The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has attributed the failure of the Nigerian system to inefficiency and ineffectiveness of its bureaucracy, stating that “when the key organs of government, particularly the civil/public service, do not work, then the country and the system of that country cannot work.”
Obaseki delivered a speech during the 219 recently recruited civil and public officials’ onboarding ceremony at the John Odigie-Oyegun Public Service Academy, JOOPSA, in Benin City.
The governor declared that his administration is dedicated to reforming the service and providing it with the necessary resources and equipment to fulfill its mandate of promoting state development.
He stated, “The reason Nigeria is not working is because its public service, is not thriving, both at the federal, state, and local governments.
“We all sit down and complain about Nigeria, but there is a reason why Nigeria does not work. The country and its system cannot work if the major governmental institutions, particularly the civil service and public sector, are not working.
“We need certain individuals with a certain mentality who are aware of the responsibilities they have to fulfill on a daily basis for the good of the populace. It is called public service for this reason.
The governor added, “Everyone of you here was recruited on the basis of merit,” As the governor, I was only able to observe the procedure because it is wrong and bad for the system when we don’t have any objective standards for bringing new people into the system.
“We are requiring and making sure that only the best enter the system. Even though the British government’s prime minister was replaced three times last year, the country did not stop working because the civil service continued to function.
Obaseki further admonished the newly recruited employees, “You are not being hired to serve yourself or your family, but the people. The day you deviate from that, that day you have missed the plot and that is what has happened in Nigeria.
“Do not be intimidated as long as you’re doing the right thing. If anybody says you should do something you know is not right, don’t do it even if they threaten to sack you because you earned this appointment based on merit. Please note that your responsibility is not to any man but to God and the people.
“Don’t be corrupt. Things are tough but always look around and see how many other people things are even tougher for. There is difficulty in the country today because leadership has been very selfish in responding to the needs of the people on how to grow our economy. Everybody just wants to do for themselves and they forget that we are all better off when we work for all of us.”
He continued, “Also, you have to work smart. The civil service we encountered and the one we are handing over to you are very different. All the services we are going to be providing going into the future are mostly going to be anchored on technology which gives us a lot of transparency and gets feedback from the people on the service you’re rendering to them.”