CORRUPTION IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR AND SERVICE DELIVERY A Paper presentation at the

ROUNDTABLE ON REVIEW OF GOVERNANCE INDEX AND SECURITY IN NIGERIA

Held in
THE NATIONAL DEFENCE COLLEGE, NIGERIA

22ND MAY, 2013

Protocol

Introduction
The Public Sector in Nigeria is charged with the responsibility of providing goods and services, otherwise referred to as “public goods” in economics, to the public vis-à-vis the mandate of the ruling government and its administrative system. It is expected by the public, of the government, and through the public sector to judiciously harness the nation’s economic resources for the benefit of the public and the development of their communities particularly, and the nation
* The first attempt at involving Nigerians in the executive and legislative councils was in 1913, upon the establishment of a Nigerian Council of thirty members, comprising of six Nigerian nationals.
In another view, Kirk Green in 1968 elucidated that the evolution of the public service in Nigeria is in five phases, thus: 1. The law and Order phase of 1890-1910; It was reported that the British government on the 1st of January, 1900, assumed the responsibility for administration in Nigeria. Its primary objective was to maintain law and order. 2. The Consolidation phase of 1910-1925, marking the beginning of a legal, rational order and a modern bureaucratic system. This was the period of allegiance of traditional rulers to the British crown. 3. The Economic Development phase of 1925-1945; a period, during which the colonial bureaucrats constructed roads, bridges and railway networks. Supplementary developments include construction of dispensaries and provision of pipe-borne water. 4. The Political Development phase of 1945-1952 5. The transition to independence and phase of rapid ‘Nigerianisation’ from 1952-1961. Upon exposure to the concept of political independence at the end of World War II,