APPRAISAL OF THE CHALLENGES OF CIVIL SERVICE AND WORKERS’PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Successive governments in Nigeria have introduced reforms aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the civil service. In spite of this, the service remains inefficient and incapable of reforming itself, let alone the rest of the economy. The study aims at assessing the challenges of the civil service which affects workers’ performance in Nigeria. Abraham Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs formed the theoretical underpinning of the study. Documentary method was adopted as the methodology for the study. Data was obtained from secondary sources while content analysis was used for analysis of data. The study revealed that corruption has become an endemic feature of public sector activities, with the oil booms and bust distorting the incentive structures of civil servants and other agents in the economy. The study recommended among others, that to turn the tide will demand; the creation of an efficiency-based incentive scheme that links reward to performance; minimized political interference in the daily operations of the civil service if the confidence of the civil service is to be restored; and improved wage incentives to restore the morale of workers as an underpaid civil service will not be able to perform its patriotic duty.