Chapter one

Introduction

• Background of the study

Bureaucracy as a system of administration was projected to be the ideal and more efficient system of management in both public and private organizations/institutions. As an ideal model where emphasis is laid on rules, regulation, authority, officialdom and technical qualifications as the criteria for selection into both public and private organizations etc, the system was well articulated by a German Sociologist Max Webber to enhance efficiency through the application of clearly coin characteristic. However, in recent times the inefficiency witness in most Nigerian ministries, parastatals and agencies has been attributed to the bureaucratic bottleneck in the civil service. Bureaucracy is the bedrock of the public sector organizations; however, the bureaucracy of governmental institutions has become a burden and has made the civil service inefficient, hence staff performance. The inefficiency of most civil service organizations in Nigeria lead to the establishment of Service Compact with all Nigerians “SEVICOM” on the 21st March 2004 during the administration of president Olusegun Obasanjo in an attempt to reduce the inefficiency in the civil service and as well enhance performance. Bureaucracy in the Nigerian civil service has endured a considerable measure of difficulties because of its various issues. In the area of service delivery, numerous nationals have lost trust in bureaucratic establishment with responsibilities of ensuring public services. However, Arnold (2014) emphasized that absolutely bureaucratic sort of administrative institutions is capable of attaining greater level of proficiency. The imperativeness of democracy depends on the ability of state institutions to deliver essential services and to resolves the problems that confront the society and this thus depends to a great extent on sincerity, competence, and inspiration of experts in the civil service (Gertrude, 2014).

However, the tasks of large scale administration and organization of management which are the concern of bureaucracy involves the challenge of controlling, managing and coordinating large scale tasks. Bureaucratic principles are, therefore, relevant to organizations or administrations both private and public which engineer societal development. Salawu (2000:34) observed that Weber has seen bureaucratic organization as the privilege instrumentality that can shape the modern polity, the modern economy, and the modern technology.

Bureaucracy is a rational structure of coordinating human and material resources into a complex setting handled by professionals or experts (Agboola, 2016). Bureaucratic organisations are intended to be orderly, fair and very proficient. However, despite the beneficial aspect of bureaucracy in enhancing organizational efficiency, the civil service in Nigeria has some noteworthy negative reactions. A lot of red-tapism and paper work most times leads to unpleasant experience and ineffective operations. Also, since most workers depend to a large extent on rules and regulations, their flexibility, creativity and innovations suffers considerably in public service. Similarly, issues of rigidities, resistance to change, impersonality of relation and excess aloofness are often noticeable in public service bureaucracy. The way personnel are appointed into administrative positions is extremely politicized based on favoritism and tribalism. Personnel without adequate knowledge and credentials sometimes are designated into sensitive positions and this impact negatively on policies formulation and service delivery in the service.

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