Public Administration in Nigeria: A Practical Approach, Nze Chukwuma Nwachukwu, Africana First Publishers Plc., pp. 401
Okay Osuji
This book is a compendium of scholarly and practical approach to public administration, especially as it pertains to Nigeria. In trying to make readers conversant with the nitty-gritty of Public Administration, the author engaged many sources to define what is meant by Public Administration. He defines it as the process and procedures employed by public servants in the execution of government programmes and policies.
According to the author, it is the critical instrument employed by government and organisations to implement their programmes and policies. Definitely, no one can deny that administration is the oil that lubricates the bureaucratic machine of any complex organisation, whether church, the police, the army, tertiary institution or industrial business concern or purely social organisation.
While mentioning different scholars and policy analysts, the author quotes R.K Sapru, whose definitions of Public Administration tallies with the following: the executive branch of government; formulation, Implementation and Evaluation of public policies; a linkage between citizens (consumers) and the government; the politics-administration relationship; public-private dichotomy; the promotion of public interest and production of public goods and services; the involvement in a range of problems concerning human behaviour and cooperative human effort; and a field that is rooted in then law and its operation.
According to the author, the nexus between policy and administration has been aptly dealt with by scholars of public administration. One of these scholars, Augustus Adebayo, said that policy is concerned with decision as to what to do. It is the laying down of the broad objectives of what is to be done.
Some other scholars have posited that public administration is a composite of separate but interrelated disciplines. It includes major elements of political science, law, managerial sciences, economics, business administration, sociology, psychology, history and anthropology.
In the book, the author does not spare efforts in leading readers through the norm and nuances of Public and Private Administration, Public interest, Employee Motivation and Performance Benchmark, Legal and Managerial Constraints, the difference (if any) between Public Administration and Business Administration, Ambiguity, Pluralistic Decision Making, Politics and Administration, Bureaucracy, Democracy and Administration etc.
Going on, the author took readers to the history of the Civil Service which he calls “an inevitable sub-structure on which the super-structure of government rests.” Of course, it is pertinent to know how the Civil Service evolved. Quoting an adroit public administrator, Augustus Adebayo, the author reveales that in 462 BC, Pericles, a renowned leader in Ancient Greece, introduced a scheme for compensation of officials, thus facilitating the continued participation in which public administration by citizens who had to work daily for a living.
As ubiquitous and far reaching as the Civil Service is, the author laments that there is the tendency for many state chief executives to disregard the place and role of civil servants in the effective administration of their respective states. He reveals that there is a penchant among some state governors and their political appointees to virtually take over the duties and functions of civil servants. He laments that the situation is such that no cadre in the Civil Service is spared.
More painful is the fact that, after depriving the civil servants of their legitimate statutory duties, the same political masters turn round to label them redundant, lethargic, lazy, rude and undisciplined.
Definitely, the author rehashes the well-known mantra of the Civil Service, which is political neutrality. This implies that the Civil Service and civil servants should not engage in partisan politics. Going further, he wrote that political neutrality entails the three maxims of impartiality, neutrality and anonymity. He noted that as expert adviser to his boss, the civil servant must be on tap and not on top.
Of course, like every other institutions, the Civil Service has a head. Delving back into history, the author let his readers know that during the military era, the offices of the Head of Service and the Secretary to Government were merged into one. But with the dawn of the present democratic dispensation, the two offices were demerged with definitive functions. He let it known that one of the dysfunctional effects of the Civil Service Reforms under the Gen. Babangida regime was what he called the “decapitation” of the Civil Service.
In discussing the Civil Service, the author quotes never fail to mention the erudite Professor of Political Science, Peter Ekeh, who posited that politics starts from the bedroom. Invariably, what this deposes is that politics is an inevitable concomitant of human interactions, more in every bureaucracy, church, the civil service, public service, tertiary institutions, in the army, the police and in even in the village setting.
In this book spanning thirteen chapters, the author identifies Civil Service politics as the activities of civil servants within the Civil Service politics to gain undue advantage over their colleagues.
In discussing Civil Service Reforms, the author takes readers’ attention to the various Civil Service reforms, ranging from Harragin Commission (1946), The Hugh Foot Commission (1948), Phillipson-Adebo Commission (1952), the Gorsuch Commission (1959), Post-Independence Reforms, Udoji Commission (1972), the 1988 Civil Service Reform, Allison Ayida Reform of 1995 and Obasanjo Civil Service Reforms.
In the other chapters, the author harps on the ethics governing the Public Service. As usual, he lets us know that ethics involve Discipline, Loyalty, Tact, Honesty, Courage ,Modesty, Courtesy, Co-operation, Sense of judgement, Kindness, Industry, Foresight, Ability to Delegate, Sympathy and Consideration, Flexibility and Decision Making, Attitude to Public Funds, Social Justice, Use of Authority and Cost-Consciousness in Spending Public Funds.
Without equivocation, this enriching book which covers all gamuts of Civil Service rules and guidelines stands out as one of the most detailed compendium that has ever written on the subject. No doubt, it contains a rich trove of information for any scholar or student seeking knowledge and information on Public Administration in Nigeria.
Definitely, this book is recommended for tertiary institutions and libraries not only to enrich them, but also to help academic dissertations of those wishing to pursue higher degrees in the social sciences and humanities.