In this piece, I want to pay critical attention to the reform significance of the relationship between what has been called the “cult of the generalists,” on the one hand, and the necessity for more of a cadre of specialists or professionals given the imperative demand of the knowledge age, on the other. This discourse might appear academic at first glance. However, we immediately grasp its significance when we understand that a civil service system that must anticipate the challenges of the future needs to adequately articulate a governance, strategic and operational managerial framework that has the capability of preparing…
Author: Tunji Olaopa
(Being Prof. Adebayo Okunade’s 70th Birthday Anniversary and Valedictory Lecture Delivered at the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan, on Wednesday, 12th of March, 2025) Professor Bayo Okunade has crossed into the seventh bracket; he is now effectively a septuagenarian—that state of hoariness where he joins the gang of the sages who have been given the capacity to connect divinity with humanity in terms of wholeness. Seventy is a weighty number in spiritual and cultural terms. In spiritual terms, seven and ten elevate sacredness in numerical reckoning both for the Israelites, the ancient Egyptians, and the Yoruba. Seven indicates…
The autobiography is a most delicate, complex and indeed disruptive art form. It is the autobiographer’s authorial insistence to be heard in terms of his or her narrative addition to historical discourse. In fact, it is the autobiographer’s narration of the historical event from his or her own perspective. And more often than not, when the autobiographer is a fundamental participant in the event, the complexities of that event and the circumstances surrounding it are multiplied. Only very few autobiographies enjoy global approval. And that is because the art form is seen as an ego trip. That sentiment is summed…
Since its inauguration many decades ago, public administration has generated a permanent discursive framework that ensures that it has the theoretical and practical contents to sustain the professionalism and efficiency that the public service requires to complement the state everywhere. This becomes even more critical given that the democratic imperative keeps articulating and aggregating the significant political preferences of a citizenry that knows what it wants from a leadership and its administrative apparatuses. This therefore means that for public administration to fully and adequately complement the democratic imperative—for the public service to optimally aid democratic governance in any state—the public…
When the politics-administration dichotomy inaugurated the practice of public administration, what was intended was a critical need to bifurcate the logic of the two in ways that will extend the relationship between the politicians and the administrator and make it more efficient. The politician is then, within the logic of the dichotomy, restricted to policy formulation while the administrator is confined to the realm of policy implementation. Reality however defeats the neat boundary between the two. Politics and administration, in practical reality, are almost inseparable. And one would expect that the relationship between political science and public administration discourse will…
This piece is one of the technical notes that I used in some seminal conversations before now, one of many others that I consider should be shared, in spite of its seminal tone, for the benefit of public managers-learners who are spread all over the nooks and crannies of Nigeria and beyond, and for public education, In penning this contribution, I am interested in a sort of agenda-setting that has the capacity to generate discourse around public cum civil service institutional reformulation and its framework of relevance especially in a postcolonial context like Nigeria. All across the world, public administration…
This piece was meant to be my address and reflection during a planned courtesy visit in 2024 to the Federal Civil Service Commission of my old boss, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, commander of the Federal Republic (CFR), former Head of Service of the Federation, former SGF and Hon. Minister, Ajiyan Katagum, and Chairman of the Governing Council, Ahmadu Bello Univerity, Zaria; a visit, which objective indeed had achieved by other means. When a personality like Mahmud Yayale Ahmed decides to pay a visit to an organization like the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) to honour his mentee, then such a visit…
The feud between elder statesman Chief Afe Babalola and civil rights activist Mr. Dele Farotimi is perhaps the most significant discourse that the postcolonial Nigerian state has thrown up for the moment, one in a class of those grand defining disputations that sure will gather dust which will take some time to abate. And it is one case that is fraught with all sorts of legal, jurisprudential, moral and political traps and complexities that speak to more than the trivial interventions—leveraged around the David and Goliath motif—that are attending the matter. Those who have been able to go beyond the…
From November 25 to 28, 2024, the Katsina State government hosted the annual conference of the National Council for Civil Service Commissions (NCCSC). This is coming on the heel of a hiatus of over ten years. This fact in itself immediately speaks to a significant issue in the ineffectiveness of the gatekeeping function of the civil service commissions in Nigeria. If the body in charge of the gatekeepers has failed for over ten years to adjudicate on their effectiveness or otherwise, it raises a cause for concern. However, the conference theme—“The Role of the Civil Service Commissions in Driving the…
