Buhari urged to revisit public management bilI

To efficiently address the problem of public service in Nigeria, the Presidency has been urged to revisit the Chartered Institute of Public Management of Nigeria Bill, 2017 with a view to signing it into law.
   
The bill was among the three bills passed into law by the National Assembly, but President Muhammadu Buhari declined assent in February.
 
Although three similar bills have already been signed into law, the Presidency hinged its action on the ground that lack of clarity over the scope of the profession of ‘public management’ that this bill prohibits all persons who are not members of the institute from practicing.

But the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Chartered Institute of Public Management, Opene Onyebuchukwu Gabriel, has urged the presidency to revisit the bill, saying signing it into law will revolutionized the public service in Nigeria.
 
According to him, the challenges of governance of modern society is monstrous and could only be tamed and conquered if our system is propelled by a cadre of dedicated public managers who understand the new imperative of their profession.
 
Tracing the emergency of public management, the Registrar said the historical shift in the state ideologies in the late 1970 in the advanced nations towards the Neo-liberal framework was the most influential factor to the emergence of Public Management.
 
The model, he said, discouraged welfare state practice, opposes public sector championing the economy, blames bureaucracy.
 
Gabriel stressed further that addressing the problems of our public service requires managers and Leaders who understands and embrace the imperatives of public management.
 
“Though, Nigeria is putting in place some of the concepts of public management model, it is a profession practiced all over the world”, he noted.
 
He said: “It is a practice that gained root in many countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, India, China, Korea, Australia, Finland and all developed countries of the world, and many universities in these countries are offering courses leading to Ph.D in Public Management.
 
“Public management has remodeled governance more by bringing managerial concepts into governance as no organization can succeed without management, either Public or Private, it promotes efficiency and accountability in the management of public resources so as to deliver the much needed social and welfare services and to enhance infrastructural developments.
 
“Public management is now a veritable vehicle for any Nation to meeting the needs of its citizens”, he added.