THE CONCEPT OF BUREAUCRACY AND NON BUREAUCRACY AND ITS APPLICATION IN THE NIGERIA CIVIL SERVICE

BUREAUCRACY AND NON BUREAUCRACY AND ITS APPLICATION IN THE NIGERIA BUREAUCRACY AND NON BUREAUCRACY AND ITS APPLICATION IN THE NIGERIA

INTRODUCTION

State bureaucracy is thought to bolster development and good governance by providing fair mechanisms for social provision in the third world. In Nigeria, where bureaucratic ethos are unfamiliar and imperfect, clients of social provisioning express less support for their

bureaucratic institutions than government. The assignment seek to find the concept bureaucracy and non-bureaucracy and its application in the Nigeria civil service.

The Concept of Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy is the term used to describes the system of authority relationships that exist between men, offices and methods that government uses to implement its programmes. It does not cover political appointee such as ministers and Advisers or members of the judiciary at the federal, state and local government tiers of government. The primary function of civil servants is to advise the political executives or appointees on all aspects of governmental activities to ensure formulation of the policy which is consonant with the objectives of the government of the day. Advice in the context of policy formulation or initiation necessary implies the collection of relevant data, together with carefully considered alternatives, which would enable policy decisions to be made by the political heads.

Related to this function is to ensure that policy decisions of government are faithfully implemented. From this brief statement of the roles of the civil servants, it will be seen that the civil service is about the most significant single institution affecting the lives of the citizenry in a polity, its influence is all pervasive, more so in today Nigeria where is striving to attain good governance, Vision 20 – 20, Seven Point Agenda and the Millennium Development Goals respectively.

THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF BUREAUCRACY

In the literature on public administration, the term bureaucracy is used as a synonym of administration. This is the usage to be adopted in the paper and the focus is on governmental bureaucracy/administration. The other concepts that are used more or less synonymous of governmental bureaucracy/administration are civil service and public service. Nuances in the usages of these inter-related concepts are explained as appropriate. State bureaucracy or the civil service is known to be part and parcel of the executive branch of government. It is the institution that is charged with the responsibility of formulating and implementing policies and programmes of the government. In other words, while it is the duty of the political executive to determine and direct the focus of policies, the state bureaucracy is the administrative machinery through which the objectives are actualized. The state bureaucracy could therefore be described as the agency through which the activities of the government are realized. There are two main contending views on the study of bureaucracy; namely the Weberian and Marxian. According to the former, bureaucracy is viewed as a large-scale, complex, hierarchical and specialized organization designed to attain rational objectives in the most efficient and effective manner. The realization of such rational goals and objectives are maximized through the bureaucratic qualities of formalism and impersonality in the application of rules and regulations in the operation and management of organizations. This classical bureaucracy of Weber is seen as a very superior organization mainly because of certain qualities such as hierarchy, division of labour anchored on specialization, policy of promotion and recruitment based on merit, in addition to impersonality in the conduct of official duties, security of tenure and strict observance of rules regulations, among others (Weber, 1964).

On the other hand , Karl Marx viewed bureaucracy as an instrument of oppression, exploitation and damnation in the hands of the dominant class who control and manipulate the state and its apparatus in the society. More specifically, bureaucracy is conceived as instrument usually employed by the ruling class to accumulate wealth and maintain their domination and control of the state. This basic driving force of bureaucracy is usually concealed by both the dominant class and the bureaucrats, as efforts are constantly made to project the bureaucracy as a neutral and development agency working for the interest of every body in the society. But this is only a smokescreen to hide its real motive and responsibilities. To a very large extent, the future and interest of bureaucracy are closely interlinked with those of the ruling class and the state.

Put differently, the bureaucracy refers to all organizations that exist as part of government machinery for executing policy decisions and delivering services that are of value to the populace. Also, it is a mandatory institution of the state under the 1999 constitution of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria, as outlined in chapter VI of the constitution under the title – The executive, Part I (D) and Part II (C) which provides for bureaucracies at both the federal and state levels of government.

The public bureaucracy is made up of the legislative bodies at the national and State assemblies, the judiciary, the police, members of the Armed forces and Para-military agencies, Parastatals or extra- ministerial departments and agencies (including social service) commercially oriented agencies, regulatory agencies, educational institutions and research institutions among others.

APPLICATION OF BUREAUCRACY IN NIGERIA IRRESPECTIVE OF REFORMS

The problems besetting the application of civil bureaucracy in Nigeria could be discussed in three thematic formats: Structural, Administrative attitude and behaviour, and Political and economic respectively.

According to Nnoli (1980), Adebayo (2001) and Yusufu (1992) who posited that the structural problems besetting the civil service in Nigeria fall roughly into four basic categories, namely, personnel regulations, personnel qualifications, organizational structure, and work environment. Each plays its role in diminishing the administrative capacity in public bureaucracy. The personnel regulations state requirements for entry into the bureaucracy as well as procedures for promotion and dismissal. Public service in Nigeria stipulates a checklist of requirements for entry, including federal character. Theoretically, positions are supposed to be filled on the basis of merit. However, political, family, ethnic and religious factors are relevant considerations in achieving bureaucratic appointments.

Okafor (2005) adds: … Once ensconced in a bureaucratic position, officials are promoted primarily on the bases of seniority. Rules for promotion fail to differentiate between productive and non-productive workers. Dismissal is rare except during the mass purge of Murtala –Obasanjo administration in 1975-1976. It is hard to lose a government job in Nigeria (Okafor, 2005:67).

Riggs (1963) expresses this negative aspect in this way: Bureaucrats tended to use their effective control to safeguard their expedient bureaucratic interests – tenure, seniority, rights, fringe benefits, toleration of poor performance, the right violate official norms rather than to advance the achievement of programmes goals. Hence the career bureaucracy in the developing country fails not only to accomplish the administrative goals set for it but also stands in the way of political growth.

