The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Civil servants

  • HoS expresses concern over abduction of civil servants

    HoS expresses concern over abduction of civil servants

    ‎The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) said it has received with deep concern the distressing news of the abduction of some civil servants around Kabba in Kogi State while travelling to Abuja to participate in the ongoing Computer-Based Test (CBT) promotion examinations conducted by the Federal Civil Service Commission.

    ‎The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, on behalf of the Federal Civil Service and the wider Public Service family, expresses heartfelt sympathy and solidarity with the abducted officers, their families, and their colleagues across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

    ‎”Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this most difficult time, and we join all well-meaning Nigerians in fervent prayers for their safe and speedy release,” she said.

    ‎The HCSF expresses confidence in the ability of the security agencies to ensure the swift and safe rescue of the abducted Civil Servants.

    ‎While urging Civil Servants and the general public to remain calm and vigilant, Mrs. Walson-Jack reaffirmed the unwavering commitment of the Federal Civil Service to the welfare, safety, and well-being of its workforce.

    ‎“We stand together as one Civil Service family — united in faith, hope, and solidarity- praying earnestly for the safe return of our colleagues. Their safety and well-being remain our utmost priority,” she said.

  • How civil servants’ political partisanship undermines professionalism

    How civil servants’ political partisanship undermines professionalism

    • By Tunji Olaopa

    In any seminal interrogation of the professional status of civil servant, we are bound to always return to the original dichotomy—the politics-administration distinction—that inaugurated the emergence of public administration in history. This is because the more one thinks about it, especially in the context of postcolonial politics of the state in Africa, the more one is forced to acknowledge the theoretical genius of the framework. To reiterate again. The dichotomy is meant to situate a conceptual and professional wall between the practice of politics and administration. Politics on the one hand is the space of policymaking, contestation, powerplay and governance. On the other hand, administration is a realm constituted by technical and technocratic expertise, professionalism, and legal-rational rules that determine impartiality and neutrality. These two spaces are supposed to remain separated from each other for the sake of protecting the one and the other from corrupt tendencies and influences that could undermine their efficient performances while enabling democratic accountability. One could immediately see the correlation between this dichotomy and the idea of the separation of powers in constitutional government. The framework insists that governmental authority between the legislature, executive and judiciary must remain separate as a means of preserving their autonomy and serving a watchdog that enables one to keep the other on its toes. This is the very essence of the politics-administration dichotomy, a framework of check and balance that articulate a framework of strict relationship between the two.

    This dichotomy is further reinforced by the philosophical concept of language games, postulated by the German philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein. The simplicity of this concept is brilliant: a language game is a system of rules and meaning that differentiates one language game, say, philosophy from another language game, say, religion. To impose the rules of one language game on another is to muddle the field of the other language game. In any social practice, a word, action or activities has meaning which it does not have when we introduce that same word into another social practice. Take scepticism. Philosophy by its very nature is a sceptical discipline. It enables its adherent to question all concepts, paradigms, ideas and issues. Religion on the other hand is not a sceptical endeavor; it is rooted in belief systems and therefore dogmatic. If one were then to introduce the sceptical activity into religion, one would be flouting the rules of that specific language game.

    In this Wittgensteinian context, politics and administration would constitute two language games whose relationship must be mediated with the utmost care and administrative wisdom and dexterity. Of course, this distinction has been the source of serious criticisms over the course of its emergence. The most fundamental of these criticisms is the one that insists that the dichotomy is abstract and unrealistic within the context of the politics of a state. And this criticism is right. At the empirical level, the distinction between politics and administration is very difficult and nearly impossible to achieve. The state is an administrative entity that demands the collaborative and synergistic energies and efficiency of the politician and the administrator to function effectively in governance matters. It is the politics of the state that determine the extent of the relationship that occurs between the politicians and the administrators in terms of the governance and policy structure of the state. The policymaking function of the government, for example, requires that the civil servants weigh in with their technocratic and technical expertise that allows the government to make informed and intelligent policy decisions in favor of, say, democratic governance and its dividends for the citizens. Thus, the public policy approach demands a synergy between critical stakeholders, including politicians and bureaucrats, in finding sustainable solutions to policy challenges in government. This approach does not therefore function on the assumption of a struct separation of functionality between politics and administration.

