Nepad and the struggle to improve the efficacy of Africa's public sector : a case study of Nigeria's Servicome

Abstract

This paper evaluates Nigeria's Service Compact with All Nigerians (SERVICOM) policy as a derived policy of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) project to generalize the advancement of Africa's public sectors' functionality in the 21st century. The cardinal policy thrust of NEPAD, of which SERVICOM is consequentially from, is partly to ensure that the continent's public services are poised to deliver accelerated social, economic and political development, as well as ensure the facilitation of good governance. Anchored on Max Weber's bureaucratic theory, the paper notes the lack of political will to commit to purposeful public sector reforms, which undermine the realization of the SERVICOM-cum-NEPAD initiative for public sector effectiveness and efficiency. It also notes that Nigeria‘s public sectors in the 21st century have tended towards underperformance due in part to the abandonment of the tenets of Weber‘s bureaucratic theory in their operations. The paper concludes that greater politics-administration cooperation than dichotomy will improve adherence to the precepts of Weber‘s bureaucratic theory as well as the modernization of public servants through investments in training and re-training. It also concludes that the public should seek to resolutely pursue remedies for infractions by public servants rather than overlook ineffectual operational performances as a way to strengthen attainment of the SERVICOM objectives for accelerated capacity development of public servants.