Adebayo (2001) and Otobo (1992) added that as regards personnel qualifications, employees entering the public and civil services through the use of spoils system might lack the required technical skills for their positions. Moreover, on-the-job training programmes are weak and ineffective. The fallout of this process is the emphasis on filing slot rather than matching employees’ skills with the needs of the position.

In addition to the above factor, most public bureaucrats are poorly paid and as a result resort to multiple job-holding in the informal sector thereby impacting negatively on their attitude and commitment to work, (Onyeonuru, 2004, Okoh (1998) and Okafor (1998). Ejiofor and Anagolu (1984) Ejiofor (1987), Onyeonuru, (2005) and Okafor (2005) added that the attitudes and behaviour of public bureaucrats in Nigeria are not conducive to the efficient administration of the affairs of their government organizations. This is because most bureaucrats are overtly concerned about the security of their positions and as such are not inclined to the initiative thus, more concerned with status since authority breeds status.

In the economic environment of public bureaucracy in Nigeria, two points are worthy of note.

First, public and civil service salaries constitute a major component of most budgets over the years. Except on few occasions, marked increases in salaries are a fiscal impossibility without a major reduction in civil service staff (The Guardian, May 11, 2005). The present democratic administration has come to grips with the hard reality that the efforts to attract the most highly skilled personnel to bureaucratic position will necessitate slimming the size of their bureaucratic establishment. Second, as noted above, governments do not always have sufficient funds to finance all the programmes that they promise. Most development and social service projects in Nigeria are severally under funded (New Age, June 17, 2005).

CONCLUSION

Available evidence shows that the Performance of the public service in virtually all tiers of government and in extra-ministerial departments in Nigeria has remained very abysmal, hence the present state of underdevelopment (Obasi, 1987, Jike, 2003, Adebayo, 2001 and Okafor 2005). The abysmal performance of parastatals and agencies of government, like the former National Electric Power Authority and the Nigerian Telecommunication is very obvious in this regard. Nigerians are demanding more and better improved services and their demands are not being met, by all indications on the basis the score cards of the civil service and the Parastatals (The Guardian, May 1, 2005). In effect, this has slowed down the process of socio-economic and political development of Nigeria.

RECOMMENDATIONS

If the civil service is to attain the desired results of good governance in Nigeria, far-reaching reforms are needed. First, recruitment, and promotion of civil servants should be based on merit system as opposed to spoils system. This is because the enthronement of federal character principle of recruitment and other spoils system techniques have sacrificed efficiency and effectiveness in the Nigerian public service. Second, while rules and regulations are sine qua non for systematic and orderly government, they should be flexible and pragmatic. To ensure this, there is a need for the rules and regulations, which were designed to serve colonial policies, and interests are revised (updated or repeated) to meet the demands of the 21st century.

Finally, for there to be effective bureaucracy the corrupt officials should be sacked, the behaviour of civil service personnel must change, they must be trained and retrained to embrace the spirit of achievement, and prudent use of material and human resources instead waste that have characterized public bureaucracies over the years.

PARKINSON LAW AND ITS APPLICATION

PARKINSON’S LAW

The first, or major, of Parkinson’s Laws, the Law, is encapsuled in the opening sentence of his first book on management: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Parkinson’s law is the adage that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

Parkinson’s Law and Other Studies in Administration, by Professor G. Northcote Parkinson, 1957, Houghton Mifflin reveals that if a senior civil servant is entrusted with filling out a form within fourteen days, a task requiring a concentrated effort of 30 minutes, it’s unlikely that his coordinator’s assistant’s secretary will complete the typescript prior to the deadline. Conferences, rulings by legal councel, policy analyses may reduce the Parkinson Gap of a fortnight minus half an hour down to zero or worse. New personnel may be added, overtime authorized.

APPLICATION OF THE LAW OF PARKINSON

The Law applies to individuals, teams, organizations. It holds for the civil service, armed forces, foundations, corporations, universities. Conscious mind unconscious factors are at play. There is the defensive desire to appear busy when there is no work backlog. There is the yearning to be fruitful and to multiply subordinates. There is the general tendency to just procrastinate.

 

Parkinson explains why the useful work done by the civil service depends so little on the numbers employed, on overtime policy, vacation schedules, or retirement practices. The compound growth rate of a bureaucracy or its feverish activity are not indices of its effectiveness. The Law provides a powerful argument in favor of reducing its working time down to three six-hour days a week in lieu of a 5% salary increase: the taxpayers save 5% but lose no services; the bureaucrats gain leisure, and time for outside employment; and the fuel expended on commuting to work is cut by 40%.’ Inducements to early retirement from the civil service or armed forces are consistent with this reasoning. The pension increase is high enough to make an employee retire but is less than his wage.

REFERENCES

Adebayo, A. (2001) Principles and Practice of Public Administration. Ibadan: Spectrum Books.

Adegoroye, G. (2005) “Public Service Reforms in the Context of NEEDS, NEPAD and MDG’s in

Nigeria Public Service Reforms. Series 3

Adu, A.L. (1965) The Civil Service in New African States. London: George Allen and Unwin Lt.

African Journal for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Vol. 7, No. 1

Anise, L. (1984) “Bureaucracy and Modernization” In Afonja, S. And Pearce, J. (Eds), Social

Change in Nigeria. London: Longman.

Appleby, R.C 91982) Modern Business Administration (3rd Ed) London: Pitman Books Ltd.

Ayeni, V. (2002) (ed) Public Sector in Developing Countries – A Handbook of Common

Wealth Experience, London: Common wealth Secretariat

Blau, P.M. (1987) Bureaucracy in Modern Society. New York: Random House.