The old system of giving Permanent Secretaries and Directors in the Federal Civil Service unlimited tenure appeared to take the term: “Permanent Secretary” literally.
It gave rise to so many abuses that the federal civil service became the engine room of corruption, ethnic domination, sectional cabalism and the nurturing of super-powerful public officers who were used by narrow, entrenched interest groups and external political forces to subvert the Service itself and the spirit of national unity as a whole.
Once a privileged officer was appointed a permanent secretary or director, he or she became the proverbial stool that blocks the gates of heaven for others. Those immediately below him or her nursed little or no hope of reaching this zenith in the civil service, and they in turn made it impossible for those immediately below them to aspire to the position of directors.
Entrenched powerful interests resorted to naming carefully selected junior officers, sometimes from state civil services to occupy these lucrative federal positions where they survived for decades. It has turned out that invariably, those who are given the benefit of this abuse are from a section of the country: the North.
This clearly accounted for the fact that when the Presidency ordered the Head of Service, Mr. Stephen Oronsaye, to introduce tenured regime for permanent-secretaries and directors in the federal civil service, all the nine permanent secretaries who were forced to resign for being of retirement age or having served more than eight years in office were northerners, and the measure to introduce the tenure was termed: “anti-north”, as if the Service is meant to advance the interests of only a section of the country to the detriment of the others.
A petition circulated in Abuja over the weekend by a group that termed itself Forum of Federal Civil Servants in Defence of the New Civil Service Reform illustrated this point thus: “the truth is that virtually all the officers from the north, on joining the Service, were catapulted to posts much higher than they deserved, at relatively younger age and with much less the required years of experience for the posts. This regrettable scenario is even more glaring in the case of the affected directors from the region (North).
“For instance, in 1992, an indigene of Kaduna State was catapulted from the post of a senior personnel officer on Grade Level (GL 10) to that of a director on GL 17.
Thus by a stroke of the pen, he jumped seven grade levels which some now claim the officer has earned. He has now been a director for 16 years and still had about eight more years before retirement if not for the new policy…”
All manner of strategies (including threatening Oronsaye, lobbying members of the National Assembly from the North and pleading that their lives and health would be endangered) have been employed by these ethnic federal permanent secretaries and directors in their efforts to get the federal government to reverse this progressive reform.
We are urging the federal government to proceed with the reform and be firm in ensuring that the overall interests of the nation will not be subverted by sectional saboteurs.
The federal civil service must be made to once again represent national aspirations and to resume its place as a prime centre of national integration. The only way to make this possible is to press home the eight years maximum tenure for permanent secretaries and directors.
This new measure will give more people the opportunity to serve their country at the top of their careers and thereby reinvigorate the Service.
There should be no going back.
Sunday Umukoro, or so called, I know u, u are the most wicked female director in a federal agency, nemesis has cought up with u. stop commenting as Sunday Umukoro. Kudos to the new policy
The policy is good but poorly implemented. Not every director or permanent secretary got catapulted over seven steps as portrayed in your editorial. The new policy should have been given at least a year gestation period to take effect. To retire permanent secretaries and directors without any notice whatsoever is inhuman and wicked.
Permanent Secretaries and directors affected have taken this policy in their strides without recourse to the courts because of the unusual period litigation takes in this country. It is nonsensical for a government that flaunts rule of law as an area of strength to change contract of employment mid way. It is not done. This can only happen in our wild wild Nigeria!
What is even more laughable is the extension of this obnoxious policy to government agencies whose directors do not aspire to be permanent secretaries. The civil service structure does not allow that. As if the legitimise an ilegal policy, boards of parastatals have been asked to amend their condition of service to reflect the new tenure regime. What a shame.
Public servants should know in advance when they would retire from service. The origin of the presen hyper corruption in the public service is traced to the retirement of public servants by the Murtala regime. That singular act destroyed the public service. The remnants of the service has now been further decimated by this new policy.
This policy should be reversed or a given a time frame to take effect. NOT WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT.
This is the best decision that Yar’Adua has ever taken. Not his nebulous 7-point agenda or his much fantasized vision 202020.
The parasitic stranglehold of the federal civil service by northern and yoruba tribalists is despicable and Mr Steve Oronsanye deserves special recommendation for trying to see this reform to its logical end. Nigeria belongs to all ethnic groups and this should be reflected in everything including the civil service.
Really! Is the vanguard,which is itself a disguised ethnic champion aware of the ‘domination’ of the south in certain ministries especially the petroleum sector.but of course,such wont attract editorials afterall northerners are disadvantaged in such conditions.sometime last year,out of 24 graduates recruited form my state (Yobe),about 17 were igbo from varoius eastern states/south-south.yet again,that wasnt a problem.it is apparent that the aim of this editorial as with most media publications is to portray the north as backward,lazy,the problem and most especially CORRUPT.thank heavens,obj was not a northerner.nor are the former billlionaire governors of the south-south,neither are we among the sacked and disgraced former bank executives have made abacha’s loot look like an amateur game.surprisingly,this new policy has been introduced by a northerner heading government.
it is important that we build a nation based on equity,fairness and justice.we cannot achieve that by cheap and unfounded sentiments in the form of write ups and editorials.they only serve to fan ethnic disharmony and further widen the ‘north-south’ divide.the problem with nigeria now is the media,the southern media.