1.6 Methodology used to prepare the CSAR 35. The APRM master questionnaire was domesticated. The LROs then used the following survey methodologies in implementing the self-assessment questionnaire: 36. 37. • Desk research for reviewing relevant documentation on the thematic areas from 1960 (the date of independence) to 2007. • An MHS to ascertain the opinions of the majority of Nigerians on the quality of governance in the country in the four thematic areas. [The MHS was designed and conducted by the NBS. The survey captured the views of a national sample size of 22,200 households in 1,110 enumeration areas across 111 local government areas in all 109 senatorial districts of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).] • An elite/decision-maker interview (EDMI) questionnaire to tap the opinions of the elites on the quality of governance in the four thematic areas. [Respondents were selected so as to reflect Nigeria’s geographical, political and social diversities from among the three arms and tiers of government, professional and occupational groups, CSOs, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), labour and trade unions, gender groups, ethnocultural/religious orientations, faithbased organisations, etc.] • Focus-group discussions (FGDs) to assess the opinions of the non-elite and local opinion leaders, such as artisans, through discussions on issues relating to the quality of governance in the country. The challenges encountered included the following: • The country’s vast size and diverse ethnofederal structure made it difficult to define and operationalise stakeholder participation. (Nigeria has 36 states, an FCT, and 774 local government areas/area councils, in addition to the central government.) • The technicality of the recommended methodology and instruments for the CSAR, underscored by the cumbersome nature of the master questionnaire, whose domestication (to make it respondent-friendly as well as capture Nigeria’s governance particularities) and administration proved to be expensive and time-consuming. • A further problem was the fragility of the country’s governance system and institutions, arising from prolonged years of authoritarian military rule and its inherited paralysis brought about by oversight institutions in the legislature and judiciary arms of government. • Complex problems were encountered regarding economic development, and there were concerns about the sustainability of the APR process itself beyond the then administration. In the final stages of the self-assessment process, three consultants – Professor Alex Gboyega, Professor FON Roberts and Mr Benson Ekujumi – were engaged at the end of 2006 to harmonise the final review report. 33