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    The argument is then to draw a line between a strict and a loose sense of the dichotomy between politics and administration. A strict separation is normatively and empirically very difficult to maintain. In fact, empirical evidences demonstrate that such a strict separation cannot be achieved. But a loose understanding of the separation is possible. When the Nigerian Constitution avers that all citizens have the right to participate in partisan politics, it makes a key human rights assertion that empowers all Nigerians. Here is a good point to speak to the larger distinction in government service, between the civil service and the public service. The Nigerian Constitution is very clear about the distinction between the civil and the public service. The “public service” is “the service of the Federation in any capacity in respect of the Government of the Federation.” On the other hand, the civil service “means service of the Federation in a civil capacity as staff of the office of the President, the Vice-President, a ministry or department of the Government of the Federation assigned with the responsibility for any business of the Government of the Federation.” This distinction is almost academic in the sense that it is undermined by several institutional and structural dynamics in government business. The key issue, however, is that the Constitution specifically states that, on the one hand, no such government officials can vie for partisan politics unless she withdraws from her post; and on the other hand, that such officials are subject to the code of conduct of their respective services. In terms of the 2003 Supreme Court judgment, we can then conclude that it applies across board to all government officials in terms of allowing the capacity to be political only to the extent of the most minimal political participation regarding voting in an election. The case of the members of the judiciary, especially the justices, is even more cogent and for more than legal reasons. Judges are excluded from any form of fraternizing by an ethical injunction that specify the norms of lethal impartiality. The judiciary cannot be a part of the arms of government, bound by a framework of power separation and then be seen in league with them. 

    The implication of the clarification above is simply that a constitutional provision, such as the one made by the Nigerian Constitution, must come to the reality of administrative relevance, especially in the case of the civil service, in the efficient deployment of technical knowledge to the management of the state and its business, especially its service delivery function. Every government is known by its ideological orientation. It is this ideological coloration of politics that determine the direction of policy formulation. A government can be conservative, progressive, Labour, Democratic or Republican.

    The question however is how normatively and constitutionally appropriate it is to adapt an ideological orientation in power politics to the necessity of achieving an administrative continuity in government. The very apparatus of administration and the civil service system is meant to serve as the administrative backbone of every government, no matter its ideological orientation. The status of the administrative apparatus is determined by anonymity, permanence and neutrality. The apparatus, that is, is the machinery that makes all types of governments and their ideologies work. The idea of administrative continuity all by itself speaks to a grounding for political stability. This is especially an urgent characteristic in a postcolonial state like Nigeria where the political order is subject to bouts of unstable seizures. Neutrality, especially within the ambit of the 1999 Constitution, requires a statement. To be administratively neutral does not imply that a civil servant cannot form political opinion or be a card-carrying member of a political party. It only means that such political affiliation must be suspended or held in abeyance in the service of a higher responsibility. Civil servants are not ordinary Nigerians captured by constitutional provisions. On the contrary, they are held to a more fundamental responsibility that does not violate the constitutional imperative. It is the availability of the Public Service Rules that ensure that public and civil servants are held to the fundamental standards of political and policy neutrality and impartiality. The rules insist that every government in power will receive the best policy intelligence, advice and implementation that has not been compromised by partisan political loyalty.  

    Thus, if an institution founded on impartiality and neutrality in mediating different politically oriented government is then found to have become unmitigatedly partisan, the first casualty becomes trust. When politicians and administrators engage in policy discussions, they do so within a structural space that is determined by mutual trust. In other words, politicians have the confidence to take the civil servants seriously based on the latter’s professionalism, technical expertise and impartiality. This trust space implies that any government in power can confidently work with any body of civil servants set permanently in place by administrative necessity. However, if a Conservative government knows that this body of civil servants has been compromised by its partisan collusion with the outgoing Labour government, the structure of administrative permanence and neutrality is breached. The incoming government is then compelled by a sense of political preservation to replace the body of civil servants with those politically loyal to its own political ideology. One can only imagine the consequences of such a circumstance in terms of political and administrative instability.

    The second casualty of a political partisanship orientation for civil servant is professionalism. Party politics functions on the dynamic of patronage. A government is compelled by the logic of patronage to reward those who have remained politically loyal. And what better appointment would be suitable than in the civil service. One does not need a lengthy disquisition to see immediately how political patronage can undoubtedly undermine civil service professionalism. Political patronage creates what has been called “a regime of favoritism.” This makes possible a body of civil servants that have been put in office not by their meritocratic credentials or technical expertise, but party loyalty. This automatically undermine the capacity of the government to achieve policy performance and governance distinction. Political interference in public administration undermines meritocracy and competence. Political allegiance and loyalty become the key factor in promotion and career mobility. Once the civil service becomes indistinguishable from a party machinery, that effectively is the end of the capability readiness of the civil service to technically and technocratically serve the end of policy advisory professionalism to government and service delivery to the citizens.

    Meritocracy and competence ensure that civil servants will bring their professional judgment to bear on the generation of policy intelligence and evidence-based policy research to be able to articulate significant policy options they can then advice the government on. A civil servant that has been appointed to a post based on her political allegiance and loyalty loses this professional capability since she has to circumscribe her administrative expertise by political discretion which compel her to do the biddings of her political overlords. Indeed, civil servants and public managers are often forced by partisan politics to become political entrepreneurs who are willing to sell their technical expertise to the highest bidders. And once the civil servants have been politically compromised in this manner, there is no framework in place any longer that allows civil servants to speak truth to power. A civil servant’s capacity to speak truth to power derives from her capacity to determine policy options, backed by incredible technical expertise, that counteracts the politicians’ short-term expectations with the bureaucrats’ oath to promote the long-term fundamental objectives of state policy and therefore the public interest.

