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Protocol

        As part of his independence message to Nigerians on the attainment of Independence on October 1,1960, the Nigeria leader and Prime minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa said “when this day in October 1960 was chosen for our independence, it seemed that we were destined to move with quiet dignity to our place on the world stage…we shall not fail for want of determination”.  The late prime Minister exuded the confidence expected in making this declaration, and challenging Nigerians accordingly, based on the potentialities of the emerging nation and the certainty that it was assured of a glorious future.  Evidence of the progress on ground was convincing enough; commendable strides had been recorded in every facet of human endeavour by both the Central Government and the then three Regional Governments.  The Western Regional Government, in particular, had been a pacesetter in many facets of socio-economic development under the dynamic leadership of Nigeria’s most visionary leader, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.  Indeed , the Ekiti, like other sub-ethnic groups in the then Western Region, were beneficiaries of the people-oriented programmes of the late sage; programmes that were responding to the challenge of the Prime Minister’s clarion call that Nigeria should quickly take its rightful place in the comity of nations.  The logical question to ask is “45 years after this charge by Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa balewa, have Nigeria and Nigerians kept the faith “? And to take it nearest home and face it frontally, has Ekiti, as a State and a people, moved with quiet dignity to occupy its rightful place not even on the global plane but in Nigeria?

Undoubtedly, one of the institutions the late prime minister would have relied upon to manifest Nigeria’s limitless possibilities was the public service, the non-disputable anchor of governance.  Politicians may fail because of the diverse interests and constituencies they represent and seek to satisfy, and the constitutional limits of tenure within which to implement their policies and programmes.  The Military can be excused since their involvement in governance is an aberration and military rulers, operating outside Constitutional legitimacy, cannot be relied upon to advance the cause of the common good in a programmed and sustainable manner.  The Public Service,  on the other hand, serves as a bridge between one Administration and the other and enjoys constitutional legitimacy.  It therefore offers the best platform for translating policies and programmes of successive governments into concrete action that impact significantly on the well-being of the citizens.  But then we should ask again; “has the Nigerian Public Service in general or Ekiti State Public Service in particular kept the faith with Sir Tafawa Balewa?”

Public Service and Public Servants Defined

            The Public Service is an agglomeration of all organizations that exist as part of government machinery for implementing policies and programmes as well as for ensuring continuity of administration.  It encompasses the following categories:

Organizations which are either partially or wholly owned or in which government controls majority shares but which operate on purely commercial basis are nor classified as part of the Public Service.  Examples of such institutions include NICON Insurance, Nigerian Security, printing and Minting Companies where government still has controlling shares.

            Chapter VI of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the title:  The Executive, Part I (D) Part II ( C) makes the Public Service a mandatory institution at both  the Federal and State levels respectively.  Important Offices at the two ties of government (Federal and State) are also specified in the Constitution including among others those of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, permanent Secretary in any Ministry or Head of any Extra Ministerial Department of the Government of the Federation however designated, at the Federal Level; and correspondingly at the State level, Secretary to the Government of the State, Head of the Civil Service of the State, permanent Secretary or other Chief Executive in any Ministry or Department of the Government of the State howsoever designated.  For the avoidance of doubt, the 1999 Constitution in Part IV under the title:  Interpretation, Citation and Commencement, further defines the Public Service of the State as the “service of the State in any capacity in respect of the Government of  the State and includes service as:

“Public Servants” are therefore persons in public employment at federal and State levels given the responsibility of taking decisions, implementing government policies or enforcing laws (and rules or regulations) that affect the rights of other persons or entities.  The Public Service is not expected to have a predator mentality.  According to late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Public Service is not a forum to ‘come and eat” but a forum for rendering services for the common good; services that engender in the Public Servant a unique satisfaction outside the realm of money.  Perhaps no other world leader has put this realization better than Tony Blair – the Prime Minister of Britain when he said:

            “Ask a teacher, a doctor, a nurse, and a police officer why do their job and almost always it’s about giving to others not taking for themselves.  It is rarely for the money; it is almost always for the satisfaction and pride that comes from seeing someone else succeed the child learning to read, the patient returning to good health, the victim of crime knowing the criminal that attacked them is behind bars”.

