The Dignity Of Civil Service -By Ike Willie-Nwobu

The national Orientation Agency has warned popular Abuja car dealer known as Sarkinmoto over a viral skit he made to promote one of his automotive products. According to the NOA, the video does a great disservice to civil servants at a time Nigerians are writhing under increasing social pressure from get-rich-quick schemes.

In the video, the car dealer asks the Artificial Intelligence in his car if civil servants can afford it, to which the Artificial Intelligence replies that maybe in 2062.

The video is as odious as they come in a country where social media is increasingly becoming a cesspit where moral values are corrupted and incinerated.

For many Nigerians, working for the government is as good as it gets. Whether it is as civil servants or as public servants,” government work” is as good as it gets.
This is not surprising. In a country where unemployment is rife and social security bordering on zero, the job security provided by the civil service and the regular pay, especially in the federal civil service, is an oasis in the wilderness everywhere else.

Civil servants form and forge the lubricant that keep the wheels of the government turning. They toil, thread and thresh to keep the mills of the government grinding away. They hold the full length of the red tape and often toil away thanklessly to ensure that the government continues to function properly.

Yet, in a country where many perverse problems are disguised as prudence, civil servants have somehow become part of Nigeria’s myriad problems. Much like those who become public servants and remorselessly refine the art of ripping off the government, and reaping where they did not sow, civil servants have become symbols of Nigeria’s bureaucratic corruption.

There have been mind-boggling stories of civil servants transitioning into millionaires out of nowhere, despite the blatant insufficiency of their salaries, allowances and other emoluments.

In recent times, it has become a commonplace to equate civil service in Nigeria with public service in terms of sheer sleaze. In fact, in the eyes of many Nigerians, civil servants are just as corrupt as their counterparts in the public service.

This perception, confirmed partly by the prosecution of many civil servants in high-profile corruption cases, has contributed to ruining the reputation of civil servants around the country. But it does not have to be so. In fact, it was never meant or made to be so.

Civil service is first about civility, dignity, and integrity in service to the country. As a collection of the people who keep the country’s bureaucracy going, the civil service is at the core of a county’s development or lack of it.

Invariably, those who serve in the civil service of any country should draw pride and a deep sense of fulfillment from the fact of rendering service to their country. This is crucial to their well-being and the sense of patriotism they will invariably bring to the key contributions they make to their country.

Mocking them in any way is counterproductive and utterly reprehensible. In a country where national ethics are daily being eroded by the messages of instant gratification, the civil service serves as a critical counterweight to the heinous heft of those who would not mind at all if the society is swept away by their malicious messaging.

Ike Willie-Nwobu,
Ikewilly9@gmail.com