It is ironic that, even as he exerts all energy in actualising his agenda to ‘Make America Great Again’, President Donald Trump is also, perhaps inadvertently, unravelling the building blocks responsible for his country’s superlative attainments in the first place. For instance, some of his country’s most iconic institutions of higher learning are under siege from the Trump administration as MAGA doctrine seemingly has little patience both for theory and theoreticians. Scientific certainties and proven verities on climate change, reproductive health, vaccines and public health among others are held hostage to rigid ideological stances of dubious intellectual and utilitarian value.
No less damaging are the massive ongoing purges in the public sector under Trump thus eroding the certainty and security of tenure that enabled public officers to be true to their oath of office and stand fearlessly in defence of the public good in the discharge of their duties. It would appear that personal loyalty to Trump has become the most critical factor in being appointed to public office and the key to remaining in such offices. The consequence is the degeneration to the most comical forms of sycophancy and obsequiousness in American political life.
Obviously lost on President Trump is the irony of his offering assistance to protesters against the Islamic Republic in Iran even as officers of the ICE operate like some Hitlerite gestapo gang in Wisconsin and other American cities – an anomaly in the expiring America we used to know. And in his rabid, no-holds-barred clampdown on ‘illegal immigrants’, which, of course, can be defensible in some respects, Trump is undermining the rich diversity of a specialist, skilled immigrant base partly responsible for America’s greatness. And there is the Trump administration’s total withdrawal from or undisguised undermining of several humanitarian organisations that underlay the ‘soft power’ that inspired Ronald Reagan’s description of America as the city on a hill beaming inspirational rays of light to the world. Unfortunately, clouds of darkness have begun to eclipse any such radiance.
As this column has often reiterated, Trump’s unhidden disdain for the weak, poor, vulnerable and feeble of the earth or his contemptuous dismissal of the ‘shit-hole’ countries of Africa should not evoke responses of anger or fury. In any case, such negative emotions would be at best exercises in impotence in the face of a global power behemoth like America. In a way, we should even be grateful that Trump, through his undisguised forthrightness and penchant for telling the truth as he sees it, shorn of all hypocritical posturing, has issued a wake-up call to Africa and the continent’s leaders. You either shape up or face the existential evaporation of your countries as sovereign entities in a world increasingly impatient with failing states that sit atop buoyant resource bases that can be put to better use by better organised and managed polities.
In the first part of this piece, we contended that resetting Nigeria and indeed Africa on the path of socio-economic and political resurgence, a task that has become imperative and inescapable, is no rocket science. It is a feat that can be achieved by doing a number of simple things that elevate merit in the functioning of the public sphere, ensure persistence on the path of this ethical rectitude and being focused not just in effecting seemingly small but impactful changes as well as being diligent in implementing the diverse aspects of the grand visions we conjure of the future flourishing society of our dreams.
We noted that the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) under the leadership of Professor Tunji OLAOPA is already showing the light for us to find the way in this regard. In the first place, it is significant that President Bola Tinubu appointed unarguably the country’s leading authority on public sector reforms as Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC). Apart from the plethora of books he has written on public service reforms in Nigeria and Africa, Professor Olaopa rose to the Pinnacle of his career in the Civil Service where he was a federal Permanent Secretary. He has brought both his theoretical grounding and practical experience to bear on the execution of his mission at the FCSC.
For instance, in September 2025, Professor Olaopa revealed, at an FCSC Strategic Plan Stakeholder Validation Workshop in Abuja, a new Strategic Plan to guide the operations of the FCSC between 2026 and 2030. Speaking on the occasion, he stressed that “This plan is our response to the President’s charge for us to reposition the Federal bureaucracy, making the Commission a catalyst for deepening and consolidating ongoing transformation efforts”. The unpretentious intellectual that he is, Olaopa admitted that the reform trajectory over the last one year had revealed certain limitations and shortcomings which had to be decisively addressed.