In other words, Public Servants serve the Public not their Pockets.

 Public Service Values

            The Public Service relies on set of values which propel and guide it to function efficiently and effectively as the administrative machinery of government for the promotion of the common good.  The values, which are universal, are exemplified in the balanced framework of four groups of values as categorized hereunder by the Canadian Public Service:

 On 5 February 2001, African States adopted, in Windhoek, in Windhoek, Namibia, the Charter for Public Service in Africa which also expresses the commitment of African States to abide by these universal values and, in particular, to promote the values of transparency, professionalism and ethical standards in the Public Service.  The Charter  contains 29 articles which enunciate different set of principles to ensure that the African Public Service abides by these values in rendering services to the State.  Among these principles are those on:  (i) Fundamental principles of the Public Service; (ii) Rules governing relations between Public Service and the users; (iii)  Fundamental Values of the Public Service Employees; and (Iv)  Rules of conduct for Public Service employees.

 On the Code of Conduct of Public Service employees for example, the Charter provides standards in the area of professionalism, ethics, integrity and moral rectitude, conflict, of interest, declaration of assets or illicit enrichment, and political neutrality and duty of confidentiality.  On professionalism, the Charter in article 21 states among others that:

“Professionalism manifests itself in the Public Service employee’s behaviour at work and in his/her constant effort to improve, reinforce and update his/her knowledge, refine the skills that are necessary for carrying out his/her tasks and enhancing his/her output and productivity”.

 With respect to ethics, which the instrument defines as a sound culture based on ethical values and principles, the Charter amongst several provisions in article 22 states that:

      A Public Service employee shall perform his/her duties properly and efficiently and display professional discipline, dignity, equity, impartiality, fairness, public-spiritedness and courtesy in the discharge of his/her functions, notably in his/her  relations with his/her superiors, colleagues and subordinates, as well as with the public.”

 Article 23 of the Charter on integrity and morale rectitude states among others that:

           “Public Service employees shall refrain from any activity that is inconsistent with ethics and morality, such as misappropriation of public funds, favouritism, nepotism, discrimination, influence-peddling or administrative indiscretion’.

 Chronology of Administrative Reviews/Reforms and Highlights of major Recommendations

The Tudor Davis and Harragin Commissions of 1945-1947 reviewed wages and salaries and other conditions of Service.  The Harrington Commission Report of 1947 went further by recommending the creation of new categories of Junior and Senior Service which paved the way for few Nigerian to be recruited into the Senior Service.  The Gorsuch Commission (1951) dealt with remuneration issues and structure of the Public Service and recommended among others the division of the Service into five main grades under the Administrative and Professional Cadres.  The Hewn Committee of 1959 proposed modalities for the integration and management of Ministries while the Morgan Commission of 1963 reviewed wages and salaries and also introduced a minimum wage for the first time.  The Mbanefo Commission of 1964 also made recommendations on salaries and other conditions of Service while the Elwood Committee of 19666 reviewed the grading system.

            The first national attempt at Reform in the context of its accepted definition was the Adebo Commission of 1971, which made recommendations on among others, the constitution of a Public Service Review Commission to examine the role  of the Public Service Commission and to deal with other structural and human resource management issues to ensure a more effective and efficient service.  This culminated in the setting up of the Udoji Commission in 1974 which recommended the adoption of a results-oriented management approach, a unified grading system and also proposed a unifie3d salary structure to cover all positions in the Service.  The remunerations components of the report were however implemented which the more fundamental recommendations on modalities for repositioning the Service were not implemented.

