Civil Service Crucial to Transformation of Nigeria – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan affirmed on Friday that the much sought after transformation of Nigeria can only take place if civil servants buy into it.

Jonathan who said this shortly after swearing in Mr. Bello Isah Sali as the new Head of Service said no single individual; no matter how strong he is can single handedly change the country. The President added that this is why his administration has continued to lay emphasis on strengthening of institutions.

“This is a government that is committed to transformation, that means a number of change should be done and how do we transform our nation?

“We just cannot wake up and talk about transformation, no one individual, no matter how strong you are can change things, if the people to do it refused.

“Transformation can only come from the people and that is why we are and that is why we are emphasising that our institutions must be strengthened. For you to strengthen your institutions, that means the key actors in these institutions, civil servants and public servants working in these places must all consider themselves as agents of transformation and facilitators of government business”, said the President.

“Let me use this opportunity to plead with the civil servants in our great country that for Nigeria to go where we want to go, the civil servant will play more than 80 per cent of the role, the political office holders are very transient- yes, the President has a lot of power, the Vice President has a lot of power, the ministers have, but how long do we stay, those who really make the change are the civil servants. When the civil servants are not committed, we can’t go anywhere. That’s why as a government we also ensure that we create an enabling environment that people who are working in government will be encouraged to do the work very well. And I plead that people do the work very well.

He therefore challenged the new Head of Service to constantly check the level of competency of his officers. Promotion in the civil service Jonathan said are “no longer based on how many years somebody has been sleeping somewhere, but how productive the person is, how competent the person is and of course, and the degree of integrity.

For appointment as permanent secretary and Head of service should not be based on how many years somebody has served, but how competent and how honest and how hardworking you are”

He declared that the nation is tired of hearing that “Nigeria is potentially great” as it is being said repeatedly from 1960, and that the work to convert that potential energy to kinetic energy is one that has to be done now. The President said any public officer who wants to constitute stumbling block will be disciplined. He said such civil servants should be reported to government.

“I also give powers to the head of civil service of the federation, the ministers and the permanent secretaries that if you have directors or other officers that you believe are stumbling block, let us know.
“Yes, we have the Civil Service Commission that will discipline them and we also have other ways of handling things so that no one person or a group of people will constitute a clog to the wheel of progress in any ministry. We can move people from one place to the other to give opportunity to those who are ready to work.

The President commended Professor Afolabi who handed over to Sali, noting that he has served the nation well. The event was witnessed by Vice President Namadi Sambo, Isa Yuguda, the Governor of Bauchi State, members of Federal Executive Council and top civil servants.

By Oluokun Ayorinde/Abuja