Repositioning Rivers Civil Service

Rivers State Head of Service, Barr. Rufus Godwins (left), conferring with one of the resource persons, Mr. Eze G. W. Iroanwusi, during a seminar for repositioning Rivers State Civil Service at Vintage Farm, Elele on Monday Photo: Nwiueh Donatus Ken

All over the world,
the modern civil service has evolved as the bed rock or live-wire of the government, especially with the increasing volume of government activities. It is the action part of government and without civil servants, government will be a toothless bulldog if not completely impotent.
When policies are formulated by the government, it is the responsibility of the civil servants to implement them. In many cases, the civil servants are involved in policy formulation and in advising on policy matters, though the ultimate decision or policy rests with either the ministers or the commissioners as the political heads of the ministries. But the civil service is solely responsible for the management of the machinery of government, and carrying out of the daily duties of public administration.
It is on this basis that the Rivers State Governor, Chief (Barrister) Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike said that it is the resolve of his administration to return the state civil service to its former glory. The governor who stated this shortly after swearing-in the newly appointed Head of Service (HOS), Barrister Rufus Godwins recently in Government House, Port Harcourt, asserted that the new appointment was to chart a new course for the state civil service.
“We are going to inject a new blood into the system so that they will be able to work with us to understand our mission and vision,” he said and charged the new HOS to tap into the new Rivers State Vision. According to Wike, we cleared three months of salary arrears to enable civil servants to be dedicated and committed to service, assuring that the government will always give attention to their welfare. He, therefore, warned that government will not condone indolence and that those not willing to key into the new vision will be shown the way out.
The State Chief executive disclosed that government will release overheads to all ministries and parastatals for the smooth running of all government departments.
In a chat with newsmen, the new Head of Service, Barrister Rufus Godwins said that he would strive to reposition the civil service in line with the vision of the present administration for maximum productivity and to boost the morale of civil servants.
“My responsibility is to lead the team in the civil service, so, I will get everybody around to play his or her role,” Godwins said.
This is heart-warming considering the very hard situation the state’s civil servants have passed through some years ago. All the ministries and parastatals were starved of funds while civil servants were denied most of their entitlements. It is also alleged that the immediate past administration did not pay new minimum wage of N18,000 in full to civil servants in the state.
As the engine room of government, the civil service deserves to be given adequate attention and well equipped to function efficiently and ensure maximum productivity. The civil servants equip their ministers or commissioners with all the information required for and against the matters to be presented in the executive council meeting. In exercising this duty, the civil servant rules out or sets aside his inclinations, sympathy, emotion, personal prejudices and effectively and sincerely, obediently and faithfully furnish all the facts and information available to the political heads.
Civil servants constantly engage in gathering facts and preparing findings that may lead to changes in policy or lead to policy decisions. The civil service is a permanent institution and it’s always on the receiving end in terms of political appointments. Ministers and commissioners come and go, but the civil servants continue to stay in office until they are retired. They can only leave office by the cause of resignation, termination, withdrawal of service, retirement or death, but political appointees are often temporary members of the ministry or department as their tenure of office is pre-determined before appointment.
The civil service is principally concerned with the good and development of the nation or state irrespective of the political party in power. The civil service pays greater attention to accomplishing national or state objectives, and rendering essential social welfare services to the members of the public. As illustrated by a former Prime Minister of Britain, Harold Wilson, the civil service is extremely agile and politically, almost cynically, dispassionate.
The Nigerian civil service strictly adopted the nature, tradition and practices of the British system in which civil servants are apolitical or politically neutral. No civil servant was allowed to play politics or be a member of a political party or sympathise with any political party, overtly or otherwise. Civil servants are accorded a unique status in that anyone interested in contesting election under a political party platform, should first resign his appointment and replace his civil service career with political activities. Precisely, the Nigerian bureaucracy abhors civil servants participating in politics.
However, this practice differs from what is obtainable in other advanced, civilized and industralised nations such as the United States of America and France. In France, civil servants participate in politics to a considerable extent, with what is termed as “marginal politicisation” of the civil service by the political system. Also, in America, a good number of civil servants are on political appointments.
Their appointments are made outside the normal civil service recruitment and promotion procedure, as the appointees hold political loyalty only to the government which appoints them. They do not strictly observe the principles of bureaucracy, the rules and regulations of the civil service or the convention of political neutrality.
In Britain, what is called the Central Policy Review Staff (CPRS) was established in 1970. It is composed of a small number of persons appointed “to assist the government in the identification and evaluation of priorities.” Its main function is to regularly present to the government synoptic views on government strategy and detailed analysis of selected particular issues.
It is plausible to state that with the state government’s decision to put the state’s civil service at its desired pedestal, it has become pertinent for civil servants to reposition themselves by adopting better attitude to work to bring the government’s vision and mission into reality.

Shedie Okpara