    In the final analysis, protecting civil service autonomy demands a very high level of political will that sees the civil service, and the entirety of the public service, as a government’s legitimate claim to governance legacy. No matter its ideological orientation and the temptation to subdue the civil service under the weight of political patronage, a government would put in place a stringent structural and institutional framework that ensures a loose dichotomy between politics and administration. This was what Chief Obafemi Awolowo did in the old western region. And he succeeded! Every government needs a meritocratic, politically neutral, and administratively competent civil service that will backstop its governance aspiration. To undermine that meritocratic civil service in favor of party loyalty is to commit political and administrative suicide. It is a neutral, impartial and technically competent civil service that best serve the government’s desire for political, administrative and governance success, contrary to the short-term objective of having party stalwarts and loyalists in every arm of government.                 

    This becomes a path to a definite and concrete institutional reform direction for the Tinubu administration. Given the administration’s commitment to making Nigeria work, this discourse on whether or not civil servants can be committed to partisan politics is a trap that could derail the ongoing Renewed Hope Agenda. What that discourse should instigate is rather the commitment to institutionally reforming the civil service in ways that can enable it—make it capability ready—to serve the administration’s governance objectives and its performance effectiveness. It will be a grievous political miscalculation to allow the lure of political patronage to derail a good work that has commenced already.  

    • Olaopa is a Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission & Professor of Public Administration, Abuja

  • Should civil servants participate in partisan politics? In search for final answer

    Should civil servants participate in partisan politics? In search for final answer

    Quite recently, public discourse was again forced to consider an old discourse that borders on the whether or not civil servants have the right to engage in partisan politics. This discourse, of course, became heated up given that the political order in Nigeria is already getting into a feverish pitch as a result of ongoing political strategizing in readiness for the 2027 general elections. The next election cycle seems a bit far, but politicians are not usually known to be that patient, especially when it comes to the struggle to gain or retain political power. The usual bickering concerning alignment and mudslinging have already picked up a heightened pace, and it is inevitable that we will once again come to the point of figuring out the political status of civil servants in the whole dynamics.

    Quite recently, on August 15, 2025, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, fired a salvo at the quarterly Stakeholders and Citizens Engagement interactive session. The basis of her argument is the crucial need to safeguard the political neutrality of the civil servants in accordance with their responsibility to any government of the day. And in response to the old Supreme Court judgement which reiterates the constitutional provision allowing any citizen of Nigeria to participate in politics, the HCSF argues that the constitutional provision (when conflated with the subordinate provision of the public service rules) permits civil servants the fundamental right to privately support any party of their choice without being drawn into the murky space of high-stake political activities. It did not take too long for the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), through its president, Mr Joe Ajaero, to respond. And it was typical. The NLC countered that both the Nigerian 1999 Constitution and the 2003 Supreme Court judgement—in the INEC v Musa and Others—foreground the right of civil servants, like all other Nigerians, not just to be card-carrying party members, but to also be involved in all other political activities.

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    The interesting issue is that both the HCSF and the NLC president pointed at the constitutional and the Supreme Court support for that legal stipulation of the constitutional provision of Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitutions states simply: Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests. However, the HCSF insists that civil servants, while adhering to this constitutional provision, must keep in mind the fundamental significance Public Service Rules which define and constrain the administrative behaviour of civil servants. Section 4 of the PSR defines serious misconduct as “a specific act of very serious wrongdoing and improper behavior which is inimical to the image of the service and which can be investigated and if proven, may lead to dismissal.” The PSR then went on to situate engaging in partisan politics as an act of serious misconduct. Does the Public Service Rule then undermine the Nigerian constitutional stipulation?

    There is no easy way to mediating this discourse. The two sides of the debate are cogent in the understanding of how the political status of a civil servant must be construed. The entire political order of the Nigerian state is anchored on the constitutional provisions which is the final arbiter on any legal issues concerning the government and the citizens of Nigeria. And the Supreme Court, in its 2003 ruling on INEC v Musa and Others, did well to uphold the Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution. But then, the administrative stability, professional status and performance capability of the civil servant to deliver her utmost in terms of articulating and implementing policies is anchored on the ability of the civil servant to remain neutral in political activities and engagements.