             The 1988 Dotun Philips Reform came about almost  a decade and half later  as part of the framework of Government to ensure the effective implementation of the Structural Adjustment programme (SAP).  Under the Dotun Philips Reform, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service was abolished; Ministers were designated Chief Executive and Accounting Officers while the position of Permanent Secretary was  re-designated as Director-general.  The powers of appointment, promotion and discipline were delegated to Ministries, Departments and Agencies.  The Ayida Panel of 1995 recommended among others, the abrogation of Decree 43 of 1988 (the legal instrument for implementing the Dotun Philips reforms), the restoration of both the posts of Head of the Civil Service and of Permanent Secretaries as Accounting Officers.  It also recommended the restoration of the pooling system, the powers of the federal Civil Service Commission over appointments, promotion and discipline and proposed the restructuring of Ministries and Agencies to reflect their unique characteristics.

            As stated earlier on, these initiatives were not driven essentially by service delivery improvements.  Consequently, they focused more on the general issues of pay, incentives, cadre formation and reclassification, capacity building, etc.  Even when efforts were made to address human resource management and performance improvement issues, implementation of the recommendations ended up being focused on pay elements, leaving these crucial issues jettisoned.

State of the Service Prior to reform

President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, left no one in doubt of the commitment of his Administration to reform the Service as confirmed in the following statement:

                        “the world has witnessed a lot of changes since 1979 when l left office as head of State Rather than being a source of innovation and productivity, our Civil Service has been turned to a haven for primitive accumulation and recycling of outdated ideas.  One gets the impression that there is excessive bureaucratisation or complication of simple procedures to inflict frustration, pain and griding poverty on the people. The Civil Service needs to inspire hope, engender creativity to serve as a model institution for the contemporary period. Reform is imperative”.

The state of the Civil Service when President Obasanjo took office was confirmed in the following findings of a 2001 service-wide study conducted by the Management Services Office (MSO), in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation:

 A sad aspect of these findings is that they are, to a large extent, still indicative of the state of the public service in virtually every state of the Nigerian Federation today, justifying the need for reform. According to Tony Blair, “Public Services need reform if they are to deliver the uniformity high standards and consumer focus that people expect in the 21^st Century”.

To put these MDGs in perspective, a democratic and Health survey undertaken in 2003 to ascertain Nigeria’s progress towards the attainment of some of the components of the MDGs revealed the following about its current state:

• Low immunization coverage as only 13% of children aged between 12 – 23 months received immunization as and when due and about 27% of children had not received any form of immunization at all.
• High infant mortality rate (100 per 1,000 live births).
• Child (under five) mortality rate is 201 for every 1,000.
• Maternal mortality ratio is from 300 to 1,200 per 100,000 live births.
• High prevalence of Malaria – only 12% of households own a mosquito net while only 2% own insecticide treated net (ITN).
• High prevalence of HIV/AIDS.

 (ii)  New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)

NEPAD is a continental initiative to deal with the crisis of governance in Africa which over the years has accentuated poverty in virtually every country within the continent. It is a vision and a plan to combat famine, disease, hunger, endemic poverty, corruption, incessant conflicts, under development and acute income disparity as well as ensure economic renewal, accelerated growth and sustainable development. It is an integrated and holistic development agenda to halt the marginalization of Africa in the globalization process which is reflected in the following statistics:

• Africa accounts for less than 2% of global trade, less than 2% of global experts and less than 1% of global capital flows in spite of the fact that it is the domain of 12% of the world’s population;
• Africa’s consumption of global wealth is only about 1% compared to 25% for the United States of America, 25% for Europe and 25% for Japan and Asia;
• The debt to GNP ratio in Africa is the highest in the world;
• Africa is the continent most infested by HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Polio, Typhoid, and Tuberculosis.

 NEPAD is building on the lessons of past initiatives aimed at fst tracking the development process within the African continent such as the Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic Development of Africa 1980 – 2000 and the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1960s. The sectoral priorities for accomplishing the vision of NEPAD are in the areas of food and agriculture, industry, transport and communications, trade and finance, health and energy. Others include science and technology, environment, education, etc.

