Daily Trust

50 years of Nigeria’s public service (I)

Writing about the first 50 years of the public service in post-independent Nigeria, I should start by stating that I am now 67 years old. I joined the Federal Service as a Third Class Clerk, now known as a Clerical Officer in the clerical cadre, on December 17, 1965. That was barely five years after the independence. The post was a junior one. It was not until 1969 that I was promoted to a senior post, upon my graduation that year. I remained in the senior cadre until my retirement from the public service on April 31, 1999. That being so, of the 50 years under review, the initial five I was outside the service, the next four I was a serving junior officer. From 1969 to the next 30 years when I retired I had reached the top echelons of the service as a permanent secretary by virtue of which I was an active participant. For the balance of 11years after my retirement I have been a passive, although concerned, observer of the public service and a consumer of the services it provides. I am on the receiving end some would say.