A book geared at enriching the Civil Service

The book placed in context the traditional system of public administration in Nigeria to drive home the point that Nigerians are capable of governing themselves before the European came to destabilize our politics and economy in the name of colonization. The traditional system of public administration was and is still headed by the Etsu in […]

The book placed in context the traditional system of public administration in Nigeria to drive home the point that Nigerians are capable of governing themselves before the European came to destabilize our politics and economy in the name of colonization. The traditional system of public administration was and is still headed by the Etsu in Nupe land, Oba in Yoruba land, the Chiefs in Igbo land, Emirs in the North and Uti in my small village, Utugwang. The book also proves beyond reasonable doubt that political appointment is traditional to Nigeria as the reflections on the cabinet system of government in the Hausa/Fulani and the Yoruba traditional political system shows.
The author traced the evolution of the Nigerian civil service beginning from the economic enterprise of the Royal Niger Company and the annexation of Lagos on March 13, 1862 as a British colony, while examining the impact of the 1914 amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates on the growth of the public service in Niger State in particular and Nigeria in general.
It also examines the characteristics of the Nigerian Civil Service where emphasis is made on its composition, structure, functions and how the elements of hierarchy, impartiality, anonymity, neutrality, permanence and written rules and regulations have placed the Nigerian Civil Service on the right pedestal for nation building.  It casts intellectual illumination on the role of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, (ICPC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), in combating corruption and financial crimes in Nigeria.
The work beams its spotlight on what constitutes code of conduct in the Civil Service as contained in Part 1 of the Fifth schedule of the 1999 constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria is discussed in this chapter. These ethical values are critical to the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration. The author argued that without adherence to ethical standard and value orientation civil servant cannot perform optimally. The author went ahead to prescribe acceptable ethical standards for public servants and also the condition under which Civil Servants could disengage from service. This is rationalized through voluntary resignation, withdrawal from service, voluntary retirement dismissal and death.
Finally, it looked at the end state of career engagement for Civil Servants (retirement) and the payment of retirement benefits under the non-contributory and contributory pension schemes and how the new legal instrument called the Pension Reform 2004 has influenced the management of pension funds.                                
Dr. Inyokwe works in the Department of Public Administration from Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State.