Abstract

The adequacy and efficiency of the civil and public sector is the center point of every country in this 21st century. This can only be attain through cost reduction in service delivery, reduction in cost of administration and result-oriented civil service. The general acceptance that if the core management principle are imported in the mode of operation of the civil service will bring improved performance and efficiency in the service delivery. The research examines how institutional strengthening and efficiency of public service delivery as a tool in repositioning and revamping the civil service.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background Of The Study

The second tenure of the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo witnessed the beginning of a comprehensive reform programme meant to strengthen economic development and improve the welfare of Nigerian citizens. The economic management reform, which is an integrated package of various economic reforms, was started in 2004. The reform programme was based on the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). NEEDS is a ‘home-grown’ economic development strategy which focused on four main areas: improving the macro-economic environment, pursuing structural reforms, strengthening public expenditure management, and implementing institutional and governance reforms(Okonjo-Iweala and OsafoKwaako, 2007). The implementation of the comprehensive economic reform programme is in four main areas: Macroeconomic reform; structural reforms; government and institutional reforms; and public sector reforms. The Fiscal Responsibility Bill was passed into law on July 30, 2007 by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and thus became an Act. It was published as Government Notice No. 80 in the number 126, volume 94 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette as Act No. 31. The Act is to provide framework for the implementation of public sector reforms started by the Obasanjo administration. The Act, which introduced the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSS) budgeting approach, is also expected to strengthen Nigeria’s economic growth.

The public service of any country stands out as the major machinery of government for the formulation and implementation of public policies. It does this by translating the plans and programs of government into concrete public goods and services for the use of the citizenry. Since public bureaucracy is primarily concerned with public administration, the management of public affairs therefore rests heavily on it. Whatever the system of government in practice in a country, the public service is designed to be the prime mover of the social and economic development of a nation. One of the challenges of government and of course the legitimate expectation of the citizens of a developing country such as Nigeria is the ability of the public service to properly direct their aspirations towards improving the general welfare of the citizens. This is because the primary responsibility of government is to deliver services through its public service effectively and promptly to citizens at affordable prices, particularly now that the country is under civil rule following the wind of democracy which has blown over countries of the world. However, the ability of the Nigerian public service to effectively and the working hands of government has had to service various regimes and administrations (Mimiko, 1999) and efficiently manage public affairs and ensure prompt and quality service delivery had always been called into questioning over the years. Consequently, a number of far-reaching reforms on its structure and personnel management aimed at improving its performance have been put in place by the Nigerian government since its inception. Indeed, the Nigerian public service as the most critical instrument of the modern state its efficiency has been put to test and it has undergone series of socio-economic, structural and political transformation, courtesy of the political leaderships of this country at one time or the other. Under the present civilian government, a number of strategies have also been adopted to improve the delivery of services to the citizens. It is however, doubtful if these reform efforts have changed the public service for the better. One aspect of the major strategies designed to improve service delivery is SERVICOM. The main focus of this study is therefore on SERVICOM and public service delivery in Nigeria.

1.2      STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It is pertinent to say that every organization is set up or established for a purpose; some are for profit making and other are not profit oriented, some are manufacturing, trading or service industry. The public service is an institution that is established by the government for the purpose of service delivery. Amidst this primary objective it is discovered that the public service has been found wanting in carrying out her responsibility effectively. It is on this backdrop that the researcher intends to investigate the impact of institutional strengthening and its efficiency in public service delivery.

1.3      OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to ascertain the impact of institutional strengthening and the efficiency of service delivery; but for the successful completion of the study, the researcher intends to achieve the following sub-objective:

i)             To ascertain the impact of institutional strengthening in public sector

ii)           To ascertain if there is any relationship between institutional reform and quality of service delivered by SERVICOM

iii)          To investigate the role of government policy on the quality of service delivered by the public sector

iv)           To investigate relationship between public service and government policy

1.4      RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

For the successful completion of the study, the following hypotheses were formulated;

H0: institutional strengthening have no impact on the efficiency of service delivery

H1: institutional strengthening has a significant impact on the efficiency of service delivery.

H0: there is no relationship between institutional strengthening and quality of service delivered by SERVICOM

H2: there is a relationship between institutional strengthening and quality of service delivered by SERVICOM

1.5      SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

At the completion of the study, it is believed that the findings will be of great importance to the federal government in strengthening the public service to ensure efficiency in service delivery; it is also believed that the findings will be of important to the head of civil service in ensuring that rules are adequately adhered to and policies are adequately implemented. The study will also be of importance to researcher who wishes to embark on research on similar topic as the findings will serve as a guide to further studies, finally the study will be of great importance to academia’s as the findings will add to the pool of knowledge.

1.6      SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study covers institutional strengthening and efficiency of public service delivery in Nigeria. However, in the course of the study, the researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study; some of these limitations are:

(a)        Availability of research material: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study.

(b)        Time: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

(c)         Finance: The finance available for the research work does not allow for wider coverage as resources are very limited as the researcher has other academic bills to cover.

1.7      DEFINITION OF TERM

Public service

Public service is a service which is provided by government to people living within its jurisdiction, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus (usually expressed through democratic elections) that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income, physical ability and/or mental acuity. Even where public services are neither publicly provided nor publicly financed, for social and political reasons they are usually subject to regulation going beyond that applying to most economic sectors. Public policy when made in the public's interest and motivations can provide public services

Service delivery framework

A service delivery framework (SDF) is a set of principles, standards, policies and constraints to be used to guide the designs, development, deployment, operation and retirement of services delivered by a service provider with a view to offering a consistent service experience to a specific user community in a specific

Policy

A policy is a deliberate system of principles to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent, and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by the Board of or senior governance body within an organization where as procedures or protocols would be developed and adopted by senior executive officers. Policies can assist in both subjective and objective decision making

Government

A government is the system by which a state or community is controlled. In the case of this broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislators, administrators, and arbitrators.

1.8      Organization of the study

This research work is organized in five chapters for easy understanding as follows Chapter one is concern with the introduction which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study it’s based thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion and recommendations made of the study.

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