    At the base of this disagreement between the HCSF and the NLC is the most fundamental dichotomy that inaugurated the public administration. This is the politics-administration distinction which insists that politicians and civil servants have different remits in their connection with the running of a state. While politicians are saddled with the design and formulation of policies that service the social contract, the civil servants are concerned only with the implementation of these policies. And each party’s task is so specified that each need not collaborate or interfere with each other’s responsibilities. However, this dichotomy is not so easily explained and outlined. This is because it is simply a theoretical construct that different administrative traditions, approaches and contexts could interpret differently. This is because there is a complex framework of relationship between administration and politics, or between civil servants and politicians. Max Weber notes that a civil servant can either live for politics or live from politics. And both are not mutually exclusive. According to him, “Whoever lives “for” politics “makes it his life,” in the inward sense. He either enjoys the naked possession of the power he exercises, or he nourishes his inward equilibrium and self-esteem with the consciousness of giving meaning to his life by serving a “cause”. Probably every serious person who lives for a cause, also lives from this cause.”

    And Weber had the example of Otto von Bismarck who exemplifies living ‘for” politics in both senses of the allure of the naked possession of power and that of serving a cause. As Chancellor, Bismarck inevitably fell into a serious conflict with Emperor Wilhelm II in terms of the content of Germany’s domestic and foreign policies and how they affect the lives of Germans. Of course, Wilhelm fired his chief public servant for his strong political views and participation. However, Wilhelm himself got inextricably lost in bureaucratic officialdom that eventually undermined his government. The Wilhelm-Bismarck power struggle constitutes one perspective about the politics-administration dichotomy. On the flip side of that dichotomy is the Awolowo-Adebo collaborative efforts that was the basis of the significant infrastructural leadership of the old western region in the immediate post-independence period. That model held strongly to the separation of politics and administration in ways that allowed both to face their remit and ultimately achieve policy formulation and implementation.

    The Awolowo-Adebo administrative model emerged from Nigeria’s inheritance of the apolitical British civil service system. This tradition of public administration is common all across the Commonwealth countries. The British civil service system was designed to be thoroughly impartial; civil servants are trained to serve the government of the day with utmost impartiality regardless of whatever political opinions or views they hold. The system however gives room for special advisers who are specially appointed, hold temporary position and are exempted from the rule of impartiality in their duty to provide political advice and direction to ministers. This was the framework of the politics-administration distinction that gave Nigeria the golden age of the civil service in the immediate post-independence period. Unfortunately, one of the traumatic fallouts of the military incursion into Nigerian politics is the terrible distortions of Nigerian governance, political and administrative coherence. The massive purge of the public service in 1975/76 for instance, was in part a playout of the politics to contain the audacity that General Gowon enabled the super-permanent secretaries to have in the policy space; the audacity to step into the arena of politics at the time; one which must have put them in opposing camp with the war generals who then assaulted their rank in revenge, when the Murtala-Obasanjo assume the reign of power. When the Babangida administration began its Public Service Reform agenda, there was already on board the reform to transit Nigeria’s governmental structure to presidentialism. The Dotun Philips study group that preceded this reform framework was tasked with the objective of a professionalized civil service circumscribed by a managerial philosophy and grafted into the institutional context of presidentialism. Unfortunately, with the promulgation of Decree 43 by the Babangida administration, the objective of professionalizing the civil service system was jeopardized with the politicizing of the position of the permanent secretary which was then re-designated as the Director-General.

    How do we then tie this historical and conceptual reflections together? I suspect that the Supreme Court judgment which grounds the provision of the 1999 Constitution on partisan political engagement of Nigerians cannot be the final answer on the matter. And this position is far from being counterintuitive, coming from the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission. This is my argument. The Constitutional order of the Nigerian state cannot answer to all realities, economic, political, sociocultural, administrative, and even governance. The Nigerian state has weathered all sorts of circumstances that had to be handled through legal pragmatism. Thus, while the Constitution is fundamentally right, at the most general level of the fundamental, to state that every Nigerian has the right to be political and to hold political views and participate in politics, the said constitution cannot legislate at the level of the concrete on what is best for the civil service system as both an administrative system and a profession in its own right. That has to be handled with an administrative wisdom and legality that would not undermine the constitutional order must be top in the next level administrative reform agenda for the Nigerian civil service, going forward. It is at this level that stakeholders in the administrative framework can decide what is best for the Nigerian public administrative system now and in the near future.

    This whole discourse on the political status of civil servants in Nigeria’s political and constitutional order therefore speaks to the urgency of what it takes to institutionally reform the Nigerian civil service system. The discourse, in other words, brings to the fore cogent and fundamental questions: How should the classic politics-administration dichotomy be reconceived within the framework of a new theory of change for institutional reform given Nigeria’s peculiar socio-political reality? What system of public administration is best for Nigeria at this stage in its evolution and for its transformation journey? What should be the role of the state and its constitutional order in that journey? These are key questions to reflect on in the light of two important objectives. The first is that Nigeria needs to become a developmental state that pushes the boundaries of democratic governance that elevate the well-being of Nigerians. A developmental state has to plug into the fourth and fifth industrial revolutions in ways that provide the technological and infrastructural wherewithal to make development happen. The second objective is that the public service must in time, even if aspirational, become a world class institution that can effectively and efficiently backstop the developmental aspirations of the Nigerian state.

