Monitoring and Evaluation as a Tool for Achieving Success in the Performance of Government Project

CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY A well-thought and effectively executed project to a large extent contributes to national development. For a project to be implemented and objective of it realized, a thorough monitoring and evaluation of it has to be carried out. Any government intervention project embarked upon without adequate monitoring and evaluation is just like flogging a dead horse as the project is going to be abandoned at last. So before a project is embarked upon, adequate monitoring and evaluation should be carried out to ensure success in the performance of government intervention projects. In effect, therefore, project evaluation and monitoring could operate in an interacting manner to ensure that plans. Goals or objectives are attained. Since monitoring is primarily concerned with accessing the progress achieved in implementing an objective or programme efficiently and effectively, the executors of the project through the monitoring and evaluation process can control what is going on and 11 accordingly take timely action to resolve possible problems by adjusting the original plan of action. The importance of project monitoring and evaluation cannot be over stated against the background of the numerous cases of government-abandoned projects in developing countries like Nigeria. Many projects in Nigeria whose viability and feasibility were ascertained got stalled due mainly to shoddy monitoring and evaluation on the part of executors who either lacked effective project monitoring and evaluation skill or that the promoters of such projects failed to heed the relevant reports of the executors at the appropriate time until it was too late.