Yemi Esan: Rivalry among government institutions hindering civil service reforms

Yemi Esan, head of the civil service, has listed the factors hindering the efforts to reform the public service.

According to a statement signed by AbdulGaniyu Aminu, director of press and public relations of the service, Esan spoke at a virtual lecture on Thursday.

Esan listed rivalry and conflicting interests among institutions, political interference, and deficiency of skilled workers as some of the issues. 

She said: “Poor funding and inadequate provision in MDAs to fund implementation of reforms, lack of skilled manpower, poor communication at planning and implementation stages, poor or total lack of ownership of reforms by state and poor subnational coordination of reforms.”

Others, she added, include: “Policy somersault, rivalry and conflict of interest amongst institutions, lack of political will to implement the reforms, resistance to change, poor ICT infrastructure and political interferences.”

Esan, then, emphasised the importance of establishing a stricter system in order to attract the best personnel to the civil service. 

According to her, the past practice, which presents public service as a welfare haven for all sorts of people desperately seeking to escape unemployment, is unhealthy. 

She also said the purpose of a good civil service reform is to increase efficiency and promote economic and social development.