4th September, 2013
By Olufemi Fafore
From the days of missionary public servants, who served Nigeria in words and deeds, before independence and about three decades after, the civil service has witnessed its high and low periods.
The worst era in the history of the service was the military years, when professionalism, integrity and accountability, was depleted to zero level. In fact, it was under the military that the seed of flagrant disregard for rules and regulations which created the room for manipulation and wanton corruption that is commonplace in the civil service today was sown. Even when efforts have been made to professionalise the service since the return of civil rule in 1999, such moves have not recorded appreciable success due to entrenched perverted value system that was inherited from the military command structure and jackboot mentality.
However, it is necessary to mention a government institution that has recorded a huge success in its operation having benefitted from the professionalism drive of government since the return to civil rule. The Federal Inland Revenue Service, the revenue generation organ of the Federal Government, has improved tremendously in the discharge of its mandate of tax collection in the country. Also, at the level of ministries, departments and agencies, there has been a deliberate effort aimed at ensuring that career officers and top leaders in the service are kept abreast of current developments through local and international trainings in their area of core competence, so as to function optimally in line with best global practices. This intervention, no doubt, has contributed in no small measure to the noticeable improvement in service delivery. Meanwhile, these moves by President Goodluck Jonathan geared toward transforming the civil service into a functional engine that will drive the growth and development of the country in line with our national aspiration of being one of the leading economies in the world by the year 2020 may not yield desired results. No thanks to the sit tight syndrome being encouraged by political heads of the ministries and the boards appointed to run the parastatals and agencies, which has become the norm now. An online news medium, Premium Times, on Monday 1, July 2013, to the utter shock and disbelief of many Nigerians, broke a story on the refusal of Acting Director General of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, (FRCN), Mr. Samson Shaibu to proceed on retirement, even when he has attained the mandatory retirement age of 60 by June 22, 2013.
The Extant Rule of Career Progression in the Federal Civil Service on retirement of public officers clearly stipulates that all officers in the public service of the Federal government must compulsorily proceed on retirement consequent upon the attainment of 60 years or after putting in 35 years of service. The exception to this rule, are Academic staff of universities and judicial officers, whose retirement age has been fixed at 70 and 65 years respectively.
As self explanatory as this rule is, some career officers in the civil service with the active collaboration of their Ministers and Board members, plot tenure elongation schemes by deliberately looking the other way in flagrant disregard for the rules to keep their cronies in office. Another case in point was the Ministry of Water Resources under the watch of Mrs Sarah Ochekpe as minister. It has become the practice for Managing Directors and Executive Directors of River Basin Development Authorities under the ministry to deliberately refuse to proceed on retirement upon attaining the age of 60.
On January 19, 2012, a national newspaper reported that Mr. Yomi Sofela, then Executive Director, Planning and Design, Ogun/Osun River Basin Development Authority allegedly planned to stay put in the civil service. He was said to be lobbying influential people to achieve that aim before his due date of February 2012.
The story was the same for Sofela’s former boss, the immediate past Managing Director of Ogun/Osun River Basin Development Authority, Engineer Jimi Omoliki. Although his subordinate failed, he succeeded in getting a tenure extension courtesy of high level lobby and the Minister’s generosity in the last quarter of 2012.
He, however, gave in to a near crisis pressure on him by members of the Ogun/Osun River Basin Development Authority family to respect the civil service rule. Omoliki left barely six months into his two-year extension.
After the forced exit of Omoliki, the ghost of tenure extension has refused to leave the Ministry of Water Resources. Tongues are already wagging on manoeuvres of the helmsmen at Anambra/Imo River Basin Development Authority and Benin/Owena River Basin Development Authority to stay beyond the mandatory retirement age of 60.
The duo, who should have proceeded on three months terminal leave to retirement, were said to be lobbying their respective boards and the Minister to grant them extension in office. This disregard for laid down rules and regulation by top civil servants in collusion with political heads of the ministries is at variance with the Jonathan administration’s transformation agenda in the civil service which seeks to promote professionalism by using the criteria of career progression, seniority and national spread in the appointment of top cadre officers in the civil service.
The effrontery of Mr. Samson Shaibu, who was sacked as Acting Director General speak volumes about the current regime of impunity and crass opportunism in the ministries. The former acting DG was nominated to attend a conference in Ireland from July 22-26, 2013, when he was supposed to have left the service in late June. This presupposes that Shaibu enjoys the backing of Mr. Labaran Maku, his boss to stay put in office.
Shaibu pleaded justification for his illegal stay in office, by citing precedents of those who had been called from retirement to be the Director General of the corporation. Even when such recall should not be encouraged in order not to jeopardize the career progression of those in the service, he forgot to mention that he never proceeded on retirement when he was supposed to do so.
The attempt by Samson Shaibu to play up the ethnic card in a desperate move to hang on to the headship of the corporation has again brought to the fore the vexed issue of National Question.
He was quoted as saying that: ‘’ People who are talking are those who believe they must rule FRCN forever. But, Nigeria is a country of six geo-political zones. Nigeria is not owned by Hausa/Fulani who have serially ruled or ruined FRCN for several years, neither is it owned by Igbo or Yoruba. It is owned by Nigerians.’’
The frustration that prompted his statement hinges on a situation whereby some people fortunate enough to come from one of the major ethnic groups could do anything, no matter how illegal, and get away with it. Samson Shaibu is from the minority area in North Central Nigeria. He does not feel there is a place for him or his likes under the space called Nigeria.
For the civil service to discharge its duty as the engine room of growth and development, the political heads of ministries must run away from interference on matters of rules and regulations of the civil service. Also, career officers who have reached the peak of their careers should refrain from stunting the growth of their colleagues by scheming to stay beyond the statutory retirement age.
•Fafore, a retired Federal Civil Servant, wrote from 35, Adesan Road, Mowe Ogun State.