Former Benue commissioner advocates trainee programme for public service

Former Benue state Commissioner for Finance and Resident Faculty on the African University of Science and Technology, Dr. Omadachi Oklobia, has stated there’s an impending institutional capability disaster in Nigeria’s public service.

Dr Oklobia urged the federal authorities to institute a compulsory, structured entry-level coaching system earlier than 2030.

In an announcement, Dr Oklobia acknowledged that by 2030, the ultimate era of civil servants who have been straight mentored by independence-era officers will attain the obligatory 35-year retirement mark.

 He stated with no deliberate framework to switch tacit administrative information to new entrants, the general public service risked working merely as an empty construction devoid of its foundational tradition and values.

Dr. Oklobia outlined a strategic roadmap aimed toward reforming entry-level recruitment and coaching.

 “Mandatory 12-month trainee programme require all new graduate entrants to finish a rigorous 12-month program earlier than job affirmation.

“The curriculum would give attention to ethics, methods considering, citizen-centred administration, and management.

“They ought to introduce structured, credit-bearing semester internships for college undergraduates in fields like Political Science and Public Policy, exposing them to actual institutional processes earlier than employment.

“There ought to be professionalising the cadre: Shift the notion of public service from primary employment to a proper career characterised by selective entry, steady skilled growth, and enforced requirements.

“Adapting top-tier models downward: scale successful leadership models—such as the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation’s LEAD-P and the Aig-Imoukhuede Public Leaders Programme—to benefit entry-level officers,” he stated.

Dr. Oklobia emphasised that implementing these reforms requires no new laws or businesses, however moderately a direct administrative directive from the Head of Service, educational partnerships, and devoted finances allocations.