Beyond Bureaucracy: Overhauling the Civil Service for a New Era

Kuni Tyessi writes that the Nigerian civil service, like other sectors, is in need of reforms, particularly in areas that will address the rot within and change the status quo from red tape to positive results

Like a lone voice in the wilderness, Dr. Goke Adegoroye, former pioneer Director-General and retired Permanent Secretary of the Bureau for Public Service Reforms (BPSR), and past Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministries of Education, Interior and the FCT, has relentlessly continued to sermonise and advocate reforms in the civil service structure and practice in Nigeria.

This can be noted in his books, more so in his recently published piece of 420 pages titled “Leadership in the Nigerian Civil Service: Five Decades of Lessons in Performance, Encounters and Triumphs.”

With 50 years’ experience in the civil service, he opines that in the service delivery of this critical sector of the arm of government, sitting forlorn with folded hands after 15 years of retirement is akin to caring less in a situation whereby a house of numerous treasures is burning while a member or stakeholder looks on unperturbed — a condition he says, if allowed to continue, has the capacity for massive destruction in terms of executive pronouncements, and the aftermath of such can be irretrievable or will take the stance of the Israelites’ wilderness journey to effect corrections.

In a clear and simple style, which can be said to be deliberate for the purpose of better understanding even by the everyday people on the street, Adegoroye, in his chronicles backed with pictures and dates to serve as evidence of his claims, observes that the challenges and inadequacies experienced during his years of active service in the sector have not only thrived but have exacerbated and are in need of urgent attention, with a possibility of an overhaul.

In his interaction with friends and the media during a reading of his book after the public presentation in Abuja, Adegoroye, who centred his themes on corruption, indiscipline, optimism, incompetence and bad leadership amongst others, as well as the subject matter of Nigeria’s civil service and the diseases therein, said the new publication is a personal attempt to boldly confront the embarrassing and unfortunate situations. He believes that real-life examples used in stating the effectiveness of the civil service will spur emerging leaders and will prick the conscience of political stakeholders to appreciate why effective and efficient civil service is the cornerstone of achieving developmental vision.

In his passionate plea for change, the author, in giving further explanation behind his chosen themes, says: “At the same time, it is also an opportunity and call to heal the wounds of those that have been surcharged by the system and inspire hope to those still committed to integrity, that the system will one day recognise them.

“Finally, it is to tell those who have taken advantage of the system that nothing is hidden and that the day of reckoning will come.”

He eulogises several Heads of Service for their commitment but however opines that the chief civil servants could not, and cannot, do it alone without the involvement of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic, whose title as “Chief Executive of the Federation” says it all. He posits that after the creation of laws and their interpretation by the legislative and judicial arms of government respectively, the executive, which carries out the functions of which the majority of civil servants fall under, needs the deliberate involvement of the President, and this can only be possible if he is knowledgeable of what truly exists beyond what has been reported to him.

He says: “Yet, the change lies with the President by his first title as Chief Executive of the Federation and number one bureaucrat. The current Head of the Civil Service is making efforts and applying the rules, but how far is she succeeding? How can she reposition the service from the blind side of the President, and realising that it is proactiveness to positive initiative and not an admittance of failure?”

Adegoroye goes from one who knows and understands the challenges of the civil service to one who seems to have fallen into a trance and therefore begins to ask rhetorical questions. He might also have the answers to the questions he poses for his readers, but probably to encourage deep thinking and the birth of formidable answers, he further bares his mind and brings the questions to the fore.

Also, the questions serve as a template on which action should be taken by the present Head of the Civil Service and, more importantly, the President of the nation. He says: “How can we enthrone a merit-driven public service when not just the body language, but open directives of our principals, are driven by political patronage?”

Secondly, with public sector corruption becoming the oxygen of politics in Nigeria, how can civil servants be emboldened to uphold public trust? Additionally, what can we say about the plight in retirement of public servants who, in their service years, served with integrity? A classic case is the failure of the pension policy. How do we ensure that such failures do not shape the behaviour or values of those still in the service?

He goes ahead to advocate for the naming and shaming of government officials who go to the extent of abusing the confidence and trust reposed in them by the system. He is of the opinion that rather than leave them to karma, which might never come, and thereby serve as an encouraging factor for more corruption and ineptitude in the civil service, naming and shaming with proper documentation will serve as deterrent moving forward. While pushing for this, he again spices the call with another deep question.

He says: “Talk about the possibility of a family tree and the idea of naming and shaming corrupt public officers in the civil service and inspire others to uphold public trust and protect national interest. How do we make career public servants appreciate public service as a sacred duty, as moral obligation to serve the country good and commitment to uphold the interest of the citizens and the nation?”

Again, for the sake of emphasis and an unconscious proof of the restlessness camped in his mind about the trajectory of the Nigerian civil service, Adegoroye re-emphasises the need for the President to take a close look at the activities of one of the sectors of the driving force of his administration. He says: “It’s up to the President to uphold and deploy the necessary political will, to improve and recommend the implementation of the pieces of advice in the book. The onus of reforming the civil service is on the President. A people get the government that it deserves, and in the real sense of that, a President can get the civil service that he deserves.”

With the climax of his work taking centre stage on the need for integrity, competence and nationhood, Adegoroye comes to a denouement with words which are expected to keep reverberating until the needful reforms are done in the nation’s civil service system. He says: “The civil service and the judiciary have become the citizens’ last defences to uphold public trust. Capacity, competence and professionalism are needed, but only if we can demonstrate the courage to make integrity a defining factor in the selection of leaders in the public service, can we begin to see commitment in the service as a sacred duty.”

Adegoroye, like every well-meaning Nigerian, looks forward to the prescribed positive change. When and how this will happen is entrenched in the future, and only time can tell.