It is an open secret that merit count for nothing in Nigeria especially in recruitment into the civil service. The dominant requirements are favouritism, nepotism and cronyism.
It came as no surprise to me when news filtered in this week about the lopsidedness in the recruitment into the Department of State Services (DSS). Recruitment in Nigeria be in the private or the public sectors has never been fair or just. It is either ethnicity, religion or other primordial prerequisites dressed in the cloak of nepotism and cronyism that are used in place of merit.
This in-justifiable act is often defended under the pretext of Federal Character. According to a breakdown by the report, the newly commissioned cadet officers on geopolitical basis revealed that 165 are from the North-west out of which 51 are from Katsina State alone. The South-south 42, North-east 100, North-central 66, South-west 57 and South-east 44.
The federal government justified this unfair distribution with the following statement: “In an organisation that is very sensitive and an important one for national cohesion and stability such as the Department of State Services, DSS, there is always the need to ensure balance in recruitment and manning. This is also true of institutions such as the Army, the Navy and Air force.
“Where such balancing in line with Federal Character is breached, the need arises from time to time, to find a way of redressing such inequity.
“The report in circulation by the Premium Times though true, was taken in isolation of the context it was done. An investigative medium such as that one should have done a better job of this.
“This is the true story of the recruitment, about a year-and-a-half ago in the DSS in which states that were short-changed in previous recruitments were awarded slots to enable them achieve a fair representation. This is what happened.
“It is important to emphasise that it is in the interest of peace, stability and the general well-being of the nation that all component units are fairly represented in organisations such as this. Where this comes short, efforts must be made to correct such lopsidedness as the DSS did between 2014 and 2016,” the statement read.