    At the very heart of the institutional reform of the civil service system is indeed the nature and status of the civil servant as a public spirited and professional administrative persona with the twenty-first century public ethical conduct and competences to mediate the evolving knowledge society of the fourth industrial revolution. At the moment, the dysfunction of the system is due to its inability to jettison its old Weberian, “I-am-directed” structural modalities that engender bureau-pathology which prevents administrative efficiencies and promotes a culture that politicizes everything governance and development. This pathological condition calls for a re-professionalization strategy that capacitate the civil service system and its civil servants to function optimally in their vocational calling to serve Nigerians in manner that insulates it from distortionary politics. This is where all critical stakeholders, from the OHCSF and the Federal Civil Service Commission to the NLC owe the public administration a sacred responsibility. This is a far better focus than the intermittent public filibustering over how political the civil servant can be. This is a democratic system that requires a competent, efficient and impartial civil servant to help the government achieve its policy objectives for Nigerians. The best way to go is not to embroil these civil servants in Nigeria’s political complexities. This, I believe, is the cogent insight the HCSF is trying to pass across.

    • Olaopa Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission & Professor of Public Administration

  • Top civil servants honoured with SUVs, houses, cash, others

    Top civil servants honoured with SUVs, houses, cash, others

    Outstanding federal civil servants were celebrated in grand style at the 2025 Federal Civil Service Rewards and Recognition Awards held at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja, with recipients going home with SUVs, houses, cash prizes, laptops, and foreign training opportunities.

    The ceremony marked a major milestone in the ongoing transformation of the civil service under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

    Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who led the event, described it as a turning point in the public service culture — one that now prioritizes excellence, punctuality, and meaningful impact over titles.

    “Our civil servants matter, and tonight we are not just rewarding work — we are validating impact,” she said. “These awardees are quiet reformers who breathe life into governance every single day.”

    Dr. Bahijjatu Hadiza of the Federal Ministry of Environment emerged as the star performer of the night, winning the prestigious Presidential Star Prize. 

    Her award included a brand-new SUV, a laptop, an international short course, a masterclass programme, a plaque, and a certificate.

    Chukwudi Ekwenugo from the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy also stood out, receiving an SUV, N500,000 cash prize, a laptop, and foreign training.

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    Several other awardees across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) received between N250,000 and N500,000 in cash, laptops, and in some cases, home ownership benefits, one of the most generous reward packages in the history of Nigeria’s civil service.

    Walson-Jack also used the occasion to commend President Tinubu for his unwavering support for civil service reforms while issuing a firm reminder to MDAs that failed to participate or submitted ineligible nominees. She urged full compliance in future editions.

    Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Professor Tunji Olaopa, praised the Head of Service as a beacon of administrative reform, saying that she has given the civil service a new face.

    He further lauded the seamless collaboration between the Federal Civil Service Commission and the Office of the Head of Civil Service.

    Olaopa commended President Tinubu for providing the support needed to sustain reforms and reward excellence.

    Walson-Jack closed the evening with a rallying call to all civil servants: “You do not need to be in the spotlight to make an impact. Let your service speak. Do your work so well that it cannot be ignored.”

    The awards night capped a landmark Civil Service Week that featured Nigeria’s maiden International Civil Service Conference, where global delegates exchanged ideas on modern governance.

  • Lasaco pays N978.62m benefits to families of civil servants

    Lasaco pays N978.62m benefits to families of civil servants

    Lasaco Assurance Plc, with Lagos State and a consortium of underwriters and brokers, has paid N978.62 million in benefits to over 510 families of public servants. The event in Lagos, underscores the state’s commitment to supporting families of those who dedicated their lives to public service.

    Representing Lasaco were the company’s Managing Director, Razzaq Abiodun, General Manager of Business Development, Muyiwa Anwoju, and Assistant General Manager for Public Sector, Mrs. Ronke Babaita. Their presence highlighted the company’s commitment to providing financial security for civil servants in the state.

    At the ceremony, Commissioner for Finance, Abayomi Oluyomi, in conjunction with Abiodun and Anwoju, presented cheques to beneficiaries. Abayomi reaffirmed that the government is dedicated to the welfare of its civil servants and their families during and after their service.

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    Abiodun described the initiative as “an embodiment of protection, providing asset and welfare packages for the deceased and living members of the civil service in Lagos State.” His remarks were echoed by Femi Saheed, chairman of Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Finance, who commended the state’s consistency in maintaining adequate insurance coverage for its workforce.

