Nigerian author identifies seven forces that determine policy success

Paul Oluikpe, a Nigerian author, has released a new book on policy, titled “Swim or Sink: Policy Dynamics in Challenging Environments”. The title of the book is a play on the metaphor of turbulence, survival, instability unpredictability and fluidity. He anchors his thesis on the nuances and variability of public opinion at every point in time.

Oluikpe posits that policymakers need to understand and interact with the “cognitive and psychological frames of reference which fuel public responses to policy propositions”.

He opines that most of the time, public policy is blunted by the volatility of the external environment, requiring that strategists, policymakers, and organizational leaders adapt and reinvent themselves in the face of shifting odds.

The continued viability of any policy construct is often challenged by the notion of public perception and reaction, and practitioners need to insert themselves in those spaces where perception is formed and nurtured. This means rigorous organic engagement with the environment.

Oluikpe propounds on seven forces, which he insists, influence policy outcomes. These forces are the economy, politics, ambiguity, complexity, instability, resources and execution. He treats these seven forces in separate chapters, and with a lot of historical and contemporary sources, he provides empirical validation to the ideas and lines of thought on the dynamics of policy in difficult environments.

The book has been received with acclaim from practitioners, as an excellent contribution to the literature and practice of policymaking in contemporary times. Published by Warwick Publishing, the book has 335 pages, with paperback and Kindle imprints.

Oluikpe is known for his novel, Dead on Arrival(2013) and his novelette, the Campus Mafia(2006). With this current book, he demonstrates his mettle and proficiency in taking on writing outside the fictional and creative writing domain.

Born on the 12th of July, 1972 in Abia State of Nigeria, he attended Ovuokwu Omoba Secondary School and Ihie High School, and then proceeded to Abia State University, where he finished with a Bachelor’s degree in Library Studies in 1998.

He then pursued postgraduate education at Loughborough University, UK, earning an MSc from the School of Business and Economics in 2003 and subsequently a PhD in Civil Engineering from the same university in 2007.

He also pursued further postgraduate education at the University of Oxford, finishing with a distinction in Strategy and Innovation at the Said Business School in 2017. He is a Chartered Banker and a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.