Ethics and public Administration in Nigeria: A discourse

Ethics and public Administration in Nigeria: A discourse

Introduction

Imagining a society that lacks institutions and structures that engineer the overall management of the affairs of the State and people can be liked to a flock of sheep without a shepherd. No progressive society survives without a functional public administrative system where the citizens’ affairs – political, social and economic are adequately considered and catered for through the provision of essential services (Thapa, 2020). In fact it is through the execution of government, policies that efficiency and effectiveness of governance is achieved (Nwanisobi & Iniengar, 2020).

As an essential non-political aspect of government administration that deals critically with the administrative programmes of the government that are concerned with policy making and implementation, it is required that public administration, as a matter of need, should be practiced with well – designed ethical principles that would guide its operational pattern most especially, the behaviour of public administrators (Nwanisobi and Iniengar, 2020); (Gberevbie, 2013). Unarguably, every society, government and business enterprise creates certain procedures or work conditions that stipulate the ways and manner in which activities are performed. And this is usually done in order to maintain order as well as improve the living condition of people.

In the public sector, the situation is no different as there are clear provisions of ethical codes that function as a guide to conduct of the behaviour of public administrators. What these codes do is to abhor all forms of unethical behaviour of public servants, and ensure that they adhere strictly to the laid down rules of administration in a bid to help the government remain efficient (Yang & Wang, 2019). However, it is in the face of disturbing unethical behaviours in public administration in Nigeria such as corruption, bribery, lack of transparency, nepotism, lack of accountability and lack of meritocracy that this article seeks to critically examine the current ethical challenges that has bedeviled public administration in Nigeria.

Current Ethical Challenges in Nigerian Public Administration

In this section, we will take a look at the ethical challenges that hinder public administrators in Nigeria from effectively carrying out their duties with high moral standing, ethical conduct and systematic reasoning bearing in mind, the need for fairness, transparency and sincerity (Cooper, 2006). These ethical challenges include the following:

Unchecked Corruption

Corruption in Nigeria, whether in the public or private sector, to Achebe, in his classics entitled “The Trouble with Nigeria” published in 1983, has passed the alarming and entered the fatal stage, and Nigeria will die if it keeps pretending that they are slightly indisposed. The author goes ahead to metaphorically express corruption in Nigeria in this manner: “Keeping an average Nigerian from being corrupt is like keeping a goat from eating yams” (Forest, 2019). As serious as this may seem, and as unserious as the Nigerian government has been in tackling issues bordering on corruption in the country, corruption, just like cancer has eaten deep and overgrown across every aspect of the Nigerian society, including the public service. In fact, the public service in Nigeria is plagued by an alarming rate of bribery and corruption to the extent that it ranks high on the corruption index (Transparency international, 2018).

In the Nigerian public service, a lot of public servants have little or no regard for the code of conduct which stands as its ethics. However, given the fact that corruption in government institutions has become the order of the day, and is being practiced by public administrators irrespective of their ranks, one may not be wrong to question the integrity of the Public Service Commission which is in charge of checkmating the activities and in this context, excesses of public servants in Nigeria.  Corruption in the Nigerian Public Service ranges from public servants accepting bribes for carrying out their assigned duties, inflation of the cost of contracts in order to have their share of the money, falsification of certificates for employment or promotion in the civil service, misappropriation of public funds, impersonation and remuneration of unknown public servants, to the awarding of humongous contracts for white elephant projects in the public service anonymously (Arthur, 2016).

The above-mentioned are cases that have occurred in the polity on several occasions. For instance, it is on record that on 20th May 2010, five billion Naira was allocated to agencies that are non-existent in the national budget. Furthermore, crude exchange as a result of domestic crude allocation and subsidy between 2005 and 2012 revealed that the sum of 11.63 billion dollars was paid into the account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) without evidence of remittance into the federal government’s account (Arthur, 2016).

These instances go on to explain the level of rapacious corruption that has consumed the moral standing and ethics of public administration in Nigeria. By and large, this monstrous act has continued to increase incessantly despite the federal and state governments’ effort to curb it. However, the fight of corruption in Nigerian public service can better be described as ridiculous act of self-sabotage based on the fact that a blind man cannot lead another blind man as both men suffer the same condition. What this means is that a lot of public servants government officials and anti-corruption agencies are conspirators of corruption-related activities. As such, it will be difficult to objectively tackle corruption (Igbuzor, 2015).

In another event, Howard Becker’s “Hierarchy of credibility” comes to play in Nigeria’s public administration in the sense that ethical malpractices arise in the public service as a result of the power and authority that senior public servants wield over those at the lower cadre. In clearer terms, most junior servants end up being influenced by the high offices of their senior colleagues. Because they do not want to be dropped or delayed for promotion, they always ensure that they work in favour of the former, not minding the rightness or wrongness of their actions (Cooper, 2016).

