Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Professor Tunji Olaopa has declared that civil service is in dire need of total overhauling in order to tackle the current challenges.
Olaopa made this declaration while delivering a paper titled “Re-Engineering the Engine Room: The Civil Service as the Fulcrum of Sustainable Development” at the maiden reunion of the Association of Retired Head of Service and Permanent Secretaries of Oyo and Osun States (AREHSPSOOS).
The event which was held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Ibadan in Oyo state on Wednesday was chaired by former Head of Service of the Federation, Professor Oladapo Afolabi.
Olaopa while addressing the gathering called for re-engineering of civil service in order to meet up with the challenges of nation building, good governance and national development.
The professor of public administration explained that the civil service needs proper modification in order to tackle the challenges pose by the information and communication technology and other new discoveries across the globe.
Olaopa in the lecture, added that Nigerians need a developmental state that will make democratic governance work.
He maintained that developmental state is anchored on the capability readiness of the public service system that would deliver public goods and service effectively and efficiently.
Olaopa said, “It is therefore the institutional bedrock for transforming the developmental agenda of the Nigerian state. This means that the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs)—the engine rooms of the public service system—must be adequately capacitated to become effective and efficient as the formidable institutional framework that would be ready at all times to meet the challenge of nation building, good governance and national development.
“To revisit the engineering metaphor that underlies this lecture, the powerhouse of the bureaucracy that had been hitherto powered by the engine of a Beatle car, now needs that of a jet to fire up and make progress. This requires a change management framework that is anchored around three critical frameworks: the quality of bureaucratic efficiency; the quality of service delivery and performance accountability within a democracy; and the professionalism of the public servants.
“These critical frameworks focus the objective of institutional reform: the public bureaucracies must be transformed to become: fast moving, intelligent, professional, information-rich, flexible, adaptable and entrepreneurial
“Less employee-focused and rule-driven, deliver quality service; Performance-focused, accountable and productive—defined by objectives and measurable results, outputs and outcomes. Capable of creating the policy climate that will unlock the energy of the private sector and other sectors and to install a new productivity paradigm in the national economy;
“Operated by multidisciplinary team of new generation public managers and project teams signed on to performance agreements or contracts within carefully crafted ministerial scorecards to which everyone is held accountable. Bound within a framework of social compact stewardship that sees citizens as clients deserving of effective and efficient services”.
Afolabi while speaking, commended the members of the association for the initiative and passion to contributing to efficiency and improvement of the public service.
“It is good we found a way to sustain ourselves. So this is what we need to pass down, for those who are following us. But I don’t know how we will do it that when we leave service or during service that we would not in any way regret being honest, having serious integrity, being skillful and really wanting to serve”.