Need To Monitor Public Officers

The level of laxity and recklessness of most public officers has really gone out of hands. This poor disposition of public functionaries has taken great toll on the proper functioning and administrative process of government agencies and parastatals. Looking at what is happening everyday in the public sector among our needed government officials, especially when it comes to rendering the required services that tax payer’s money is being expended upon, one wonders if there is no way of properly controlling the excesses of some government functionaries.

Recently, at the formal inauguration of National Assemblies Service Commission in Abuja, the President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan categorically and unequivocally declared that, “one of the problems we have as a nation is indiscipline, from the least worker to the highest”. He identified this problem as almost having the same hampering effect as corruption on the economies of the nation and enjoined members of the commission to work seriously to instil discipline in public service across the nation.

Though many viewed the President’s position with skepticism and reacted differently, but I want to put it to them that the President is absolutely right in his assertion.

It is disgusting that most public officers no longer take their job seriously. Lack of trust, commitment and diligence has continued to impoverish our system. A public servant has the responsibility of disseminating government information to prospective users. He or she also attends to the private and public needs of members of the public in terms of information.

A public officer should always be prepared to attend to the public in his area of responsibility. And by the acts and ethics of a professional public servant, the virtue of politeness, secrecy,  commitment, dedication, loyalty and equality are their watchwords. Therefore, every public or civil servant is expected to carry out his or her services in a manner equivalent to hospitality and charity. This is why in consideration of the prevailing level of indiscipline and corruption among civil servants (public servants), it has become imperative for government to establish or create a secret email to gather information on their nefarious activities in order to checkmate growing criminal tendencies and bring some sanity into the system.

This secret email or a website should be created by all government functionaries or top officers, governors, and even the  president to track down negligence on the part of workers. When created for instance, by a governor, it will be accessible by him alone but can be familiar to everybody for emailing such a top-officer when something goes wrong. This is mostly useful as the possibility of otherwise reaching out to the top officers, for instance , the governor, is always remote or slim.

It is a common phenomenon that gossip goes on everyday at workplaces or offices and we believe that in every nonsense, there is a sense. So, in every gossip, some truth could be extracted. So, at the creation of this email or website, people should have the opportunity of reaching out to the Big-Boss in charge, who goes through  them and extracts every useful information therein. This will surely help in the day-to-day execution of administrative activities and policies and keep down the level of indiscipline and corrupt practices among public officials. Moreover, it will help in curbing the excesses of public officers and help in creating room for good governance and ensure total commitment to duty by public officers.

Besides, it will also help to prevent wastage and leakages in the system, enhance proper accountability and stock-taking on the part of government while creating room for proper evaluation and monitoring.

No doubt, the numerous advantages of such an arrangement has some short-comings as some members of the public would abuse such opportunity which might lead to witch hunt of perceived enemies  in the system.

However, be that as it may, analysis has actually revealed and proved that if properly harnessed and utilised, the proposed email will ensure discipline in both the private and public sectors of our services. Let’s try it.

Tordee resides in Port Harcourt.

Manson  B. Tordee