The African Peer Review Mechanism which is a self monitoring instrument voluntary acceded to by member States of the African Union has now been instituted to measure the progress in the attainment of the objectives of NEPAD in relation to four priority arrears, namely:

• Democracy and Political Governance;
• Economic Governance and Management;
• Corporate Governance; and
• Socio-Economic Development.

 (iii)       The National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS)

NEEDS is a people-government-international development partner receptive medium term strategic initiative aimed at accelerated transformation of the Nigeria State. It was inspired by earlier national development initiaves and strategies as well as codes of ethics which existed in various documents among which are:

• The Vision 2010 document;
• The Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Draft Document;
• Emerging national codes of ethics for public officers as embodied in the Kuru Declaration;
• The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
• The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Act 2000.

It is a plan that unfolds Nigeria’s readiness to prosper by harnessing the collective will, strength creativity and unbending spirit of the Nigerian people to overcome all obstacles in their way of attaining a more just, humane and prosperous society. It is a channel of connecting with the global community so that the nation can be supported in carrying out as the largest economy in the continent but also a significant and respectable player in the global economy. In order to ensure coordinated action towards fulfilling the objectives of the vision, NEEDS is domiciled as State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (SEEDS) at the State level to reflect the priority and targeted action for driving development at this second tier of government.

In the NEEDS, we have identified the factors that have hindered Nigerian from making progress over the years as:

• Poverty and inequality;
• Weak and inappropriate public sector;
• Poor economic management; and
• Hostile environment for private sector growth.

Accordingly, in order to reverse this trend, it focuses on these three areas:

• Empowering the Nigeria people, by creating affordable housing, improving health care services, strengthening the skill base, protecting the vulnerable and promoting peace and security;
• Promoting Private Enterprise, by creating an enabling environment for business to thrive, stabilizing the value of the Naira, diversifying the economy to reduce dependency on oil, privatizing, deregulating and liberalizing government-owned industries, developing infrastructure, especially power generation, transport, telecommunications, etc, Others are promoting industrial development by targeting 7% annual growth, 70% of investment by 2007; Improving Agriculture and promoting other sectors such as information and communication technology, tourism, entertainment and financial services;
• Changing the way Government operates, by identifying the core business of Government and sticking to them while allowing other stakeholders to run businesses and provide other services for which they have comparative advantage over Government. Others include implementing accountability, transparency and anti-corruption measures through the establishment of the ICPC and EFCC as well as enacting both a Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Right to Information Act to promote openness and better management of public Expenditure, Curtailing unbridled waste in the Public Service through Pension Reform, Monetization of fringe benefits, introduction of National Health Insurance Scheme, and ensuring budgetary discipline.

The above multiplicity of intervention points provides the four domains of NEEDS namely:

• Economic Management Reform, to foster Macro-Economic stability – Fiscal discipline, Public Resource Management/Utilization, Financial Sector Reforms (Banking, Insurance, etc), Tax Reforms, Customs Restructuring and Accelerated Privatization and Liberalization of the Economy;
• Governance Reform and Institutional Strengthening;
• Public Service Reform, including Public Expenditure and Budget Reforms with focus on efficiency, responsiveness and service delivery; and
• Transparency, Accountability and Anti-Corruption Reforms, including EITI, EFCC, ICPC.

 In essence, NEEDS is an umbrella strategy anchoring a series of reform activities, initiated and driven at various sectors of the Nigerian system.

 Public Service, the Engine of Governance for Sustainable and for driving Development Initiatives.

The Public Service is the engine of Government while political actors are at best drivers of the system. The overall performance of Government in ensuring good governance and delivering socio-economic goods and services, which impact on people’s welfare and living standards is predicated on the quality of its Public Service. If the engine has either become, in our popular parlance, a ‘tokunbo’, or has degenerated to such an extent that it is nearly becoming a knocked engine, it must be quickly refurbished with genuine metals and rings so that it can be restored to its proper position as an instrument of locomotion for the owner. Globally, politicians come into government often times without any experience in the public service. Public Servants on the other hand are on ground with their years of experience and maturity. We must assume that most Politicians are in government with a genuine desire to make a difference and move their societies forward. The public service therefore needs tp provide guidance to political office holders drawing from its institutional memory, its

professional, administrative and technical depth as well as its wide exposure on governance issues.

All emerging initiatives rest essentially on a virile Public Service dedicated to excellence and supportive of reforms. A virile Public service will drive the successful implementation of NEEDS, which, in turn, will lead to the implementation of NEPAD and of course, the MDGs. The Public Service is therefore the take-off gear that drives all developing initiatives. For Nigeria to continue to derive commensurable benefits from Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa, bearing in mind Blair’s significant contribution on the recent debt relief granted to us by the Paris Club, the Public Service needs to be reinvigorated so that it can stand firm to support successive governments in the design and delivery of policies and programmes that will rapidly transform the Nigerian State politically, socially and economically.

Overall Goal and Strategic Focus of Current Public Service Reforms

      The overall goal of the on-going reform is to effectively reposition the Service to make it professionally and administratively competent and to enhance its capacity to deliver timely and improved services to the Nigerian people in order to meet the development challenges confronting the nation in the 21^st century. Accordingly, the current effort focuses on the following four keys arrears all targeted at improving service and promoting good governance:

Parastatals Reform and Management

            Parastatals Reform is a core component of our Public Service Reforms.  This is n recognition of the need to curtail the waste in Government parastatals and reposition them for greater effectiveness and service delivery.  Some of the emerging structural / institutional reform strategies are:

 The on-going reforms is definitely the most comprehensive initiative ever embarked upon by any Administration in Nigeria.  It has been designed to address the multifaceted problems of good governance and a wide range of other issues that have impaired public sector institution in delivering timely and efficient services that meet the expectations of the public.  It assumes that the fulfillment of one of these four component without satisfying the other three segments will result in a failed effort, hence specific interventions to address each of there key areas have been elaborated and are being implemented concurrently for maximum impact to fulfill President Obasanjo’s vision of e reformed Public Service that is:

 The existence of any Government is service to the people.  President Olusegun Obasanjo sums it up on the role of the Public Servant, on 18 August, 2005 at the Presidential Retreat for Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and members of the Organized Private Sector, held in Abuja with the theme – Public Sector Reforms and Public Private Partnership, when he said:

            “We are in this Administration to deliver service no matter the cost.  We will deliver

             service.  We owe the people of this country the duty to deliver service”

 Institutional Arrangement for Reform Implementation and Coordination

            The structure for managing the on-going process to ensure effective implementation and coordination as well as sustainability is as follows:

(i)                  National Council on Reforms, chaired by the President and the following as members: Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Attorney General of the federation, Minister of Finance, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, and Chairman, RMFAC;

(ii)                Steering Committee on Reform, chaired by Minister of Finance and 22 other members including Chief Executive and Ministers of Key Institutions of Government.  The functions of the committee include: (a) providing guidance and technical leadership in reform design and implementation, (b) initiating action on reforms at the different fronts, (c) ensuring monitoring and evaluation of reform implementation for impact and effectiveness, and (d) periodically briefing the Federal Executive Council and the national Council on reforms;

(iii)               Bureau of Public Service Reforms serves as the coordination secretariat for al the Sectoral Reforms of Government.  It is charged with the following specific responsibilities:

(a)    initiating Action Plan on reform at the different levels for the attention of the Steering Committee, (b) elucidating government policy on reform, (c) coordination, monitoring and evaluating reform implementation activities, (d) conducting research on implementation efforts and present best practices models, (e) providing advisory and technical support services to Change management Teams and Working Groups, (f) engendering and environment of learning among MDAs, (g) disseminating information on all aspects of reforms, and (h) submitting quarterly Progress Reports on Reform activities; and

(iv)              The Service Delivery office coordinates and supports service delivery initiatives in the Public Service.

