OPINION:
By Mohammed Abubakar
Disturbing and for long, the Nigerian civil service has been gasping and choked by a “personnel jam” at the top.
While our lower ranks are filled with vibrant, educated, and ambitious professionals, the peak remains occupied by a generation of directors or General Managers who seem to have forgotten that public office is a relay race, not a marathon.
Recently, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, issued a definitive circular reinforcing the Revised Public Service Rules (PSR) 2021.
The mandate is clear: any Director (GL 17) who has served eight years in that rank, or attained the mandatory retirement age, or served for 35 years must proceed on compulsory retirement.
It is a policy designed to breathe life into a stagnant system, yet a disappointing trend has emerged in the corridors of power.
A wave of lobbying is currently sweeping through various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
Long-serving directors and those that have reached retirement age are reportedly leaning on their CEOs to secure “special extensions” or backdoor contract renewals. This isn’t just a breach of protocol; it is a direct sabotage of the government’s efforts to rejuvenate the workforce.
When those at the top refuse to pass the baton, the entire structure becomes top heavy. Every director or general manager who lobbies for an extra year is effectively burying the career of a dozen deputy and assistant directors or its equivalent waiting behind them. This breeds the very low morale that pushes our most talented young Nigerians to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
We must dismantle the myth of the “indispensable official.” In a service of millions, no individual is so essential that their exit would collapse the system.
In fact, true leadership is measured by the quality of the successors one leaves behind. A director or general manager who has spent a decade in office but claims there is no one capable of taking over hasn’t proved their importance, they have proved their failure as a mentor.
Furthermore, the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) has already been flagged to stop the salaries of affected officers. Any “backdoor extension” is now more than a policy breach; it is a financial irregularity that threatens the integrity of the national treasury.
The Head of Service must move beyond circulars to active enforcement. CEOs who facilitate these illegal stay overs must be held personally accountable. It is time for these officials to realize that the civil service is a public trust, not a personal inheritance.
There is a life of dignity waiting beyond the directorate cadre, supported by various government entrepreneurship initiatives.
By refusing to exit gracefully, these officials risk erasing years of honorable service with a final act of greed. We have spent years preparing our youth for the front seat, only to realize the current drivers have glued themselves to the steering wheel.
Nigeria’s progress depends on a breathing, dynamic civil service not one choked by the shadows of those who refuse to let go.
*Mohammed Abubakar writes from Lagos