Mismanagement of government revenues

Prior to 2012, the Nigerian government lacked a well-coordinated banking arrangement and a unified structure in handling receipts and payments from government ministries and departments across the country. As a result of this, there were so many duplicated bank accounts that were operated by government ministries (Okerekeoti & Okoye, 2017).While as at that time, the use of proliferated accounts allowed government ministries in charge to remain functional and also exercise their full rights, the practice however, did not allow for transparency and accountability in the system as in most cases, monies were missing and were not properly accounted for (Dandago, 2020).

However, it was in a bid to curb this challenge that the Federal Government of Nigeria, in 2012, proposed the use of Treasury Single Account (TSA) during the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s administration ensure an effective control and management of government funds. In 2016, the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration fully executed the TSA to consolidate all inflows from different ministries of government into one account in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, 2019).

Lack of transparency and accountability

Undoubtedly public administration in Nigeria features lack of transparency and accountability from public workers which makes it hard for Nigerians to accurately supervise the dealings of government staff, institutions agencies, and even politicians. This ugly situation has resulted in the grave misuse of government monies by government officials, most of whom are senior public servants (Osisioma, 2018).

Again, it is crucial to mention that because of the ugly and criminal ideology that since Nigeria’s resources and treasury belongs to all, it should therefore be scrambled and fought for at any given opportunity. It is this same mindset that compel a lot of civil servants to ignore the code of conduct of the civil service and embark on pen-theft and looting, not minding the consequences of their acts to the overall good of Nigeria. Often described as “National Cake” many public servants are reported to have stolen public funds and government properties for their selfish gains. Thus also explains the reason behind the unending quests for creation of more States and Local Governments in order to keep looting federal government allocations and internally generated revenues (Ayeni & Adeyemo, 2016)

Ghost Employee Syndrome

The idea behind the ghost employee concept otherwise known as ‘ghost work’ is not new in the Nigerian civil service. It refers to the situation where imaginary workers are enrolled into government payroll even when they are not legitimately employed by the government. In some cases, these employees could be deceased people whose details are not expunged from the payroll on account of forgetfulness while in other cases they are imputed purposely for the sake of fraud (Igbokwe-Ibeto & Okere, 2015). Ghost work in the Nigerian civil service has become an anathema and serious unethical practice that has gained currency as a result of the support and connivance of senior civil servants in various government ministries. While it has been observed that this unethical practice often takes place in large establishments with high turnover just like the civil service, it equally makes it possible for salaries to be paid into the bank accounts of the imaginary employees who make no contribution towards the progress of the public service commission (Taokodi & Assi, 2016).

By and large, it is in a bid to curb ghost work and also ensure that all financial loop holes in the Nigerian public service are blocked by providing a database for public servants to expunge manual record and payroll theft that the Federal Government of Nigeria introduced the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) in October 2006 and since then, it has caused a great deal of disagreement between some public servants like the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government on account of the technical hitches and fault inherent in the system (O lowu & Adeyemi, 2021).

Poor Investment in the Training and Development of Public Officers

For there be a very efficient and transparent public administration in Nigeria, the government must priorities the need for public servants to be professional in the discharge of their duties. Such act can only be possible through the organisation of trainings and skill development programmes for government workers across all levels and ranks. In these trainings, public servants would be constantly reminded of the code of conduct and their commitment to a transparent and sincere quality service delivery to the country and people. Nonetheless, it is quite regrettable that a lot of public sector institutions are yet to identify the relevance of staff training and development and it is as a result of this that public servants continue to dwell in their old and odd ways of attending to their duties. However, a constant reminder of the ills of corruption, untruthfulness, discrimination and lack of accountability through weekly or quarterly trainings, would help keep public servants in check (Ayeni & Adeyemo, 2016); (Apeh, 2018).

Indiscipline

This refers to the refusal of someone or people to submit their thoughts and actions to the stipulations of orderly social, political and economic conduct in recognition of the rights and desires of others (Forrest, 2019). Indiscipline is selfish. Its goal is predicated upon self-interest which is often sought after at the expense of equity and fairness. Public servants in Nigeria on several occasions exhibit some elements of indiscipline in the discharge of their duties. This is evident as a lot of public servants do not report to work on time as early as 8:00am. A lot of them are so carefree and unserious with their duties to the extent that they report to work late. There are a group of others who do not carry out their duties with seriousness and agility and after some time at work, they take permission to exit the workplace to attend to other activities and return to the office towards the closing hours. In another event, other acts of indiscipline in public service are laziness to work, rudeness to members of the public, and providing false evidence of sick proofs in a bid to be permitted to exempt work apathy, among others (Olowu et al., 2019).

