CIVIL SERVICE: BUREAUCRACY AND PROBLEMS OF INEFFICIENCY IN NIGERIA


CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1             BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY


            Bureaucracy had its origin in the industrialized world and was transferred to the less developed Nations of the world. Therefore, Bureaucracy implies an organization characterized by rules, procedure, impersonal relations, elaborate and fairly rigid hierarchy of authority, responsibility and relationships. To achieve control and co-ordination in a large organization demands that bureaucracy principles be enthroned.

            Bureaucracy is expected to function within specific norm of rationality; this marked a shift from over reliance on the primary relations and cultural values of the non-industrialized Nations.
 

            In developing Nations like Nigeria, bureaucracy has come to be basically linked with unnecessary red-tapism and inefficiency. This stigma has undermines the functionality of bureaucracy in the third world countries. This has equally created doubts in the mind of many whether it is actually suitable for large organizations like the civil service. Administration is all about carrying out activities to achieve public goal; and achievement of public goal rest on proper control and co-ordination which enhances administrative efficiency that involves competing successfully large and complicated task that no one individual could accomplish alone. Therefore, bureaucracy instills efficient and effective way of management organization in large scale.

            Civil service of Enugu State was established in 1991 as an off-shoot of the old Anambra State with the purpose of assisting the executive perform its function, since its inception this organization in spite of the reforms it has undergone has performed abysmally very low.

            Thinking about efficiency in the civil service we should know that, it is far more direct and simple to evaluate and determine in commercial organization where the criterion of efficiency is largely guided by the profit objectives. In public administration, the values which public serve to realize are difficult to quantify in concrete terms. In spite of the difficulty, the public administrator must still apply the criterion of efficiency to his work.

            Finally, the resources, which are inputs available to the public administration are strictly limited and are made available to him after much priming. It is generally agreed that the public service should be efficient as well as effective. Infact, many people would like to see public service adopt the principles and practices of business management which are regarded far more efficient than those of the public or civil service. No doubt, it is now generally recognized that public administration in order to serve the needs of modern times, must adopt some of the modern management principles and techniques.   

1.2             STATEMENT OF PROBLEM


            The greatest problem confronting present day public service is the inability of the service to perform efficiently. More so, our public administration environment exhibits signs of inefficiency and poverty, infact this has hindered our development. The civil service in Nigeria is generally criticized, among others for being too bureaucratic, too conservative and there are conduct derived from colonial based civil service which was designed just to make law and order. Further to this, inadequate co-ordination, communication gap, over centralization of decision making, non- application of reforms reports has married the efficiency and effectiveness of Enugu State Civil Service.

            Therefore, the researcher will pose the following questions:

1.                  Is bureaucracy is Enugu State Civil Service in variant with the ideal type bureaucracy?

2.                    Is bureaucratic inefficiency in Enugu State Civil Service rooted in the elements of its variation with the ideal type (Weberian) bureaucracy? 

3.                  Do the rigid bureaucracy structures hinder the public bureaucracy from rendering efficient and effective services delivery in Nigeria?

4.                  To what extent have the several reforms in Enugu State civil service yielded positive result?

1.3             OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY


1.          To find out the underlying characters that makes bureaucracy in Enugu State to be in variant with the (Weberian) ideal type of bureaucracy.

2.          To unearth the factors that has caused the non-performance of Enugu State Civil Service.

3.          To identity those human an structural factors that lessens competitive anxieties and enhance administrative efficiency

4.          To suggest and recommend the possible ways of resuscitating Enugu State civil service.  

1.4             SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY


            The findings of this research will be useful in redirecting management attention to some of the rigid features of bureaucratic organization with a view to correct the anomalies.

            The recommendation of this study will contribute to existing literatures in the area of bureaucracies and its development in general, and will also help to minimize the numerous problems which create the gap between policy formulation and implementation and a guide to policy markers particularly with regards to reforms in bureaucratic organizations.

            Furthermore, the study would reveal in a great detail, practical strategies and steps that would ensure the improvement of the Enugu State Civil Service even in the face of the numerous administrative bottlenecks.   

