THE CIVIL SERVICE, VALUE RE-ORIENTEATION AND SUSTENANCE OF DEMOCRACY: THE PROBLEM AND PROSPECTS OF THE POST-INDEPENDENCE NIGERIA CIVIL SERVICE

Abstract

With the Civil Service values visibly eroded and, as a result, declining productivity,institutional corruption and other vices became evident in the Nigerian Civil Service. This paper soughtto inquire into the problems and prospects of the Nigerian Civil Service. To carry out this investigation,the researcher depended on secondary sources and civil service experience to assess the various reformsin the Civil Service, review the recruitment processes in the Nigerian Civil Service, the implications ofthe Federal character principle on productivity, and the retention strategies, with particular interest onthe minimum/living wage. It was found out that although the Federal character principle was meant tobe “an effective nation-building strategy for managing the combustible diversity in Nigeria”, thisprinciple has badly eroded the professional and competency capacity of the public service. Similarly,the new minimum wage of N70,000 per month was perceived as substantial income, low value,laughable, and meaningless. It was therefore recommended that there be independent, nonpoliticalcontrol over recruitment and conditions of employment, recruitment by merit, and payment of a livingwage.