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D.I ARABI
From the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, (as amended) the Civil Service of the Federation and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation are entities with juristic personalities as administrative machineries of implementing government policies and programmes. These government Ministries, Departments and Agencies have the mandate of implementing these policies and programmes with diligence and commitment of advancing the welfare and wellbeing of the citizenry through the judicious use of human, material and financial resources and qualitative service delivery, based on the observance of the Rule of Law and due process. Government policies and programmes are usually implemented through her Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), which makes up the Civil and Public Service.
Therefore, it can be rightly said that the efficiency and effectiveness of the Civil and Public Service would be the barometer of gauging the success or otherwise of any government.
The Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) established on 4th February, 2004 is an independent and self-accounting body charged with the mandate of initiating, co-ordinating and ensuring the full implementation of Government reform policies and Programmes. The Bureau of Public Service Reform (BPSR) which has the mandate of initiating, coordinating and ensuring the implementation of these reform policies and programmes by these statutory bodies, in furtherance of her mandate, recently developed the National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR).
The vision of the National Strategy for Public Reform (NSPSR) is to build a world-class service delivery instruction that would effectively and efficiently implement Government policies and programmes with professionalism, integrity, excellence and passion to secure a sustainable national development.
To ensure the realisation of the objectives of the NSPSR, efforts of the Steering Committee on Reforms, chaired by the Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF), has led to the development of a 10-year strategy for reforming Nigeria’s public service. This strategy is hinged on four pillars, each led by a named organisation. These pillars and their lead organisations are as follows: a. Enabling governance and institutional Environment, led by the Office of the Secretary of the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
b. Enabling the socio-economic environment, led by Ministry of Budget and National Planning.
c. Public Financial Management Reform, led by Federal Ministry of Finance, and d. Improving Civil Service Administration, led by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF). The vision of the first pillar seeks the transformation of Nigeria’s public service, with emphasis on critical institutional changes, restoring professionalism and client focus and delivering effective basic service.
The second pillar has the vision of reinvigorating the public service into a value – based, strong and well performing institution by 2020, while the third’s vision is the attainment of a world class level of service delivery in the public service by 2025. Towards ensuring a robust strategy, devoid of implementation hurdles that could truncate the realisation of the objectives of the strategy, the Bureau of Public Service Reforms had commenced with an interactive session among different stakeholders. It is stating the obvious to say that the development of this strategy is a recognition that Nigeria’s public service has not been able to advance to a world – class institution that would deliver on the democratic service delivery that would empower Nigerians.
Incidentally, this latest strategy is not the first attempt at reforming the Nigerian public sector to an efficient, effective and optimal delivery service – oriented institution. Historically, the reform efforts dates back to 1946 with the Harragin Reform which established the ‘senior’ and ‘junior’ Service structure that would become the core of the public service system when the nation gained independence in 1960. Subsequent reform efforts, as late as theOronsaye Panel of 2010- 2012, have seen some changes and improvements in the public service. The overall objective of these and other similar reforms in the service has been to ensure improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of the service.
Yet, in all fairness, the public service cannot be said to have attained the desired level of optimally delivering on the democratic desires of the citizens. While efforts at reforming government policies and programmes is an admission that government programmes and policies were not delivering optimally to the citizens, it is also a commitment that government is determined to tackle our numerous national challenges through efficient and effective service provision.
Unfortunately, it seems that the Bureau’s mandate and activities relates only with the federal bureaucracy, policies and programmes. Yet, to attain the laudable objectives which such reform programmes seeks to achieve in the nation, it is imperative that such reform programmes arecascaded to other tiers of government, and not restricted to the federal bureaucracy alone, since citizens’ interactions with government are not restricted with federal structures and establishments. This is because a greater chunk of the nation’s populace interacts even more with the state and local governments than the federal government. Policies and programmes at these levels affect the citizens even the more.
Therefore, unless other tiers of government keys into these reform programmes, it is doubtful if the nation stands to derive the maximum benefits which such programmeshad set out to achieve. This is more so that other tiers of government came into existence with the sole purpose of bringing governance closer to the citizens through productive and efficient bureaucracy and service delivery.
Therefore, besides seeking to implement the National Strategy for Public Reform (NSPSR), the Bureau of Public service Reforms must seriously consider liaising with the Federal and States Civil Service Commissions and other recruiting agencies towards ensuring that the process of recruitment, which is fundamental to the productivity of the public and civil service are streamlined.
This is imperative because with the challenges in the nation’s educational sector and unemployment rate, recruiting personnel without the requisite knowledge and skills into positions that are beyond their capacity cannot but produce a weak and inefficient public service.
Arabi, the Director General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, writes via [email protected]
