A Doctor of Plant Science, Goke Adegoroye, has identified a crisis of incentives and accountability, rather than a failure of intellect, as the root cause of the malaise plaguing Nigeria’s public service.

Adegoroye stated this while delivering the 17th lecture of Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU), Ikeji-Arakeji, titled “Public Service, Governance and Institutional Reforms: A Constant Imperative for Our National Development.

He stated that Nigerian institutions are structurally designed to reward compliance, patronage, and process rather than competence, innovation, and measurable results. He added that no nation can rise above the capacity, integrity, and efficiency of its public service.

According to him, the public service in Nigeria had metamorphosed from a compact, focused, skilled and highly motivated body into an overbloated, ill-equipped, rudderless institution lacking in initiative and beset by loss of morale, arbitrariness, and corruption.

He further argued that while a country may elect a leader with vision, craft brilliant economic blueprints, build state-of-the-art infrastructure, and launch bold entrepreneurial funds, those aspirations will remain a mirage if the machinery of government is weak, compromised, or archaic.

Adegoroye posited that the country’s reforms have never lacked tools but have lacked integrity, adding that when reform is reduced to remuneration, the reform is lost.

He stated that reforms in Nigeria have not delivered so far because of administrative bottlenecks, drain pipes of corruption and patronage, political interference, and cultural and technological lag.

“Integrity in leadership is what enables office holders to act independently, upholding the national interest over partisan, ethnic or personal interests.

“I speak of integrity not as a theorist but as one who has tried to live by it. Since my secondary school days, my guiding charge has been the words of our Lord according to Matthew 5:16. This advocacy had become my own ministry.

“In one word, what is required to reposition the public service is a virile national institutions is integrity. If we can uphold it in appointment, discipline, training, deployment and promotion, we would have solved 80 percent of the problems of the civil service.”

Adegoroye admonished the graduating class of 2026 never to let the outside world get to them, as it is populated with all sorts of people, many of whom are ready to exploit society for their selfish ends.

“You are certainly not of them, but you may have been created for them. You must see the privilege of your education as a responsibility, a responsibility to humanity to contribute your quota to make life better. Commit yourself to excellence and integrity.

“That is why leadership is never an easy sail for a true reformer; it is a journey marked by growth, resilience, sometimes betrayal and, ultimately, triumph. My generation is passing, and Nigeria needs a new set of reform champions. So let us return to where we began,”

“Let the fire of integrity, discipline, diligence and godly character you have received here in Ikeji-Arakeji become a transformation fire where you are found. If you carry this flame to our institutions, our businesses and our communities, then our institutions will be strengthened, our economy will prosper and Nigeria will move closer to her God-ordained destiny among the nations,” he added.

On his part, the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Olasebikan Fakolujo, said a university does not exist merely to award degrees but also to develop minds, shape character, advance knowledge, and prepare men and women capable of responding meaningfully to the challenges of society, hence the lecture.