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A former Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, says the absence of merit in the appointment of public servants is the cause of the problems confronting the nation. She added that the problems could be solved if the nation leaders made use of the best brains to run the public service.
The former minister spoke at the 2015 Public Service Day organised by the Office of the Lagos State Head of Service, where 551 Lagos workers were given long service awards. She advised President Muhammadu Buhari and other state governors to appoint public servants based on character, competence and capacity, to overcome challenges.
She said, “Every public service in any nation will do well on the bases of the competency, capacity and character of the people that are assembled to solve problems. So if we want to compete with other great nations, we must solve our problems with the best civil servants we can found.”
Ezekwesili said Nigeria could overcome its challenges if the public servants at both federal and state services were ready to deliver services as professionals. She said the over 100 million Nigerians estimated to be unemployed or underemployed had no business with poverty if the nation’s public servants could emulate their counterparts in other developed countries and play the roles expected of them.
She said, “It is efficient public service that grows the GDP of a country. There are two levels of leadership in governance ─ the political level of leadership and the public service. While the political level is subject to variables, public service leadership is responsible for envisioning what governance will produce. So, in the governance process, the civil servants must have the vision.”
The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Adebule, urged the civil servants in the state to be creative to improve on service delivery.
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