IMPACT OF PUBLIC SERVICE REFORMS ON WORKERS’ PRODUCTIVITY IN THE FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE, ABUJA, NIGERIA

Abstract

Public service performance challenges in Nigeria date back to the colonial
period, leading to the introduction of many reforms as a remedy to those maladies. Those
reforms, however, have not achieved any significant results. This study, therefore, sought to
assess the implications of reforms in achieving organizational stability, particularly in the
Nigerian civil service. It also delved into factors that led to public service reforms and
ascertained their benefits to the general performance of civil servants. The study adopted a
descriptive survey design using questionnaires and an interview guide to generate its primary
data. The target population was made up of all the 94,511 workers in the federal civil service
in Abuja. A sample of 622 participants was selected using Taro Yamane (1967) through
multistage and simple random sampling techniques. Major findings of the study show that
reforms were considered a potential measure of organisational ineffective and inefficient
service delivery. It was discovered that the reasons why reforms have not achieved their
primary objective were corruption and the parochial interests of the officials. The study
recommends that the government should desist from all subtleness by intensifying efforts at all
costs through a genuine willingness to tackle favouritism, nepotism and others that jeopardise
government reforms in the civil service. Also, corrupt officials must be dealt with decisively
to serve as a deterrent for future occurrences.