INTRODUCTION
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims and Christians with a very small minority who practice traditional religion.

The people of Nigeria have an extensive history. Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BCE. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was coined by Flora Shaw, the future wife of Baron Lugard, a British colonial administrator, in the late 19th century. Since 2002 there has been a spate of clashes in the north of the country between government forces and the Boko Haram militant group which seeks to establish Sharia law.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, the seventh most populous country in the world, and the most populous country in the world in which the majority of the population is black. It is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom and has had both the Military Government and a Democratic elected Government since then. The country also suffered its first civil war in 1966. The violence against the Igbo increased their desire for autonomy and protection from the military's wrath. By May 1967, the Eastern Region had declared itself an independent state called the Republic of Biafra under the leadership of Lt Colonel Emeka Ojukwu in line with the wishes of the people. The Nigerian Civil War began as the Nigerian (Western and Northern) side attacked Biafra (South-eastern) on July 6, 1967 at Garkem signalling the beginning of the 30 month war that ended in January 1970. Estimates in the former Eastern Region of the number of dead from hostilities, disease, and starvation during the thirty-month civil war are estimated at between 1 million and 3 million.

Nigeria is a Federal Republic with executive power exercised by the president and with overtones of the Westminster System model in the composition and management of the upper and lower houses of the bicameral legislature. The current president of Nigeria is Goodluck Jonathan, who succeeded Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to the office in 2010. The president presides as both Head of State and head of the national executive and is elected by popular vote to a maximum of two four-year terms.

The president's power is checked by a Senate and a House of Representatives, which are combined in a bicameral body called the National Assembly. The Senate is a 109-seat body with three members from each state and one from the capital region of Abuja; members are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. The House contains 360 seats and the number of seats per state is determined by population.

Ethnocentrism, tribalism, religious persecution, and prebendalism have played a visible role in Nigerian politics both prior and subsequent to independence in 1960. Kin-selective altruism has made its way into Nigerian politics and has spurned various attempts by tribalists to concentrate Federal power to a particular region of their interests. Nationalism has also led to active secessionist movements such as MASSOB, Nationalist movements such as Oodua Peoples Congress, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and a civil war. Nigeria's three largest ethnic groups (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba) have maintained historical pre-eminence in Nigerian politics; competition amongst these three groups has fuelled corruption and graft.
Because of the above issues, Nigeria's current political parties are pan-national and irreligious in character (though this does not preclude the continuing pre-eminence of the dominant ethnicities). The major political parties at present include the ruling People's Democratic Party of Nigeria which maintains 223 seats in the House and 76 in the Senate (61.9% and 69.7% respectively); the opposition All Nigeria People's Party has 96 House seats and 27 in the Senate (26.6% and 24.7%). There are also about twenty other minor opposition parties registered. The immediate past president, Olusegun Obasanjo, acknowledged fraud and other electoral "lapses" but said the result reflected opinion polls. In a national television address he added that if Nigerians did not like the victory of his handpicked successor they would have an opportunity to vote again in four years.

Like in many other African societies, prebendalism and extremely excessive corruption continue to constitute major challenges to Nigeria, as vote rigging and other means of coercion are practised by all major parties in order to remain competitive. In 1983, it was adjudged by the policy institute at Kuru that only the 1959 and 1979 elections witnessed minimal rigging.
Nigeria is classified as a mixed economy emerging market, and has already reached middle income status according to the World bank, with its abundant supply of natural resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, transport sectors and stock exchange (the Nigerian Stock Exchange), which is the second largest in Africa. Nigeria is ranked 31st in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) as of 2011. Nigeria is the United States' largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa and supplies a fifth of its oil (11% of oil imports). It has the seventh-largest trade surplus with the U.S. of any country worldwide. Nigeria is currently the 50th-largest export market for U.S. goods and the 14th-largest exporter of goods to the U.S. The United States is the country's largest foreign investor. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected economic growth of 9% in 2008 and 8.3% in 2009. The IMF further projects a 8% growth in the Nigerian economy in 2011.
February 2011: According to Citigroup, Nigeria will get the highest average GDP growth in the world between 2010–2050. Nigeria is one of two countries from Africa among 11 Global Growth Generators countries.

Previously, economic development had been hindered by years of military rule, corruption, and mismanagement. The restoration of democracy and subsequent economic reforms has successfully put Nigeria back on track towards achieving its full economic potential. It is now the second largest economy in Africa (following South Africa), and the largest economy in the West Africa Region.

During the oil boom of the 1970s, Nigeria accumulated a significant foreign debt to finance major infrastructural investments. With the fall of oil prices during the 1980s oil glut Nigeria struggled to keep up with its loan payments and eventually defaulted on its principal debt repayments, limiting repayment to the interest portion of the loans. Arrears and penalty interest accumulated on the unpaid principal which increased the size of the debt.

Nigeria is the 12th largest producer of petroleum in the world and the 8th largest exporter, and has the 10th largest proven reserves. The country joined OPEC in 1971. Petroleum plays a large role in the Nigerian economy, accounting for 40% of GDP and 80% of Government earnings. However, agitation for better resource control in the Niger Delta, its main oil producing region, has led to disruptions in oil production and currently prevents the country from exporting at 100% capacity.

Nigeria has one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets in the world, major emerging market operators (like MTN, Etisalat, Zain and Globacom) basing their largest and most profitable centres in the country. The government has recently begun expanding this infrastructure to space based communications. Nigeria has a space satellite which is monitored at the Nigerian National Space Research and Development Agency Headquarters in Abuja.
The country has a highly developed financial services sector, with a mix of local and international banks, asset management companies, brokerage houses, insurance companies and brokers, private equity funds and investment banks.

Nigeria also has a wide array of underexploited mineral resources which include natural gas, coal, bauxite, tantalite, gold, tin, iron ore, limestone, niobium, lead and zinc. Despite huge deposits of these natural resources, the mining industry in Nigeria is still in its infancy.
Agriculture used to be the principal foreign exchange earner of Nigeria. At one time, Nigeria was the world's largest exporter of groundnuts, cocoa, and palm oil and a significant producer of coconuts, citrus fruits, maize, pearl millet, cassava, yams and sugar cane. About 60% of Nigerians work in the agricultural sector, and Nigeria has vast areas of underutilized arable land.
It also has a manufacturing industry which includes leather and textiles (centred Kano, Abeokuta, Onitsha, and Lagos), car manufacturing (for the French car manufacturer Peugeot as well as for the English truck manufacturer Bedford, now a subsidiary of General Motors), T-shirts, plastics and processed food.
The country has recently made considerable amount of revenue from home made Nigerian Movies which are sold locally and internationally. These movies are popular in other African countries and among African immigrants in Europe.

RESEARCH PURPOSE
My main focus will be the Nigerian Civil Service because the civil service is the heart of government policy implementation and formulation, influences in non-trivial ways the success or failures of government. The civil service in most developing countries is central to the economic and socio-political development of such countries (World Bank 1997) because of the relative weakness of the private sector.

However, there is increasing evidence pointing to the deterioration of civil service performance in Africa. It is a widely held belief that the poor economic performance, high level of poverty and corruption can be linked to poorly designed macroeconomic policies as well as weak institutional structures, political misrule, bad governance and absence of liberal democracy (Mutahaba 1989; Therkildsen 2001). The observed shortcomings of the civil service have also been linked to inadequate financial, infrastructure and human resources which has been the bane of Nigeria’s government and leadership. The Nigerian civil service is greeted with so many problems ranging from nepotism, tribalism, bribery and corruption which are the order of the day, lack of commitment to work and stealing.

The Nigerian Civil Service consists of employees in Nigerian government agencies other than the Military. Most employees are career civil servants in the Nigerian ministries, where advancement is based primarily on years in service and paper qualification. Recently the Head of the Service has been introducing measures to make the ministries more efficient and responsive to the public.

The Nigerian Civil Service has its origins in organizations established by the British in colonial times. Nigeria gained full independence in October 1960 under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary government and a substantial measure of self-government for the country's three regions. Since then, various panels have studied and made recommendations for reforming the Civil Service, including the Margan Commission of 1963, the Adebo Commission of 1971 and the Udoji Commission of 1972-74.

A major change occurred with the adoption in 1979 of a constitution modeled after that of the United States. Exactly what are the chages occasioned by the American Presidential type of government? The Dotun Philips Panel of 1985 attempted to reform the Civil Service. How? The 1988 Civil Service Reorganization Decree promulgated by General Ibrahim Babangida had a major impact on the structure and efficiency of the Civil Service. In what ways? The later report of the Ayida Panel made recommendations to reverse some of the past innovations and to return to a more efficient Civil Service of earlier years. Again, highlights of the Ayida Panel Report.

The Civil Service has been undergoing gradual and systematic reforms and restructuring since May 29, 1999 after decades of military rule. However, the civil service is still considered stagnant and inefficient, and the attempts made in the past by panels have had little effect. Conclusion not supported by sufficient premise.

In August 2009 the Head of the Civil Service, Stephen Osagiede Oronsaye, proposed reforms where permanent secretaries and directors would spend a maximum of eight years in office. Finally, we are getting some specifics. Good. It is expected that the reform, approved by President Umaru Yar'Adua, would result in massive retirement of Permanent Secretaries and Directors, many of whom are from the North. What are the implications of the projected massive retirement of Northerners? Has this had any impact on following through on the reform approved by Yar Adua? Stephen Oronsaye has said that his goal is for the Nigerian civil service to be among the best organized and managed in the world. Oronsaye retired in November 2010 at the statutory age of 60 and was succeeded by Oladapo Afolabi.

