Restoring The Dignity, Integrity Of Public Service

Commissioner nominees for Adamawa State at their screening in Yola, yesterday

Concerned citizens
note that the past administrations in the country have not paid enough attention to promoting the dignity and integrity of the public service.
They observe that Nigerians deserve a peaceful nation through reforms that will guarantee the restoration of professional dignity of the civil service, the police and other public service providers.
They allege that corruption, nepotism and favoritism, among other vices, have affected the functions of the public service, resulting in loss of dignity and integrity.
According to them, the integrity and dignity of the public service in Nigeria have been waning since the advent of democracy in 1999.
They observe that from 1999 to date, many public office holders have been indicted on various corrupt practices.
Corroborating this observation, Transparency International (TI) recently ranked Nigeria the 136th most corrupt country in the world and the 3rd most corrupt country in West Africa after Guinea and Guinea Bissau.
Concerned citizens, nonetheless, observe that the ability to restore dignity and integrity lies with Nigerian leaders, especially the lawmakers.
Mr Olabode Towoju, a member of All Progressives Congress Party in Kwara, however, opined that it was worrisome that the lawmakers were not making enough efforts to reposition the public service.
“The legislature, which is supposed to be the hallmark of good governance by making laws for the peace order and good government of the federation, shirks in its responsibility.
“There are cases of outrageous allocations, undelivered constituency projects and incessant fracas at the chambers of the National Assembly, among others,” he said.
In the light of this, Mr Ayo Thomas, Director-General, Forum of Emerging Young Socio-economic and Political Leaders, a non-political group, said the new administration must work to restore public confidence in public service for socio-economic development.
“To achieve this, there must be manpower development and there is need to equip the existing system with requisite knowledge in line with the global reality.
“Government should operate more on data management process across board to monitor all development going on in ministry, department and agencies of government,” he advised.
Thomas observed that no country could sustain dignity and integrity when its civil servants were poorly paid.
He said that improving the welfare of civil servants would help the government to achieve the needed reform in the public sector.
According to him, relationship between the public and private sector is fundamental to restoring integrity and dignity of the country by sharing experiences between them to boost service delivery.
“Stakeholders in the country must not be left out in restoring the public service integrity and dignity to generate institutional capacity.
He said that although Nigerians were anxious to witness immediate change in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, it would take some time for the change to come.
“All that is needed now is for this administration to set the tone and see where the problem lies in order to correct it so that the successive administrations can build on it,” he said.
Thomas insisted that the National Assembly must take the lead in the campaign for the restoration of probity, accountability and dignity to the public service.
He advised the lawmakers to tell the public the exact salary of a legislator monthly to prevent speculations.
“In spite of speculations that the lawmakers get jumbo pay, the National Assembly has not convinced Nigerians that they do not get the lion share of the country’s revenue,” he observed.
He called on Buhari to do all within his power to ensure that the country’s public service regained its pride and dignity.
He also called on all relevant public servants to emulate simple gestures such as the sacrifice made by the president and other public office holders by cutting their salaries.
He said that the president had taken the lead by cutting down cost of governance and rejecting some offers to his office.
Sharing similar sentiments, Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, said that Buhari withheld approval for the purchase of the new cars for the president’s office.
He said that the president insisted that he would continue to use the cars left behind by former President Goodluck Jonathan in keeping with his commitment to prudent management of national resources.
Admitting that the current administration could restore dignity to public service, former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings, said that Nigerians had taken the lead in the rejection of corruption by their decision during the last elections.
In a statement he issued to congratulate Buhari after his election, he said “Nigerians did not just vote anyone, they voted for a man whose integrity is extremely high.
“Nigeria is tired of corruption and the choice of this leader is a clear indication of where it wants to go.
“I hope Buhari will put together a team whose understanding of the power of the people recognises and respects the will of the people.”
All in all, observers advise Nigerian leaders to work together to ensure that rules and procedures of the public service are applied consistently, fairly, without fear, favour or prejudice.
Ogunshola is of News Agency of Nigeria.

Femi Ogunshola,