The administrative class
otherwise known as the bureaucrats is the dominant class in the Nigerian Civil Service. It comprises of career officers, the major policy makers in the service. Employment into this class or cadre commences with young graduates mainly in the field of Public Administration, Politics, Law, Humanities or Management Sciences. Career civil service commences as an Administrative Officer VIII or Assistant Secretary II and advances to the position of Permanent Secretary.
The administrators or bureaucrats participate immensely in policy formulation as the Permanent Secretaries are the Chief Executives, administratively in all the ministries and certain non-ministerial departments, with political heads such as ministers and commissioners. In every ministry, the Permanent Secretary, assisted by his sub-ordinates prepares memo for the minister or commissioner for executive meetings. Circulars, rules and regulations governing the practices of the services are prepared and signed by the Permanent Secretary or his assistance. All correspondences are addressed to the Permanent Secretary and he oversees and coordinates all units, departments or divisions in the ministry.
It is no exaggeration that the overall surveillance, efficiency, stability, harmony and level of performance of any ministry depends on the calibre and administrative leadership style of the Permanent Secretary. As efficient administration is the “live-wire” of any organisation, in the ministry, the Permanent Secretary is seen as a symbol of “red-blood” that circulates and revitalizes all sections. That is why one of the major reasons officers in the administrative class are often called “generalists” or “all-rounders.”
It is unfortunate that the new breed of Nigerian politicians have so politicised the system that Permanent Secretaries have lost their value. Before now, partisan politics was a no-go-area for civil servants and anyone found involving or participating in political activities was sanctioned or penalized. But now adays, this category or cadre of career civil servants has been downplayed to the extent that any elected governor at will decides their faith. Permanent Secretaries are booted out of office as soon as a new government sets in.
Permanent Secretaries and civil servants were used to be seen as an army barrack which is said, “Soldier go, soldier come, but the barrack remains.” Today, no new government wants to work or continue to work with the Permanent Secretaries they met. This is quite abysmal and absurd. This development did not begin with this present administration under Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike. That he chose to remove the 14 permanent secretaries recently is a precedent he inherited or followed from past administrations. If we should go by the saying that government is a continuous process, a new government or its leadership should not tamper with an existing structure if something incriminating has not been found against them. It has become a recurring decimal which may be difficult to end. A Permanent Secretary should be allowed to complete his or her service through retirement by age or length of service and not by compulsory termination.
The Nigerian civil service like other countries maintain a high standard of technical and professional class within its structure. This is an important category in the nation’s civil service, charged with the responsibilities of discharging such duties which require the knowledge of adepts or highly skilled personnel. The Permanent Secretary like the technical and professional personnel climb the rungs of the ladder in order to reach the top in their respective areas of specialization as heads of department or division.
One peculiar or salient nature of the professional class is that, unlike the executive class, no opportunity exists for conversion to the dominant administrative class, for the possibility of becoming the administrative head of the entire ministry. This, however, caused tremendous amount of frustration to the professionals in the Nigerian civil service. But today, the trend has changed as some professionals are appointed Permanent Secretaries.
The effective implementation of these services to the entire members of the public is the direct responsibility of the different categories of the civil servants, so they should not be dragged into politics.
In Nigeria today, politicians are not operating within the ambit of the law as everything is done by impunity. The civil service has been so politicised that if a civil servant is not seen to be supporting the party or governor in power, his faith in the job is hanging in the balance. An administrator cannot dare to differ from the views of a commissioner or minister because he or she is appointed by the governor or president in office. Career civil servants should be given the free hand and opportunity to do what they ought to do in the good interest of the service. Political appointees do not have the level of experience a career civil servant has and they lack the managerial know-how.
It is pertinent to state that findings have shown that the civil service has been embodied in politics and this is very unpalatable. The truth remains that the civil servant demonstrates overt feelings and he is highly demotivated each time he realsies that at best the commissioner or political office holder who does less work makes more money than him. The civil servant feels miserable working with a politician who could have been his subordinate, and dishing out instructions to him both verbally and in writing. This creates ugly and unhealthy working relationship and increases staff dissatisfaction and reduces level of performance.
It is plausible to state that with the reorganisation of the Nigerian Civil Service and politicization of the post of the Permanent Secretaries, the situation has witnessed a gradual change, which is linked with the operational needs of certain ministries. There is a degree of “political visibility” ascribed to particular function of government so the less politically sensitive the area of administration at any time, the grater the opportunity to experiment with the changes in responsibility and deployment of staff.
No officer of any ministry from other classes or cadre could be appointed or promoted to the position of Permanent Secretary except from the administrative cadre in the past. But today, with the reorganisation of the civil service, change in nomenclature and politicization of the post of Permanent Secretary, the situation has changed to a certain extent that even Director-General, General Manager and other positions are appointed on political basis, an exercise that now reflects the character of the civil service.

Shedie Okpara