In the Nigerian Public Service Rules (PSR) published in 2008, chapter three explicitly discusses the subject of Discipline and the penalty involved in its breach. Section one of this chapter highlights the disciplinary adjudicative bodies and categories of civil servants which fall under three different grades – GL 01 – 06, GL 07 – 13, and GL 14 – 17 (Fayomi & Omolara, 2015). While the authority to checkmate the activities of public servants is vested in the Federal Civil Service Commission which in turn delegates its disciplinary power to the permanent secretaries in different government ministries, the question remains “Have these ministries been able to bring erring public servants to book and are the officers in these ministries immune to indiscipline?” Of course, if they all were, the fight against indiscipline in public administration in Nigeria would have recorded a great deal of success.

Another aspect of indiscipline in Nigeria’s public administration is the employment of unqualified employees into the public or civil service on account of their political party affiliation, loyalty, and support for the ruling party in government.

Harassment in the public service

This is another unethical issue that is prevalent among public servants in Nigeria. Originally, public servants in Nigeria were meant to be very focused on their duties across different ministries of government rather than entertain the act of flirting between men and women among other sexual advances and displays at work hours in the office (Onwuka & Umeh, 2022). This is not only against the code of service but also general work ethics. In most cases, female public servants are being sexually abused and taken advantage of by their male colleagues on account of job seniority, recommendation for promotion, and financial inducement. In another event, public servants generally are being bullied by their heads on account of their inability to meet up with work targets and function efficiently, tribal prejudice, among others. Consequently, this causes a great deal of distraction, division, hatred, and work inefficiencies among public servants (Nneji, 2020).

Political instability

This is another challenge of public administration in Nigeria that propels other ethical challenges such as delays in decision-making processes as well as lack of completion of government programs and policies. The constant change or transition of governments coupled with political instability such as protests, demonstrations, civil war, and kidnappings, among other unethical occurrences in Nigeria, have always given public servants the opportunity to take advantage of distracted citizens to loot public treasury. In another event, the new governments, in a bid to manage the impact of the financial impropriety of former governments, do not provide adequate funding for public servants across different government ministries. This causes seriousness to work as well as bribery and corruption on the part of public servants (Fayomi & Omolara, 2015).

Any Solution to these Challenges?

Effective Leadership

In line with Cooper’s admonition, the above-listed ethical challenges of public administration in Nigeria can be tackled organically once the government sincerely decides to run effective leadership and by extension, a responsible administration where public administrators would be responsible for the discharge of not only their professional duties at work but also their duties as a citizen anywhere in the country. If the public service code stipulates that public servants should be neutral, sincere, truthful, transparent, just, and fair in their dealings, then, they should bear and exhibit these attributes in everything they do and anywhere they go. Public servants must not allow their personal issues, say, family, community, business, and the like to conflict with the exercise of their duties.

Reformation and strict implementation of public service code

The civil service code should be reformed in such a way that it will influence civil servants to be able to take responsibility for their conduct and account for their actions under the critical supervision of their supervisors, the Nigerian judiciary, and the entirety of the Nigerian population. With this, public servants will be charged to always provide an explanation of their reason for taking certain actions as well as the implications of such actions. In addition, the reformation of the service code should be able to guide public servants to act in ways that align with their intuition as qualified public service providers. This translates to “the adoption of responsible administration which features unbiased accountability and subjective congruence for the professional values of public servants” (Cooper, 2016, p.21). Having maintained such effective leadership in public administration, public servants would be guided to be logical and concerned about how their conduct affects public interests.

Improvement in the remuneration packages of public servants

The issues bordering on corruption, lack of transparency, and indiscipline can be tackled with the improvement of remuneration packages for public servants as well as the empowerment of anti-corruption agencies such as Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and others. With proper remuneration of public servants, they would be highly motivated to do good work and not look elsewhere for tips and bribes. Such a situation would then give anti-crime agencies as well as Nigerians the moral ground to justify their anti-corruption movement against public servants who engage in the act (Apeh, 2018). Additionally, the issue of money laundering by public servants can be curbed through the amendment of the Whistle Blowing Act of 2016 and the provision of motivation packages as well as protection for Whistleblowers.

Arguably, the ethical challenges of public administration in Nigeria are man-made. As such, for them to be solved, toxic human elements that aid the corruption of the public service must be spotted and removed. The solution revolves around what Nigerian national interests really are. If Nigerians truly yearn for a society that upholds equity, fairness, and collective growth, they should begin by electing people of good character, prestige, and credibility into different government offices. These people will in turn choose like minds to work with. Also, Nigerians should also learn to use their collective voice to support good governance and reject impunity.

Conclusion

This article examined the current ethical challenges that affect the development and growth of Nigeria’s public administration. It carried out a conceptual clarification of the terms: ethics, administrative ethics, and public administration. It also employed the use of the ethical theories of utilitarianism and deontology in providing an explanation of the meaning of ethics and its relevance to public administration.

The article equally x-rayed the nature of Nigerian public administration as well as the inherent ethical challenges it suffers. Pointing at unchecked corruption, lack of transparency and accountability, poor investment in the training and development of public servants, indiscipline, and political instability as the ethical challenges in Nigeria’s public administration, the article provided recommendations on how these challenges can be tackled.

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