The role of the civil service in the industrialization of Nigeria

Chiemeka Onyema

Abstract
The goal of berthing Nigeria's full-scale industrial revolution is yet to be achieved. All the industrial development plans have so far failed to accelerate the nation's industrialization, hence the country's low industrial base which has kept her in the league of developing nations. In fact, Nigeria has in recent times been experiencing deindustrialization, as several industries have collapsed and some others, such as Unilever and Michelin, have relocated to other countries. Several factors are responsible for Nigeria's low industrial development and they include: inadequate infrastructure (particularly, energy), poor technological base, multiple taxes and levies, and, the shortage and high cost of foreign exchange. Despite a growing body of literature on industrialization in Nigeria, not much has been written about the link between Public Service Reforms and industrialization in Nigeria. This paper examines the link between the implementation of Service Compact (Servicom) Charter and the achievement of Nigeria's industrial development policies, especially the 'Ease of Doing Business' Policy. The paper makes the case that the goal of industrializing Nigeria will not be possible without an efficient Public Service. Furthermore, the paper highlights the need for Nigerian public servants to have the right work attitude, and to be morally upright and patriotic, in order to create a business-friendly environment and to build investor confidence, so as to facilitate and accelerate the country's industrialization and overall national development. The author recommends that the Nigerian government should strengthen the implementation of the Servicom charter and also incorporate the charter into the industrialization plan.

Keywords
Industrialization; Deindustrialization; Service compact; Public service; National development.

Resumo
O papel do serviço civil na industrialização da Nigéria. O objetivo de alavancar a revolução industrial em grande escala da Nigéria ainda está por ser alcançado. Todos os planos de desenvolvimento industrial até agora não conseguiram acelerar a industrialização do país, daí a sua baixa base industrial, que a manteve na liga dos países em desenvolvimento. De fato, a Nigéria tem experimentado recentemente a desindustrialização, já que várias indústrias entraram em colapso e outras, como Unilever e Michelin, foram realocadas para outros países. Vários fatores são responsáveis pelo baixo desenvolvimento industrial da Nigéria e incluem infraestrutura inadequada (particularmente a energia), baixa base tecnológica, múltiplos impostos e taxas, bem como a escassez e alto custo do câmbio. Apesar de um crescente corpo de literatura sobre a industrialização na Nigéria, pouco se escreveu sobre a ligação entre as reformas dos serviços públicos e a industrialização na Nigéria. Este documento examina a ligação entre a implementação da Carta do Serviço Compacto (Servicom) e a realização das políticas de desenvolvimento industrial da Nigéria, especialmente a política de "Facilidade de Fazer Negócios". O artigo argumenta que o objetivo de industrializar a Nigéria não será possível sem um eficiente serviço público. Além disso, o artigo destaca a necessidade dos servidores públicos nigerianos terem a atitude correta de trabalho e serem moralmente íntegros e patrióticos, a fim de criar um ambiente favorável aos negócios e construir a confiança dos investidores, de modo a facilitar e acelerar a industrialização do país e o desenvolvimento nacional geral. O autor recomenda que o governo nigeriano fortaleça a implementação da carta de serviços e também incorpore a carta ao plano de industrialização.

Palavras-chave
Industrialização; Desindustrialização; Serviço compacto; Serviço público; Desenvolvimento nacional.

DOI
10.21438/rbgas.051102

Texto completo
PDF

References
Abercrombie, N.; Hill, S.; Turner, B. S. The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. 4. ed. London: Penguin Group, 2000.

Babura, A. S. M. Leading public service innovation: The case of the Nigeria Civil Service and Federal Civil Service Commission. Abuja: Federal Civil Service Commission, 2003.

Bevan, D.; Collier, P.; Gunning, J. W. The political economy of poverty, equity and growth: Nigeria and Indonesia. Washington, DC: World Bank and Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999.

Commonwealth Governance. National Development Plan of Nigeria. 2018. Available from: <http://www.commomwealthgovernance.org/countries/africa/nigeria/national-development-plan/>. Accessed on: Apr. 23, 2018.

Country Data. Nigeria: Planning. 1991. Available from: <http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-9401.html>. Accessed on: Apr. 23, 2018.

Denhardt, J. V.; Denhardt, R. B. The new public service: Serving, not steering. 3. ed. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2011.

