THE FOURTH REPUBLIC NIGERIAN PUBLIC SERVICE REFORMS AND THE BURDEN OF SERVICE DELIVERY, 1999-2023

Abstract

Reform efforts embarked upon by different levels of government in many states are worrisome. Various degrees of reforms have been introduced since independence to advance Nigerian socio-economic development. Some of these have been macro in outlook, some political and some much more restricted to the pubic service. Despite the commitment at reforming the public service, the set objectives are yet to be realized. Since the return of democratic rule in 1999, administrative reforms have been seen as key strategy to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country. Some key reform strategies and sectors were Power, Pension, Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Payroll Personnel and Information System (IPPIS), Privatization, etc. All these reforms were largely geared towards enhancing accountability, transparency and reduction in cost governance. This study therefore, interrogated the impact of public service reforms on service delivery in Nigeria. It tried to examine various reforms that were implemented between 1999 and 2023, and how they affected the performance of the Nigerian public service on its roles and activities. To address this objective, the following research questions were raised: Has the Nigerian public service reforms enhanced service delivery within the period under review?. The study was anchored on Max Weber theory of legal rational bureaucracy and the qualitative method of data collection was used to glean data from observation and documentary evidence of secondary sources. The ex-post-facto research design and qualitative descriptive analysis were employed with logical induction in analysis.The study revealed that the reforms did not achieve the desired objectives to making the civil service more professional, efficient and service oriented. On the basis of our findings, the study makes a case among others on the need for government to live above designing reforms only on paper rather, efforts should be made on implementation and monitoring and evaluation of the impact in the public service.