In preparation for his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump has commenced the process of choosing a cabinet that will assist him in the onerous task of governance. Being a very controversial figure himself, Trump’s many appointments are already setting the public sphere on fire. From Marco Rubio (for secretary of state) to Pam Bondi (for attorney general), and from Pete Hegseth (for defense secretary) to John Ratcliffe (for CIA director). One of the most controversial of the cabinet pick, however, is the choice of billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy for the post of…
(Being Excerpt from the Guest Lecture Delivered at the 4th Theophilus & Elizabeth Akinyele Foundation Memorial Symposium held at the Theojoy Library, Theo Tower, New Bodija, Ibadan on Thursday, 21st of November, 2024) Theophilus Adeleke Akinyele, an officer of the Order of Niger (OON) and Bobajiro of Ibadanland was both an exemplary personality and a model public servant. This biographical statement is significant in administrative archiving of the trajectory of the Nigerian administrative history, and this is not just because biographies and autobiographies of eminent public servants and administrators fill some crucial gaps in political and administrative histories of any…
The Nigerian Tribune was established in 1949 by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Being seventy-five years old in 2024 and hence achieving the status of Nigeria’s privately-owned newspaper in Nigeria is a testament not only to the foresight of Chief Awolowo and the managerial acumen of those who have kept its legacies afloat all these years. It is also an indictment of all that have gone wrong with nation-building in Nigeria since independence in 1960. My time at the Nigerian Tribune was one of the best I had ever had in terms of intellectual stimulation and engagement. The editorial board meeting was…
(Being Lecture delivered at the 6th General Assembly and Conference of the Association of African Public Service Commissions (AAPSCOMS) which held in Nairobi, Kenya on 6-8 November, 2024) We now live in a world that is daily undergoing what has been called a polycrisis—crisis situations that are not only fundamental, but are also interlinked in ways that affects several regions of the world. In administrative terms, the polycrisis define a VUCA—vulnerable, uncertain, complex and ambiguous—policy environment where governments have to anticipate challenges before they even happen. With the COVID-19 pandemic, public administrators and public managers are confronted with the contexts…
Between 1967 and 1970, Nigeria prosecuted a blood civil war, one of the bloodiest in the annals of modern history. And at the center of that terrible national tragedy is that man of destiny, General Yakubu Gowon, the head of the military administration—the second in the history of Nigeria’s chequered post-independence political history. After the deep euphoria of independence, the 1966 coup and the aftermath of civil war were too disjunctive for a state that was aiming for the status of a key player on the continent and on the globe; a nation state that was supposed to reverse the…
The Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, on Friday described former Head of State , Gen. Yakubu Gowon, as the “personification of the Nigerian essence; the Nigerian spirit”. Olaopa’s tribute to Gowon was contained in a congratulatory message as the former leader turns 90 tomorrow Saturday. Olaopa said that he strongly believed that Providence specifically inscribed Gowon’s life with a unique purpose that intersected that of Nigeria. Noting that he did not make that claim flippantly, Olaopa explained: “To be born before the founding of such a combustible nation as ours, and to have matured to receive a…
(Being Speech by Prof. Tunji Olaopa, Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, as Chairman of the 2024 Ekiti State Public Service Forum and Award of Excellence Ceremony Marking the 2nd Anniversary of HE Biodun Oyebanji, the Executive Governor of Ekiti State, held at Lady Jibowu Hall, Government House, Ado Ekiti, on Monday, 14th of October, 2024) Let me start by felicitating with His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Ekiti State—Mr. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji—on the occasion of his second anniversary as the chief executive of this great state. I know it is very tough being the Governor and pacemaker in a state…
The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Prof. Tunji Olaopa, on Wednesday urged the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities to gather credible data about its members. Olaopa said this when he was paid a courtesy visit by the officials of the commission led by their Executive Secretary Chief Ayuba Gufwan. He said that the disabilities commission should find out the factors responsible for the rise of its membership and how they could be mitigated . He added that credible data would help the disabilities commission in its advocacy. While commending President Bola Tinubu for supporting the commission,…
