring and evaluation, quality control,
and verification cannot proceed. Well-kept records provide the basis for the rule of law and accountability.
They are the foundation upon which a nation may build programs for good governance, poverty reduction,
23

equitable justice, financial accountability, enforceable civil rights, etc. Access to full and accurate records
is at the heart of the accountability process. They are the means by which the evidence of past and current
actions, decisions, procedures and policies are preserved for future analysis and access. The National
Historical Publication and Records Commission (1998) reported the dependency on technology and media,
and ease of change and loss of electronic records; as some of the critical problems militating against the
effective management of electronic records. To support the long-term information needs of an office,
electronic records management system is desirable. It preserves the security, authenticity and integrity of
records for permanent preservation.
Inadequate records and records keeping can result in;
 Failure of individual or systems to make records in the first place.
 Failure to make records that adequately meet accountability and other organizational
requirements.
 Failure to capture records into recordkeeping systems so that they are subject to arbitrary
destruction or cannot be found when required,
 Failure to identify and retrieve the authoritative version of a record when multiple versions
exists;
 Failure to maintain records for the period of time necessary to meet specific accountability
requirement; and
 Failure to assign responsibility for different aspects of record keeping at appropriate levels in
the organization, so that no one takes responsibility.
All these failures can be adequately catered for with appropriate records management programme put in
place and conscientiously implemented. Meanwhile, the responsibility of managing electronic records is
not well defined in countries such as Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania and Zambia (Mutiti, 2002).
Mutiti stated further that in Kenya and Malawi, individual departments take responsibility while in
Swaziland the Ministry of Public Service and Information is responsible for electronic records
management. Apart from South Africa the other countries do not have an explicit policy to institute and
manage electronic records. A closer look at the situation in Nigeria would draw our minds to the scenario
above and being conscious that we are not better either. IRMT/World Bank (2003) observed that “in many
countries in the developing world, laws, legislation, and policies are inadequate for the protection of
electronic records and the products of information technologies. Indeed, in some countries, the legislative
infrastructure does not exist to manage the paper records either. They suggested that National Archives
around the world could revise their existing legislation to accommodate the current need of managing
electronic records. In the process of formulating or revising legislation, the legal departments, relevant
ministries, and departments of government should be involved, raising their understanding of the issues
involved. In view of this, the national archive of Nigeria is presently reviewing her policy on public
records management, with a view of integrating electronic record management.
The state of records keeping in Nigeria is such that great improvements are needed if vital information is
not to be lost forever. Momoh (1989) observed that “public officials are over-sensitive to these records and
thereby hoard them from the general public. Also, they do not attach importance to records keeping both
in the public and private sectors. Consequently, vital data for decision making cannot be made available
when most needed. Individuals who have records, which are no longer needed for the day-to-day business,
still have strong sentiment attached to them without really appreciating their archival value.” It is however
hoped that with the revised archival policy and enactment of the freedom of information bill, the situation
will change for the better. Effective records management is a crosscutting issue. Initiatives aimed at
embracing economic performance, increasing government accountability, and strengthening civil society,
rely on access to accurate evidence (records). The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA,
1996) identified the primary management functions of government agencies as;
 To manage a corporate file plan for filed records,
 Maintaining the relationships between records and files and between the series and the file plan,
24








Identifying records that are due for disposal and managing the disposal process,
Associating the contextual and structural data within a document,
Constructing and managing audit trails,
Managing records version control,
Managing the integrity and reliability of records once they have been declared as such,
Managing records in all formats in an integrated manner.

The need to implement or improve records management strategies along with supporting records
management systems (computerized) cannot be overemphasized. Barsoum (2006) identified the benefits a
well-constructed records management system provides. It includes;
 Enabling users to monitor, track, retrieve, maintain, retain, and dispose off records according to
retention schedules, rules, and trigger events
 Streamlining and standardizing records management across company departments and locations
 The primary means for maintaining retention schedules, records’ class codes, and retention rules
 Automating and simplifying routine tasks
 Reducing the cost of operations by streamlining rapid records retrieval – whereby information can
be produced quickly and on demand when required, reducing labour and administrative costs
 Protecting against potential litigation in that contents that should be discarded will be-and
according to consistently applied standards and regulations.
Computer maintained records are qualitatively different from traditional paper records. In embracing egovernance, paving the way for good governance in Nigeria, a number of managerial, professional and
technical issues are expected to arise with the management of electronically generated records.
Professional issues will impinge on decisions about creation, storage, access, use, appraisal and
disposition. Technical issues will focus on aspects such as selection of hardware and software,
maintenance of systems, upgrading, obsolescence, training, etc. Managerial (policy) issues will highlight
the need for an information technology policy, training of staff and resource sharing.
Though all of the elements of a virtual record may exist within a single computer file, they may also be
distributed across the entire network or system. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, n.d.)
defined recordkeeping system as a manual or automated system that collects, organizes, and categorizes
records, facilitating their preservation, retrieval, use, and disposition. The agency posits that such a system
has four components:
 Records – information resources, in any format, that are created in the course of business,
received for action, or needed to document agency activities.
 People – the Records Liaison Officer and records contacts, who oversee a records
management program; and Agency staff, who create, receive, and use records in conducting
business
 Processes – procedures on how to manage records throughout their lifecycle
 Tools – equipment and software used to capture, organize, store, track, and retrieve the
records.
Recordkeeping systems is the framework to capture, maintain and provide access to evidence over time, as
required by the jurisdiction in which it is implemented and in accordance with common business practices
(National Archives of Australia, 1997). The Center for Technology in Government (1999) identified three
functional requirements for electronic records management and preservation as follows;
 Records Capture: Records are created or captured and identified to support the business
process and meet all records management requirements related to the process.
 Records Maintenance and Accessibility: Electronic records are maintained so that they
are accessible and may retain their integrity for as long as they are needed.
 System Reliability: A system is administered in accordance with best practices in the
25

information resource management (IRM) field to ensure the reliability of the records it
produces.
The Government of New South Wales (2004) advised that “Agencies should ensure that they adequately
and properly document those aspects of their business that are conducted in the electronic records; and
also ensure that these records satisfy business needs, accountability requirements and community
expectations.” Recordkeeping requirements must be incorporated in the design and implementation of new
systems and enhancements of existing systems.
There are minimum requirements for the creation, utilization, maintenance, retention, preservation, storage
and disposition of record copies, regardless of the media or form (American Archives, n. d.). The
requirements for electronic recordkeeping systems, including, but not limited to, microcomputers,
minicomputers, mainframe computers, and image recording systems (regardless of storage media) in
network or stand-alone configurations should be spelt out. Also is the need to conduct a cost benefit
analysis for an electronic recordkeeping system, to insure that the project or system contemplated is not
cost effective. If the right records are created, captured and maintained appropriately in a secure system,
they will be meaningful and accessible to those who need them for as long as required. Knowing
recordkeeping requirements will facilitate the development of appropriate recordkeeping strategies and
actions. National Archives of Australia (2002) outlined recordkeeping systems to include;
 Both records practitioners and records users (people);
 A set of authorized policies, assigned responsibilities, delegations of authority, procedures
and practices; policy statements, procedures manuals, user guidelines and other documents
which are used to authorize and promulgate the policies, procedures and practices;
 The records themselves;
 Specialized information and records systems used to control the records; and
 Software, hardware and other equipment, and stationery.
These electronic systems must protect the information’s confidentiality, ensure that information is not
altered in an unauthorized law, and make it available when needed. A properly functioning recordkeeping
system will minimize the risk of breaching legislative requirements on privacy and intellectual property.
This makes the whole objective of electronic governance achievable. NARA (2005) enumerated the
benefits that ERM governance brings to an agency to include:
 Joint responsibility for planning and executing ERM, shared by document producers, users,
agency management and staff working alongside IT personnel
 Clearer understanding of objectives and expectations for ER
 Clearer visibility of issues and priorities associated with ERM, such as ownership and
versioning of documents; unified file plans, records schedules and retention periods; access
to records; security classifications; and privacy considerations
 Transparency and better comprehension of ERM-related activities and performance
 Alignment of ERM with business needs of the agency, demonstrated by the selection of
priority record groups in initial phases of ERM implementation
 Improved value delivery through business process and workflow improvements
 Optimized costs for IT investments in ERM solution
 Management of records management-related risks
 Improved quality of service by a staff able to identify and retrieve required records
efficiently.
Therefore, an elaborate, reliable recordkeeping systems and personnel must be put in place to ensure a
robust electronic record management to guarantee good governance in Nigeria. When employed with IT
projects such as ERM, governance structures: assure that all IT projects further the goals and priorities of
the agency; improve the ability of an agency to share data and establish common systems; clarify and
26

