Obasanjo Seeks Greater Commitment, Continuity in Public Service Reforms

•Says he’ll respect technocrats till death 

•Aig-Imoukhuede: Improved public services will better lives, strengthen economy

James Emejo in Abuja

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday called for continuity and commitment in current efforts to reform and reposition the public service to play its role in economic development.

He said discontinuity remained the greatest pain of any reform, stressing that continuity of personnel was particularly crucial.

He said sustainability was one of the key ingredients of reforms, coupled with ownership, initiators, drivers and executors.

Speaking at a national workshop on public sector reforms in Nigeria with the theme, “Rethinking Reforms: Why Many Reforms Fail in Nigeria and What We Can Do About It” which was organized by the Aig-Imoukhuede (AIG) Foundation in Abuja, the former president described also reform as a “lifelong process, a journey, not a destination”.

He said ongoing reform must be accepted and spread, adding that government must do all it takes in ensuring that the public service is strengthened.

Obasanjo said where necessary, monetary and other reward system including legislation should be applied to achieve the goal of repositioning the public service.

The former president, while commending then collaboration between government and private sector players, particularly the AIG Foundation towards sanitizing the public service, further reiterated the need for recognition of the critical roles which technocrats civil service play in driving key reforms and effective governance.

He said, “The greatest pain of reform is discontinuity. Continuity of personnel is crucial. Reform is a lifelong process, a journey, not a destination.

“I’ve met and dealt with some of the best in the public service. We need good men and women in the public service as much as we need them in the private sector.

Some of them are frustrated, inadequately rewarded, and we need to correct that.”

Obasanjo who noted that reform requires political heads and technocrats working together, respecting and understanding each other, said, “I will continue to respect the Nigerian public service, particularly the technocrats, until I die”.

He said, the “public service, including the executive, legislative, judiciary, and technocrats, has power. Technocrats have power, and we must recognise that.”

He said, “I’ll give two examples. One is my late friend, Ahmed Joda, who as permanent secretary, frustrated the Chief Justice’s attempt to get a second plot of land. Another example is a minister who gave a permanent secretary the power to decide what is essential and what is not.”

Continuing, he said, “When we were fighting apartheid, we decided to nationalise certain items to push Britain to move on South Africa. We carried out a study and found that we put 250,000 men and women in jobs in Britain through our imports. I wrote a memo myself, and we decided to take action. Liman Chiroma, the head of service, advised against it, but we went ahead, and the civil service backed us up.

“We even had a Southern Africa Relief Fund where civil servants contributed five per cent of their salary. That’s the type of reform that can make a difference.”

In her remarks, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, said lack of inclusive implementation strategy, poor funding, and resistance to change remained some of the impediments to reform initiatives in the country.

She said, “Reforming a system can be daunting, and challenges will arise. It is essential to recognise that there are no infallible systems, and reform is continuous.”

While appreciate the foundation’s commitment to transforming the country’s public sector, she said the research on why many reforms fail in Nigeria and what we could be done to change the narrative remained a valuable contribution to ongoing efforts.

Yemi-Esan pointed out that since Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, there had been at least 48 documented reforms aimed at improving sectoral services and performance.

However, the proliferation of reforms highlights the importance of understanding why many reforms fail and how to address these challenges, she said.

According to her, “Reforming a system can be daunting, and challenges will arise. It is essential to recognize that there are no infallible systems, and reform is continuous.”

She said the country’s reform programme implementation had faced numerous impediments, including lack of inclusive implementation strategy framework, poor funding and inadequate budgetary provisions, lack of skilled manpower, poor communication and lack of ownership and involvement among others.

She said, “To address these challenges, the Office of the Head of Service reviewed the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan in 2020. We adopted a different approach to reform formulation and implementation, including wide stakeholder consultation; governance structure for the reform initiative; decentralization of FC 25 implementations to ministries; training and capacity building; and constant monitoring and evaluation; focus on enablers, including culture change, change management, partnerships, technology, consequence management, effective communication, and political buy-in.”

She said, “We have made significant progress in re-engineering the civil service, and it is essential to recognise and celebrate the good work of our officers and partners while sanctioning indiscipline and poor performance.”

She also identified key elements for successful reform programmes to include systems and support structures- partnerships, high-level monitoring, capacity building- compensation systems, and change management strategy among others.

Also speaking, Chairman, AIG Foundation, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, highlighted the essence of an efficient and motivated public service in achieving good governance, production and distribution of public goods, formulation and implementation of economic policy, and management of public expenditure.

Citing Nigeria’s Human Development Index ranking of 161 out of 189 countries, he said this was a reflection of the performance of government over several decades.

He said Chapter 2 of the Nigerian Constitution seeks to create a government workforce of size and with skills, and incentives, ethos, and accountability needed to provide quality public services and carry out the functions stated therein.

Aig-Imoukhuede also drew a correlation between the strength of a country’s public sector and its strength as a nation.

He said the foundation was committed to transforming public service delivery, and building a critical mass of public sector leaders, providing technical support and funding for digitisation efforts, and upskilling thousands of workers in the civil service.

He assured that the workshop would have far-reaching impact by broadening the conversation until the objectives are realized.

He said, “This conversation does not end here. And indeed, the Nigerian Public Sector Reform Project reboots here.”

The AIG foundation boss said, “All it takes for us to regain that position that is rightfully ours, the giant of Africa, prime, prime, prime place as the leader of Africa is to go back to a strong public service.

“Technology has been our cornerstone in transforming public service delivery. We provided technical support and funding for the digitization efforts of the federal civil service.

“Through our support, the service has successfully digitized thousands of files, automated 300 processes, acquired hundreds of new digital devices. In addition, our collaboration with Microsoft, we are upskilling thousands of workers in the civil service.”

He said, “A key area of our support to the civil service is the culture change programme. To change the mindset of this key constituency, we provide communication training, culture change campaign videos, and ongoing assistance for the publication of official newsletters.

“We’ve helped to develop the civil service culture handbook, better than actually many of the culture handbooks I’ve seen in the private sector, but we must make it work, that applies the values, behaviors, and practices that are essential for delivering the state’s chapter 200.

“A key element of our foundation’s theory of change is to ensure that every Nigerian citizen takes ownership of the critical need to reform the public service.

It is not their public service, it is your public service, it is our public service, and understand that as it strengthens, you strengthen as well.”

Continuing, he stated, “We are convinced that improved public services lead to better outcomes for our people, communities, and economies. As such, we work closely with government, closely with the private sector, with academia and development partners to try and transform public service delivery.

“Since our inception, we have achieved a number of milestones in our quest to transform public service delivery. We are building a critical mass of public sector leaders who are equipped with skills, knowledge, and tools to drive and sustain reforms.

“We aim to ensure that within the next 20 years, Nigeria regains its post-independence reputation for having one of the strongest public services in Africa.”