Former minister of aviation, Osita Chidoka has stated that Nigeria should not pursue federal character and quota system at the expense of merit.<\/p>\n
This was stated by the former aviation minister, Chidoka while speaking at an event organised by Nextier and Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) in Abuja.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain said it is \u201ccorruption\u201d for someone to occupy an office in government on the basis of federal character and not on merit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an aberration that we have introduced in Nigeria, someone that score 15 percent is entering into a place where people are scoring 95 percent. It is the worst of all crime, it is biggest corruption that is in Nigeria and what can destroy the Nigeria Public Service,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Chidoka blamed the slow reform of Nigeria\u2019s civil service on federal character, adding that civil servants \u201cthrow out\u201d reforms when the politician supervising them leaves office.<\/p>\n
He said civil servants should be recruited based on merit since they outlive ministers in service.<\/p>\n
According to him, ministers need to work with civil servants because they understand the service better.<\/p>\n
\u201cCivil Servants live in eternity, they have the patience to wait for the tenure of politicians to expire and get back to doing whatever they want and throw out whatever reform,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Catherine Angai, programme coordinator of OSIWA, said the bureaucracy in government retards the process of public service.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a systems problem. The system is not working as effectively or efficiently as it should, the system is failing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has a direct impact on one of the fundamental obligations of government \u2014 the delivery of public goods. What again is the benefit of democracy if there is no good governance?\u201d<\/p>\n
According to her, OSIWA strategy document, showed that \u201cpoor governance is exacerbated by rapid urbanisation and population explosion, these factors are not waiting for the system to catch up\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPoor governance according to our context analysis is the root cause of extractive and abusive political, social and economic systems which in turn frustrates key areas OSIWA is particularly interested in justice sector reforms, inclusive economic growth, citizens access to basic public services, such as health and education,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed, poor governance compromises democratic institutions and creates the conditions that are conducive for insecurity and fragility.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former minister of aviation, Osita Chidoka has stated that Nigeria should not pursue federal character and quota system at the expense of merit. This was stated by the former aviation minister, Chidoka while speaking at an event organised by Nextier and Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) in Abuja. The\u00a0Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":50928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[457,11797,11796,5588,922],"class_list":["post-50920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-abuja","tag-federal-character","tag-nextier-and-open-society-initiative-for-west-africa-osiwa","tag-osita-chidoka","tag-peoples-democratic-party"],"yoast_head":"\n