enforce policies equally across all projects; reduce the conflicts that arise when roles and responsibilities
are not clearly defined; and ensure that corrective actions are taken with regard to problematic IT projects,
reducing the number and severity of failures through oversight and appropriate management.
2.8
Records Management for Good Governance
Governments around the world are often praised for good or rebuked for bad governance. Good
governance is predicated on the adoption of functional records management programme and the enactment
of Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation by governments (Mazebe and Sebina, 2003). Records that are
accumulated and used by government are reflective of the activities undertaken and the processes that have
or are being initiated on behalf of the public. Management of these records enables government to operate
in a transparent fashion and being able to account to the public who brought it to power. The importance of
FOI and records management to good governance cannot be overstated. Though there may be little or no
empirical studies establishing the relationship between FOI and records management, experience from
countries having promulgated FOI law prove that records management is core to the realisation of the
tenets of the legislation (Mazebe and Sebina, 2003). Research has however proven that for good
governance to be sustained, good records management programmes need to be introduced and practiced.
According to Lipchak (2002a), information is crucial to good governance as it reflects and captures
government activities and processes. Murphy (1996) expresses a similar view by stating that information is
at the centre of the relationship between government and the public it governs. He stated further that
without information, the public cannot understand, let alone ask how and why decisions were made on
their behalf. Information is crucial to transparency and accountability (Riley, 2000). Governments are
expected to enact laws that will facilitate free flow of official information to the public. This flow is meant
to keep the public informed of government activities and processes and is presented as a measure of its
commitment to account to the people who brought it to power. This enables government to convince the
public that they are getting fair and equal access to services, resources and opportunities and that their
views and opinions are always considered. It also enables the public to be in a position of understanding
what decisions government has made, why they were made and if they have the needs of the public at
heart. It is against this backdrop that the Freedom of Information Bill being considered by the House of
Representative, Nigeria is of relevance. However, for reasons best known to the law making body, they
have decided to put the bill aside. This has a longing implication for the enthronement of good governance
in Nigeria, where accountability, transparency, participation and the rule of law may thrive.
People seeking information do not have to persuade an elected representative to ask questions for them,
search for a lawyer willing to waive his fees or hope that their situation involves the peculiar
characteristics that the press deem newsworthy. It is a free-standing right, which the ordinary citizen uses
in his or her own name (Frankel, n.d.). Where government operates in secrecy, the decision making
process is obscured from the public. This therefore, prevents government conduct to be appraised and
judged by the public. Absence of accountability translates into absence of transparency. Where both
accountability and transparency are non-existent, good governance is bound to fail (Mwakyembe, 2000b).
For government to be transparent and accountable, it should provide the public with an independent right
to the information it manages and uses. An accountable government relies on a public which has keen
interest in its affairs and is willing to inform itself about government activities.
It is important to recognise that records document decisions and activities of government. They also
document the rights and obligations of government to the public and other governments. In other words,
records document the process of governance and reflect governments’ interaction with the public. Records
are working documents that government utilises to execute its functions. Therefore, they serve as a source
of evidence of governments’ performance in pursuance of service and excellence. Records are the
benchmark upon which present and future decisions and activities of government are predicated. Where
records are known to exist, but cannot be retrieved, decisions and activities of government cannot be
evaluated. Governance may not be questioned if decisions arrived at are not derived from complete,
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reliable and accurate records. Government officials are expected to keep relevant, complete, accurate,
reliable, and authentic records that are available and accessible, authoritative, useable, secured and with
integrity. Even the functions, activities and obligations of government officials can be suspect if they are
not backed by records. The absence of records impacts upon transparency and accountability of
government. The baseline of this argument is that, where there are no records, there is no transparency and
accountability; where there is no transparency and accountability, there is no good governance
(Mwakyembe, 2000).
Mazebe and Sebina, (2003) outlined the use of records by government. These are to:
 benchmark its progress and that of organisations and individuals working for it
 protect the rights and obligations of the public, its partners and itself
 support programmes meant to advance the will of the public
 enable the public gain an insight into the activities and processes government does in their name
 prevent, eliminate or reduce fraud
 support accountability
 support and uphold transparency
 provide evidential support during a litigation process
 preserve corporate memory, culture and history of a people
 fulfil FOI compliance
The importance of records to government, as outlined above, suggests that their management is crucial.
Records Management according to ISO 15489-1:2001 “is a field of management responsible for the
efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records…”
This definition suggests that records management is a component of the discipline management, concerned
with managing records following either the life cycle or records continuum models. Parker (1999) defined
records management as “the systematic and consistent control of all records throughout their lifecycle.”
The definition suggests that for records to be managed some process which is both ‘systematic’ and
‘consistent’ should be applied. Records management is therefore, a management activity that ensures that
complete, accurate and reliable records of organisational activities and processes are created, maintained in
ways allowing for their eventual retrieval for internal and external use and to prove that what an
organisation is doing is in accordance with the will of the people. This fulfils public expectations that
organisations are accountable for what they have been set up to do. It should be noted that without records
management, government cannot manage current activities and has no ability to use past experience
captured in records. The management of records is crucial to good governance. Records management sees
to the creation of records that are authentic and are trustworthy to support government activities. Records
management also ensures that access to the records is possible and timely. Records that are well managed
are instrumental to effective governance.
Governance is the process, the function and power of government. It is public leadership achieved through
political office. Good governance therefore, refers to the norms and values that a government takes into
account as it governs. It borders on legitimacy of government, public participation in government,
accountability and transparency, respect for the rule of law and freedom of association and expression
(IRMT (2000); Norvartis Foundation for Sustainable Development (n.d.); Murphy (n.d.); and Lipchark,
2002). The above elements of good governance are grounded on democratic values which are of the view
that a government should legitimately come to power by virtue of being elected. This suggests that the
government governs on behalf of the public that gave it the mandate and should be transparent to enable
the public know how it functions. Further, the government should account to the public who brought it to
power. These values, presume that government and the public respect the rule of law and that the public be
encouraged through legislative guarantees to express themselves freely. In democracy, two elements are at
play, namely the governed and the government. The government is chosen by the public and as a result
has to be accountable to them. Democracy is based on the understanding that the public being governed
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should play an active and meaningful role in the way they are governed. Active and meaningful role
transcends public participation in choosing their government through the ballot to their active involvement
in governance. This does not mean that they should be going to offices daily as employees, but should be
afforded the opportunity to influence public policy and other decisions made in their name. Crucial to
public participation is their being informed of what government does on their behalf. As argued by Marsh
(1987), for the public to be informed of what government does for their sake, it should give them a legal
right to be informed about what it is doing. This can be achieved through passing of the freedom of
information bill.
Access to the information by the public is important to good governance in that the public become
informed of how governance is practised on their behalf and can use the knowledge gained to effectively
participate in governance. Provision of access to information also enables the public to use it to hold
government accountable. Where records management is non-functional, the guarantee to government
information is meaningless. Where records management is faulty, the guarantees of transparency and
accountability, which are crucial to good governance, will not be met. Good governance implies the
capacity to provide citizens with an acceptable level of public services, in an effective and efficient
manner. Good governance is one of the newly fashionable terms in development agencies and in academic
circles. The discussion has been on how good governance can be promoted and supported as part of a
strategy for sustainable local development. For many years, consideration of such a subject was off limits,
because development was understood as principally an economic process, i.e., it was to be promoted
primarily by manipulating economic variables (levels of savings, levels of investment, prices, wages,
transport, infrastructure, etc.), and it was to be evaluated essentially by economic measures, particularly
gross domestic product (GDP) in absolute terms and per capita, and its rate of growth. However, this study
is to examine how good records keeping practices influence and engender good governance.
Good governance is essential for maintaining a decentralized (devolved) mode of local institutional
performance that commands popular respect and support. Without such respect and support the process
will not be sustainable. What are the elements of good governance that we should pay attention to? Good
governance can be confirmed by surveys that show high satisfaction with the performance of government,
local or national. But the elements of governance that make it good should be identified and evaluated
separately from their outcomes. There is not yet any consensus in the literature on all the elements of good
governance, or on how they should be listed and described (Uphoff, n.d.). The following listing is a simple
set that meets most people’s concept of good governance:
Accountability: This shows at whatever level (and every level) decision-makers are making decisions and
acting with the knowledge that they can and will be removed from office, or penalized in some other way,
if they go against the interests and policy preferences of the public, and/or if they use their office to
acquire special benefits or advantages. Accountability is when government is able and willing to show the
extent to which its actions and decisions are consistent with clearly-defined and agreed-upon objectives
(OECD, n.d.). The World Bank (1997) sees accountability as building government capacity - public sector
management, public enterprise management and reform, public financial management, and civil service
reform.
Transparency: Transparency is when government actions, decisions and decision-making processes are
open to an appropriate level of scrutiny by other parts of government, civil society and, in some instances,
outside institutions and governments (OECD, n.d.). The public here is provided with reasonably complete
and unbiased information about the decisions and actions of government actors or others by decision
makers, so that members of the public can make informed judgments about the performance of their
government representatives or agents. Transparency borders on information openness. That is disclosure of
information (World Bank, 1997).
Probity: This is an abstract word for honesty, referring to upright, legitimate behaviour on the part of
decision-makers and their agents. With enough accountability and transparency, this should not be a
problem, but in fact, lack of probity is a serious problem in most governments, and it deserves explicit
consideration.
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Participation: This concerns particularly the input side of governance, informing decision-makers about
the needs, preferences, wishes and capabilities of the public. Participation can contribute to accountability,
facilitate transparency, and ensure probity. It can be direct (personal) or indirect (through representatives),
formal or informal, highly institutionalized or ad hoc, continuous or intermittent (Cohen and Uphoff,
1980). Where there is little or no participation, the other factors in good governance will suffer.
Participation is seen by the World Bank (1997) as participatory development processes through
participation of beneficiaries and affected groups, public sector/private sector interface, decentralization of
public and service delivery functions (empowerment of local government), and cooperation with nongovernment organizations (NGOs). In the same vein, the World Bank (1997) identified predictability as
one of the elements of good governance.
Predictability: This border on the legal frameworks. Laws and development of legal frameworks for
private sector development, which permits the government action to be predicted, should be in place.
Predictability refers to the existence of laws, regulations, and policies to regulate society; and their fair and
consistent application.
The Organization for Economic and Corporation Development (OECD, n.d.) Directorate for Public
Governance and Territorial Development outlined these additional elements of good governance;
Efficiency and effectiveness: This is when government strives to produce quality public outputs,
including services delivered to citizens, at the best cost, and ensures that outputs meet the original
intentions of policymakers.
Responsiveness: This implies that government has the capacity and flexibility to respond rapidly to
societal changes, takes into account the expectations of civil society in identifying the general public
interest, and is willing to critically re-examine the role of government.
Forward vision: This is the ability of government to anticipate future problems and issues based on
current data and trends and develop policies that take into account future costs and anticipated changes
(e.g. demographic, economic, environmental, etc.).
Rule of law: This is the ability of government to enforce equally transparent laws, regulations and codes
The Canada Corps looking at the elements of governance from a development perspective came out with a
model explicitly indicating that they are related and dependent on one another. According to Canada
Corps (2005), if an overarching goal of development is to widen people’s choices over their lives, a key
aspect to this is enabling participation. The opportunity to participate must be unhindered by
impediments imposed by the state. This brings forth the rule of law as a development issue. The rule of
law must enable freedom of association and speech, and enable the capacity to participate constructively.
Rule of law should also ensure predictable, fair and consistent application of these laws and government
policies. Predictability is supported by transparency. Decision-making processes, however well
intentioned, must be open to public scrutiny. Further to being transparent, institutions and processes must
demonstrate that they are responsive to the hopes and aspirations of the people at large, allowing citizens
to obtain redress for their grievances and advocate for change in policies and processes. Governance is
also about eliminating favouritism toward special interest groups and treating everyone equitably. The
equity dimension seeks to ensure that development is inclusive, that all people benefit from well
functioning political and economic institutions and political, economic and social processes. Finally, when
the exercise of government decision-making is accountable, it adds legitimacy to state-society
interactions. Without accountability, the social contract between citizens and representative government is
broken.
Considering the issue of good governance, the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared that there
is no single issue of greater importance to the economic and political future of Africa than good
governance, and it must command the "full and lasting attention" of Africans (Kofi, 1997). He stated
further that good governance was a key condition for sustainable development. Good governance, Mr.
Annan said, "promotes the most salient features of a free and prosperous society: social justice,
transparency, accountability in the management of public affairs". He believed that Africa was entering a
"new wave of progress", based on peace, democracy, human rights, and sustainable development. These
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four pillars formed the "pillars of good governance". African countries will therefore articulate their
positions on the following themes:
 Decentralization;
 Constitutional and Judicial Reform and Human Rights;
 Electoral and Parliamentary Reforms;
 Socio-economic Management and Public Administration; and
 Empowerment and Participation.
By developing infrastructure, governments can create conducive environment for documenting its
activities and utilization of relevant records/information for decision making. The challenge for
governments is to devise a policy and institutional framework that allows wider creation/capture of
government information and participation of citizens to make for good governance. The Asian
Development Bank (2008) reflecting on the elements of good governance, stated that public officials must
be answerable for government behavior, and responsive to the entity from which their authority is derived
to be accountable; Participation refers to the involvement of citizens in the development process; a
country's legal environment must be conducive to development. A government must be able to regulate
itself via laws, regulations and policies, which encompass well-defined rights and duties, mechanisms for
their enforcement, and impartial settlement of disputes. Predictability is about the fair and consistent
application of these laws and implementation of government policies; and Transparency refers to the
availability of information to the general public and clarity about government rules, regulations, and
decisions. It can be strengthened through the citizens´ right to information with a degree of legal
enforceability. Transparency in government decision-making and public policy implementation reduces
uncertainty and can help inhibit corruption among public officials.
2.9
Electronic Records and their Preservation
Digital preservation is the planning, resource allocation and application of preservation methods and
technologies necessary to ensure that digital information of continuing value remain accessible and usable
(Hedstrom, 1998). According to Russel (1999), digital preservation is a process by which digital data is
preserved in digital form in order to ensure the usability, durability and intellectual integrity of the
information contained therein. It is the process and activities which stabilize and protect reformatted and
digital authentic electronic records in forms which are retrievable, readable, and useable over time
(National Archives and Records Service of South Africa, 2006). Preservation of electronic records, born
digital or migrated to digital environment is an essential component in records management. There is need
to manage records that are critical to day-to-day business regardless of format. This will quarantine the
availability of relevant records in government operations. The value of the information governmental
bodies generates justifies their investment in its preservation. The challenge to preserve the trustworthiness
and accessibility of the records is to do it in an efficient and cost effective way. The National Archives and
Records Service of South Africa (2006) assert that for as long as the records are in the custody of the
governmental body, the governmental body is responsible for their care and preservation. This implies that
they should draft a preservation plan as part of their electronic records management strategy and that they
should implement the plan early in the life-cycle of the records, before the records become inaccessible.
Preserving electronic records ensures that digital records of long-term value will remain accessible for use
over time (Wilson, 2002). The source and process of digital records need to be preserved. But Heslop et.
al. (2002) cautioned that while preserving the source is possible, preserving the process is unrealistic
because of the dynamic nature of the IT industry. Storage media, such as discs, tapes, and cartridges, decay
relatively rapidly compared to other media, and technological obsolescence. This poses problem for the
preservation of electronic records. Hence, a constant media migration/refreshing program are the only way
to ensure the survival of digital materials. Also, manufacturers need to update and release new systems,
software applications and hardware technologies at a rapid rate.
According to Heslop et. al. (2002), two long-term preservation approaches often advocated within the
archival and library preservation communities are migration and emulation. Migration is the process of
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converting a digital object from one data format to another. It involves the recurrent transfer of electronic
records from one hardware or software configuration or generation to subsequent configurations or
generations. Migration is not a new concept, however, migration of electronic records to preserve their
content, structure and context as evidence of business transactions is (National Archives of Australian,
1997). The purpose of migration is to preserve the integrity of electronic records and to retain the ability
for users to access them as authentic records in the face of constantly changing technology. Emulation is
an approach which keeps the source digital object in its original data format but recreates some or all of
the process (for instance, the hardware configuration or software applications such as operating systems),
enabling the performance to be created on current computers (Heslop et. al., 2002).
Both approaches have been applied to digital preservation and have been proven to work (Heslop et. al.,
2002). Yet both approaches have a number of limitations that must be considered carefully: sustainability,
‘look and feel’ and accessibility. They however advised that the two approaches require that;
 Most of the preservation efforts needs to be invested at the beginning, not in continual emulator
maintenance or data conversion;
 The preservation approach should impose minimal requirements on researchers to install and
learn new software applications;
 Preservation treatments must be accountable through documentation available to future users of
the records; and formal mechanisms must be created for controlling and preserving the look and
feel characteristics cannot be left to chance.
The International Council on Archives (2005) noted that the preferred preservation method will be
influenced by:

