OSINBAJO: Nigerian civil service sick with monumental corruption

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has decried what he termed monumental corruption in the Nigerian civil service. The nation, he said, was bleeding from a situation where civil servants took advantage of their positions to enrich themselves while making the rest of society poorer.
Speaking Tuesday at the inaugural Quarterly Civil Service Lecture Series with the theme, “Civil Service in a Change Environment: The Change is Now”,  Osinbajo said, The power to do good or evil lies with a few people who form what we refer to as our civil service.
“When some of such elite see the opportunity as one for self enrichment by corrupt practices, then the nation faces a monumental tragedy.”

He added, “There is no excuse anywhere in a nation where the majority are still poor and are struggling to make a living that anyone who has the benefit of good education and good fortune of a job in the civil service should subvert that service for personal gains.

“I think it is the greatest tragedy that a nation can experience.”

The Acting President noted that it was very worrisome that civil servants were sometimes mockingly referred to as ‘evil servants’.

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While regretting the tag, Osinbajo called for a value reorientation saying, “…I am sure that you know that sometimes civil servants are described as evil servants, but you must take heart, the best profession are usually the most criticized.
“But I must say that the wholesome privilege of public service is very easily abused or taken for granted.

“The public service elite represent, as we have seen, the most important factor in mass development.”

The event also had the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo Ita, in attendance. In her address, she urged Nigerians to stop lamenting over the foregone glorious days of the civil service, noting that the ills within the system was a mere reflection of the larger society.

The quarterly lecture held at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

 

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