The civil service is mainly organized around the federal ministries, headed by a minister appointed by the President, who must include at least one member of each of the 36 states in his cabinet. The President's appointments are confirmed by the Senate of Nigeria. There are less than 36 ministries. In some cases a Federal minister is responsible for more than one ministry (e.g. Environment and Housing may be combined), and a minister may be assisted by one or more ministers of State. Each ministry also has a Permanent Secretary, who is the most senior career civil servant in the Ministry.

The ministries are responsible for various parastatals (government-owned corporations) and peform regulatory and oversight functions such as universities (Education), National Broadcasting Commission (Information) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (Petroleum). Other parastatals are the responsibility of the Office of the Presidency, such as the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Federal Civil Service Commission.

As a civil servant with the Ondo State Government of Nigeria, I am a Public Administrator and an IT professional, which makes my work as the Special Assistant to the elected Governor of Ondo State tasking, due to the fact that the current Governor wants a change as soon as possible, he wants to make a great impact. I started my career in April of 2011 with the State Government and I work closely with the Governor in re-channelling the State towards being IT oriented in its Services and also the running of the State and the 18 Local Governments, in order to be able to monitor government services and processes, which will eliminate ghost workers and allow adequate and effective monitoring of workers in the civil service sector of the State.

The civil servants happens to be the driving force of the economy of the state, but instead of adding to the development of the state, they constitute to the retrogression because of lack of motivation in the work environment and their belief that every politician (the administrator and his team) come in to spend the government's money to their advantage, so the civil servants decided to also act negatively and use every opportunity to divert government resources to personal use.
I have been interested in working in the public sector in order to bring about the change needed to transform the economy of the state. But the major challenge has been the “power that be” There is always a power tussle between the political appointees and the civil servants and it has been known that most of the political officers have no blue print or major plans on how they want to contribute to the development of the state or country as a whole. But in this administration, which I am currently part of, the state has moved to becoming the envy of the nation and Africa by appointing people with good leadership qualities and implementing quality programmes that will boost the knowledge and well being of the civil servants. For example, the Health sector of the state has received a major boost, by providing free health care for pregnant women, thereby reducing the maternal death rate and also providing world standard market environment for market sellers and road infrastructure etc. This has helped to boost the confidence of the citizens and workers. Even with all these, we still need to do much more, because we have not done up to 40% of the development that is required to improve the civil service and to draw investors into the state.

Also eliminating people’s (God-Fathers) interference in government to a large extent will deal with the issue of corruption in public sector because these so called God-fathers do not give the leadership the free hand to rule for the benefit of the people but rather to their own benefits to enrich themselves to the detriment of the State and its people thereby creating room for corruption in the civil service because they too (civil servants) want to be rich. Due to the perceived view and notion in the Nigerian system that if you are not in tune with the leadership or part of the leadership, things will not swing in your favour and this has greatly affected and influenced the civil service and hitherto affected the nation’s economy.

PRELIMINARY PROBLEM STATEMENT
Leadership, according to Stuart Levine and Michael Crom (1994), “is about listening to people, supporting and encouraging them and involving them in the decision-making and problem-solving processing. It is about building teams and developing their ability to make skillful decisions.” A leader is a person who takes the central roles in interactions and who influences the behaviour of other members of the group. He is an individual who has authority over others and is responsible for guiding their actions. He/she is a person engaged in the traditional management practices, such as planning, organizing, decision-making, and controlling, and whose performance is almost often measured by their ability to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. Generally speaking, leadership is in hierarchy and is usually illustrated as a triangle with the ultimate authority at the apex of the triangle and authority flowing downward to all other part of the triangle. Human beings tend to think about their behaviors and think about what they are going to do. They tend to think about the consequences of their behaviors. They choose carefully what they are going to do.

On the other hand, when they are among their friends, in groups, they tend to, more or less, suspend their personal judgments and do what they think that other group members would approve. In fact, in some group instances, if the leader of the group says that a twelve inches long ruler is ten inches long, many of the members of the group would agree with him. Some will know that he is wrong and still feel influenced by the crowd to go along with the leaders lies; others, in fact, will automatically go with the leader and unreflectively go where he wants them to go, they will agree with his perception.

In the civil service, where individual’s livelihoods are earned, the pull to go along with the crowd and its leader is even more intense. If you disagree with the opinion leaders of the work group, you could be ostracized and isolated. You could become a marked man, a pariah who is not rewarded with organizational rewards. Most people know the fact that he who stands apart from the work group is not positively reinforced. To avoid such punishment, people either keep quiet or go along with the group’s direction. (Those with conscience, feel guilty, then go home and try to put their guilty conscience to sleep by getting drunk).

Going forward, Ondo state has set their top priority on infrastructural deployment, development and improving the work environment and introducing incentives for good and professional performance. It has been noticed lately that the introduction of some infrastructure and services by the state government has boosted the morale of a larger percentage of the civil servants and citizens of the state and this in turn, in the long run, will boost the economy development and empower all citizens to live in a better condition. If this is well driven and continuous, this could transform the state in record time.
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