In this piece, I want to beam a critical light on the significance and role of the public/civil servant within the power dynamics of governance in the Nigerian government. My fundamental concern derives from the central imperative in public administration—the politics-administration dichotomy—that insists that the politicians and the administrators have distinct responsibilities which must be adhered to form a functional state. This is one foundational principle that is so useful for the attainment of good governance. However, its utility must be conditioned by contextual peculiarities in the governance and administrative reality of where the dichotomy is expected to work. I…
The Yorùbá culture has always been blessed with the attention of intellectuals, scholars and academics who considered it a worthwhile subject of discourse. Without any doubt, the Yorùbá culture is one of the most studied cultural forms of life in the world. This is apart from the many scholars, cultural enthusiasts and intellectuals that the culture itself has produced, from Samuel Ajayi Crowder to Samuel Johnson, from Akinwunmi Isola to J. A. Atanda to Saburi Biobaku, and from Wole Soyinka to Wande Abimbola, Oyekan Owomoyela to Toyin Falola. But we must also not forget the cultural and Indigenous intellectuals, like…
At the just concluded 65th annual conference of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) in Abuja, one of the highlights of the annual ritual was the conferment of the 2024 Distinguished Economic Service Award on seven eminent Nigerians. And yours sincerely is one of the awardees. This is one award that holds a fundamental significance among all the other ones I have been conferred with. And the singular reason is that this conferment articulates a significant plank in my institutional and governance reforms campaign in Nigeria. That plank insists that there is an intellectual component in the imperative of institutional reform…
(Being a Distinguished Public Lecture Delivered by Prof. Tunji Olaopa, professor of public administration and Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission, at the Maiden Annual Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries of Oyo and Osun State – ARHESPSOOS – held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, on Wednesday, 21st of August, 2024) The recently concluded maiden annual distinguished public lecture of the Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries of Oyo and Osun State (ARHESPSOOS) held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, provided another opportunity to brainstorm on the present challenges and…
The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has given insight into how to transform the country’s civil service to make it contribute significantly to good governance. Olaopa, a professor of public administration and a former federal permanent secretary, spoke on Wednesday at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State during the maiden Distinguished Annual Public Lecture series of the Association of Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries of Oyo and Osun State (ARHESPSOOS). The seasoned bureaucrat who spoke on “Reengineering the Engine Room: The Civil Service as the Fulcrum of Sustainable Development” commended ARHESPSOOS for taking…
The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, on Thursday advocated giving governance role to monarchs as he joined former President Olusegun Obasanjo and others to pay tributes to the Olowu Of Owu, his Royal Majesty Oba Saka Matemilola. The event which took place at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Auditorium, Abeokuta, was the second anniversary of Prof. Matemilola’s ascension to the throne. Olaopa who was the chairman of the symposium held to celebrate the monarch said that Oba Matemilola has the profundity of a professorial status that makes him an enlightened monarch carrying the weight of…
The Chairman, the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has listed ways HR practice can be viable in the Fourth and Fifth Industrial Revolutions. The former permanent secretary spoke on Wednesday as the chairman of the investiture of Mal. Ahmed Ladan Gobir, FCIPM, as the President and Chairman of Governing Council of CIPM, in Lagos. The seasoned bureaucrat who spoke on the topic “IPM and the Unfinished Business of Reform in the Public Service” disclosed that his significant relationship with CIPM spanned many years. According to him, CIPM is one organization he counts as a partner in the…
(Address as Chairman of the Investiture Ceremony of the President and Chairman of Governing Council of CIPM, which held at Eko Hotels, VI, Lagos, on Wednesday, 31st of July, 2024) It is always a very deep and special pleasure for me whenever I have the opportunity to attend the CIPM or to be invited to any of her programs. CIPM is one organization that I have a significant relationship with, a relationship that spans many years. It is one organization I count as a partner in the struggle for transforming the public service system in Nigeria. This is why I…
How to make public service in Africa respond to the demands of artificial intelligence and workforce flexibility topped the agenda as the Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Nigeria, Prof. Tunji Olaopa and the President, Association of African Public Service Commissions (AAPSCOMS) and Chairman of the Civil Service Commission of the Republic of Zambia, Dr. Choolwe Beyani met in Abuja on Tuesday. While welcoming Dr Beyani to the FCSC in Abuja, Prof. Olaopa said that the meeting was significant for the professionalisation of public service commissions on the continent. According to him, the visit by Dr Choolwe is a reminder…
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…
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…