 Some Unique Features of the On-going Public Service Reforms

            Probably, the most salutary aspect of the on-going initiative is that it is also being internally driven by the Public Service as opposed to past initiatives which were wither solely driven by the political leadership or fostered by donors as part of the requirements of structural adjustment.  While the main driver of the Reform is undoubtedly the president, the attitude of the Civil Service has changed from initial cynicism to an appreciation of the opportunities inherent in change to improve the effectiveness of the Service.  Consequently, the popular notion that the Public Service cannot reform itself is not totally reflective of the Nigerian situation.  The main instrument for driving the Reform of the Civil Service today is through a Reform Implementation Committee under the Chairmanship of the Head of the Civil Service of the federation.  The Committee comprises 14 Permanent Secretaries, Accountant-General of the Federation, and Auditor-General for the Federation, and Director General Bureau of Public Service Reforms as members.

 The other uniqueness of the current process is the establishment of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, which is unprecedented in Nigeria’s history.  This is to ensure a sustainable mechanism for the integration of a culture of Reform into the Public Service.  Presently, the Bureau provides the platform for integrating the various reforms initiatives, which are located in different cells into the Public Service.  These include: (i) Budget Reforms in the Budget office, (ii) Procurement Reforms in the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit, (iii) tax reforms in the federal Inland revenue Service, (iv) Accounting and Audit Reforms in both the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and office of the Auditor-General for the federation, and (v) Anticorruption, Transparency and Accountability Reforms in both the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related offences Commission and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, judicial, Legislative and Armed Forces Reforms are directly linked to the President through appropriate institutions.

 Another significant feature is that under the present initiative, the Public service is Vision and Mission driven.  This is to emphasize the new orientation of the Service towards outcomes rather than process and the institution of performance management practices from within to reinforce the new orientation on delivering services to the people.  Accordingly, the Visio Statement of the Office of the head of Service, which translates to the overarching Vision of the Civil Service, is to:

 The operations of each Ministry, department and Agency are also driven by their respective Vision and Mission Statement as well as enforceable Service Charters which they are obliged to fulfill in rendering Services to the Public.

 Gains under Current Effort

 With regard to the much talked about right-sizing of the Federal Civil Service, the criteria adopted for the exercise were developed by the Presidential Committee on the Review and Revision of Public Service Rules, Regulations and Procedures and approved by the President for implementation.  Under the approved guidelines, officers who fall into the following priority categories are to be exited from the Service:

 In our assessment, we see these guideline as a housecleaning exercise that was long overdue.  They are indicative of the breakdown of human resource management in the Service and of the failure of the Civil Service to resolve routine issues, which daily occur in the work environment, by implementing extant rules and regulations.  Nonetheless, it is an exercise, which must be carried out in order to remove redundant, inappropriate and undesirable personnel in the Service to pave way for the injection into the Service of young graduates in various disciplines, with First Class Honours and Second Class Upper Division. I believe that this approach is right because our system has greater responsibility to our young, bright and agile graduates roaming the streets who are technologically friendly than to continue to carry the excess baggage of unproductive grandfathers and grandmothers in the Civil Service who are “daily getting younger”, because of falsification of their records, even at the risk of collapsing on their seats.

 A study carried out by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms on the Succession Potential of the Service from grade level 08-17 indicates that the potential is below 20% across board.  This further reaffirms the urgency of carrying out massive recruitment into the Civil Service in order to deal, in particular, with the problem of the preponderance of unskilled staff in the Service and a constricted and virtually non-existent virile middle cadre so as to prepare the Civil Service for future challenges.