types of record creators and recordkeeping systems;

the role of the archives in relation to records creation agencies and functions;

legislation;

the archives' skills and technical infrastructure; and

the types and levels of user services planned.
As such, a digital or electronic records preservation policy is desired. Policies provide the framework for
archival involvement in the creation and management of current records, but implementation is at the
recordkeeping system level (Cunningham, 1999). Government cannot succeed in delivering the outcomes
people want if the policies and programmes they are implementing are flawed or inadequate. People are
becoming more demanding, whether as consumers of goods and services in the market place, as citizens or
as businesses affected by the policies and services which government provides. To meet these demands,
government must be willing constantly to re-evaluate what it is doing so as to produce policies that really
deal with problems; that are forward-looking and shaped by the evidence rather than a response to shortterm pressures; that tackle causes not symptoms; that are measured by results rather than activity; that are
flexible and innovative rather than closed and bureaucratic; and that promote compliance rather than
avoidance or fraud. To meet people's rising expectations, policy making must also be a process of
continuous learning and improvement.
The key to effective records management (and archival) policy is that it should be tied closely to the
business process that creates the records and which the records must document. Hence policies may exist
on a variety of levels, from the level of the organisation itself (e.g. what is a record, what standards must
be employed when purchasing/developing electronic systems?), to the sub-organisational level (e.g. what
data standards must be employed?), to the level of the individual system (e.g. how will the system ensure
integrity, access and privacy requirements?). Archivists must take particular care to intervene in the
following aspects of policy formulation (ICA, 2005):

the development of a policy for the management of the life cycle of records;

the specification of roles and responsibilities in the management of records identified for archival
retention; and

the determination of penalties for the destruction, alteration, etc., of records identified for archival
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retention.
ISO Standard 15489 contains an extensive list of policy issues and suggested requirements that archivists
can use as a basis for cooperation with records managers in promoting good records management as the
basis for the creation and preservation of sound archival records. Within the policy framework of ISO
15489, archivists should focus on a number of life cycle/continuum issues (Australian Standards for
Records Management, 2002):

the development of new systems so that they can identify those which will create records of archival
value and ensure that those systems will support their preservation and continued accessibility;

the operation of systems in which archivists need to monitor systems management to ensure that all
parts of the archival record (e.g. the records themselves, related metadata, and documentation of how
the system operated) are properly maintained and so that no changes are made to the system that would
affect the archival quality of the records;

decisions concerning modification, upgrading, migration, and other changes to the system (e.g.
changing hardware or software platforms) could affect the authenticity and integrity of the records, the
ability of the system to preserve the records, and the ability of the archives or the creating organisation
to provide for long-term accessibility to the records; and

decisions to discontinue systems containing archival records or to remove archival records from those
systems.
The ISO standard provides the following three principles for records management programmes (Australian
Standards for Records Management, 2002):

Records are created, received and used in the conduct of business activity. To support the continuing
conduct of business, comply with the regulatory environment, and provide necessary accountability,
organisations should create and maintain authentic, reliable, and usable records, and protect the
integrity of those records for as long as required;

Rules for creating and capturing records and metadata should be incorporated into the procedures
governing all business processes for which there is a requirement for evidence of that activity; and

Business continuity planning and contingency measures should ensure that records that are vital to the
continued functioning of the organisation are identified as part of risk analysis and are protected and
recoverable when needed.
Therefore, a comprehensive and up-to-date legislation is essential to ensure complete protection for all
government and parastatal records and give the archival administration wide powers for securing and
protecting records. A comprehensive records law should provide for:

the establishment of a records and archives institution with jurisdiction over records generated in the
government service and responsibility for those records throughout their life-cycle

the establishment, within the records and archives institution, of the archival agency as a public
institution, responsible not only for records generated in the government service but also for any other
parastatal or private records of national or regional importance

a public right of access to the holdings of the archival institution, including policies on the regular
opening of government records under clear conditions and a workable procedure for appraisal and
declassification

protection for the rights of individuals and organizations that may have provided information held in
records, under terms of confidentiality

provision for public scrutiny of the program of the records and archives institution and its success in
achieving its targets.
Within the records law itself, the following areas should be clearly delineated to ensure that the legislation
is comprehensive and usable:

definitions, responsibility, and authority

the life-cycle concept of records and the continuum concept of records care

care of local government records and non-governmental records

identification of places of deposit and provisions for public access
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financial management and related legal provisions.

