Civil service and leadership synergy

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

Although human history is replete with epochs that were marred by infighting within leadership, the degradation of the Roman Republic into an empire owing to the mistrust and rivalry between the two towering leaders, Julius Caesar and Pompey, remains a singularly stark reminder of such a catastrophic tension.

The Roman experience is denied the infamous record of being the only dark interlude in leadership by contemporary human history that is streaked with a predilection for a replication of such a rivalry in the affairs of governments and corporations. What we are witnesses to, not infrequently, are not cases of the leaders parleying off their best efforts to serve the public good. They are, rather, cases of those who strive to treacherously establish a government within a government and a corporation within a corporation. This was the case in fledgling post-colonial African states from Nigeria to Ghana and Burkina Faso that were mired in coups and counter-coups. This is still the case in governments and their agencies in some African countries where inter-agency rivalries have left effective service delivery to the citizens not untrammeled.

It is, consequently, imperative to take cognisance of a rarefied existence of inter-agency synergy in government that redounds to a prosecution of an overarching objective to improve the lot of the citizens. Here we hold up the civil service as the poster child of that synergy. The current civil service is led by two eminent bureaucrats who are deploying their best efforts  to restore its former glory  and  place it on a  competitive pedestal of excellence  with its counterparts from the rest of the world.

While Prof. Tunji Olaopa, a former federal permanent secretary and a professor of public administration is the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Mrs Esther Didi Walson-Jack, a former federal permanent secretary and a lawyer , is the Head of Civil Service of the Federation. These two eminent bureaucrats have  forged a cooperative relationship to  optimise  the productivity  of the civil service.

Olaopa once underscored the magnitude of the synergy between his office , the FCSC and that of Walson-Jack, the OHCSF as comparable to that of  Siamese twins . When Olaopa spoke in this regard, he did not revel in  aspirational avowal as his declaration  has been demonstrated on several occasions.

Olaopa and Walson-Jack have brought to bear on  the collective management of the civil service such a high emotional intelligence quotient that needs to be studied by government agencies that are marooned  in  avoidable rivalries. These great bureaucrats understand their centrality to the flourishing of the civil service as the institutional memory of government and the non-negotiable avoidance of the obstructive dominance of  their egos. Thus, while Olaopa  confidently  declares that although he has worked with many  highly  placed people in government, Walson-Jack’s collegial spirit is unrivalled,  the latter often describes him as her great ally in the reform of the civil service.

Clearly , the signs of the possibility  of a  smooth working relationship between Olaopa and Walson-Jack  emerged early. In an interview with Civil Service News marking the first 100 days of Mrs Esther Didi Walson-Jack, Olaopa said : “ Her tenure has been outstanding so far. She has fostered a spirit of collaboration, continuity, and focus. She has seamlessly integrated into ongoing reforms, successfully run the National Council on Establishments, and conducted tenure renewals and other key exercises for permanent secretaries. This demonstrates her preparedness and determination to make a meaningful impact.”

The FCSC and the OHCSF under the leaderships of Olaopa and Walson-Jack have had  collaborative  efforts in order for them to smoothen their working relationship by resolving all areas of conflict. The highpoint of such efforts  was   a joint meeting of the two offices where Olaopa commended Walson-Jack’s cooperative spirit by saying: “If this measure of cooperation and shared passion is indeed sustained in time and space, I bet it sure will bode well not only for the federal civil service, but for the entire public administration community of practice and service in Nigeria and beyond .”

On that occasion, Olaopa said that since the inauguration of his leadership under the auspices of the 10th Federal Civil Service Commission in December 2023, the FCSC and OHCSF had been contemplating the desirability of a consultative forum for an exchange of ideas, and the harmonization of policies and programmes and resolution of any issues of conflict.

According to him, the OHCSF and the FCSC have shared responsibilities as the core central governance agencies for the federal civil service, noting that “It is saying the obvious if I go as far as saying that our two offices are Siamese twins, with shared roles and responsibilities, to implement policies, rules and regulations, to gatekeep and provide leadership for the civil service in Nigeria.