 I wish to stress that Government is considerate in its policy of severance.  Mr. President has directed that no staff should be laid off without being paid his lawful terminal benefits in full in addition to being provided some social assistance by way of pre-exit training/counseling.  In this regard, the terminal benefits for officers to be affected by the severance exercise are as follows:

You may be surprised to note that we have received to date over 1,000 application for voluntary retirement many of which are from the Directorate Cadre.

 The restructuring of Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs0 is also going on at greater pace, drawing from the lessons learnt in repositioning the Pilot MDAs of Finance, federal capital Territory Administration, Information and national Orientation, national Planning and the State House.  This is with a view to making the bureaucracy learner, more competent, more focused and more responsive.  Do not be surprised if you find Government reducing the Federal Ministries from 31 to less than 20 in the nearest future.

 Communicating the reform effectively is vital to the success of the implementation of the change initiatives.  The Bureau pf Public Service Reforms is working on a comprehensive strategy for communicating the current effort in collaboration with relevant experts and stakeholders.  Lately, the Bureau flagged off a publication series titled Nigeria Public Service Reform through which, in the words of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, M. Yayale Ahmed, CFR, “it seeks to use as a forum for expanding both the scope of debate and the frontiers of knowledge on the reform of the Public Service through additional insights, hands-on experiences and practices that acknowledge the place of global trends in Public Administration in addressing national Public Service reform challenges”.  The BPSR has published 3 series so far while additional two series on Sectoral Reform Initiatives and Implementation and Perspectives are due for publication shortly.

IMPLICATIONS FOR EKITI SATE UNDER CURRENT DEMOCRATIC DISPENSATION

            Ekiti did not exist as a state when Chief bafemi Awolowo assumed the rein of power as leader of Government Business of the defunct Western Region on 6 Febuary,1952,as it was among the five states created on 1^st October,1996.It was carved out form the former ondo state, which itself today as the fountain of knowledge” is because it benefit tremendously from the Free Education Policy of the Western Regional Government .Ekiti State is .in fact, regarded as most Educationally advance state in Nigeria and it is generally believed that there is at least a doctorate degree holder in each family or at worst in each community in the state.

            A worthy legacy was bequeathed to Ekiti State by the Western Regional Government, which adopted “LIFE MORE ABUNDANT; FREEDOM FOR ALL” as the underlying philosophy and motto of the Government: That Government wanted 4 main freedoms for its citizens;

As we planned for independence, we are fully conscious that freedom fro British Rule does not necessarily connote freedom for individual Nigeria citizens… with regard to the other freedom –freedom from ignorance, freedom from disease and freedom form want –we knew that we would encounter towering problems of an intractable character when our objectives came to be related to the means –that is money and manpower for attaining them. …But we were determined to blast our way through them all and compel the force of any adverse circumstance to serve our will”.

            This strong determination w borne out of the revulsion that the late sage had for ignorance, disease and want. As expressed in his words “An ignorance and poverty –stricken people are the easiest preys to political enslavement and economic exploitation.

Disease of all kinds follow in the ways of ignorance and want”

 Beyond this was that the underlying principle of governance based on freedom for all was in response to a practical problem, as the Western Regional needed to move faster on the development train to catch up with the Eastern Regional which ,in indices of development at the time ,was well ahead of the Western Region .For Example While the Eastern Region had 55 hospital 20 of which were owned by Government ,the corresponding figure for the Western Region was 38,only 6 of which was owned by the government. In terms of hospital beds, the Eastern Region had 3,097 which translated to 590 per million population in the Region while the Western Region had 939 translating into 235 per million population in the Region .Similarly ,about 65%of children of school age were in Primary School  in the East ,compared with only 35%in the West .The East had 105 grammar School compared to only 25 in the West .The roads in the West were also in a worse condition compared with those in the East.