Once the legal and legislative issues relating to records care have been considered, it is next necessary to
examine the policies affected by and affecting records management. The nature of the policies developed
will depend on the level and nature of use of the government’s records and the degree to which it
recognizes information as a strategic asset. As well, policies will be affected by the nature of available
ICTs. Policies should allow the records and archives institution to do the following;

Develop a program for the co-ordination of information management and information technology
programs, ensuring compatibility across government between data and records and the technologies
used to create and manage them.

Create mechanisms for the care of records in all media (including electronic records) and archival
records.

Determine centralized versus decentralized approaches to the physical management of information,
records, and archives.

Establish the organizational accountability of government agencies for the management of information,
records, and archives.

Define the roles of and relationships between action officers, information managers, records managers
and archivists, and information technology managers.

Establish priorities for the development and expansion of information systems and information
technologies.

Establish mechanisms for planning and budgeting for records and information management activities.

Ensure appropriate staffing and training for personnel.

Ensure appropriate resources for records and information management.

Protect staff against physical dangers or health risks associated with their work.
For example, a nation’s records legislation may require that public records must be preserved in such a
manner that they will be legally admissible as evidence in a court of law. A policy may be developed to
ensure that all government departments recognize the role of the records and archives institution in the
protection of records as evidence.
The organizational policy provides specific policy information and is usually accompanied by procedural
information, explaining the specific steps involved in executing the process in question. The three
documents – the national policy, organizational policy, and procedural information – work together to
guide the direction of the government with regard to records care. These policies and structures will
involve a partnership between the national records and archives institution and its branches and the record
creating agencies. Within each agency or department of a government, such as personnel, finance,
transportation or education, there should be a records management unit. The head of this unit should have
equivalent rank to the heads of other branches within the agency or department with clear lines of
communication to the head of the relevant division and the head of the agency. Ultimate responsibility for
the effectiveness of records work should then rest with the head of the agency. When an agency operates
an integrated information strategy, encompassing not only records but also internally and externally
generated electronic data, library materials, and other information sources, the respective professional
branches should constitute a sub-division of the central management division.
A good policy should be short and concise so it can be read and memorised by all employees. The policy
document should contain, as a minimum, the following sections:
Purpose This section should define its key aims. In the public sector typical aims would be to ensure that
the authority has appropriate records to meet its business needs and the needs of its stakeholders; operates
records management procedures and practices that conform to applicable legislative requirements; clearly
defines responsibilities and accountability for records; provides staff with the resources, knowledge,
competences and procedures to manage records according to the policy; and addresses its obligations
under Freedom of Information legislation to have a policy in operation for records management.
Policy statements These need to be supported by detailed standards and procedures explained in a records
management guide, and by a programme of staff training and communication. The policy statement should
34

be short and sharp and commit the organisation to maintaining all the records it needs and is obliged to
keep.
Scope The scope of the policy will define the range of records covered and generally will indicate that the
new policy covers both paper or analogue records and electronic records in all formats. It will refer to a list
of records if such a list has been produced as a result of an audit and it will cover any exclusion.
Policy context This should refer to other relevant documents. This may include the information
management policy and strategy of the organisation.
Legislation and standards This should list all legislation that has an impact on the records that must be
kept and all standards the authority is committed to following. These would include relevant Acts of
Parliament, codes of practice and standards.
Records management systems This section should specify a minimum set of requirements for systems
and processes that manage records. It may list all the core processes covered and should refer to separate
detailed procedures for the management of paper and electronic records and indicate where they are held.
Responsibilities This section should indicate generic and specific records management responsibilities
within the organisation including senior management, records management and information management
staff, managers and supervisors and all staff.
Promotion The section should explain how the policy will be implemented in practice and how the policy
will be communicated to all employees. Detailed implementation procedures will be included in the guide.
Training This section should explain how all levels of staff will be trained to ensure records management
responsibilities are met.
Review This section will commit the organisation to reviewing the policy on a regular basis and will task a
committee with that responsibility and define the criteria it will be reviewed against.
Authorisation This section will state that the policy has been authorised by senior management.
Glossary This will contain key definitions including what is meant by a record. Many existing records
management policies cover only paper records but increasingly any overall policy should include
electronic records. The overall policy should make it clear that electronic records are covered by the policy
and state that all systems and processes that deal with electronic records must ensure that the records are
managed in line with the overall records management policy.
The policy should be communicated from the top of the organisation in a summary form that everyone can
understand. The full policy should be provided to people who have a part to play in its implementation and
further development. Procedures will need to be developed later in line with the policy and embedded in
the ways people work. Effective records management is one element within corporate information
management and should be co-ordinated with and contribute to the development of the information
management strategy. It is not sufficient simply to agree on information and records management policy.
The next challenge is to implement that policy. Some of the key components needed to successfully
implement information and records management are listed below. One of the key tasks to be carried out by
an organisation is to benchmark its current corporate information and records management policies,
procedures and systems against best practice guidelines. The best practice for information and records
management has been provided by White and Dyer (1997). They identified five main principles that could
act as guidelines for a set of procedures that any organisation should be capable of devising and operating
as an extension of their current operating procedures, or of their quality management processes. These are:
1.
Recognise and understand all information types: The key objectives here are the identification
of information assets and the classification into those of value and importance that merit special
attention and those that do not. There is need to identify all information, classify it and then index
the information and record how it is represented. They also stated that organisations should choose
“appropriate methods to capture, store and transmit information. Organisations need to establish
the concept of lifecycle management and agree on a consistent approach to managing information.
2.
Understand the legal issues and execute duty of care responsibilities: This ensures that all staff
are aware of relevant regulations governing information management and record keeping and then
ensuring that everyone understands their responsibilities.
35

3.

