Why civil service remains crucial to national growth —Oladipo

Tribune Online
Why civil service remains crucial to national growth —Oladipo

Babatunde Olugbenga Oladipo has been a civil servant of repute within the Ogun State civil service. He was director of cooperative services up till October 4, 2019. He was principal, Ogun State Cooperative College, Abeokuta. In this interview, he speaks about life as a civil servant and expectations as he retires after attaining the age of 60.

How would you describe life as a civil servant especially having to rise through the ranks to become a director before leaving the career and the immediate difficulties that you had to overcome?

It is a joyous thing for someone to have served their father land with the ability that one has in contributing one’s quota to the development of cooperative societies in particular. It is a good thing to have no cause to regret joining the service and rising through the ranks to the status of a director. It has been a good and memorable period. To God be the glory, there was no query. In all areas where I served, I tried as much as possible to maintain good discipline; we were able to ensure that there was no crisis throughout the period. As principal of Ogun State Cooperative College, I was able to ensure that there was no demonstration, no closure of the school. We also contributed to the management of the manpower of various cooperatives across the state. We developed the manpower through the college.

We know that when it comes to the management of cooperative societies, many people have various unpleasant experiences. Having served in a regulatory leadership capacity, what do you think are the immediate solutions to the various problems associated with these societies?

Continuous education as we have it in the principles of cooperative societies. People must be educated in the area of the laws guiding the operations of the societies. You need courageous and disciplined people to be in position of leadership of these societies. If people operate according the laws of the societies and in consonance with the registered bylaws, we will have fewer problems in the cooperatives. The major problem is overdue loans. A lot of this stems from leaders and members not repaying loans. They mistakenly assume that a cooperative is a family such that they don’t even report to the necessary quarters to assist them. Settlement of disputes is one of the issues. But where members do not declare disputes, then there is nothing that we can do. Character and faithfulness are required, but when there is selfishness and ulterior motive then you will see misappropriation and misapplication of funds. All these will hinder the primary objectives of the establishment of the society.

Buhari meets Ramaphosa, condemns attacks on Nigerians, other nationals

If you are to assess the civil service today nationally, do you think it is living up to its expectation?

Things are getting a little worse. It stems from poor education, lack of focus, lack of dedication. Schools are no longer as standard as they used to be. You will find university graduates who are unable to write. There are no initiatives. There is also favoritism in terms of employment not based on merit. I am not sure about the quality of the civil service in the next five years except the federal government is ready to engage in training and re-training of staff.

Most times, politicians forget while campaigning that there are roles that the civil servant is expected to play in the delivery of dividends of democracy. What should be these roles?

Today, the civil service is almost politicised. That is a major problem. There are godfathers too in the civil service, there are instances when people commit blunders and offences and the civil service rule gives measures to sanction people; but by the time you want to do that, you find people begging around and some using their political weight to subdue that punishment. This becomes an issue. People now believe that they can do whatever they want to do and get away with it. The civil service remains the engine room of any democratically elected government. There is the need for more dedication, training and re-training. We need to be more sincere in the service and at the same time to ensure that the objectives, goals and agenda of the government, through elections, are pursued.

Now that retirement has come in for you, what would you say has been the high point of your career?

I would say that I have done a little to sanitise the system in the area of management of societies. I have equally ensured there is understanding of why they must deal with their overdue loans. We have ensured training and re-training through seminars and workshops.

We had issues in the areas of sycophants in the system. There were those who wanted to cut corners. One cannot but have some human detractors, but all in all, we overcame and people have told us that we have tried.

Attaining 60 is a milestone, especially in a country where life expectancy is very low. How do you feel getting to this age?

The bottom line is self-discipline. What you know you are not yet qualified to get should not build an over-eagerness in you to get it. Take things one after the other. Avoid excesses in the area of pleasures. People wonder if I am up to 60.

In going through retirement, one needs to relax, take time to rest and exercise, including eating balanced diet. For almost a year now, I have been involved in animal husbandry. I intend to go into it full time. I will engage in farming.

Why civil service remains crucial to national growth —Oladipo
Tribune Online