Matthew Kukah, bishop of Catholic Dioceses of Sokoto, has said that Nigeria must check corruption, poor recruitment, and lack of accountability in the country’s public sector for it to deliver and aid the nation’s growth.
Kukah bemoaned the present state of the country’s public sector tracing the problem to the creation of the states and local government areas by the military, which according to him were now the centres of corruption.
Kukah made the observation in his paper presentation at the Lagos Business School public sector dialogue with the theme: ‘Transforming Nigeria Through Public Sector Reform.’
He called for urgent reform of the public institutions in the country, saying that the sector had failed to deliver because successive administrations had given priority to ethnicity, state of origin and jettisoned competence in the recruitment process.
He added that the situation had made the public sector not to work in the interest of Nigeria.
“The British left us with something that would work for us, it has worked elsewhere but once the military came the public service was destroyed.
“The creation of states largely contributed to our problems. These states have now become units of corruption accounting for the problems we have. Also, part of the problem is the lack of implementation of the committee’s reports setup over the years,” Kukah said.
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He further pointed out that several public service reform committees setup by successive administrations in the country had proffered solutions to the country’s problems, stating that the recommendations had been ignored by governments because of their selfish interest.
Speaking during panel discussion, former Minister of Information, Frank Nweke Junior lamented the inability of successive administrations to implement recommendations of reform panels setup over the years on the country’s public sector.
Nweke however, noted that governments at all levels can partner the private sector in the implementation of policies for efficiency and delivery.
“We must come together and agree on the set of policies that work for the public sector in the country,” Nweke said.
Similarly, another member of the panel, Joe Keshi, a renowned technocrat in the public and private sector, said the faulty recruitment process into the public sector had contributed to its inefficiency and present state.
He called for the provision of infrastructures and modern work tools across the public sector and regular training for public servants to aid efficiency.
Another member of the panel, Toyin Sanni, called for the inclusion of more women and youth into the public sector, especially in decision making, noting that there were examples of countries that give a significant number of women opportunities in governance to excel.