Identify and specify business processes and procedures: In order to understand information
management requirements, and requirements for new electronic systems, the business processes
need to be understood. Equally, of course, the business processes can be improved and remodelled
to take account of the fact that the introduction of electronic document, records and content
management systems will mean that processes can be changed and streamlined.
4.
Identify enabling technologies to support business processes and procedures: The objectives
are to identify appropriate technologies to support and enable business processes. The authors
wisely caution the user to establish procedures to monitor and control exposure to risks arising
from the misuse or failure of its computer systems. As the technology becomes ever more
sophisticated the need for contingency should always be considered.
5.
Monitor and audit business processes: The final principle is that organisations should monitor
and document their operations and any deviations from standards. In particular, any system implemented
should be capable of providing audit trails for all information and documents.
2.10 Theoretical Framework
Governance is achieved through organizational structure and performance measurement, which define
boundaries, authorities, responsibilities, and tasks (United States Army, n.d.). A governance model
identifies and defines the activities and relationships among groups established to ensure that projects such
as Electronic Records Management (ERM) are successfully implemented and continue to function over
time, with enhancements made to continuously improve an agency's approach to ERM. It establishes the
decision-making authority of those groups and makes them accountable for their undertaking. This
structure facilitates ample consideration of ownership and access concerns likely to arise throughout the
information lifecycle (production, collection, use, management, maintenance, preservation, and disposal or
permanent retention).
Electronic governance has become a precondition for good and transparent administration with edemocracy backed by e-governance and e-business acting as the prime mover for economic growth. Good
governance in public administration means provision of quality services to the citizens and stakeholders
who have diverse interests. It also means administrative independence and managerial autonomy. In
addition to reduction in controls and recognition for individual and organizational performance, it also
requires ready and easy availability of all resources through electronic media leading to open mindedness
towards competition, which would inculcate a sense of discipline among public servants as opposed to the
private sector. Good governance strives for a collaborative approach in inter- and intra- governmental
interfaces and transactions, keeping in view the interests of all stakeholders. It aims at making available
and sharing information in a trusting environment of transparency in the conduct of business and sharing
of knowledge across institutions, participating divisions, businesses, user groups and individuals. In the
21st century, the most significant means of communication is the Internet. It has changed the infrastructure
of global communication system and has become a potential tool for creating an instant medium that
allows for real time social and personal interaction across continents. However, bureaucratic systems have
been quite slow to adopt the benefits of information technology, especially in third world countries, mainly
because the basic structures and operations of governance in these countries are still traditional (Shukla,
2005). The use of information technology in any organization means to do more work with fewer people in
less time and within a smaller space. Government, as a collector and source of information, may also
follow this trend to serve its citizens and to save costs by making internal operations more efficient. The
'Right man at the right place’ is the basic principle of good administration; but the principle is hardly
followed in Nigeria. Therefore, in conducting this research, models would be adopted to show how the
principle of good governance is followed through good records keeping practices.
2.10.1 The Records Continuum Model
The records continuum overturns the life cycle model. It describes the processes for managing records
from the point of creation. It provides the conceptual basis for many of the national and international
standards for recordkeeping. The records continuum Model (RCM) will be used for this study. Models are
ways of seeing things. Their acceptance or otherwise in an area like record management depends upon
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how much contact they make with the practical consciousness of those who undertake tasks that are
considered to be part of that activity. The RCM is "... a consistent and coherent regime of management
processes from the time of the creation of records (and before creation, in the design of recordkeeping
systems) through to the preservation and use of records as archives" (Australian Standard 4390, 1996).
This definition suggests an ideal integration for documents, records, and archives management.
The earliest view of the continuum concept came from Australian national archivist Ian Maclean in the
1950s. She said records managers were the true archivists, and that archival science should be directed
toward studying the characteristics of recorded information, recordkeeping systems, and classification
processes. Her view promoted the search for continuity between archives and records management. The
word "continuum" was not widely used in Australia until Canadian archivist Joy Atherton made it explicit
at the annual Association of Canadian Archivists conference in 1985. According to Atherton (1985/86), all
stages of records are interrelated, forming a continuum in which both records managers and archivists are
involved, to varying degrees, in the ongoing management of recorded information. She explained how the
lifecycle stages that records supposedly underwent were in fact a series of recurring and reverberating
activities within both archives and records management. The underlying unifying or linking factor in the
continuum was the service function to the records' creators and all users. Atherton's view pointed out the
weakness of separating records management and archives administration under the lifecycle model.
The concept of records continuum model was formulated in the 1990s by Australian archival theorist
Frank Upward based on four principles:
1. A concept of "record" inclusive of records of continuing value (archives) stresses their uses for
transactional,
evidentiary and memory purposes, and unifies
approaches
to
archiving/recordkeeping, whether records are kept for a split second or a millennium.
2. There is a focus on records as logical rather than physical entities, regardless of whether they are in
paper or electronic form.
3. Institutionalization of the recordkeeping profession's role requires a particular emphasis on the
need to integrate recordkeeping into business and societal processes and purposes.
4. Archival science is the foundation for organizing knowledge about recordkeeping. Such knowledge
is revisable but can be structured and explored in terms of the operation of principles for action in
the past, the present, and the future.
The model provides a graphical tool for framing issues about the relationship between records managers
and archivists, past, present, and future, and for thinking strategically about working collaboratively and
building partnerships with other stakeholders (McKemmish, 1997).
The records continuum model was initially developed by Frank Upward in 1994 as a teaching tool to
communicate evidence-based approaches to archives and records management. The continuum is being
used in Australia as a metaphor to assist in getting records management ‘right’ in recordkeeping
environments built around electronic communications, and the model supports this endeavour (Upward,
2004). The model extends the concept of the continuum beyond metaphor, representing the case for
viewing it in its fuller space-time meanings as a worldview. In this form, the continuum is potentially a
technologically driven paradigm shift within all information management and systems practice. The
records continuum diagram helps us understand the nature and scope of recordkeeping in our organizations
and in our society. It presents an overview of a seamless and dynamic recordkeeping regime that
transcends time and space to capture and manage records for as long as they are required to satisfy
business, regulatory, social and cultural requirements. The functions of records/archives in this model are:
 to ensure important current business and/or personal needs.
 to ensure effective management and/or compliance with regulations.
 to ensure corporate continuity and societal 'good citizenship'.
 to ensure cultural construction and transfer.
 to ensure cultural affirmation and/or celebration.
All interact to achieve a continuous, dynamic whole which ranges over four dimensions/principles. These
37

are as follows; Document Accountable Acts, Capture Records; Organize Records Regime and Ensure
Societal Memory. The purpose of the records continuum model is to help initial task analyses involving
evidential requirements for recordkeeping.
The best-practice mechanisms behind the RCM may be explored by comparing the records continuum
model and the lifecycle model. The records continuum model differs from the lifecycle model in origins of
the model, elements of records definition, major concerns in records management, records movement
patterns, recordkeeping perspectives, recordkeeping process, criteria for selecting archives, time of
appraisal, role of recordkeeping managers, and undertaking records management tasks. The juxtaposition
of the records continuum and lifecycle models shows that the records continuum model's advantages
outweigh the lifecycle models, particularly in electronic records management. The difference between the
"Life Cycle and Continuum" is that the records continuum's primary focus is the multiple purposes of
records. It aims for the development of recordkeeping systems that capture, manage, and maintain records
with sound evidential characteristics for as long as the records are of value to the organization, any
successor, or society (Marchall, 2000). It promotes the integration of recordkeeping into the organizations'
business systems and processes. According to McKemmish (2001), the best-practice mechanism behind
the records continuum model uses an integrated approach for managing records and archives. Records
managers and archivists are brought together under an integrated recordkeeping framework with the same
goal: to guarantee the reliability, authenticity, and completeness of records. The framework provides
common understanding, consistent standards, unified best-practice criteria, and interdisciplinary
approaches and collaborations in recordkeeping and archiving processes for both paper and digital worlds.
It provides sustainable recordkeeping to connect the past to the present and the present to the future. It can
coherently exist in a broader dynamic, changeable context that can be influenced by legal, political,
administrative, social, commercial, technological, cultural, and historical variables across time and space.
The integrated recordkeeping framework would facilitate provenance, underpin accountability, constitute
memory, construct identity, and provide authoritative sources of value-added information.
The continuum's purpose-oriented systems approach to records management fundamentally changes the
role of recordkeeping. Instead of being reactive, managing records after they have been created,
recordkeeping becomes proactive. In partnership with other stakeholders, identifying records of
organization activities that need to be retained, then implementing business systems designed with built-in
recordkeeping capability ensures capturing records of evidential quality as they are created. Built-in
capture and assessment mean that records of value are created in the first place whenever electronic
systems are used for business transactions. With appropriate metadata to ensure that they are accurate,
complete, reliable, and usable, these records have the necessary attributes of content, context, and structure
to act as evidence of business activity. And, Marchall (2000) notes, knowing from the outset which
electronic records must be kept for the longer term means such records can be migrated across systems as
hardware and software upgrades occur. The lifecycle model uses a birth-to-death analogy to describe
records as passing through a series of stages. It provides a fragmented framework for recordkeeping by
 artificially dividing the mission of records and archives management
 dismantling the responsibilities of records managers and archivists into divided roles
 limiting ways of thinking about custody through narrow selection criteria
 viewing records as tangible physical objects in a paper world and static environment.
The lifecycle model regards electronic records as different media similar to film, recordings, and
microfiche that only need special handling requirements. Viewing a record as a physical entity with
distinct and separate phases of usage is difficult with electronic records, as the nature and volatility of
these records negates this approach. Electronic records must be located where the hardware and software
systems that provide their "living" environment are located, thus defying the lifecycle model's traditional
repository and custodial orientation. According to Marchall (2000), the actual location of the systems that
store records is irrelevant in terms of accessibility and use in the networked world. The mechanisms of
best practice behind the records continuum model are ideal for integrating records and archives
38

management because the records continuum focuses on:
 similarities rather than differences
 qualities and quantities rather than quantities alone
 positive and cohesive ways of thinking rather than disparate or passive ways
 integrated policy making rather than fragmented frameworks
 integrated control of policy implementation rather than separate control
 integrated rather than disparate approaches to problem solving
 meeting customers' needs through collaboration rather than by duplication and overlap.
These arguments highlight the records continuum model's importance as a best-practice model for
managing electronic records when the aim is to improve responsiveness, increase efficiency, and satisfy
users' requirements.
The RCM's ideal of integration can be viewed as a best-practice framework for managing records within a
broader context of archival science to connect the past to the present and the present to the future,
particularly for electronic records. The best-practice framework consists of three components:
1. integrated frameworks that provide levels of integration for best practice
2. integrated approaches that provide positive ways of thinking about archival concepts
3. integrated control that provides a set of unified criteria for measuring models and methods.
2.10.2 The Conceptual Model
Modern technological advances brought with it complexity in the management of records. Hence the
records continuum model is suitable for this study, which views records as a continuous process (from
creation/capture through maintenance and use to disposition) rather than the distinct entity suggested in the
life cycle concept of records management. In this model, electronic records can remain active through
successive generations and survive death by migration to a more recent technology thereby integrating
records management and archival science. Therefore, the elements of the RCM will be reflected in the
conceptual model and their relationship to the elements of good governance, which are accountability,
participation, predictability, probity, rule of law, responsiveness, equity and transparency as shown in
figure I below.