    Officials at the event urged beneficiaries to manage the funds cautiously, emphasising the importance of financial literacy to ensure the support serves its intended purpose. The event reinforced a powerful message to civil servants and their families, that they were not only protected, but valued, and acknowledged.

    The disbursement also reinforces Lasaco’s leadership in social impact and workforce protection. As a trusted insurer, Lasaco remains at the heart of public service initiatives, proving that insurance is not just paperwork, but vital in safeguarding lives and honouring legacies of workers.

  • Gov. Bago announces N80,000 minimum wage for civil servants

    Gov. Bago announces N80,000 minimum wage for civil servants

    Gov. Umaru Bago of Niger has announced N80,000 minimum wage for civil servants effective from November.

    Bago disclosed this shortly after meeting with the organised labour in the state at the Government House, Minna on Friday.

    He said the payment would be for both the state and the local government workers effective from November.

    Bago said the committee on the minimum wage would work on the consequential adjustments.

    He said that the N80,000 was sustainable, especially with the state’s strides in agriculture.

    The governor advised civil servants to embrace agriculture, adding that civil service farms would be created to make them productive.

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    Mr Idrees Lafene, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), commended the governor for approving N80,000 as minimum wage.

    He said such move was a step forward, adding that the union look forward to an improved offer.

    He, however, appreciated the governor for going beyond the union’s expectation, saying that the union had tabled between N70,000, N75,000 and N80,000 as minimum wage for the state.

    (NAN)

  • When public/civil servants speak truth to power

    When public/civil servants speak truth to power

    By Tunji Olaopa

    In this piece, I want to beam a critical light on the significance and role of the public/civil servant within the power dynamics of governance in the Nigerian government. My fundamental concern derives from the central imperative in public administration—the politics-administration dichotomy—that insists that the politicians and the administrators have distinct responsibilities which must be adhered to form a functional state. This is one foundational principle that is so useful for the attainment of good governance. However, its utility must be conditioned by contextual peculiarities in the governance and administrative reality of where the dichotomy is expected to work. I have been an ardent institutional reformer for many years, and from the perspective of my governance and administrative reform experience, the kind of model that define the relationship between the politician and the administrator has a lot to do with how effective governance can be. I have the famous and most successful Awolowo-Adebo model of the old western region as good practice to reference in benchmarking politics-administration partnership required for the fruition of a developmental democratic state.

    What power dynamics constrain or enable the efficiency of the politicians and the administrators working together? I have been fascinated for a long time about the phrase “speaking truth to power.” And my fascination was triggered when I made the decision, many years back, to start my public commentaries in newspapers. That was a move that was contrary to expectation of my status as a public servant. The origin of the phrase is often ascribed to Bayard Ruskin, the civil right activist and Quaker. Indeed, it was his religious background that enabled him to construe that phrase as the most fundamental role of a religious group in its relationship to government. In 1955, the Quaker authored a pamphlet titled, Speaking Truth to Power: A Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence. The phrase is meant to serve as a framework of nonviolence for protesting and transforming government policies. It forms a crucial part of the struggle for justice that distinguishes the name and activism of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Wole Soyinka, Malala Yousafzai, etc.

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    How can a civil servant speak truth to power, especially in a dysfunctional public administration system that is expected to birth a world class institution capable of delivering an efficient productivity and infrastructural development? Or, even more precisely: how equipped are the civil servants, within such a system, to speak the truth that comes from what power? I have been too much of an insider not to be able to speak to the non-political capacity of the civil servants to wield enormous administrative power. And this power consists of the ability of the civil servants to service the public interest through the immense and complex dynamics of administering the statutory function at the heart of the state’s administration: providing well-run services to the public, offering expert advice to ministers and government, implementing regulatory controls that are enabling for economic growth in manner that protect the public and nation’s interest at all times.

    Unfortunately, the capacity the civil servants should have had to offer fearless administrative and governance advice has been hollowed out, as far as the Nigerian public service is concerned, by a declining institutional and policy capacity, the lamentable loss of professional independence to stay aloof of partisan politics through the coherent and formal framework of legal-rationalism, and many more. The gross implication is not only that the public servants fail in their fundamental task of administering the Nigerian state, they also become essentially inconsequential in the eyes of the political class. Either way, Nigerians lose. And the project of ensuring the well-being of the citizens keeps floundering. No incapacitated civil servants have the power to speak truth to power.

    To be fair, we can equally ask how complicit the public servants also are in the steady decline of the public service system, and their own self-imposed incapacity to speak truth from a position of professional capacitation? For instance, are public servants drawn into the bureaucratic game by holding back in offering genuine and objective administrative advice in terms of the best policy options—no matter the consequences—for fear of falling out of favour with their bosses? Is loyalty or being respectful privileged over the best interest of the government that is served by speaking out boldly when the best options in policy choices are not taken? In what I have called the bureau-pathology of the Nigerian civil service system, public servants often play the game that get them to the top of their careers mostly through acquiring the skills to dodge risks and courageous administrative discretion, and being largely uncreative and non-innovative.  

