The Nigerian civil service sham

I want to talk about the sham called the Nigerian civil service and its occupiers called the Nigerian civil servants. More often than not, a sizeable amount of Nigerians tend to blame the woes and misfortune plaguing Nigeria on the political class. On rare occasions do we put the blames on ourselves, the majority of whom populate the Nigerian civil service. Indeed, if there is anything that can explain the place of Nigeria in the comity of nations today, away from the politicians and politics, it is the sham called the Nigerian civil service.

The civil service is the backbone of any nation. It represents the mechanism of governance and is the platform for the manifestation of governmental policies. If a nation maintains its rightful place, disturb yourself not; check the organization and composition of its civil service. The Nigerian civil service is, however, the opposite or the caricature of what an ideal civil service is and should be. From the recruitment exercise to the retirement exercise, the scam is the word that best defines the Nigerian civil service.

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An average Nigerian civil servant; local, state or federal is a serial breaker of rules and regulations that guide the civil service. He comes to office at will. He resumes late to work. He disdains his duties and obligations. He tells unpalatable lies in a bid to deceive the populace. He sleeps on duty. He takes his job with levity. He is not committed. He takes bribes, engages in sharp practices and involves in all manner of shady deals. He conducts himself when under supervision. When there is no supervision, he goes back to his normal self. Worse still, he is unfit and unqualified.

He is there in our ministries handling what he has no knowledge of. He is there in our various commissions cutting corners to feather his nest at the peril of dear country. He is there in our various departments sacrificing merit on the altar of nepotism and sheer loyalty. He heads a unit and has been blocking the ways of those who uphold the ideals and are bent on sanitizing the system among his subordinates. He is there in our public schools evading classes and teaching what is not clear to him in the first place. He is virtually everywhere ruining the system. Ironically, at the end of the month, he gets his take home. Is take home not supposed to be for those who worked for it?

It is only in Nigeria you send an email to a ministry requesting one or two things, and surprisingly you won’t get a feedback. It is only in the Nigerian civil service that ghost workers continue to get salaries they did not work for. Only in Nigeria you find civil servants that are double paid. No consequence for bad behavior. Rather you are patted at the back and told to ride on.

Yes, the minimum wage is low and the salary structure of the Nigerian civil servants is not encouraging. But you knew this from the outset before enrolling for the job.

It’s possible the Nigerian civil service works; just let the change begin with you. Start by upholding the ideals in your office.

Abdullah Abdulganiy

olamilekanhalarho@gmail.com

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