39

Electronic Record Keeping Practices

v

Accountability

Dimension 1
Document
Accountable
Acts

Equity

Predictability

Leadin
g to
Decisio
n
Makin
g

Proce
ss
(Reco
rds
Mana
geme
nt)

Dimension 2
Capture
Process 1Record
Registry/Recordkeeping Systems

Good Governance

Participation

Process 2

Figure I: Relationship between Electronic Records Keeping Practices and Good Governance
(Self Developed Model) Probity

Dimension 3
From the model,Organize
it could be seen that there is a relationship between electronic record keeping practices
and good governance.
Good records keeping practices as reflected Responsivenes
in figure I reveal that at the conception
Recordkeeping
of an idea and Regime
in the process of records creation/capture through
s maintenance and use and eventual
disposition or archiving, certain elements must be considered and maintained. Kennedy and Schauder
of Law
(1998) explain the four dimensions as follows: At the first level, theRule
model
identifies accountability acts
Dimension
and creates reliable
evidence4of such acts by capturing records of related/supporting transactions. Records
Ensureare created as part of business communication processes within the organization
of business activities
Transparency
Societal
(e.g., through e-mail,
document management software, or other software
applications). At the second level,
Memory
recordkeeping systems
manage "families" of transactions and records series documenting processes at the
work-unit or single-function scope of complexity. Records that have been created or received in an
organization are tagged with metadata, including how they link to other records. At the third level, a
seamless recordkeeping scheme embraces the multiple systems and families of records that serve the entire
documentary needs (i.e., business, regulatory, and cultural/educational/historical) of a single
juridical entity. Records become part of a formal system of storage and retrieval that constitutes the
organization's corporate memory; and at the fourth level, a collaborative recordkeeping establishment
40

under the guidance of a suitably empowered public recordkeeping authority serves the needs of the total
society, its constituent functions, and the entities that carry them out. The recordkeeping establishment
serves the documentary needs of many entities within its jurisdiction and ensures the accountability and
the cultural memory of the society as a whole. Records required for purposes of societal accountability
(e.g., by corporate law) or other forms of collective memory become part of wider archival systems that
comprise records from a range of organizations.
In the same vein, Flynn (2001) explains that the records continuum model is significant because it;
 broadens the interpretation of records and recordkeeping systems offered by the lifecycle model.
Such broadening is helpful, given the variety of contexts in which archivists and records managers
operate and in which archives and records are used.
 reminds us that records (including archives) are created and maintained for use as a result of
business and administrative functions and processes, rather than as ends in themselves.
 emphasizes cooperation beyond the walls of repositories, especially between the closely related, if
occasionally estranged, professions of archives administration and records management--a
cooperation that is more important than ever in the contemporary climate of outsourcing and crosssectoral working.
Where such records are well managed and utilized, the desired outcome will be achieved. In this
democratic dispensation with emphasis on the dividends of democracy and good governance, government
transactions will no doubt be tailored through the elements of good governance leading to citizen’s
satisfaction. In other words, records keeping practices will mean creating/capturing, maintaining and
utilizing records within the four principles, which will make for accuracy, authenticity, authority,
availability, completeness, relevance, reliability, usability, integrity and secured records within the records
system (Process 1 in the model). All these will be maintained in the records registry/recordkeeping system,
leading to informed and desired decision to be reached through a transparent, accountable, and responsive
government transactions, putting in the process probity, equity, the rule of law with predictable dealings
and giving room for citizen’s participation in governance (Process 2 in the model). The model shows that
the elements in process 1 are integral part of the records keeping process and vice versa, which are
processed in the registry or recordkeeping system (process) of the records management programmme. In
the same vein, the elements in process 2 are integral part of good governance and vice versa. Records
carrying these qualities and going through the right officials/users eventually will produce the resultant
good governance effect and revealing its elements. Also, with the assumption that the elements of both
variables are properly integrated, there could be a resultant effect of electronic records keeping practices
on good governance. However, this is only possible when the enabling environment is in place –
legislation/policy, infrastructure, government interest/support, technical skills and power among others.
2.11 Appraisal of Literature Review
An appraisal of the literature reviewed reveals that there is a relationship between records keeping, ereadiness and good governance. Researches have been conducted separately on good governance bringing
about community and national development, improved banking sector, etc in developing countries.
However, little or nothing has been done to show this relationship in Nigeria. Also, the e-readiness of the
country, which would facilitate e-records keeping and management was examined. Governance revolves
around records; the keeping and management of complete, accurate and reliable records will enhance
government official’s choice and use of records leading to the right decision making and satisfaction on
the part of those being governed. This study will therefore, consider the influence of electronic records
readiness and keeping practices on good governance in the federal civil services, Nigeria, with a view to
looking at how good records keeping practices could bring about good governance.

41

CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1
Introduction
This chapter presents the methods and procedures adopted for the study. There are diverse research
methods but the nature or purpose of the research study determines the choice of methods. Therefore,
adopting an appropriate research method is necessary for the achievement or realization of the desired
results and it makes the research more meaningful. This chapter is discussed under the following subheadings:
Research Design
Population of the Study
Sampling Techniques and Sample Size
Research Instrument
Validity of the Instrument
Reliability of the Instrument
Data Collection Procedure
Method of Data Analysis
3.2
Research Design
This study employs a survey research design. This research method is used to find the meaning and obtain
an understanding of the present conditions, beliefs, attitudes, uses, etc. of an investigation. This method is
therefore, appropriate for this study because it would reveal the present position of e-records readiness and
keeping practices in the federal civil service. It will also show how government officials manage and use
electronic records in decision making for the realization of good governance in Nigeria.
3.3
Population of the Study
The population of this study is made up of all the federal civil service staff in the twenty (20) government
ministries in the federal republic of Nigeria. The population will consist of 742 staff associated with the
creation/generation or capture, use and maintenance, storage and preservation of electronic records
through their life cycle, and policy makers – the ministers, permanent secretaries, directors and heads of
departments. These shall make up the total population of the study shown in the table below.
Table 3.1: Population
s/n
Ministry
1
Finance
2
Education
3
Information
and
Communication
4
Justice / Legal Unit
5
Works and Housing
Total

FCT, Abuja
98
65
125

Delta State
15
20
21

Edo State
10
18
18

Oyo State
16
20
25

Total
139
123
189

54
112
454

10
35
101

15
20
81

20
25
106

99
192

742

3.4
Sampling Techniques and Sample Size
The purposive sampling technique shall be used to select five ministries from the population of twenty
(20) ministries. The five ministries chosen shall be those with key activities that are critical to national
development and are already using e-records in their offices. Also, these ministries have an IT unit which
is core to effective electronic records keeping. They are the ministries of information and communication,
finance, works and housing, justice and foreign affairs. The category of respondents chosen include the
clerical, executive/administrative staff and head of departments involved in the generation and use of
electronic records and policy makers in the federal civil service. In other words, they are involved in
42

records keeping/management and in decision making. Also, IT staff will be included in the study because
of their significant role in the computerized records system. Since the population is relatively small, total
enumeration sampling technique shall be used for the study. The sample size shall therefore, be 742, which
shall be used for the study.
3.5
Research Instrument
The major instrument to be used for the study is the questionnaire. Though observation and informal
interview methods shall be employed, they will only be complementary. The design of the instrument is a
four scale likert style on the one hand, where the respondents are expected to agree or disagree to
statement items and also a yes and no response options with comments on the other hand. It comprises of
background information on respondents (Section A), which is designed with open and closed ended
questions. The main body is on records keeping practices in the federal civil service (Section B) focused
on records accessibility, availability, usability, security/preservation and good governance in the federal
civil service (Section C), which highlights accountability, transparency, use of records in decision making,
participation, etc (Appendix I). There is also an e-records readiness risk assessment checklists (Appendix
II) adapted from the World Bank assessment tool kit. This shall be employed in the study to assess the ereadiness at the national level, which actually guarantees the use and sustainability of electronic records in
the federal civil service. It is designed for the ministers/permanent secretaries/IT staff of the ministries
under study at the federal capital territory, Abuja.
The observation method shall be based on the availability of computer systems/networking used in records
keeping, if there is a records keeping systems requirement, referral to records in decision making, storage
facilities – back-ups, records center or off-site records storage facility among others.
The informal interview shall be carried out along side with the checklist that will be administered on the
ministers/permanent secretaries/IT staff. The interview shall be based on issues observed that requires
further clarifications and a chat with the national director, National Archives of Nigeria.
3.6
Data Collection Procedure
The researcher shall engage five trained research assistants (one in each ministry) to assist in the
administration of the questionnaires. Contact persons who will be a staff of each of the ministries, shall be
sought to ensure cooperation from respondents. The questionnaire together with a covering letter will be
administered to the respondents. The researcher will personally visit the ministries with the research
assistants for proper guidance and introducing them to the contact persons. The field work shall cover a
period of three months.
3.7
Validity and Reliability of the Instrument
The face validity of the instrument was determined by the researcher’s supervisor and an expert in the field
of records management in LARIS Department of the University of Ibadan. The content items of the selfdesigned instrument were scrutinized to ensure that it is able to measure and realize the objectives of the
study.
In establishing the reliability of the instrument, the test-retest method was used. The instrument was
administered to one of the ministries not sampled (Pensions Department of the Head of Services Office).
Thirty questionnaires were administered to them in an interval of two weeks. Using the Cronbach Alpha
method of analysis, a reliability coefficient of 0.96 was obtained. This shows a high reliability, thereby
making the instrument very adequate for the study.
3.9
Method of Data Analysis
The descriptive statistical method such as frequency count and percentages shall be used to analyze data
gathered from the survey as it relates to the research questions. However, multiple regression analysis shall
be used for testing the formulated null hypotheses. The formula is stated below;
YGG = f (ERR, ERKP)
Where:
43

YGG is the dependent variable (good governance)
f is a function of the independent variables
ERR is Electronic Records Readiness (one of the independent variables)
ERKP is Electronic Records Keeping Practices (one of the independent variables)

44

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54

APPENDIX
Electronic Records Management and Good Governance Questionnaire (ERMAGGQ)
Department of Library, Archival and Information Studies,
University of Ibadan,
Ibadan
May 25, 2009
Dear Respondents,
I wish to solicit for your cooperation in completing this questionnaire. It is a questionnaire designed to
elicit information on the creation/capture, use and management of electronic records in the federal civil
service, Nigeria.
It is in partial fulfilment of a Doctor of Philosophy Degree of the University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Therefore,
any information you offer will be treated in strict confidentiality and will be used for academic purpose
only.
Thanks for your anticipated cooperation.

