The responsibility of giving policy guidelines to the board of corporations rest with the

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks who gives policy guidelines to the board of a public corporation (parastatal). The key idea is the difference between policy direction and day-to-day management.

Step 2: Explain the concept Public corporations in Nigeria are set up by an Act or Decree of government. Their control is structured like this:

• The supervising Minister (the minister of the parent ministry) gives broad policy guidelines and direction. The minister is also usually the one who appoints board members and approves major decisions, and is answerable to the National Assembly for the corporation.
• The Board of Directors takes the policy guidelines and oversees the corporation. It does not set government policy for itself.
• The Chairman presides over board meetings.
• The Permanent Secretary is the administrative head of the ministry. He or she implements policy and advises the minister, but is not the source of policy.
• The General Manager/Chief Executive handles daily operations.

Step 3: Solution

• A. Board of Directors: it receives the guidelines and carries them out, so this is not the answer.
• B. Minister: the political head of the supervising ministry, who gives policy direction to the board. ✔
• C. Chairman: he or she presides over the board and does not give guidelines to it.
• D. Permanent Secretary: he or she is a civil servant who implements policy, not the one who gives guidelines to the board.

Step 4: Answer The correct option is B. Minister.

Tip: Remember "Minister = Policy, Board = Oversight, Management = Daily running". If a question mentions policy guidelines for a parastatal, think of the supervising Minister first.