[National Accountability Stewardship and the Role of Public Servants] by Dr Joe Abah 1.0 Introduction For clarity, it is always prudent to start with a definition of terms, particularly as some terms that are presumed to mean the same things to everybody could actually mean different things to different people. There are many definitions of the word “Accountability.” Some definitions, perhaps unhelpfully, simply define Accountability as “being accountable.” Others focus on key attributes such as information, explanation and consequences. Writing for the World Bank in 2005, Professor John Ackerman defines Accountability as “…a proactive process by which
Read More
Archives for Governance
Cuba’s Socialism
I visited Cuba two weeks ago & it was very interesting to see a different system of government. An opportunity to reassess the usual capitalist, market-driven ideology that is forced down your throat as the ONLY way, and the Socialist shouts of REVOLUTION/ Egalitarianism! Thread. First of all, the info brochure from the UK travel agent claimed that “Everyone in Cuba earns the same salary, regardless of the job they do. About $20 per month.” I asked the Cubans and they were LIVID with anger. It is completely untrue and they saw it as deliberate falsehood! Everybody earns according to
Read More
Making Public Service Reform a Reality in Nigeria
Preamble I want to start by paying tribute to the Africa Research Institute for giving me the great honour of delivering its 10th Anniversary lecture. My invitation to deliver this lecture and the courtesies I have been shown since my arrival from Abuja yesterday is totally in keeping with ARI’s approach of giving Africans the platform to tell the story of Africa in their own voices, with first-hand knowledge, insight, dignity and respect. In the last 10 years, ARI has encouraged debate that has often gone against the grain, and ventilated research that has challenged accepted wisdom about Africa in
Read More
Reinventing the Wheel: Reforming Nigeria’s Civil and Public Service
“By boldly reinventing the public service wheel, our goal is a return to 1959 and to the kind of bureaucracy that Chief Awolowo would be proud to describe afresh.” The cliché that one need not reinvent the wheel is intended as a caution against duplicating or recreating that which already exists. To reimagine a perfectly flawless invention is both a futile and valueless effort. In terms of political society, the invention of the modern bureaucracy is nearly unparalleled in its importance. Like the wheel, its operational intention is to mitigate chaos; and when the bureaucracy functions optimally, unheard and
Read More