The Federal Government has said that most civil servants in the country do not have the right skills needed for their jobs.
The Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Professor Tunji Olaopa, made this known on Wednesday during the unveiling of the commission’s first-ever strategic plan. The event took place at a three-day retreat in Abuja from June 30 to July 2.
According to Olaopa, the real problem with Nigeria’s civil service is not that there are too many workers, but that many of them have outdated or irrelevant skills.
“If you benchmark the workforce of the federal civil service against other countries, you’ll find that our workforce is actually small,” he said. “But the problem is we have a huge number of staff, most of whom lack the requisite skills to function, while the skills that the system needs are scarce.”
He said many workers are underutilised or redundant, which has slowed down government operations and affected national progress.
To solve this, the commission plans to reskill and redeploy workers to areas where their abilities are needed. They are also introducing a new performance system and giving incentives to those who want to leave voluntarily.
“It’s about putting the right people in the right roles and building a civil service that supports national priorities,” Olaopa said.
The new plan covers 2025 to 2029 and is aimed at aligning the civil service with the country’s target of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
“The civil service must no longer be seen as a stifler of economic growth,” Olaopa said. “We are reengineering the Federal Civil Service Commission to be performance-driven, reform-oriented, and aligned with the President’s vision of making Nigeria a $1 trillion economy by 2030.”
He said President Bola Tinubu gave a direct order during the commission’s inauguration in December 2023 to reform and digitise the federal service.
According to him, the President asked the commission to help drive growth and support the private sector, not block progress.
To achieve this, the commission has developed a new roadmap based on merit, accountability, and digital tools.
“The public sector must be an engine of national growth, not a deadweight,” Olaopa said. “Our strategic plan is structured to make that happen by attracting the best minds, deploying technology in recruitment and promotion, and linking advancement to measurable outcomes.”
He also stressed the need for fair and transparent recruitment. “This is about eliminating patronage and putting merit at the heart of everything,” he said. “For the first time, vacancies were advertised publicly, and applications were processed online.”
Olaopa said the goal is to make the service future-ready and results-oriented.
“Our mandate is clear: to create a service that fuels the economy, not frustrates it,” he said. “The $1 trillion goal is not a political slogan, it’s a strategic target we are now helping to build toward.”