Iwhiwhu, E. B.
Researcher

55

APENDIX I
Electronic Records Management and Good Governance Questionnaire (ERMAGGQ)
Instruction: Please complete it by ticking (v) appropriate boxes and fill in the blank spaces. Thanks.
Section A:
Background Information
1.
Ministry where you work: …………………………………………………………………………
2.
Department/Section/Unit:………………………………………………………………………………
3.
Gender: Male ( )
Female
( )
4.
Age: 18 – 25 years
( )
26 – 35 years ( ) 36 – 45 years ( ) 46 – 50 years ( )
51 – 60 ( )
5.
Qualification(s): ……………………………………………………………………………………….
6.
Designation: ……………………………………………………………………………………………
7.
How long have you being in this position? …………………………………………... ……………….
8.
Years of experience in managing public or government records: ……………………………………..
9.
Are you trained in Records Management, if yes, what training did you receive? …………………...
10. What training did you undergo to enhance your job performance? Formal Education in Higher
institutions ( ) on the job training ( ) Seminars/Workshops ( ) Short term Courses ( )
Others (please specify) ………………………………………………………………………........
11. Which of these categories of electronic records are found in your office (tick as appropriate):
a. E-mail ( )
b. Word processed files ( ) c. Graphics/Arial information ( )
d. Spreadsheet files ( )
e. Optical Images files ( )
f. Audio/video files ( )
g. Web pages/documents ( ) h. Databases ( )
i. Metadata ( )
j. Electronic reports ( )
k. Electronic publications ( ) l. Voice mail ( )
12. What storage facilities exist for the preservation of vital and permanent electronic records in your
department? …………………………………………………………………………………………...
13. Which of these is an electronic record stored? Discs ( ) flash drives ( ) tapes ( ) cartridges ( )
All of the above ( )
14. What regulations govern the management of electronic records in your department?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
15. What regulations govern the management of federal electronic records in Nigeria?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
16. The following are used to monitor or track the movement of electronic records (tick as appropriate):
a.
bar coding ( )
b. records management software ( )
c.
document management software ( )
d. workflow software ( )
e.
movement cards ( )
f. transfer slips ( )
17. To what extent do officials use electronic records in the decision making?
Often ( )
Rarely ( )
Never ( )

56

Section B: Electronic Records Keeping Practices in the Federal Civil Service
S/
N

QUESTIONS

1
8

Is your office congested with disorganized files?

1
9

Are linkages created between paper and electronic record systems?

2
0

Are non-current and vital electronic records transferred to the custody of a
‘trusted third party’ (archives) as one line of protection for electronic records?

2
1

Are there existing policies for the creation of government electronic records?

2
2

Is there a policy on records/electronic records management in the federal civil
service?

2
3

Are electronic records created in line with the policy and regulations governing
civil service records?

2
4

Are electronic records created, deleted, altered, used and concealed by
unauthorized persons in your office?

2
5

Are electronic records created as necessary and required for the ministry’s
business transaction?

2
6

Are measures in place to restrict unauthorized access to electronic records in all
forms?

2
7

Are electronic records maintained with appropriate security or other access
restrictions?

2
8

Are electronic records copied to new media or migrated to new systems as
necessary with its content, context and structure in tact?

2
9

Has data loss been experienced anytime from the electronic records’ management
system?

3
0

Are electronic records maintained throughout the life cycle, from first draft to
archives?

3
1

Are electronic records maintained such that information is not disclosed or
revealed to unauthorized persons?

3
2

Can information content transferred or transported by systems or networks be
read or retrieved by unauthorized entities?

3
3

Is it possible to identify an electronic record within the context of broader
business activities and functions?

3
4

Does the ministry engage in constant migration/refreshing to ensure the survival
of digital records?

3
5

Are electronic records migrated from obsolete software/hardware applications to
new ones?

3
6

Does the ministry engage in the re-creation of electronic records to secure the
data?

3
7

Is there a preservation plan as part of the electronic records management strategy
in this ministry?

3
8

Are electronic records readily available in this ministry?

57

YE
S

N
O

COMMENT

3
9

Are electronic records accessed with ease in this department?

4
0

Does your office have the requisite software and hardware to create and read
information contained in electronic records?

4
1

Is there a documentation of all electronic records that have been created or
received?

4
2

Is there a classification scheme in the management of electronic records?

4
3

Are electronic records adequately indexed?

4
4

Are the electronic records indexed so as to be quickly and easily identified and
retrieved when needed?

4
5

Are there effective searching and retrieval tools in the record-keeping system?

4
6

Is there a consistent file classification system in place throughout the federal civil
service?

4
7

Are electronic records created and used in this office easily understood by
officials and the meaning they are intended to convey?

48. Comment freely on electronic records keeping practices (availability, accessibility, usability and
security) in this ministry? ……………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

58

Instruction: Please complete the statements below by agreeing or disagreeing. SA means strongly agree,
A means agree, D means disagree and SD means strongly disagree, then fill in the blank space.
SE
CT
IO
N
C:
G
O
O
D
G
O
VE
RN
AN
CE
IN
TH
E
FE
DE
RA
L
CI
VI
L
SE
RV
IC
E
49

Good Governance

i

Good governance means a predictable, open and enlightened policy making.

ii

Good governance is about equality, equity and transparent processes.

iii

Good governance reflects, serve and protect fundamental democratic values.

iv

Good electronic records keeping practices will make for accountability.

v

Good records’ keeping facilitates access to and availability of information.

vi

There are no records management tools hence data are not available when needed.

vii

Good records’ keeping is essential for good governance.

viii

I am aware of the national records management policy.

ix

The requirements of the official secrecy act are used in records management.

x

Administrators do not call/make use of available records/information for decision
making.

xi

The activities of the ministry are open to public scrutiny/participation.

xii

Due to public participation and the use of best practices, my ministry is more effective
and efficient than ever before (result oriented).

59

S
A

A

D

S
D

xiii

All men and women should have a voice in decision making.

xiv

There is a predictable, open and enlightened policy-making process in my ministry.

xv

I admit responsibilities for failure to deliver in my ministry as it relates to my
administrative level.

xvi

Not using available information (records) in decision making or analysis will affect
good governance.

xvi
i

There is no adequate information to develop and support reform policies.

xvi
ii

I do not use available records because they are unreliable.

xix

The records staffs are not competent enough to manage electronic records.

xx

The channel of communication between records staff and administrators hinders the
use of records in decision making.

xxi

Lack of use of records gives rise to bad governance.

xxi
i

The following disposal activities are documented:
a. transfer of records to records center/archives
b. destruction of records
c. migration of records

xxi
ii

Passwords, personal identification numbers (PINs), user identification (User IDs),
cookies, biometrics, encryption, public key cryptography (digital certificates), secure
sockets layer (SSL) and transport layer security (TLS) etc. are some of the security
measures adopted to protect electronic records in my office.

xxi
v

Data loss could be caused by:
a. technology incompatibility
b. fragile storage media
c. inadequate documentation
d. lack of metadata
e. data format
lack of clearly assigned responsibilities and resources for long term preservation

50. Comment freely on electronic records keeping practices (availability, accessibility, usability and
security) in this ministry? ……………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

60

APPENDIX II
E-Records Readiness Risk Assessment Checklist for Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and IT Staff
Each e-records readiness component is described at three possible stages of capacity. Please read
the description of each of the component and decide which best fits your ministry. Scoring is such that
your agreement with the statements is scored high and disagreements are scored low within the range of
scores indicated.
1. Legal Mandate for the
Government-Wide
Management
of
Public
Records and Information

E-government services
produce digital information,
or ‘e-records’, that document
government transactions and
online activities. It is
important that a central
agency, such as the national
archives, is designated to
ensure that government-wide
standards and practices are
developed and implemented,
that appropriate facilities are
created and that adequate
resources are invested in
managing official records in
digital and other formats.

STAGE 1

Score
(Maximum of
5)

There is no national archives law or equivalent legislation that assigns
central responsibility for the creation, management and preservation of
official records, paper or electronic.
There is a lack of clarity within government about who has the authority
to make decisions on the retention, destruction and accessibility of
records and information, paper and electronic.
Arrangements for managing records are informal, with government
agencies making ad hoc provisions for the storage and retrieval of
records, paper and electronic.

If this central agency is to
fulfil its responsibility for
government-wide records and
information management, its
role must be mandated and
recognised in law such as a
national archives act.
Without such a legal mandate
and formal authority,
governments risk haphazard,
inconsistent or negligent
treatment of records. This, in
turn, creates serious
consequences for the
accountability and
trustworthiness of government
actions as a whole.
STAGE 2

61

(Maximum of
10)

A central government agency monitors and supports the storage and
retrieval of official records, paper and electronic, but it does not have a
legal mandate for government-wide management of official records,
paper and electronic from creation to destruction or permanent
preservation.
Decisions on the creation, retention, destruction and preservation of
digital information in government computerised information systems are
deferred to system administrators and other ICT personnel.
STAGE 3
A central agency, such as the national archives, is legally responsible for
providing expert guidance on and oversight of the creation, management
and permanent preservation of all official records, paper and electronic,
and for access to the records.

(Maximum 20)

A central agency, such as the national archives, has legal responsibility
for issuing and/or approving records retention and disposition schedules
that indicate which categories of government records must be preserved
permanently or, alternatively, how long specific types of public records
must be retained before they may be destroyed.
There are formally recognised responsibilities for managing records from
the point of creation to the point of destruction or permanent retention (eg
by registries and file rooms, records centres and a national archives).
There are formally recognised records and information management
‘champions’ who actively promote the implementation of records
management practices across government institutions and functions,
including the area of e-government services.
Assessed Score for Legal
Mandate for the GovernmentWide Management of Public
Records and Information:

1. Legal M

Government-Wide Management of Public Records and Information

2. Freedom of Information and
Protection of Privacy Legislation

62

STAGE 1

Score (Maximum of
5)

Freedom of information and
protection of privacy legislation
supports accountability,
transparency and anti-corruption
measures and is an important
aspect of modern democracies. It
gives citizens a mechanism for
holding their governments
accountable by requesting
information about official
activities, and it provides
assurance that personal
information is only used for
legitimate purposes.

