Nigerians have cautioned that nepotism and faulty recruitment processes, among other factors, are militating against an integrity lifestyle in the public sector. A 2020 Integrity icon, Philip Ezegbulam, has admonished public servants on the need for honesty.
Ezegbulam, who is regarded as a public servant par excellence and renowned for resisting bribes and other sharp service practices, made the call during a radio programme, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, on Wednesday in Abuja.
He revealed that his decision to uphold integrity in public service was borne out of a personal conviction not to be swayed by “worldly things” and that he has never regretted the lifestyle of honesty in service.
“I decided to imbibe the culture of integrity and good character, so I was able to stay on until now, and nothing can sway me—staying focused is a personal thing, so I chose to stay focused.
“The Bible says to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. If you are embedded with the culture of discipline and you fear God and study the Word of God, there are many things you cannot delve into. Money will come, money will go, we will leave it and go. We have brought nothing to this earth and will take nothing out of this earth.
Ezegbulam, who will be retiring from public service in about a fortnight, urged employees in public offices that discipline is the watchword for being persons of integrity. He further disclosed that he’s using his lifestyle to encourage younger people despite the difficulties associated with being honest, especially in the public sector.
“What I’m doing now is to model younger people. I use my story to illustrate to them that it’s doable even though the terrain is difficult and unfriendly – they can do it, he stated.
Programme Officer at Accountability Lab Nigeria, Mnenga Shiiuwa, decried the way and manner of recruitment of workers in the public service. This recruitment, which is driven by jobs-for-sale, nepotism, cronyism, favouritism, and a culture of impunity, continues to undermine the display of integrity in the public sector.
Shiiuwa urged the federal and state governments to return to the basics and ensure recruitment processes are credible, transparent, and competitive. He added that wrongdoings must be punished going forward, and institutions and agencies responsible for enforcing ethical standards must carry out their mandate.
“The reason we don’t have integrity pronounced in the public service is because of the nature of recruitment in the public service. As we speak today, recruitment in the Nigerian public service is done by the ‘Federal Civil Service Commission,’ but in actual sense, people come into service because they know someone who knows someone who knows someone.
“Unfortunately, recruitment at the Federal Civil Service Commission happens almost every day of the year. There is a fallout of this faulty recruitment. Consequently, the civil servants are meant to owe their allegiance to the service. Still, because they come in through some politicians, they owe their loyalty to the politicians who are their political godfathers.
“Institutional weakness from those agencies that are supposed to regulate the ethical conduct of the civil servants is also a problem.
“the public service used to have a code of conduct that every public servant used to have, but in the last 15 to 20 years, many public servants recruited into the Nigerian civil service, 95% of them don’t know what that code of conduct is about – there’s no training about it, they are not informed about it,” he claimed.
Shiiuwa downplayed the narrative of poor remuneration as encouragement for a corrupt lifestyle by some public servants, stressing that DCP Francis Erhabor (retired) Ezegbulam and other celebrated integrity icons are withstanding the monetary temptation while in service.
He lauded PRIMORG for promoting integrity amongst citizens over the years while disclosing that the Lab is envisioning a more robust campaign for integrity lifestyle in Nigeria.
“There are a lot of factors affecting integrity, but remuneration is not a reason to misbehave in the service; an example is Retired DCP Francis Erhabor, who was earning less than N3000 and was not paid for over 6 months, yet he refused to take a kobo from Nigerians on the road or Police station. This is to tell you that people who are determined to live this out do it irrespective of where they find themselves”.
Nigerians who called into the radio programme highlighted various reasons why integrity in the public sector is a mirage and why public servants are rarely persons of integrity. Here are what some of them had to say:
Abdullahi Mustapha, a Public servant from Bida, Niger state, says, “The Nigerian system discourages integrity because there is no motivation in terms of wages and salaries. Our systems need to be upgraded. We should promote integrity, and in the long run, things will change.”
Princess Amazing Grace from Apo, Abuja: “99.9 percent of the service officials are corrupt. Nigeria is a highly inflated, imploding society. One factor that contributes to a lack of integrity is a poor family upbringing. We are taught integrity from childhood, which is the challenge nowadays.”
Frank from Abuja: “We have a very poor reward system in this country, and that’s one of the things that affect our integrity.”
The radio programme hailed recent acts of integrity by an officer of the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, Ugochukwu Orji, who rejected a N10 million bribe from a fleeing ritual suspect, and a pilgrim identified as Hajiya Zainab, who returned $5,000 to the owner while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program that draws the government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.
The program runs in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation.