The title of this piece should not be strange to those who avidly follow my reflections on religion, African theology and its role in my spiritual maturation. In my estimation, Dr Stephen Lawani plays a significant role—as one of the many critical interlocutors on matters religious and spiritual in Nigeria and beyond. I am very pleased to be able to keep paying homage to someone whose spiritual commitment has never been in doubt; someone who embodies the purity of the search for spiritual enlightenment. It is also delightful to celebrate Dr Lawani’s octogenarian arrival. Being eighty only tells me that…
Author: Tunji Olaopa
July 5 2024 was a historic day in the political and cultural annals of Aáwé town. That day was the memorable culmination of more than thirty years of a struggle to achieve the status of a beaded monarch for the Alaawe of Aáwé, Oba Cornelius Taiwo Oladokun and the Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde made this feat possible by the singularly courageous act of cutting through the red-tape of political shenanigans and prejudices to underscore historical imperatives that have to do with the cultural status of Aáwé as a significant Yoruba community in the southwest. Aáwé has always been…
Wole Soyinka has been hoary since I came to the knowledge of his works and his activism many years ago. Hoariness, for me, is not a feature of age or greying hair. On the contrary, I attach a certain level of exceptional venerableness to the very figure of WS. He possesses a dateless significance for me that surpasses the depth of his literary works to encompass his many-sided contributions to the idea of the Nigerian postcolony. I dare say that Wole Soyinka’s status as a phenomenal literary person assumes an even greater depth because of his very presence and attachment…
On 22nd June, 2024, at a sporting event organized for civil servants as part of activities to mark the 2024 Civil Service Week, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, made a fundamental claim about the status of the Nigerian Civil Service. At that event, the HCSF commended the hardworking and intelligent civil and public servants and noted that Nigeria has the best civil service in the world. That was a most fundamental statement coming from such a significant personality in the civil service hierarchy. That statement has sufficient weight and implications as to…
The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has offered insight into why Nigeria and other African countries are not as developed as the Asian Tigers, UAE, Japan, among other countries. Olaopa who is a former permanent secretary and currently the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) spoke at the South-South States’ BRACED Commission Strategy Retreat on the theme ‘Leadership in the Public Sector: Strengthening Public Institutions through Capacity Building’ held in Benin City on 5-7 June, 2024. The seasoned bureaucrat whose lecture was entitled “Strategic Leadership in Civil/Public Service: Challenges, Opportunities and Future…
Events, incidences and circumstances often coalesce to bring about the remembrances of things gone and things that make for how the present is constituted out of the past. The months of May and June brought about such reminiscing in the very sad events of the demise of Professor Ayo Banjo, followed almost immediately in June by that of my formidable foe and later lifelong friend, late Femi Oladele Lucas Falana (no relation with the SAN – that being a story for another day!). These two significant figures in my character and professional maturation are not unconnected; the three of us…
The incessant labour union strike, from ASUU to the NLC, has become a regular staple in Nigeria’s litany of underdevelopment characteristics. And the industrial disputes usually result from labour unions reactions to what is perceived as government’s recurring insensitivity to the plight of workers in the dynamics of governance. The current labour action—a demand for a realistic minimum wage—is waged on the platform of the argument that government has the means of paying the new wage it proposed. The labour unions, in their arguments, try to justify its theory of government’s insensitivity on two planks. One, there is the widespread…
The Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Prof. Tunji Olaopa, on Tuesday outlined some measures to develop the nation’s economy. The renowned bureaucrat and professor of public administration spoke at the maiden international conference of the Faculty of Management Sciences, Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State on the “Future of the Nigerian Economy”. In Olaopa’s lecture entitled “Achieving a Robust and Inclusive Economy: Prospect and Challenges”, he examined the current trajectory of the Nigerian economy, the situation of the key sectors, the leadership forthrightness and creativity being brought to bear by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while offering a range of recommendations…
The recent policy decision by the Tinubu administration to revert to Nigeria’s old national anthem has generated lots of furors on social media and in the public space. And this is for obvious reason. Many Nigerians are wondering as to the appropriateness of such a decision at a time when the governance indices are all seemingly on the downward spiral. The questions being asked include: why is this policy necessary now? What does it add to the urgency of articulating good governance policies around inclusive growth and sustainable development that can positively affect the lives of Nigerians? Even if we…
The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission ( FCSC) , Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has vowed to ensure transparency in recruitment into the nation’s civil service by advertising vacancies. Olaopa spoke when the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students’ Engagement, Comrade Asefon Sunday, paid him a courtesy call. He said the commission has in place a mechanism for ensuring equity in recruitment. According to him, whenever there are vacancies and the commission receives a presidential approval for employment, the vacancies are distributed equally to all the commissioners who represent all the states in the commission. He said that…
The Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof.Tunji Olaopa has called for the scrapping of higher national diploma (HND) awarded by polytechnics. Olaopa made the call at the one-day national dialogue on ‘The Future of HND in the Nigerian Educational Landscape’ Organised by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in Abuja on Tuesday. He said that if the lingering professional war between B.Sc./B.Tech. and HND degrees holders must be resolved without totally rendering dysfunctional their originating mandates and purposes, then the recommendation of the Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology (COHEADS) in their 2007 memorandum to the then Presidential…
The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has stressed the role of retired bureaucrats in restoring the glory of the nation’s civil service. The seasoned bureaucrat spoke during the commencement of his courtesy calls on establishment gurus such as Chief F. O. Williams, retired Federal permanent secretary and Mr. Paul Ebegbuna, retired Director of Establishment and Pensions on Sunday, 12th of May, 2024 in Abuja. Olaopa described the visit as targeted at what he called “inter-generational conversation with iconic bureaucrats”. Stressing the objective of the visit, Olaopa said: “It is basically to revive the old…
(Statement by Prof. Tunji Olaopa, Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission as Chairman of the 3rd Conference of the Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) South West, held at the Lead City University, Ibadan on Wednesday, 27 March, 2024) One of the critical planks in my institutional reform philosophy hinges on the functional capacities of communities of service and practice to achieve an optimal oversight in stimulating the significance of national discourse for the health of democratic governance in Nigeria. Indeed, good governance and real development achievements is not just a function of leadership acumen and the forthrightness of government policies, it…
When Henry Adams, the 19th century American historian, states categorically that “A teacher affects eternity,” he translated his observational experience into what millions of people all across the world today can relate with. According to him, either good or bad, “he can never tell where his influence stops.” Teaching is a vocational calling that radiates through many generations. And this is one grateful member of one generation demonstrating immense gratitude for the gift of many teachers who impacted my coming-of-age. I contend that there should be no memoir that does not dedicate a chapter, at least, to the immense influence…
On the 13th of December 2023, HE President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inaugurated the newly reconstituted Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), and gave a marching order to the Commission to “competently facilitate the transformation, reorientation, and digitization of the federal bureaucracy to enable, and not stifle, growth and enhanced private sector participation in the development of the Nigerian economy, in full adherence to the renewed hope agenda of his administration.” The FCSC has since interpreted this mandate as a charge to interrogate a fundamental question: What has the FCSC failed to do to institutionally gatekeep the federal civil service and safeguard…
No amount of condolences, prayers, sympathies and commiseration could ever fathom the depth of the grief of Papa Shyngle and Mama Stella Wigwe. And the reason is simple: no parents should ever have to bury any of their children. The reverse should always be the case. And this is a deep principle of humanity that is not restricted by culture or society. It is just simply the natural order of things. It is fundamental—and indeed a thing of joy for all parents—that they would be buried by their children. When the reverse happens, and one loses a child, then the…
I just must do this essay as tribute to a man whose creative and rare talent I admire so much. I must confess, given the job that I now have, this essay was herculean. When one surveys the sociocultural history of Nigeria, and especially from ethnic and regional perspectives, like the South-West Yoruba people, one unmistakably will not fail to register the abiding presence of those—cultural propagators, promoters, producers and sustainers—whose critical efforts in long and unending and crosscutting trajectories have served as the touchstone to our cultural realities. Now this is a very crucial point for me. And I…
On Saturday, 13th of January, 2024, exactly one month after the new leadership of the Federal Civil Service Commission that I now have the fortune of leading was inaugurated by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, my monarch, HRH Oba Cornelius Abiola Taiwo, FCCA, FCA, the Alaawe of Aawe in Council, organized what turned out to be a grand reception at his palace at Aawein my honour. The occasion and my statement of appreciation afforded me yet another opportunity to reflect on what I have called the Aawe Mystique. Indeed, with the benefit of the wisdom and clarity of…
Over the course of my sojourn in the public service and my consistent advocacy for governance and institutional reforms, I have come to deeply appreciate the fundamental difference between seeking a position that allows for transformation and actually occupying such a position and using it to transform reform objectives into tangible achievements. This was what raced through my mind as I was inaugurated as the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And my apprehension was (and still is) all the more serious given the fact that Nigerians have started…
I had started to write this piece before I became the subject of national news. This tribute is therefore a convenient point to sign-off OP-EDs, which has been a pastime extension of my life mission as a governance cum institutional reformer and scholar. Indeed, Nigerians had by now reconciled to the demise of Alhaji Adamu Fika, Wazirin Fika, former secretary to the federal government, and an extraordinary public servant. My reaction to his death, at a good old nonagenarian age of ninety, is to reminisce not only on my perception of his status as a public servant (bolstered by the…