    A very good example of this bureau-pathological deficiency can be found in public information management. Rather than communicating strategically to articulate the issues that the government is concerned about in terms of the governance policies that will make a difference in the lives of Nigerians, public officers throw strategic communication to the winds and adopt a propagandist framework that is more worried about how policies are received by the public. And this leaves the government worse off as soon as the citizens see through the ploy to pull the wool over their eyes, rather than fix the problems that are impoverishing them. And that is not to say that the government itself has not compromised the civil servants with its distortionary politics that not only undermine whatever safe places the public servants might have—like the Simeon Adebos and the Allison Ayidas of the 1960s and the 1970s—to engage in policy debates that might help in redeeming the government policy performance. The government has also consistently dipped its hand in bad politics or poorly conceived policies that side-track the government from the fundamental objective of making life meaningful for Nigerians.

    Speaking truth to power in this dysfunctional scenario becomes very difficult but definitely not impossible. It should rather be seen as a horizon of possibility. And the first condition for that courage to face down political power is to be in control of the flow of information, especially regarding contestable and non-contestable facts; articulating differing and competing policy perspectives that could aid the government’s policy decisions; as well as the logic that shapes the dynamics governing the contexts of the policy processes—the deep nuances and intelligences that are critical to the capacity of the government to make good policy decisions. This, in the best tradition of public service, constitutes the function of the public servant—creating the optimal policy environment where facts, information, intelligence, contexts and perspectives are weighted to articulate nuanced policy scenarios that provides for the government the best policy choices. Given this proof of administrative competence, the public service justifies its own relevance and provides government with no choice but to regard the civil service as the first point of call in terms of policy guidance and direction. Where policy options are not evidence-based and rooted in knowledge and intelligence, the government to be able to do well on behalf of the people has to look for it elsewhere. And this is where outsourcing policy guidance to consultants and external expertise becomes a terrible indictment of the civil service.

    To speak truth to  power  in administrative terms is therefore to speak with the authority that insists that government must follow a particular policy direction,  rather  than   another, based on the aggregation of facts and evidence, the weighing of options, insights and alternatives, and the consideration of scenarios with foresight thinking that anticipate current, emerging and potential policy issues and ideas with clarity and precision. For the civil servant to speak truth to power, the civil servant must speak ex cathedra in the operation of the civil servant’s status as a seasoned professional who understands the demands and imperatives of the office and is fearless in carrying them out. The demand of the office requires that civil servants are sufficiently creative and innovative in pre-empting administrative problems before they arise. This entails deploying resident institutional capacity to give early warnings even on issues that it sees, but which it cannot institutionally resolve on its own. This foresighted and creative anticipation is one of the significant professional capacities that stood the super-permanent secretaries out before, during and after the turbulent period of the Nigerian Civil War. They were courageous, bold and foresighted in dealing with the myriad issues that a war-time administration required to keep functioning and not dissolve into chaos.

    This suggests that going forward, the civil service needs new skills that are significant for transforming the civil service institution into a new public service sufficiently capacitated to speak truth to power in fast tracking the transformation of the system into a world class institution that is capacity ready to deliver effective and efficient performance and productivity. The civil servants must be able to think digital, understand systems, dimension the big picture through deployment of analytics, data and the management of projects complexities. They must also be guarded by administrative values, old and new. Apart from the enforcement of the old traditional values of efficiency, effectiveness, integrity, impartiality, neutrality, anonymity, responsiveness, representativeness, loyalty, equity, fairness, etc., there is also the new public service values: innovation, quality, team work, empowerment, openness, and so on.  

  • Bayelsa to prioritise low-cost housing schemes for civil servants, others

    Bayelsa to prioritise low-cost housing schemes for civil servants, others

    … As govt recruits 1,500 teachers for primary, secondary schools

    The Bayelsa State Government has promised to accord priority attention to housing development in its bid to address the accommodation needs of the people of the state.

    Governor Douye Diri gave the assurance while responding to issues raised at the Bayelsa Elders Council Quarterly general meeting held yesterday at the Niger Delta Wetland Centre, Ekeki, Yenagoa.

    Diri, who was represented by his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, maintained that a number of housing schemes, including the completion of inherited housing projects would be vigorously pursued in his current second tenure.

    He said government would deal directly with its housing and property development authority to build low-cost houses for civil servants and other categories of people in the state.

    He stated: “This time around, housing is going to be a major issue we are going to deal with. We deliberately decided not to appoint a Commissioner for Housing Development in the state, because we are going to deal with housing at the agency level.

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    “We are going to fully engage the agency in terms of housing, because it is a major issue in our second term in office, to see to it that we build low-cost houses for the people, including civil servants and some of our deserving elders.”

