The public service of any nation is an institution of governance and administration established essentially to deliver
public good to the people in the most efficient and effective manner. The Nigerian public service is a product of
colonialism, established as an instrument for expediently implementing the administrative structure and activities of
the British colonialist from the late 19th century. It has since after independence in 1960, metamorphosed to a huge
and complex system for harnessing the country’s resources to facilitate economic development (Inyang, 2008). Its
roles, among others, is “to carryout the burden of planning and dealing with the problems of growth and
development in order to transform our natural resources into goods and services that would meet the rising
expectations that come with political independence” (Mamser, 1992:298). The public service is therefore an
influential public institution, which is “an instrument of public service delivery and development” (Kauzya, 2001:3).
With its huge size comes the array of problems affecting efficiency and effectiveness in the system. Several reforms
have been carried out since after independence aimed at improving public service delivery. These reforms have not
significantly improved the service offerings of the public service, due to its politicisation, lack of neutrality and poor
human resources management practices, where non-professionals and without requisite skills and knowledge were
made to handle the human resource function.