JUST IN: Ex Benue Commissioner Seeks Mandatory 12-Month Graduate Trainee Programme For Newly Recruited Public Servants

 

 

 

….Calls for structured internships, competency assessments before confirmation 

 

 

 

By OGB Joseph, Abuja 

 

 

 

A former Commissioner for Finance in Benue State, Dr Omadachi Oklobia, has called for the introduction of a mandatory 12-month graduate trainee programme for newly recruited public servants in Nigeria, warning that the country risks losing critical institutional knowledge as experienced civil servants retire.

 

Oklobia, who is also a resident faculty member of the African University of Science and Technology, said the Federal Government must urgently reform entry-level training in the public service to preserve professional values, strengthen administrative capacity and improve service delivery ahead of 2030.

 

In an article on the future of Nigeria’s public service, the former commissioner warned that the retirement of senior officers who inherited administrative experience from the independence generation could leave a significant gap in institutional knowledge if deliberate measures were not taken to transfer their expertise to younger officials.

 

He argued that although public service rules, financial regulations and official circulars provide written guidance, much of the practical knowledge required to run government effectively is acquired through experience and mentorship.

 

According to him, such knowledge includes understanding administrative procedures, preparing official memoranda, managing sensitive decisions and determining how policies should be implemented without compromising established rules.

 

He said the traditional system of informal mentoring was no longer adequate because of frequent postings, recruitment in large numbers and the increasing workload of senior officers.

“Where mentoring happens, it happens by luck,” Oklobia said, warning that a public service that depends on chance to preserve its institutional values risks losing the culture that sustains effective administration.

He observed that while the bureaucracy continues to exist across successive administrations, its survival as an institution does not necessarily guarantee the preservation of professional standards and administrative traditions.

“The bureaucracy survives every change of government, but it survives increasingly as a structure rather than as a culture,” he said.

 

Oklobia maintained that when public servants understand procedures without appreciating their underlying purpose, official processes could become mere rituals and be more vulnerable to manipulation.

 

 

The former commissioner said Nigeria should adopt a more rigorous entry-level training system similar to those operated by well-established private-sector institutions, particularly banks.

 

He noted that graduate recruits in well-run banks typically undergo structured programmes covering institutional values, ethics, operational systems, supervised rotations and examinations before being entrusted with significant responsibilities.

 

By contrast, he said, new public servants often receive appointment letters and postings without adequate preparation for the responsibilities they are expected to perform.

 

Where induction programmes exist, he argued, they are frequently limited to a few days of lectures, with little provision for supervised practical experience or formal assessment.

 

To address the gap, Oklobia proposed that no newly recruited public servant should be confirmed in service without successfully completing a mandatory graduate trainee programme lasting at least 12 months.

 

He said the programme should be built around four major areas: public service values and ethics; systems thinking and policy implementation; practical administration and citizen-centred service delivery; and leadership and professional conduct.

 

According to him, ethics training should rely on real administrative cases rather than abstract lectures, while systems thinking should help young officers understand how government policies and budgetary allocations translate into projects and services for citizens.

 

He also recommended that trainees spend time at service delivery points to understand the challenges faced by members of the public when accessing government services.

 

Oklobia said leadership and professional conduct should form a central part of the programme because today’s entry-level officers would eventually occupy senior administrative positions.

 

“The officer of 2030 will be the director of 2050,” he said, stressing the need to prepare young recruits for the long-term responsibilities of public administration.

 

 

 

The academic also called for stronger collaboration between Nigerian universities and public institutions to expose students to the workings of government before graduation.

 

He said students of Political Science, Public Policy and Public Administration often complete their studies without meaningful practical experience inside ministries, departments and agencies.

 

To bridge the gap, he proposed structured, supervised and credit-bearing internships that would enable students to spend an entire semester working within public institutions.

Under the proposed arrangement, students would observe budget meetings, procurement processes and other administrative activities, while participating in practical assignments such as drafting official memoranda under supervision.

 

He argued that such exposure would help students understand the realities of public administration and determine whether a career in the service suited their interests and professional aspirations.

 

According to him, the approach would also help government identify promising talent early and reduce the difficulties associated with introducing inexperienced graduates to the demands of public office after recruitment.

 

Oklobia further argued that Nigeria needed to change its perception of public service from a form of employment into a profession requiring selective recruitment, structured training, continuous development and enforceable standards of conduct.

He said talent management should go beyond promotion based solely on seniority to include deliberate decisions on recruitment, professional development, performance evaluation and accountability.

“Values, skills and attitudes are not inherited; they are inculcated, or they are lost,” he said.

 

He maintained that the effectiveness of the public service would depend not only on the rules governing officials but also on the quality of their training, professional attitudes and understanding of their responsibilities to citizens.

 

 

 

The former commissioner said Nigeria already had examples of structured leadership development programmes that could provide a foundation for a broader entry-level training framework.

 

He cited the Aig-Imoukhuede Public Leaders Programme, as well as initiatives by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, including the Mandatory Training Programme for newly appointed chief executives, the Leadership Enhancement and Development Programme and the Structured Mandatory Assessment-Based Training Programme.

 

According to him, these initiatives demonstrate the value of organised training, formal assessment and linking professional development to improved performance.

 

However, he said most existing interventions target senior and middle-level officers, leaving a gap at the entry level, where the professional habits and values of future public servants are first established.

 

He urged the government to adapt the principles of these programmes to graduate recruits and make participation, assessment and successful completion integral to career progression.

 

 

 

Oklobia said implementing the proposed reforms would not require a constitutional amendment or the establishment of another government agency.

 

 

Instead, he called for a directive from the Head of the Civil Service, the development of a curriculum in collaboration with universities and existing training institutions, and dedicated funding for the programme.

 

He said the investment should be treated as a priority because the public service constitutes a critical national asset that must be maintained and strengthened across successive administrations.

 

“The public service is the one capital asset every government inherits and every government passes on,” he said.

 

“We would not hand over a dam without maintenance. We should not hand over a bureaucracy without formation.”

 

Oklobia warned that without a structured system for transferring institutional knowledge, the experience of retiring officers could survive only in personal recollections rather than in the administrative practices of their successors.

He therefore urged the government to act before 2030, arguing that the future effectiveness of Nigeria’s public service would depend on whether the country established a deliberate system for training, mentoring and assessing its next generation of public servants.