‘Only through integrity can civil service check excesses of political officeholders, others’
By Bukar Usman
IT is an honour and privilege for me to write this ‘Foreword’ for Leadership in the Nigerian Civil Service: Five Decades of Lessons in Performance, Encounters and Triumphs, the memoir of one of my long-standing associates in the Federal Civil Service of our dear country, Nigeria.
Although Dr. Adegoke Adegoroye – the author and the principal subject of the memoir had long hinted at the possibility of my writing this piece, I was not privy to the manuscript’s content until he formally sent it to me on February 3, 2025 with a request that I provide the Foreword. I accepted gladly and without hesitation.
Having seen the manuscript and its title, I could easily have written this without reading it in full. Over the course of our long and close relationship I have come to know how deeply informed and passionate Dr. Adegoroye is about issues of public service in general – and the civil service in particular. Civil service affairs are a constant on his lips whether in private or public settings with anyone and at any time – even including his dear wife, a Mexican whom he met while he was still in service during an international environmental engagement at the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) in Harare, Zimbabwe.
It has now been a decade and a half since Dr. Adegoroye retired from service, yet he has never disengaged from conversations around governance or public administration. He continues to write and speak about the civil service within the broader context of good governance and protection of public interest. A reformist to the core, he isa stickler for rules and procedures, particularly in recruitment and screening of persons for public offices. It is fair to say that he has assumed a form of lifetime guardianship over what he considers to be in the national interest, informed by over three and a half decades of selfless service and grounded in a principled upbringing.
This memoir is Dr. Adegoroye’s attempt to distill the lessons from his career and leadership experience so that others might learn. He is of the firm belief that the Nigerian Civil Service, as the mainstay of governance, must be properly staffed and supported to realise the public service of our dream. He outlines several compelling reasons for writing this work, which serves as a sequel to his earlier two-volume memoir Restoring Good Governance in Nigeria (2015). However, unlike those works, this latest volume is more candid and comprehensive – at times reading like a courtroom interrogation, where the author poses hard questions and provides equally forthright answers.
Dr. Adegoke Adegoroye (left) in warm handshake with former President Umaru Musa Yar’adua
What strikes me most is the strong emphasis placed once again on integrity as a cornerstone for addressing the challenges of Nigeria’s civil service. Dr. Adegoroye argues rightly that among the most critical qualifications for staffing leadership roles in the civil service must be unquestionable integrity. Given our existing framework of public service rules, financial regulations, national codes, and circulars, he insists that only through integrity in the HR processes of appointment, promotion, deployment, training and discipline, can we build a civil service leadership capable of checking the excesses of the political officeholders and empowering subordinates to uphold due process.
He further asserts that the real challenge before the civil service is to assemble a critical mass of officers of impeccable character and integrity. These officers must populate the top echelons of the service, providing mentorship and moral example to those below them and nurturing a new generation of officers who are entirely committed to upholding the ethics, values and ethos of the service. Closely tied to this is the call for institutional memory – where its absence makes the codification of rules and procedures a necessity, especially during critical transitions. The memoir testifies to his extensive and formidable institutional memory that is invaluable to good governance. Dr. Adegoroye acknowledges that, in order to realise his vision and implement the principles he deeply believes in, he aspired to occupy the highest leadership position within the civil service. This aspiration was backed by the strong support of several well-meaning individuals in key political positions at the time. Although he did not ultimately attain that office, those who were appointed have since acknowledged his support and the critical role he played in their success. In many respects, Dr. Adegoroye remains widely regarded as the best Head of the Civil Service of the Federation that Nigeria never had.
On a lighter note, I often refer to Dr. Adegoroye as someone who excels in ‘joining issues,’ though he insists he is merely ‘troubleshooting.’ This memoir, indeed, is thorough and requires dispassionate reading to fully appreciate its contributions to the discourse on good governance. It is a must read for those in governance and those aspiring to public office, as well as instructors and scholars of human and material management.
Equally, every Nigerian patriot should engage with this book – not only to understand the ideals that should underpin our public service, but to recognise the extent to which Dr. Adegoroye has gone in his advocacy, research, and meticulous documentation, in and out of office. He deserves commendation for his tenacity in promoting good governance and for his unwavering commitment to preserving the sanctity of the Nigerian civil service – through leadership anchored on example.
* Dr. Usman is a former Permanent Secretary in the Presidency