Ekeh, L. U. Industrialization and national prosperity: Lessons for the developing countries. London: LUZEK Publishers, 2009.

Hood, C. A public management of all season? Public Administration, v. 69, no. 1, p. 3-19, 1991. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1991.tb00779.x<

Hughes, O. E. Public management and administration. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

InflationData.com. Historical Crude Oil Prices (Table): Oil Prices 1946-Present. 2018. Available from: <https://inflationdata.com/inflation/inflation_Rate/Historial_Oil_Prices_Table.asp>. Accessed on: Apr. 23, 2018.

Johnston, W. Export-led growth strategies through History. 2016. Available from: <https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/011416/exportled-growth-strategies-through-history.asp>. Accessed on: Apr. 23, 2018.

Jones, R.; Thompson, F. Public management: Institutional renewal for the 21st Century. Stamford, CT: Elsevier, 1999.

Kirfi, M. M. W.; Balarabe, A.; Shantali, M. J. Service compact (Servicom) and Service delivery in Nigerian public teaching hospitals: A study of Usman Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) Sokoto. Journal of International Academic Research for Multidisciplinary, v. 1, no. 6, p. 18-35, 2013. Available from: <http://jiarm.com/Jul/paper3832.pdf>. Accessed on: Apr. 23, 2018.

Lawal, T.; Oluwatoyin, A. The civil service and sustainable development in Nigeria. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, v. 13, no. 4, p. 385-393, 2011. Available from: <http://www.jsd-africa.com/Jsda/Vol13 No4_Summer2011_B/PDF/The Civil Service and Sustainable Development in Nigeria1.pdf>. Accessed on: Apr. 23, 2018.

Maor, M. The paradox of managerialism. Public Administration Review, v. 59, p. 5-18, 1999.

Marshall, G. Oxford Dictionary of Sociology. 2. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Minogue, M. The internationalization of new public management. In: McCourt, W.; Minogue, M. (Eds.). The international¬ization of public management: Reinventing the Third World State. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2001. p. 1-19.

NNPC - Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation. History of the Nigerian Petroleum Industry. 2016. Available from: <http://www.nnpcgroup.com/NNPCBusiness/Businessinformation/OilGasinNigeria/IndustryHistory.aspx>. Accessed on: Apr. 23, 2018.

Obasanjo, O. The imperative of civil service reform. In: Adegoroye, G. (Ed.). Nigeria public service reform: The visions and challenges. Abuja: Bureau of Public Service Reforms, 2004.

Okunade, B. The Nigerian civil service: The journey so far. In: Ujo, A. A. (Ed.). Three decades of the Nigerian civil service. Jos: Nigeria Political Science Association, 1990. p. 20-22.

Oladele, A. Civil service reform of the Federal Government. 2014. Available from: <https://www.3psmars.org/civil-service-reform-federal-government/>. Accessed on: Apr. 23, 2018.

Onyema, C. Effects of public service renewal programme on employee performance in the federal civil service, Imo State, Nigeria. Awka: Nnamdi Azikiwe University, 2017. (Doctoral dissertation).

Osborne, S. P. The new public governance? Public Management Review, v. 8, no. 3, p. 377-388, 2006.

Phillips, D. The 1988 Nigeria civil service reforms and their post-1992 prospects. Ibadan: Nigerian Institute Social and Economic Research 1990. (NISER Occasional Paper, 1).

Shah, A. Corruption and decentralized public governance. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, no. 3824, p. 1-30, 2006.

Singh, A. Questioning the new public management. Public Administration Review, v. 63, no. 1, p. 116-119, 2003.

Teniola, E. Our new national development plan. Vanguard Media, Nigeria, 2018. Available from: <https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/03/our-new-national-development-plan/>. Accessed on: Apr. 23, 2018.

UNECA - United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Dynamic Industrial Policy in Africa: Nigeria's Industrial Revolution Plan Unveiled. 2014. (Economic Report on Africa). Available from: <https://www.uneca.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-documents/COM/com2014/era_2014_feature_story_nig_eng.pdf>. Accessed on: Apr. 23, 2018.

UNECA - United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Public sector management reforms Africa: Lessons learned. 2003. (ECA/DPMD/PSM/TP/03/1). Available from: <http://www.uneca.org>. Accessed on: Apr. 23, 2018.


 

ISSN 2359-1412