In his words, “It became clear that our roadmap needed more evidence -based concrete strategies, change management programs, and carefully crafted projects to truly assure a transformative journey”. Towards this end, the remodeled strategic plan focuses on six key areas which include strengthening the FCSC ‘s constitutionally mandated independence, oversight of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and public accountability mechanisms; according appropriate priority to reinforcing meritocracy through competitive promotion exercises, structured interviews, and transparent digital recruitment platforms that facilitate nationwide examinations; and, in conjunction with the Office of the Head of the Civil Service, institutionalizing performance -based career management systems that “link promotion and career progression to key performance indicators, citizen feedback, and revised annual appraisal reports fundamental for enhancing accountability”.
Other aspects of the strategic master plan include improving on ethical frameworks, internal audit systems and whistleblower protections, as well as deepening the meritocratic and transparent implementation of the federal character principle, as well as ensuring fair representation for women and persons with disabilities in line with the constitution. According to Olaopa, “These six strategic emphases are lessons drawn from global best practices, especially from Commonwealth Civil Service Commissions in countries such as the UK and Canada…We must recover lost legal and operational independence to shield career management from political interference. Opaque manual processes will be replaced by digital recruitment platforms and performance -based promotions to deepen meritocracy and transparency”.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson – Jack expressed optimism that the FCSC Strategic Plan transcends beyond guiding the Commission alone but will also serve as an enabler for the wider Federal Civil Reform Agenda. Emphasising the shared vision by all stakeholders in developing a world-class public service characterised by professionalism, accountability, meritocracy, and performance orientation to fast-track national development, she stressed that the FCSC Strategic Plan, alongside the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP), would go a long way to help achieve these objectives.
A significant development under Olaopa ‘s leadership at the FCSC has been the resuscitation of the annual National Council of Civil Service Commissions of the Federation. The highest consultative and advisory platform for strengthening institutional capacy, operational efficiency and governance culture among Federal and Civil Service Commissions in the country, this all important council had not convened for over ten years before the present dispensation. The theme of the 2025 edition of the Council was ‘Repositioning Civil Service Commissions in Nigeria as a Hub of Professionalism in Public Service Human Resource Management’.
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A perusal of the communique issued at the end of the 44th annual Council of the Federal and State civil service commissions, which was held in Umuahia, Abia State, revealed a number of heartwarming trends. First, there is the evolution of a more robust relationship and interaction between the federal and state civil service commissions. Second, is a joint deliberation on as well as inclusive input into the emergence and subsequent implementation of the Strategic Master plan of the FCSC (2026-2030). Third, there is the increased tempo of the participation of state civil service commissions in the deliberations of the council, with positive implications for the overall performance of the body at the federal and state levels.
It is not surprising that the emphasis in much of the points articulated in the communique stresses more qualitative and rigorous recruitment and promotion processes; higher levels of organizational accountability, transparency and efficiency especially through enhanced use of technological innovations and digital platforms; enhancing the organizational autonomy of the Federal and State civil service commissions from partisan meddling to enhance Professionalism and meritocracy in the pursuit of their respective mandates in the public interest.
Attaining higher and more qualitative standards of governance in the public sphere is a necessary condition for Nigeria and other African countries to escape the demeaning characterisation of such countries as ‘shit-hole’ entities. The standards of performance set in the public sphere have positive or negative implications for public education, healthcare, urban planning, environmental control and waste management, housing, public infrastructure, as well as national security, to name a few. Indeed, the quality of service delivery in different areas of the private sector depends substantially on the quality of governance in public sector regulatory agencies.
Perhaps one of the most significant highlights of the deliberations at Umuahia as captured in the communique was the declaration of support by the State Civil Service Commissions for steps being taken by the FCSC to bring other Human Resources Management institutions in the public service such as the Police Service Commission, National Assembly Service Commission, Federal Judicial Service Commission, the Civil Defence, Correctional and Immigration Services Board among others within a networking arrangement to share knowledge, engage in peer review and deepen the common pool for the generation and implementation of ideas, plans and strategies. If accomplished, this will be a major turning point in the qualitative deepening of the various federal and state civil service commissions across the country.
No less critical was the call for the encouragement of State Civil Service Commissions to join the forum of the Association of African Public Service Commissions (AAPSCOMs) as an avenue for enlarging their learning network, broadening their professional outlook and expanding their sphere for peer collaboration. Incidentally, Professor Olaopa is the Vice President of the Association for the West Africa Region.