“It bears restating for our collective education and guidance, that while the HCSF, one, provides leadership to the federal civil service, two, facilitates productive working relationship of ministers and permanent secretaries, thus creating an enabling bureaucratic climate for effective and accountable implementation of government policies and programmes, and three, drives reforms and system’s improvements service-wide, the FCSC, as a constitutional body acts as the ultimate authority for regulating employment conditions and standards as touching on recruitment, promotion, discipline and appeals in the federal civil service.

“To that extent, and if the essence of the roles and responsibilities of the two offices are put in perspective, it will be clear that the relationship between the two offices, for all practical purposes, is one of both collaboration and separation of powers, for all that may mean in terms of checks and balances for good governance. All, as designed to ensure good corporate governance and gatekeeping of the civil service as a profession and a management system.”

On her part, Walson-Jack, said that the retreat was more than just an engagement because she had been engaging with Olaopa for the success of the civil service. She stated that the retreat was to forge a stronger partnership with the two offices to deepen service for the citizens. According to her, the theme of the retreat underscored the need to strengthen the civil service and that the cordial relationship between the two offices showed that success was only possible through collaboration.

She commended Olaopa for initiating transformational changes into the FCSC . She particularly mentioned the Computer -based Test ( CBT) system that Olaopa had introduced for the conduct of examinations in the civil service.

This initial joint meeting was succeeded by  the inauguration of the joint technical committee headed by Amb. Mustapha Suleiman.  Stressing the importance of the retreat, Olaopa noted that it provided an opportunity for an agreement “that a joint technical team be constituted to examine and thrash out the deep issues and technical design elements requiring researched interrogation and nuancing, so that a well- thought-out baseline report can be generated. The report will then form the basis for future periodic meetings and engagement where, through incremental improvement and sustained interrogation, the strained boundaries in the functional relationship between our two offices will be corrected within a dynamic that will crystallize a seamless working relationship and institutional partnership as we continue to discharge our responsibilities in providing leadership, strengthening competency-based human resource , career management and deepening and consolidating our shared gatekeeping responsibility to our cherished profession of public administration in Nigeria.”

According to Olaopa, the FCSC and the OHCSF are organizations that are distinct in establishment and structure, but which are nonetheless two sides of the same coin.Thus, for him, it takes deep knowledge of the working of the civil service and its governance to sufficiently appreciate the level and depth of the functional complementarity of their shared roles as the central management cum personnel agencies and gatekeepers for the profession of public administration and its community of practice and service in Nigeria.

He noted that when the reconstituted FCSC, otherwise called the 10th Commission, assumed office in December 2023, and with the benefit of their experience as career bureaucrats and expert public administration practitioners, what they witnessed was “an unhealthy rivalry, needless boundary protection, and in some cases and sadly, ostensible moves by each party to take over clearly defined powers and functions that should statutorily belong to the other in a subtle contest and unwarranted empire psyche.”

However, he noted that that there was a breath of fresh air with the emergence of Walson-Jack as the HCSF as she allowed room for collaboration between the OHCSF and the FCSC towards the correction of the identified anomalies.

Fortunately for the two offices, Olaopa stated, they had jointly signed on to own and align resources in implementing the OHCSF Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan – FCSSIP – (2021-2025) which just ended and are set to be relaunched, and the FCSC Strategic Plan (2026-2030).

On her part, Walson-Jack who described Olaopa as a dependable ally in the development of the civil service said that the inauguration was a milestone in strengthening the service. Noting that the joint committee was a direct outcome of the retreat, she said that it underscored the need for collaboration between her office and the FCSC.

Walson-Jack stated that the committee would translate insights into action and that resolutions would not only be documented but be implemented. Consequently, she said that the work of the committee would contribute to building an efficient civil service that would drive development in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

In the absence of inter-agency rivalry in the management of the civil service, no time, funds  and other resources are  dissipated  by its leaders under the  auspices of the FCSC and OHCSF on proving supremacy or attempting  to  destroy each other. All guardrails  of excellence and competitiveness are activated towards  the common objective of making the civil service attain all  its potential, bloom and serve its workforce and ultimately the government and citizens of the country .

• Onomuakpokpo, PhD, former Acting Editor, The Guardian, and ex-Group Managing Editor/OPED Editor, The Daily Times, is the Special Assistant on Strategic Communication to the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission