Massive corruption, ethnicity, the religion of politics and the politics of religion arising from leadership failure have been identified as the cankerworms plaguing the nation’s bureaucracy at all levels.
Kelly-Bryan Ovie Ejumudo, a Professor of Political Science and Public Service Management at the Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, made the assertion last Thursday while delivering his inaugural lecture titled “A Binocular Dissection and X-ray of the Plaguing Caterpillar, Palmerworm, Cankerworm and Locust in Nigeria’s Public Service” at the 4th inaugural lecture of the university.
Prof. Ejumudo submitted that the effects of Leadership failure in Nigeria’s Public Service including but not limited to the erosion of meritocracy, weaponisation of ethnicity and decline in public trust as well as poor service delivery have resulted in talented professionals disengaging from public service, stunted national development, rise in insecurity and social unrest.
He noted that the public service has become a place of massive looting and rent-seeking while stating that the various reforms introduced by successive administrations have continued to remain unimplemented. He also contended that followership conspiracy and complicity have continued to fuel and legitimize the unethical, destructive and ineffective leadership practices across board.
While providing the roadmap to efficient public service delivery, he called on public servants, whether regular, elected or appointed in Nigeria to sub-ordinate their individual secondary interests to the collective primary interests of the public service through genuine self-reorientation, self-regulation and self-discipline and come up with reforms that transcend beyond the rhetoric of cosmetic and peripheral reforms to genuine transformation that will encapsulate holistic and integrated structural institutionalization of excellence, efficiency, effectiveness.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Ben Oghojafor, represented by Prof Emmanuel Inoni of the Faculty of Agricultural Science, commended Prof Ejumudo for his brilliant submission and called on critical stakeholders in the country to carry out surgical operations in all areas of the nation’s public life in line with dreams and aspirations of Nigerians and that of the founding fathers.
The event was attended by academics from various tertiary institutions, lawmakers from the state legislature and the clergy.