1.5             HYPOTHESIS


            From the foregoing, the researcher hypothesizes the following.

1.                  Hi: Several bureaucratic reforms in Enugu State Civil Service have yielded positive results.

2.                  H0: Several bureaucratic reforms in Enugu State Civil Service have not yielded positive results.

3.                  Hi: The rigid bureaucratic structure enables the public bureaucracy render efficient and effective service delivery in Nigeria.

4.                  Ho: The rigid bureaucratic structures do not enable the public bureaucracy render efficient and effective Service delivery in Nigeria.      

1.6             SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF STUDY


            This work is centered on bureaucracy and problem inefficiency in Nigeria Civil Service, with particular reference to Enugu State Civil Service. (1999-2007)

            This study had suffered some constraints before its completion.

            Indeed, most of the places where the researcher presented research request letter was unanswered and some delayed. And compared with the fact that the researcher has only few months to complete or finish the research work, coupled with limited financial resources.

            This and other problems consumed much time and as well limited the extent of the research.

1.7             THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK


            In recent years, there have been a growing number of theories purporting to explain bureaucratic inefficiency in the Nigeria Civil Service, for the purpose of this study and organizational convenience; we shall be guided by the ecological theory and the view of one of its chiefs proponent Fred Riggs, the leader of the Comparative Administration Group (CAG).

            Riggs, (1964) asserts that: “the administrative institutions in the developing States are weak because of the ecological constraints that impinge on them.” After his elaborate study of the administration of the developing states, he observed first hand, the practices in the various countries’ administration. Riggs also argues that “these constraints prevent administrative institutions of the developing States from taking the form of the model or ideal administrative institutions found in the developed States.

            One of the theories grouped under Riggs ecological school is the prismatic theory upon which lies the major premise of bureaucratic inefficiency in the Nigeria Civil Service. Here Riggs dwells on poly normativism describing the administrative institutions of developing States as “Sala” bureaucracy that lies between the “paria” and the “office”. Riggs further explained that the inefficiency of the “Sala” or rather the administrative institution of developing countries is reinforced by the price indeterminacy of the bazaar canteen, through paria entrepreneurship and intrusive access of the elite by the agglomeration of values, strategic spending and learning as instrument of elite recruitment, poly-communalism and poly normativism

            Ezeali and Edeh (2007) affirmed that Riggs, concluded that the result of the “bazzar canteen” are inefficiency and ineffectiveness, which the “Sala models” is associated with; the transitional society or prismatic society is characterized by inefficiency in rule application, institutionalized corruption, nepotism in recruitment lack of division of labour, unequal distribution of service, wide gap between formal expectation and actual behaviour and bureaucratic enclaves dominated by motives of self protection.

            A clear observation and study of the environment in which the Civil Service operate in Nigeria would reveal that it is very much characterized with the features of the prismatic society. It is observed that the distinguishing characteristics of the “Sala” bureaucracy accounts for its dismal weakness in the inter-penetration of the elements of tradition and modernity. In plain language this tradition according to Okpata (2004) involves communal bonds, based upon diffuse emotional identification and attachment among individuals of which the family and the neigbourhood group may serve as an example.

            This is equally noticeable in the Nigeria civil service. More so, according to Okpata, (2004), Forces ranging from the following weaken bureaucracy in the Nigerian public administration, there are lack of patriotism, corruption, Ghost workers syndrome, Appointment of unqualified and in experienced officials, Bribery. Lack of proper maintenance of men and material political intrusion.

            Conclusively, the above constitutes the environment in which the Nigeria civil service operates and which have equally hindered development. Thus, the need to identify and provide for more efficient ways of handling the civil service becomes imperative.            

1.8             OPERATIONALIZATION OF CONCEPTS


BUREAUCRACY

            This is all those large sale formal organization, such as civil service, the police, academic institutions that uses a system of authority, men, material, office and method of structures within them to carry out their programmes and achieve their goals.

CIVIL SERVICE 

            Is the entire organization of employees of various ranks, talent and training who are in the service of government on permanent basis.

INEFFICIENCY

            This refers to disequilibrium, whereby less result of output are produced irrespective of the huge inputs or resources.   
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