When a scholar combines a mentoring frame of mind, and educational energy and a philosophical bent of mind, what you have is a Socratic orientation; what you have is Professor Otonti Nduka. I just met Professor Nduka some months ago, and in that short period, I have had moments of epiphanies and humility in equal proportion. When I think of Prof. Nduka, my mind resolutely revisits Woodrow Wilson’s admonition: “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope…
Changing “Public” in Public Services and Implications The public service has long been central to public administration theories and practices, serving as a critical barometer for evaluating the success or failure of any state or government. In contemporary times, the concept of the public service has evolved significantly within the framework of the “new governance paradigm.” This shift was catalyzed by the fall of the former USSR and the simultaneous rise of neoliberal ideologies that advocated for a redefined role of the state in both the economy and governance. Under the neoliberal doctrine, the state was envisioned as having a…
When Chinua Achebe penned the prophetic political tract, The Trouble with Nigeria, in 1983, Nigeria’s second republic was brutally at an end when a coup cut short the civil rule that commenced in 1979. In that short book, Achebe laid his keen insight on what has ailed the nascent Nigerian state—just barely twenty-three years old: the problem of leadership. What even Achebe could not have known then is that sixty-three years on, and forty years after the book was written, Nigeria would still be battling with answering the leadership question. And we watch as other countries tackle their governance and…
Let me start this piece on a reflective note, and then connect the reflection with my concern for the political trajectory of the Nigerian state. And where else to start than with one of the wisdom quotes of Socrates. According to him, “By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.” To be sure, this is not just an advice on marital bliss. It contains a gem of philosophical insight that is both universal and particular, as I aim to demonstrate. Marrying a bad wife is…
(Lecture by Prof. Tunji Olaopa, retired Federal permanent secretary and EVC, Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy – ISGPP – as Keynote Speaker at the 2023 Annual Workshop of the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) which held at Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja on 12-13 September, 2023) It is significant that the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) decided to connect the theme of its 2023 annual conference to a critical issue that is so very relevant to national discourse at this time. And, at that, through a clarion call on Nigerian professionals to join Nigeria’s march…
Institutional reform advocacy is essentially about critical optimism in the face of significant institutional dysfunction. To be an institutional reformer and not be an optimist is, for me, a contradiction in terms. Optimism is what keeps sustaining the belief of the reformer in the possibility of transformation. Without such a belief, the reformer has no business in the space of institutional reform. This is the optimism that I have developed over time, after I made up my mind to dedicate myself to researching the historical and administrative dynamics that led to the institutional dysfunction of the Nigeria public service system.…
At first glance, interrogating the reading list of leaders, or asking about the books leaders read, seems like one of those hairsplitting pastimes of scholars and intellectuals. In other words, what has the reading habit of leaders got to do with more fundamental and critical issues of governance and development and the social contact leaders ought to strive to respect and service in ways that improve the quality of life of their citizens. And yet, most things that are fundamental in life do not yield to superficial interpretations. We have to dig deeper most often to make the necessary substantive…
This piece is a contribution to an emerging policy conversation around the management of development policy dynamics with commendable traction. This is a field that is now taking center point given the fact of the sundry expectations that Nigerians have about the Tinubu administration. It is a field larger than my core expertise around policy implementation and institutional reform through the capacitation of public institutions for capability readiness. And yet, this larger policy conversation is so multidisciplinary that it requires all hands to be on deck. Such a conversation is too significant to leave to public commentators, government functionaries and…
Proposed Review of the Civil Service: Key Policy Indications and Action Focus President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is on the roll with series of policy articulations and initiatives that speak to the intended directions he wishes to take Nigeria’s policy architecture and development agenda for the next four years. The policy conversation has been raging since the inauguration of the new administration, especially around taxation, the petroleum subsidy and the student loan. And now, the president has revealed that aside the comprehensive audit of the Central Bank of Nigeria that is ongoing, the government has set its eye on a structural…
When we say that Nigeria is a contradiction, the statement encapsulates the many manifestations of the possibilities and limitations that Nigeria embodies in her sixty-three years of statehood. One instance suffices. Nigeria is blessed with immense human and material resources. She is presently a youthful country in demographic terms. This means that her youth bulge presents her with a unique capacity to translate her development agenda. And yet, Nigeria has failed in almost all human capital indices, from being the worst place for a child to be born to being one of the most insecure places on the globe. Nigeria…
