Service delivery in Nigeria: A prognosis

Sir: Undoubtedly, Nigeria still suffers from abysmal service delivery, despite the numerous resources at her disposal, several reforms and; other policy initiatives formulated to address the issue. This is not unconnected with the abuse of public offices in Nigeria. While the masses are full of hope that the present administration of Buhari will favour all, some are still doubtful even when he is yet to complete his term.What is obvious from the start of his administration is that, while plans are ongoing on how to enhance the delivery of public goods and services to the masses, several government agencies are facing probes and many public officials standing trial for alleged misappropriation of public funds at the same time.

From the foregoing, many will say that the appalling service delivery in the country is due to corruption, lack of integrity, transparency and accountability of public officials. Of course, these are true. But there are certain human resource (HR) woes that have led to the birth of these aforementioned problems. These include election/recruitment/appointment of unqualified candidate(s), falsification and forgery; nonchalant attitudes of public servants to work, God-fatherism, lack of team work, shallow belief system of officials.

Election process in Nigeria has been monetized. Thus, hungry citizens exchange their votes for financial rewards. In so doing, there is the likelihood that wrong candidate(s) have been elected. In addition to this, it is the responsibility of the Public Service Commission (PSC) to recruit and select public officials, while in other system within the public service, it may be the function of a special committee appointed for the purpose. I applied to the Nigerian Air force as a recruit some years ago and we were required to go through an aptitude test. After the exercise, an Air force officer told me that the test was mere formality. He added that if I had any one at the national assembly who could help me, because they (Honorable and Senators) had “slots”. In other words, public seats are now meant for people “who know someone”, and this is done in such a way that it antagonizes the much stressed federal character. The truth is, few representatives of Public Service Commission believe in merit-based recruitment of public servants, but majority of the members are keen to ensure that their own candidates are selected or appointed. In a situation like this, there is a very high tendency of putting a square peg in a round hole.

There is a chronic habit of falsification of educational qualification and age amongst others. According to a public administrator, out of every twenty public servants in Nigeria, it is almost difficult to find eight of them who presented their true educational qualification and declared their true age. This is because they want to stay in the public service as long as possible and enjoy the benefits of doing so. However, no one can cheat nature. The result is that, in trying to cope with the physical strain and intellectual demands of a job meant for someone ten years younger and with more educational qualifications for instance, they crack under the strain and become physically wrecked. As such, delivery of public service is greatly affected.

Adewusi Adedeji,
a Sociologist,
resides in Ibadan.
[email protected]