There is no freedom of information law and no plan to draft
one.
There is no public debate about the value of freedom of
information and the protection of privacy.

Without such legislation, digital
information can be manipulated
and misused for corrupt purposes
by governments or bureaucrats.
E-government can be introduced
without implementing freedom of
information and protection of
privacy legislation, but the aim of
empowering citizens will be
undermined.

STAGE 2

(Maximum of 10)

There is no freedom of information law, but there has been
active public debate about establishing one.
There are plans to begin drafting such a law.
STAGE 3
Freedom of information and privacy legislation are on the
statute book.
Citizens and government partners regularly request and
receive public information.
Records are easily accessible so that citizens’ requests for
information can be served.
Assessed
Score for Freedom of Information
and Protection of Privacy
Legislation:

63

(Maximum of 20)

3. Government-Wide
ICT Infrastructure
and Capacity

STAGE 1

ICT infrastructure and
capacity is addressed
in detail in traditional
e-readiness
assessments. These
tools will provide a
comprehensive
evaluation of a
government’s ICT
infrastructure.
However, the issues
involved are covered
here also as they need
to be factored into an
overall score of erecords readiness.

The country has an unreliable electrical power supply and a poor
telecom infrastructure.

Score
(Maximum of 5)

It is difficult to determine whether government computer systems are
secure and adequately backed up.
There is no central agency responsible for defining and implementing
government-wide ICT strategy

A reliable and secure
ICT infrastructure is
essential for egovernment initiatives
to avoid the loss or
corruption of erecords due to
unstable electrical or
telecommunications
infrastructure,
accidents, improper
care and attention, or
intentional damage.
Employing competent
and trained ICT staff
as well as
implementing good
practices for network
and system
administration will
provide the basic
platform on which to
build successful egovernment and erecords programmes.
STAGE 2

64

(Maximum of 10)

The country has a fairly reliable electrical power grid and there are
initiatives to upgrade the telecom physical infrastructure to support
internet technologies.
System administrators and technology support staff generally
competent in using and maintaining the hardware and software for
which they are responsible and recognise the need to manage system
security and backup.
There is a central government agency responsible for defining and
implementing a government-wide ICT strategy, technology architecture
and action plan.
STAGE 3
The telecom physical infrastructure can support a growing volume of
network traffic and the country has a reliable electrical power grid.
Government ICT staff are trained and competent in using and
maintaining the hardware and software for which they are responsible.
They are given the opportunity to maintain and upgrade their technical
training as ICT changes.
There is a government agency responsible for defining and
implementing a government-wide ICT strategy and technology
architecture. The agency maintains guidelines and good practices for
computer systems security, backup and business continuity planning. It
is adequately resourced.
The government ICT strategy is driven by business requirements and
operational plans which include records and information requirements.
The government has established documentation standards and system
engineering procedures for ICT systems analysis, implementation and
support.

Assessed Score for
Government-Wide
ICT Infrastructure
and Capacity:

65

(Maximum of 20)

4. Government-Wide E-Records
Management Standards and
Guidelines

STAGE 1

Governments that create e-records
need to adopt or develop a
government-wide standard setting
out functional requirements for
electronic records management.
The European Commission’s
Model Requirements for the
Management of Electronic
Records or the US Department of
Defence’s DoD 5015.2 Standard
and the United Kingdom National
Archives’ functional requirements
are good examples.

There is no government-wide standard for electronic records
management.

Score (Maximum of
5)

There are no guidelines on the capture and management of
email and electronic documents.
There is no government-wide core standard for records and
e-content metadata.
Government ICT systems are implemented without a formal
requirements management process.

Such standards and functional
requirements are essential to
ensure that government ICT
systems consistently create,
capture, organise, store, search,
retrieve and preserve e-records
and to protect the integrity and
trustworthiness of those e-records.
It is important to adopt a national
minimum standard so that
government systems are
interoperable and share a common
baseline of e-records functionality.
Unless government agencies can
demonstrate compliance with such
standards, requirements or
guidelines, they will find it
difficult to prove the authenticity
and reliability of their e-records
when required to do so in relation
to freedom of information laws,
arbitration of disputes or legal
proceedings.
STAGE 2
There is no government-wide standard for electronic records
management or metadata, but there are formal plans to
adopt existing standards or to develop a national standard.
There is a formal process for capturing and specifying
system requirements that is followed during the
implementation of government ICT systems that can be
used to formally integrate e-records requirements into
government’s business information systems.
Some general guidelines on the capture and management of
email and electronic documents have been issued, but they
are not applied consistently.

66

(Maximum of 10)

STAGE 3

(Maximum 0f 20)

There is a government-wide standard for electronic records
management and core record metadata.
There is a formal process for capturing and specifying
system requirements that is followed during the
implementation of government ICT systems that is
consistently used to integrate e-records requirements into
government’s business information systems and to test for
compliance
with
these
requirements
following
implementations.
Requirements for electronic records management are
integrated into government ICT system requirements during
the system analysis and design process.
Detailed guidelines on the management of email and
electronic records are integral part of the day-to-day
procedures of government employees.
Assessed Score for
Government-Wide E-Records
Management Standards and
Guidelines:

5. Government-Wide Digital
Preservation Strategy

67

STAGE 1

Score (Maximum of
5)

E-records created as a result of egovernment activities must remain
accessible and usable for as long as
they are required for business or
legal purposes or, in some cases, for
historical purposes. Many e-records
will need to be preserved long-term
or even permanently.
However, the long-term preservation
of electronic records is threatened by
issues such as:
1 media instability and deterioration
2 obsolescence and incompatibility
of hardware, software, data formats
or storage media
3 lack of metadata, which makes it
difficult to access the information or
to use it meaningfully because of the
lack of contextual information
4 lack of clearly assigned
responsibilities and resources for
long-term preservation.

There is no central agency or ‘champion’ within
government that is addressing digital preservation issues
and little or no recognition of the urgent requirement to
take action.
Public servants generally do not consider digital
preservation to be a critical issue. They assume that
system administrators or new technologies will continue
to make e-records and digital information accessible and
usable indefinitely.
Decisions about suitable file formats and storage media
for government computer systems are left to system
administrators or product vendors.

To ensure the long-term preservation
of e-records and to protect the digital
memory of the nation, governments
need to implement digital
preservation strategies that anticipate
ICT obsolescence and
incompatibility.
Typically this will involve planning
for the migration of the digital
information from one generation of
technologies and formats to the
next as well as implementing
controls, procedures and
responsibilities to monitor the
accessibility, usability and
authenticity of electronic records.
Digital preservation requires
dedicated expertise, funding and
technologies. Therefore, digital
preservation strategies typically
involve a collaborative element that
pools resources between institutions
and government agencies. Ideally
these collaborations are driven by a
national digital preservation strategy,
such as the US National Digital
Information Infrastructure and
Preservation Program (NDIIPP).
STAGE 2

68

(Maximum 0f 10

There is some discussion within government or among the
public about technology obsolescence and current or
future access to official records.
A central agency such as the national archives or national
library recognises its responsibility for addressing issues
related to the digital preservation of official e-records and
digital information and is accepting e-records into its
collections, although long term preservation strategies are
not in place.
A central agency such as the national archives has issued
informal guidelines for managing email and records
generated in offices. Government agencies recognise the
need to protect and preserve digital records.
STAGE 3
A central agency such as the national archives has been
formally mandated with responsibility for preserving erecords and digital and assigned a budget to address
issues related to preserving government e-records and
digital information.
E-records created by government agencies are formally
accessioned into a digital archive according to specific
rules for media and file format.
There is a general public expectation that a central agency
such as the national archives will preserve the
government’s e-records and digital information and make
them available online for public access.
The agency responsible for digital preservation maintains
and regularly issues mandatory government-wide
standards for file formats, storage media and preservation
metadata to be used in government computer systems. It
provides advice and assistance for government
departments that wish to convert, migrate, copy, store or
emulate e-records.
Assessed Score for GovernmentWide Digital Preservation Strategy:

69

(Maximum of 20)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Chat with the Director, National Archives of Nigeria
Does the national archive have sufficient legal authority to support its desired role in electronic
records keeping?
Has the national archives been invited to participate in government-wide policy development
where this is appropriate?
Do government agencies use the records management policy, guidance or other tools the national
archives has developed?
Do the national archives assist ministries in the management/disposal of public records?
Are the ministry’s staffs satisfied with the national archives’ assistance?
Are staffs adequately skilled for improved and challenging records keeping activities in Nigeria?
Are the infrastructures to support electronic records management programme equal to the task?

Systems Requirement Check for IT Staff
What software(s) is/are used in the management of records (electronic) in your ministry?
Are there enough computer systems to meet with the challenges of managing records?
What functions, activities and transactions are supported by the system?
Which of these transactions are captured by records?
Are there other systems that support the same activities and transactions in the ministry?
What are the interrelationships between different systems used in carrying out the same business
processes?
7. Which parts of the records are on paper and which are in electronic form?
8. Special attention should be given to the fact that most electronic systems today are still closely
related to paper-based systems.
9. Are all transactions, which are supported by the system, carried out completely within the system?
If not, which particular transactions or which particular steps within a transaction are carried out in
the system and which are carried out beyond the system’s border? (Where no integrated
recordkeeping system exists, it is likely that transactions of the same type are in one case creating
paper records and in the other electronic records).
10. Which business rules guide the capture, maintenance and access of the records created by
transactions supported by the system?
11. How are these records captured, maintained and accessed?
12. How are the requirements for authenticity, reliability and preservability met?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

70

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