    On the issue of science and technology, Diri pointed out that his administration had done a lot with the construction of standard technical colleges in five out of the eight local government areas of the state.

    According to him, contracts will soon be awarded for the building of additional three technical colleges in the remaining LGAs.

  • Better use of civil servants

    Better use of civil servants

    Appointments of political office holders and other aides are usually the much-anticipated follow-up of the inauguration of a new administration at various levels.

     Among party members and others who played one role or the other in the election of the officeholders, expectations are high that they will get compensated with appointments commensurate with their contributions.

     Like past administrations, President Bola Tinubu and new and re-elected governors and legislators have made various appointments, including ministers,  commissioners, special advisers and assistants. Many of the appointees are eminent personalities and qualified professionals who will no doubt ensure that their principals fulfil their electoral promises and live up to the expectations of the electorates.

     However, while the appointments are necessary, there is the worrisome dimension of too many advisers and assistants being appointed at the federal and state levels. Roles that can be played by one or two persons now have a crowd of appointees assigned for various bits.

    The governors especially seem to be competing for who can appoint more assistants than the other.

    Governor Umo Eno has as many as 372 Personal Assistants from each ward of the state apart from other appointees.

    Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State also has 138 media aides, while Ahamadu Fintiri of Adamawa appointed 47 media aides.

     Instead of cutting down on the number of persons the government needs to pay salaries and other entitlements considering the economic situation of the country, the governors and other office holders are adding some many.

     It’s necessary to note that for most of the jobs, special advisers and assistants are appointed, and there are enough qualified persons in the various government ministries, establishments and institutions who can effectively perform them if properly deployed.

     Some years ago, some state government information officers participated in training during which I challenged them to justify their high qualifications and experience by utilizing their skills better to serve the government.

     I told them that one of the reasons politicians appoint their aides who are not sometimes not as qualified as they are is because they are not doing enough and I urged them to utilise lessons learnt from the training to prove their capabilities.

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     One of them accepted the challenge and started contributing reports and opinions about government activities to national newspapers. Within a short period, his articles were being published by many papers to the extent that the then-governor took note of his outstanding performance and sought to meet him.

    Instead of indiscriminately appointing advisers and assistants, it’s necessary to utilise as much as possible available staff who may end up being rendered redundant despite their salaries. It’s economically not wise to have a pool of civil servants who are not utilized while political office holders prefer to create no jobs for their supporters.

    I’m aware of the lackadaisical attitude of many civil servants to work which may be too slow for elected officials who may want to make a quick impact, but there should be a way of getting them to perform optimally to avoid duplicating their positions high cost to the government.

     If civil servants who make up a large chunk of the labour union membership can be quick to demand increased payment and allowances they should not be allowed to remain idle when there are important tasks to be performed.

     More than ever before there is a need to reduce the bloated workforce of the government to minimize how much is spent on paying salaries instead of capital projects that are in high demand given the dilapidated infrastructure across the country.

     A few special advisers and assistants, yes, but not the bazaar of appointments we are presently witnessing.

  • Workers seek adjustment to civil servants’ salaries

    The organised labour under the aegis of Trade Union Side (TUS) of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) has implored the Federal Government to take urgent steps to kick-start negotiation with the Joint Council on the issue of consequential adjustments arising from the new National Minimum Wage.

    TUS  Chairman, Comrade Abdulrafiu Alani Adeniji  said now that the N30,000 monthly minimum wage bill has been signed into law, millions of workers, especially civil servants, were hopeful that implementation of the new salaries would start immediately.

    “This is the more reason why we urge the Federal Government to immediately meet with the Trade Union Side of the Joint Council to work out the consequential adjustments and produce a fresh salary structure in line with the new National Minimum Wage,” he said.

    He said the normal practice is that once a new minimum wage is fixed, a fresh salary table is generated so that employees in all salary grade levels will benefit from the new emoluments. ‘’This is the standard practice all over the world and Nigeria should not be an exception,” he added.

    According to Adeniji, the generation of a fresh salary table in line with the new minimum wage would also prevent distortion and overlapping. He recalled that after the 2011 National Minimum Wage was fixed, the consequential adjustment was not properly handled.

    He said: “Instead, the government decided to award N900 across board for all the other grade levels in the civil service thereby distorting the salary chart.  This led to a lot of crisis, a scenario that should not be allowed to repeat itself this time around.

    “The government should not continue to generate avoidable crisis in the civil service and this is why we are now urging it to do the needful by urgently inviting the Joint Council with a view to commencing negotiation on a new salary table that will meet the aspirations of workers.”

    The union said once a new salary table was generated, it would help to maintain the  relativity among all grades in the civil service.

    “The new table will also go a long way to assist the state governments to have a seamless implementation of the new minimum wage and where negotiation will be required at all, it will be a minor exercise,” he added.