The bane of failures in government administrations

BY PRISCILLA CHRISTOPHER

Government is known generally to be  the ruling power of a country or  state vested in the hands of few individuals who make laws and enforce them on behalf of every other person within the confine of that state or country. Anybody working for the government is said to be acquiring a percentage of this power no matter how small and like their superiors, they command respect in their designated offices no matter how minute.

As an institution of the state, government is the machinery or agency through which the will of the state is formulated, realised and expressed. This implies that it is an institution established by the state to rule the affairs of the state in the interest of all. State in this regard means a politically organised group of people living together in a geographically located defined territory where law and order exists. Government is selected by appointment or election by the people and when this occurs, the elected or appointed body is vested with the power and authority to maintain security, peace and stability by making and enforcing conventional and fundamental laws in their given areas of jurisdiction. These laws which serve as guidelines also regulate the activities of the citizenry and at the same time, steers the activities of the state forward.    

In order to ensure a less cumbersome activity in government, administration is stratified among the three arms of government viz, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. These three departments collaborate to maintain law and order, provide security for people and properties, protect lives, provide social amenities and infrastructures for the citizenry, maintain diplomatic relations with other countries on behalf of the state, promote trade and economic development, settle disputes and maintain peace and unity, and as well ensure the smooth running of the state’s affairs.

However the stratification, government carries out its administration with the help of the citizens who are appointed to head ministries of various sectors of the state’s economy at the national, state and grassroots level. These public administrations include the Civil Service and Public Corporations. They formulate and implement policies, prepare budgets, draft bills, make bye-laws, advise the government, provide stability, keep records and documents, amongst other functions.  

Normally, a public administration is headed by the administrative class which comprise of graduates of different fields with many years of experience in the service. This is followed by the professional class consisting those who are very versed in their field. Following this are those in the executive class; senior executive officers who have little few years of experience in the field. Next is the clerical class which includes School Cert. holders who are mostly clerical officers, typists, Personal Assistants and the likes and then, the messagerial class.   

The structure notwithstanding, each public servant is indispensable and none is more important than the other due to the specialty in their various assignments. They work in oneness to ensure a collective success. This is unarguably the reason the civil service has been a plus to the government’s efforts since its creation. 

But this is not to say that the public service has been wonderfully excellent all the way. Issues of low incentive, lukewarm attitude to work, red-tapism, political interference, tribalism, nepotism and favouritism; bribery and corruption, political instability, over-duplication of functions have often plagued the public service. Time without number, disagreements between the government and her workers have led to strikes which have hampered the economy’s growth in tremendous ways but, one major bane of failures in government administration and the civil service especially is the bringing in of aliens to head and manage administrations which are far away from their field of study and expertise. 

The administration of the civil service today, if assessed, is manned by non-professionals who were brought into the fore courtesy of a close relationship or connection they shared with one politician who had promised them an appointment into the government when they get ‘there’ and when this turns to be, the promise has to be kept at the detriment of whoever. This action it is that draws the progress of any institution backward. Research into the profiles of many Ministers, Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries show that a handful of them are not professionals in their assigned fields and in Akwa Ibom State especially, this norm has come to stay. 

A look into the cabinet of both the former and present government will reveal a lot of quacks in the administration. Legal practitioners have been appointed to head the environment ministry, clergies have been in sports, medical practitioners have been in social sciences, educationists in communication and other zig-zag arrangements have been the order of the day. Perhaps it is only in Akwa Ibom state anybody can be anything so long as a connection exists between the appointee and the appointed. But this is not to say that those brought in from the blues cannot be effective especially those who already had a knack for their new office and were waiting to be brushed a little. They have as a matter of fact proven their credibility in their best way but this is in no way justifiable given the fact that there are a number of over-qualified persons for the position which has been thrown out. While the choice of an economist for the state governor is not a bad one, that of a print journalist heading an electronic media is one that poses a doubt on the efficiency of performance that such leadership will produce. As said earlier, it is not out of place to bring in a person of zero knowledge into a field they are unfamiliar with but, it is very important to put them through series of training and re-training exercises to enable them have knowledge of where they are going to and what they are expected to do there. Perhaps through this, they may turn out to be more versatile than those who have spent all their lives in the profession. 

But again, this is unfair and unjust to others who have been in faithful service to the government, hoping to be called upon one day to assume a more exalted position and alas, they are overtaken by one they never would have thought of as an opponent. This singular act discourages workers and lowers their morale to the barest minimum. Even those coming up would no longer be secure about their job given their superiors’ overturn which indicates a similitude for them in the nearest future. 

But is anything really wrong in bringing an alien to head an organization? Yes is the answer. Every organization whether governmentally owned or not, if recognised by the Corporate Affairs Commission has its code of conducts and operation which includes selection of staff, appointment of Directors and etc. Any distortion of these laid out pattern floors its independency, reduces productivity and creates room for envy to occur among staff.  Asides that, no organization is without its choice of a successor when the time comes and as such, an imposition may be frowned at with no pretence added to it. This is why cliques and camps exist in many organisations-staffs refuse to cooperate with managers and directors they do not find worthy of their devotion and commitment.  They feel cheated and exploited by whoever is responsible for this awkward change for not considering their feelings before the imposition. 

It is indeed painful to be in a position of not having a choice to make but it is more painful to have prepared and waited so long for an opportunity only to have it snatched from you when you’re just few yards from it and by one who is by no measure your match.  This pain has often led to the resignation of many public servants from work before their time and this subsequently results in poor productivity especially for persons whose presence at work was a source of motivation to others. 

The same fate befalls those called ‘artistes’ in some organisations who have longed to be staffed for years yet, it doesn’t seem such will happen. They work as staffs but earn peanuts in return and when it’s finally time to be recruited, they are sidelined for those who came in recently.

These are the major issues hampering growth in government administration-government interference and poor work condition. The government should therefore look closely at these cankerworms biting deep into the fabrics of its administration in order to forestall any ugly occurrence.  Due respect and appreciation should be given to those in service to spur and encourage them for greater exploits and not the opposite. Most importantly, the government should reduce its firm grip on ministries and organizations; allow them operate independently with little supervision while maintaining its position as its owner.