Evaluation of E-Government Implementation: The Case of State Government Websites in Nigeria

This study evaluated the extent to which current status of e-government implementation in Nigeria conforms to the national IT policy strategy. The study is based on content analysis of the official websites of the thirty six states and the federal capital territory of the country. It focuses on the content, functional and construction features of the websites. It was found that, out of the thirty six states, only twenty-three (64 percent) had websites and mostly provide textual information; few provide downloadable digital documents and functional online interactions. We recommend that, in addition to the National IT policy, Nigerian government needs to have an established guideline for its e-government implementation and NITDA needs to be more proactive in its duty of monitoring IT policy implementation. The site designers should acknowledge the importance of government websites as the main channels for information dissemination, for facilitating citizens’ interaction with government and for transforming government operations. Thus, the websites must be more than static notice boards but be function-oriented, dynamic and interactive.