The government’s focus on ensuring the Nigerian civil service functions optimally as a critical organ of government could not come at a better time. The focus came at the retirement and book presentation ceremony in Abuja for Didi Esther Walson-Jack, the outgoing Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, on August 25.

Speaking in unison, President Bola Tinubu, former President Goodluck Jonathan, Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, former Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, and public administration expert Joe Abah emphasised the importance of merit, integrity, competence and perseverance in building strong public institutions.

The occasion provided a practical opportunity to examine what has happened to the values that ought to underpin Nigeria’s public administration. The ceremony further provoked a sober national conversation about the quality, integrity and effectiveness of Nigeria’s Civil Service. At a time when the country is grappling with poor service delivery, institutional decay, corruption and weak implementation of government policies, the need for a professional and efficient bureaucracy has never been more urgent.

The two books — I Planted: A Memoir of Purposeful Service and Beyond the Mandate: A Memoir on Leadership, Legacy and Labour of Public Service — are authored by Didi Esther Walson-Jack, documenting her 34-year career in public service and offering reflections on leadership, institution-building and purposeful service.
 
 President Tinubu was right to stress that political leadership may change and policies may evolve. Still, the Civil Service must retain the institutional memory, technical competence and professional discipline required to sustain the Nigerian state. This is a fundamental principle of good governance.
 
Therefore, Nigeria cannot make meaningful progress with a public service weakened by political patronage, corruption, nepotism and mediocrity. Governments are temporary; institutions are permanent.
 
Unfortunately, Nigeria has not always treated its Civil Service as the permanent machinery of government that it ought to be. Political interference and patronage have often undermined professionalism. Appointments to public offices are often influenced more by political loyalty, personal connections and considerations of expediency than by competence and experience.

This is dangerous. When competence is sacrificed for patronage, government policies suffer. When integrity is compromised, public resources are endangered. When promotion is based on connections rather than performance, morale declines and mediocrity becomes institutionalised.
 
Former President Jonathan captured the danger succinctly when he said Nigeria cannot develop when competence and integrity are compromised in the choice of people for public offices. His reference to the experience of Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, where meritocracy and integrity were central to nation-building, deserves serious consideration.
 
Nigeria does not lack talented people. What it lacks is the consistency and political will to place the best hands in positions of responsibility and allow them to work within strong institutions.
 
The Civil Service must therefore be insulated from partisan politics while remaining accountable to elected governments. Career progression should be determined primarily by competence, performance, experience and integrity, rather than political connections. Recruitment must be transparent, while promotions and appointments must be based on clearly measurable professional standards.

Equally important is the need to confront corruption within the public service. There is little value in announcing ambitious government policies if bureaucratic corruption ensures that the benefits never reach the people. Procurement fraud, inflated contracts, bribery, diversion of public funds, abuse of office and administrative bottlenecks continue to impose enormous costs on the country.
  
The fight against corruption must consequently move beyond the prosecution of offenders after the damage has been done. Government should strengthen preventive mechanisms, improve internal controls, digitise public-sector processes, ensure transparent procurement, strengthen auditing and enforce appropriate sanctions for breaches of public trust.

Digital transformation, which President Tinubu highlighted in discussing the reform of the Federal Civil Service, is an important component of this process. Properly implemented, digital systems can reduce unnecessary human intervention, improve record-keeping, increase transparency and make government processes more efficient.
 
But technology is not a substitute for integrity. A corrupt official can manipulate even the most sophisticated system if there are no effective controls, independent oversight and consequences for misconduct. Digital transformation must therefore go hand in hand with ethical leadership and institutional accountability.
 
The President’s emphasis on moving from activity-based administration to outcome-based governance is equally important. Nigerians are not interested in the number of meetings government officials attend or the number of memoranda processed. They want results.
 
The relevant questions should be: How many roads were completed? How many schools became functional? How many hospitals have improved? How efficiently are public funds being utilised? How quickly are government services delivered? How much easier has the government made life for ordinary Nigerians?
  
That is the standard by which the Civil Service should be judged. Joe Abah’s observations about Walson-Jack’s response to setbacks early in her career also contain an important lesson. Rather than allowing the rejection of her work to discourage her, she reportedly examined her shortcomings and sought improvement. That culture of continuous learning and professional self-improvement should be encouraged throughout the public service.
 
Similarly, the observation of Professor Tunji Olaopa, Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, that the book presentation offered an opportunity for public administrators to reflect on the state of the profession and its reform should not be lost in the celebration. The occasion should serve as a springboard for deeper reforms. Nigeria needs a Civil Service in which merit is rewarded, integrity is protected, competence is respected and corruption is punished.
  
The country needs a bureaucracy where a young officer can rise through hard work and professional excellence rather than through political connections. It needs institutions where public officials understand that government resources belong to the people and that public office is a trust, not an avenue for personal enrichment.

Most importantly, Nigeria needs to restore dignity and pride to the public service. The Civil Service is the institutional memory of the Nigerian state. It must be sufficiently professional to withstand political transitions, sufficiently competent to implement complex policies and sufficiently ethical to protect public resources from abuse.
 
Walson-Jack’s retirement should therefore not merely mark the end of one public servant’s career. It should remind the Federal Government that the real legacy of public administration lies not in the number of officials who occupy positions, but in the strength of the institutions they leave behind.
  
The Tinubu administration should seize this moment to deepen Civil Service reforms, strengthen meritocracy, institutionalise performance management, eliminate bureaucratic corruption and make service delivery the central measure of public-sector performance.
 
Nigeria cannot build a modern economy on a dysfunctional bureaucracy. It cannot fight poverty, insecurity and underdevelopment with weak institutions. And it cannot achieve sustainable development if public policies are poorly implemented.

The country needs a Civil Service that works — efficiently, professionally, transparently and without fear or favour. That should be the enduring lesson of Walson-Jack’s retirement.