Iyobosa Uwugiaren writes that the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, could have embarked on a troublesome mission to construct a federal civil service that works for Nigerians.
For the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, who was appointed in August by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the true measure of management lies not within the workplace he occupies, however within the establishment he leaves behind: a productive, skilled and citizen-focused civil service able to incomes public belief.
When the easygoing Head of the Civil Service of the Federation assumed workplace on August 27, 2026, he took cost of an establishment essential to the equipment of presidency. Indeed, by way of the federal civil service, insurance policies are translated into programmes, initiatives and public providers that have an effect on greater than 250 million Nigerians.
For Enitan, the project goes past occupying the very best administrative place within the federal civil service; it presents a possibility to strengthen an establishment whose usefulness in the end relies upon on its skill to ship outcomes for the folks it serves.
His message in the beginning of his tenure was clear: no particular person can rework the civil service alone. According to him, significant progress requires the dedication of everlasting secretaries, administrators, heads of businesses and civil servants throughout all cadres. This emphasis on collective duty presents an perception into the legacy he has promised to construct. Rather than make transformation synonymous with one officeholder, Enitan desires public servants to share possession of an establishment that should stay efficient lengthy after its leaders have moved on.
Following his swearing-in by President Tinubu, Enitan succeeded Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, who retired on the age of 60.
He described his appointment as a name to service, expressed gratitude to the President for the boldness reposed in him, and pledged to discharge his duties with “humility, dedication and integrity.”
But quite than pursue sweeping adjustments merely to distinguish his tenure, Enitan promised to consolidate current initiatives and enhance the methods by way of which they’re applied.
“I am not going to reinvent the wheel. I will rather lubricate the wheel so that it can deliver efficiently and more productively so that I can fulfil the aspirations and expectations of Nigerians,” he said after his swearing-in.
According to one among his aides, the assertion mirrored a choice for continuity with enchancment. In a big forms, reforms require time to take root, administrative processes have to be strengthened, and institutional good points should survive adjustments in management.
A system particular person, Enitan acknowledged his predecessor’s contributions to the transformation of the federal civil service, noting that her tenure superior key initiatives and established a basis for additional progress. His pledge to proceed from the place Walson-Jack stopped, in accordance to an insider, signalled an intention to deal with these initiatives as institutional duties quite than the non-public initiatives of particular person leaders.
Going by his said intentions, the problem is to flip continuity into measurable enchancment. Preserving current frameworks issues provided that they grow to be simpler, weaknesses are addressed, and public servants can reveal tangible progress of their work.
For the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the chance is to strengthen the foundations already laid whereas making certain that the civil service turns into higher outfitted to meet the expectations of President Tinubu and, by extension, Nigerians.
As he said originally of his tenure, on the centre of his agenda is the EPIC Culture, constructed round Efficiency, Productivity, Incorruptibility and Citizen-Centredness. These rules outline the requirements he desires embedded throughout ministries, departments and businesses. They additionally present a sensible framework for assessing whether or not the civil service is fulfilling its duties.
In Enitan’s pondering, effectivity requires the accountable use of public assets and the discount of pointless delays. Productivity calls for outcomes quite than routine exercise alone. Incorruptibility locations integrity on the coronary heart of official conduct, whereas citizen-centredness requires public establishments to reply to the wants and experiences of the folks they serve.
For many public administration consultants, the standard of public administration is commonly mirrored in on a regular basis encounters: how rapidly an utility is processed, how pretty an administrative resolution is made, how reliably a public programme operates, or how respectfully an official treats a service consumer. These experiences form public confidence in authorities. The EPIC Culture, according to its design, is anticipated to have lasting worth provided that it strikes past official declarations to affect office behaviour, administration choices and repair supply.
That would require management by instance, clear efficiency expectations, efficient supervision and constant adherence to moral requirements. It may even demand that public servants recognise that finishing a process will not be essentially the identical as attaining a helpful outcome. If these values grow to be a part of the civil service’s institutional id, they may outlast the tenure of Enitan, who’s at present selling them.
Enitan has recognized the efficient implementation of presidency insurance policies, programmes and initiatives as a central precedence. “My task is very simple, and it is just to make the Federal Civil Service more innovative, more productive and more professional, as well as to be more responsive to the yearnings of Nigerians, where the civil service as a body translates government policies, programmes and projects into concrete results,” he promised.
To make sure, the assertion identifies a crucial duty of public administration: bridging the hole between authorities intentions and outcomes skilled by residents. As consultants would argue, insurance policies and public bulletins don’t mechanically enhance residing situations; their affect relies upon on planning, coordination, useful resource administration, execution and monitoring. The civil service occupies a pivotal place on this course of, offering skilled recommendation, coordinating establishments and supporting implementation.
Enitan’s process is to strengthen this capability whereas supporting the federal authorities’s reform goals and the Renewed Hope Agenda of his principal, President Tinubu. Permanent secretaries, administrators and different senior officers have a very vital function in making certain that duties are clearly assigned, implementation is monitored, and administrative obstacles are addressed. Yet the duty extends all through the workforce, as a result of the each day choices of officers at each stage affect the pace and high quality of presidency providers.
