The focus of the Federal Civil Service Commission ( FCSC) on enthroning meritocracy in the nation’s civil service is in sync with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, especially his expressed desire to run a government of national competence, according to Prof. Tunji Olaopa.
Prof. Olaopa who is the Chairman of the FCSC, spoke at the weekend at a meeting during the courtesy call by the leadership of the Alumni Association of Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI)
The executive of LMI was led by its President, Abubakar Tijjani-Garba, during a courtesy visit to Olaopa in his office in Abuja.
The LMI is a fellowship founded by Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, CFR, the 9th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the current Chief of Staff to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
According to Olaopa, the FCSC is being repositioned to restore the prime place of merit in career management in the civil service, through a concerted strategy for a structured and more systematic execution of the merit principle, and therewith, reprofile its application in the implementation of the federal character policy within the framework of an overarching strategy to restore competency-based operations and human resource management in the civil service.
To him, the overall objective of the quest for meritocracy is the recreation of the glorious days of the civil service of the 1960s and the 1970s and thereby transform the service into a world-class institution.
The professor of public administration said that even before he was appointed as the chairman of the FCSC, he had been interested in the notion of a government of national competence as espoused by His Excellency the President. Thus, he is interested in creating an enabling climate within the space governed by the FCSC, that will encourage more talented youths and high-end professionals to want to make a career in the public service.
According to him, the FCSC is aware of the imperative to make the civil service attractive to the millennial generation and Gen Z.
He said this whole dynamic will lead to job re-evaluation, the rethinking of the intellectual bases of skills of the many cadres in the service and their re-skilling, and institution of a more competitive and affordable wage system operated within technical-rational parameters as a “basis for significant restoration of the Federal Government status as an employer of choice in the national economy”.
While he noted the importance of youths showing interest in the civil service, he, however, acknowledged that the sector is not meant for all-comers.
According to him, some youths will go into the military, the private sector, self-employment and other endeavours outside the civil service. Meaning that there is a specific orientation that recommends a professional public servant and some distinct attributes that stand him or her out.
Acknowledging the vital place of the youths in national development, Olaopa said that they “constitute a template for rewriting the dynamism of the national project burdened by the tragic narratives of ethno-regional and religious issues “.
Consequently, he noted that whatever would strengthen what he identified as the youth agenda would require significant reforms in the public, civic society and in the education sector. Thus for him, what is needed in the educational sector is not just book learning but intentional drive to support mental remodeling to build national capacity for “learning to live together” as ” a significant component of national values reorientation to harness and transform our diversity into a defining social capital”.
In this regard, he commended the vision of Gbajabiamila to prepare the younger Nigerians through LMI for pubic sector leadership. He said Gbajabiamila continued to commit his resources to LMI even after transiting from the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
Earlier, Tijjani-Garba said that they were at the commission to express appreciation to Olaopa for his contribution to LMI and especially his role as a mentor to its members. He said his books had greatly impacted their lives.
Tijjani-Garba outlined some of the coming programmes of the LMI that he urged Olaopa to support. They include the birthday of LMI’s founder Gbajabiamila that will be celebrated on Democracy Day.
Other programmes include the launch of an alumni book where they want Olaopa to be the reviewer , and a pre-United Nations Assembly event.
The members of the LMI also want to canvass a review of the nation’s educational curriculum and embark on a give-back to the community programme that include tree planting and a novelty match.
LMI fellowship is designed to equip young Nigerians with the necessary knowledge, skills, competence and experience to take on public sector leadership effectively. Since its inception in 2022, it has recorded significant milestones and graduated exceptional young leaders that have gone on to assumed important leadership roles across the country.