Chief Awolowo’s landmark speech titled ‘Freedom for All’ which was delivered at Ondo on 28^th April 1951 when the Action Group was launched, and was put into effect in 1952 when the late sage became the leader of Government Business and later premier of Western Region. The statement was followed up in the Region with concrete programmes in the areas of primary health, education, and infrastructure, agriculture and rural development among several initiative towards eradicating poverty .To ensure freedom from ignorance, education was provided for all children of school age and adult literacy programmes were put in place to take care of illiterate adults as well as illiterate children above the school age. To achieve the goal of freedom form disease, government provided access to healthcare on programmes to improve the living standard of the people. With respect to freedom from want, the Regional Government introduced and implemented a vibrant economic policy, which was both expedient and effective in promoting human welfare. Within 6years, the Western Region was already ahead of the other Regions and was ready for self-Government in 1957.

 The success of the government was inevitable as it was focused. It had been erected on an approach that was just methods that were practical, an unbending will I sticking to its principles in order distracted and discipline in the execution of the methods for delivering the expected outcome. This was a time when the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme has not been conceived and when United Nation hardly thought of the millennium Development Goals. By his declared of freedom for All, Chief Obafemi Awolowo showed us that he was ahead of United Nations by more than five decades.

Regretfully, we failed as a nation to take advantage of this vision. Or how do we now feel that over 50 years after the declaration, the living condition of Ekiti State and indeed in most parts of Nigeria remain pathetic? Let me ask the question differently, has Ekiti State succeeded in freeing itself form the shacks of ignorance, disease and want which our global ,continental and national development initiatives are aimed at addressing thought the on-going reforms?

 Undoubtedly, Ekiti State is, today, one of the poorest State IN Nigeria. Indeed, it has not been able to adequately harness its rich human and natural endowment to be one leading State in the Nigerian Federation. Outside of the monthly allocation it receives form the Federal Account, it is debatable whether the State has a dependable source of financing its development priorities ,Findings form a research conducted on “Income Risk and Welfare Status of Rural Households in Nigeria ,Ekiti State as a test case by I.B.Oluwatayo in 2004,paint a society of low-level well being ,going by the following social indicators of households surveyed:

     1.            Households distribution by

            “We in Ekiti State believe in the equality of all and in the liberty of the individual.  We believe that every Ekiti citizen, however humble and lowly his situation in life, has a right to demand from his government, and Public Service of Ekiti State is duty to assist the Government in the creation of those condition which will enable Ekitikete to enjoy progressively according to civilized standards, the basic necessities of life as well as reasonable comfort and a measure of luxury” In other words, every indigene of Ekiti State, regardless of his birth or religion, should be free and reasonably contended beginning from now through the entirety of the 21^st century.

             There is no alternative to reform. According to President Olusegun Obasanjo, we either reform or continue on a downward slide. I have no doubt that the high level of educational attainment of Ekiti should enhance their openness to innovation and reform.  As part of the Western region Public Service, driven by icons such as late Chief Simeon Adebo, Augustus Adebayo, C.S. Akande, it behoves you to reenact the same tradition of Public Service excellence bequeathed to you by the chain, the goals of NEEDS, NEPAD and the MDGs.  According to the late sage, the Civil Service in the old Western region was “exceedingly efficient, absolutely incorruptible in its upper stratum and utterly devoted and unstinting in the discharge of its many and onerous duties… the judiciary was independent and impartial, in every sense of the word while the Public Service Commission was thoroughly upright, knowledgeable and fearless”.  Can we say the same about the Public Service in Ekiti State today? 

            What Public Service reform means, in the context of Ekiti State is that there is need for progress in governance, a greater need to imbibe a culture of transparency and accountability, improve the capacity of the public service for policy design and delivery, restore excellence to public schools, combat HIV/AIDS, restore confidence in government and address infrastructure decay and inadequacy. Reform should create conditions to institute measures to make the State economically buoyant and investment friendly, halt mass-unemployment and promote the effectiveness of public sector institutions as a vehicle for accelerated transformation of the State on a sustainable basis.