In the long term, the success of public coverage have to be judged not merely by its announcement or approval, however by whether or not it achieves its supposed objective. A civil service that constantly delivers on this duty would offer one of many clearest measures of Enitan’s contribution.
Perhaps that’s the reason Enitan urged civil servants throughout the federal institution to embrace professionalism, innovation, accountability and results-oriented service supply. Those accustomed to his insurance policies and programmes stated his focus on officers on Grade Levels 8 to 14 underscores the significance of participating workers who perform lots of the operational and administrative duties of presidency.
His pondering could also be that reform can’t be sustained if it stays the priority of senior officers alone; officers who course of functions, keep information, put together correspondence and attend to residents should perceive how their work contributes to institutional efficiency.
By encouraging possession throughout the hierarchy, Enitan could also be searching for to make enchancment a part of on a regular basis working life quite than an initiative related solely to the Head of Service’s workplace. This would require clear communication, acceptable skilled improvement and a tradition that recognises diligence whereas addressing misconduct and protracted underperformance. It additionally calls for openness to innovation as expertise and altering public expectations reshape administrative work.
In line with Enitan’s assertion from day one, collective duty will not be merely a message of solidarity; it’s a sensible requirement for enhancing the efficiency of a fancy establishment. Some observers of the federal civil service have argued that Enitan’s management can be examined by his skill to flip that precept into coordinated motion throughout the federal civil service.
Nevertheless, information present that Enitan brings expertise from a number of vital establishments of the federal authorities. Born on December 12, 1966, and hailing from Osun State, he attended Ajibode Grammar School, Ibadan, and the College of Arts and Science, Ile-Ife. He then obtained a Bachelor of Science diploma in Finance and Banking from the University of Lagos in 1988 and a Master of Science diploma in Public Policy Analysis from Nasarawa State University, Keffi, in 2015. He had wished to enrol for a doctorate after his retirement, however his present appointment got here alongside.
His educational background combines monetary coaching with public coverage evaluation, disciplines related to useful resource administration, institutional administration and coverage implementation. Before his appointment as HCSF, he served as everlasting secretary within the Ministry of Police Affairs, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Aviation and the Office of the Vice President. These postings uncovered him to completely different dimensions of presidency administration, coordination and coverage supply.
As essentially the most senior everlasting secretary, he emerged to lead the federal civil service, a job that calls for coordination throughout quite a few ministries, departments and businesses, in addition to the power to promote widespread skilled requirements. His expertise could have offered a basis for the project. But its final worth can be decided by how successfully he applies it to strengthening institutional efficiency and enhancing the supply of public providers.
Enitan has pledged to assist restore public confidence within the civil service, however that confidence can’t be secured by way of declarations alone; it have to be earned by way of equity, transparency, competence and constant efficiency. Observers have argued that administrative delays, unclear procedures, weak coordination and unethical conduct can undermine belief. Conversely, dependable providers, clear processes and well timed choices can assist rebuild it.
The sensible implications of Enitan’s agenda are subsequently clear: public establishments should grow to be extra reliable, duties have to be taken critically, and efficiency have to be assessed in opposition to outcomes.
Progress would require cooperation among the many Head of Service’s workplace, ministry management, administrative officers and different stakeholders. It may even demand sustained consideration to implementation quite than treating coverage statements as proof of feat. The extent to which Enitan restores public confidence will in the end be decided by what Nigerians expertise after they work together with authorities—not just by what the civil service guarantees to ship.
What legacy will Enitan depart behind? For a public servant entrusted with main the federal civil service, legacy will not be essentially outlined by the variety of initiatives launched or the adjustments introduced originally of a tenure. It is measured by what stays when the officeholder departs: stronger establishments, enduring skilled requirements and a workforce higher outfitted to serve the general public.
Enitan could have set out a transparent route. He desires to strengthen current administrative frameworks, embed the EPIC Culture and make sure that public servants at each stage take duty for outcomes. The check is whether or not these commitments grow to be established practices quite than aspirations related together with his tenure.
Will official processes grow to be extra environment friendly? Will integrity information administrative choices? Will insurance policies produce measurable advantages? Will residents encounter a civil service that treats their wants as a central duty? The solutions will decide the importance of his management.
Yet essentially the most distinctive measure of Enitan’s legacy could also be what occurs after his watch has ended. If the methods he strengthens proceed to operate, if the values he promotes stay a part of official conduct, and if public servants maintain enhancements with out relying on the presence of 1 particular person, his contribution could have acquired lasting significance.
That is the subterranean which means of his insistence that no particular person can rework the civil service alone. The chief could present route, however the establishment should carry the work ahead.
For Enitan, success will, on the finish of the day, imply forsaking greater than a document of insurance policies and initiatives. It will imply serving to to construct a civil service that works as a result of its folks perceive their duties, its methods assist efficient efficiency, and its dedication to Nigerians endures past any single tenure.
